The whole power of Rome, civil and ecclesiastical,--emperors, kings, princes, pope, cardinals and prelates, were baffled; and this too, whether in the use of the sword of the Spirit,--polemic _theses_,--or of the material sword, in literal warfare. When the Lord Jesus "mustered the hosts to the battle," he furnished them "with the whole armour of God to stand in the evil way." When Zuingle, Luther, Calvin, Knox, their compeers and successors, were obliged to wrestle with the hosts of Antichrist,--"against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places," (_wicked spirits in heavenly places_,) they found it both lawful and necessary,--"having no sword, to buy one." (Luke xxii. 36.) The dragon and his angels were defeated and routed,--"They prevailed not,--he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him." The thunders of the Vatican thenceforth lost their wonted power to terrify. Ever since, they are but _brutum fulmen,--vox, et praeterea nihel_,--harmless thunder,--unmeaning voice. Papal curses, though annually launched against all heretics, tend only to amuse the popular mind, not to reach or disturb the individual conscience. For centuries the dragon has been unable to rouse any one horn of the beast to deeds of blood. It is usual for the victors to give outward expression to their joy. "The voice of them that shout for mastery," has been heard since the days of Moses. (Exod. xxxii. 18.) Accordingly, these conquerors congratulate one another on their recent victory, but their joy terminates on the proper object. The "kingdom of their God and the power of his Christ" constitute their theme. His right hand and his holy arm have gotten him the victory. The devil accused Job before God. His accusations in that instance were prosecuted through Job's friends and his wife. (Job ii. 4, 5, 9, 11.)--So it was in the experience of the reformers. They were loaded with infamy by their persecutors; and while they were depressed, God himself seemed to give sentence against them. This was the wormwood and the gall in the cup of their affliction, as it was in holy Job's experience: but in due time God "brought forth their righteousness as the light, and their judgment as the noonday." Their "good conversation put to silence the ignorance of foolish men." The power of the Lord's Christ was made manifest through the instrumentality of his servants, by producing conviction in many hearts that the cause for which they suffered was from God, and thus prevailing with such to join in their fellowship. The hearts of kings and princes of the earth were touched from on high; so that they braved the combinations of imperial and papal power, while extending the shield of their protection to the followers of the Lamb. Frederick the Wise, and especially John his brother, electors of Saxony in Luther's time, were notable bulwarks