“‘Touching the Council of Constance, I say it was not participated in nor assented to by the Eastern Christians, yet God forbid that I should call them unsaved heretics for that. But this I also assert, that no man may rightly impose on another an article of belief which is contrary to Scripture: and I say more; _the judgment of one poor Christian is worth more than that of Pope or assembled Council--if that he has but the better ground for it_!’ “Spoken out at last! Martin Luther had indeed borrowed the prudence of valor and cast away the scabbard. A suppressed outcry sounded all over the hall. I heard Duke George mutter, ‘A plague upon it!’ Many heads shook ominously. The Dominicans present were open-eyed with horror. But John Eck’s horror was, I think, hiding a smile. He had indeed accomplished his desire and boast. He had smoked the heretic out. “With a great clap Eck brought his hands together the moment Luther’s words seemed to have sunk into the assembly. “‘If the Reverend Father,’ he spoke bitingly, ‘believes that even a Council can err, he is to me as a heathen and a publican.’ “Luther attempted some rejoinder, but it was lost on us. We had heard that for which we had waited wearily. The Wittenberg friar had finally spoken his true mind. Not prelate nor Pope; not learned doctor nor Council, to Luther’s thinking, can solve the relation of man to his Maker; but the man himself, aided only by the light he gathers in humility from the Scripture. A strange doctrine. The like has really not been since Christianity began. Will the present world bear it? I will waste no ink on the answer. I only believe that we shall all behold great and marvellous things. “The climax of the disputation came then, but not the end. To the 13th of July the debate kept up, Luther amplifying and defending his first strong statement, that even a Council could err, and that no man should believe aught contrary to Scripture. Marvellous learning he displayed, casting at Eck not the later schoolmen, but the weighty authority of St. Augustine and the other early ‘Fathers’: but the end was all the same. It is not at Leipzig this disputation will be settled, but in all Germany: nay--I think--in broad Christendom. For two days more Carlstadt resumed the colloquy. Finally, on the 16th, the disputation ended with due ceremony, and a solemn blowing by the city pipers. The formal decision has been referred to the universities of Paris and Erfurt. In a few days I hope to join you, Moritz, in the Harzland; but I know your eagerness for news, and I send you this letter by a prompt messenger.” FOOTNOTES: [7] Saxony was then divided into “Electoral Saxony” under Frederick, and “Ducal Saxony” under George.--EDITOR. CHAPTER XVII DR. LUTHER GIVES COURAGE