It was this sale of indulgences which opened the eyes of Luther and other devout men to the corruptions which had crept into the Church. We have not space here to enter into the details of the great Protestant Reformation which ensued: the reader can find in the pages of D’Aubigné, which are easily accessible, a graphic narrative of its incidents. Notwithstanding the ferocious hostility of popes and kings, the Reformation spread rapidly among the masses of the people; and several sovereigns and princes of high rank, disgusted with the arrogance of the popes, espoused its principles. The Emperor Maximilian wrote to one of the leading men in the Saxon court in reference to Luther,―― “All the popes I have had any thing to do with have been rogues and cheats. The game with the priests is beginning. What your monk is doing is not to be despised. Take care of him: it may happen that we shall have need of him.” Providentially, the Elector of Saxony was the friend and protector of Luther. The intrepid monk wrote to the pope a remonstrance against the iniquities which were practised at Rome. “You have three or four cardinals,” he wrote, “of learning and faith; but what are these three or four in so vast a crowd of infidels and reprobates? The days of Rome are numbered, and the anger of God has been breathed forth upon her. She hates councils, she dreads reform, and will not hear of a check being placed on her desperate impiety.” A diet was summoned at Worms, composed of the princes and potentates of the great German empire. The Emperor Charles V. presided. Such a spectacle the world had never witnessed before. Luther was summoned to appear before this body to be tried for heresy. In those treacherous days it was not deemed safe for Luther to place himself in the hands of his enemies, though he had obtained a safe-conduct from the emperor. His friends urged him not to go to Worms. He replied,―― “If there were as many devils in Worms as there are tiles on the roofs of the houses, I would still go there.” Before that august assembly, which had predetermined his condemnation and death, Luther made an eloquent defence, which he concluded in the following words:―― “Let me, then, be refuted and convinced by the testimony of the Scriptures, or by the clearest arguments; otherwise I cannot and will not recant; for it is neither safe nor expedient to act against conscience. Here I take my stand. I can do no otherwise, so help me God! Amen.” He was suffered to depart under his safe-conduct; but he was closely followed, and measures were taken to arrest him the moment his safe-conduct should expire. As, on his return home, he was passing through the gloomy paths of a forest, some horsemen suddenly appeared, seized him, dressed him in the disguise of military costume, put on him a false beard, mounted him on a horse, and drove rapidly away.