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he protested against the cardinal’s course in requiring him to retract
without having proved him in error.
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The only response was, “Recant, recant.” The reformer showed
that his position was sustained by the Scriptures, and firmly declared
that he could not renounce the truth. The legate, unable to reply to
Luther’s arguments, overwhelmed him with a storm of reproaches,
gibes, and flattery, interspersed with quotations from tradition and the
sayings of the Fathers, granting the reformer no opportunity to speak.
Seeing that the conference, thus continued, would be utterly futile,
Luther finally obtained a reluctant permission to present his answer in
writing.
“In so doing,” said he, writing to a friend, “the oppressed find
double gain; first, what is written may be submitted to the judgment of
others; and second, one has a better chance of working on the fears,
if not on the conscience, of an arrogant and babbling despot, who
would otherwise overpower by his imperious language.” At the next
interview, Luther presented a clear, concise, and forcible exposition of
his views, fully supported by many quotations from Scripture. This
paper, after reading aloud, he handed to the cardinal, who, however,
cast it contemptuously aside, declaring it to be a mass of idle words and
irrelevant quotations. Luther, fully roused, now met the haughty prelate
on his own ground,—the traditions and teachings of the church—and
utterly overthrew his assumptions.
When the prelate saw that Luther’s reasoning was unanswerable,
he lost all self-control, and in a rage cried out: “Retract, or I will
send you to Rome, there to appear before the judges commissioned to
take cognizance of your case. I will excommunicate you and all your
partisans, and all who shall at any time countenance you, and will cast
them out of the church.” And he finally declared, in a haughty and
angry tone, “Retract, or return no more.”
The reformer promptly withdrew with his friends, thus declaring
plainly that no retraction was to be expected from him. This was
not what the cardinal had purposed. He had flattered himself that by
violence he could awe Luther to submission. Now, left alone with
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his supporters, he looked from one to another, in utter chagrin at the
unexpected failure of his schemes.
Luther’s efforts on this occasion were not without good results.
The large assembly present had opportunity to compare the two men,