" The devil himself," said he, " guarded the pope ' s citadel; but Christ has made a wide breach in it, and Satan was constrained to confess that the Lord is mightier than he."--D' Aubigne, b. 7, ch. 11. After his departure, still desirous that his firmness should not be mistaken for rebellion, Luther wrote to the emperor. " God, who is the searcher of hearts, is my witness," he said, " that I am ready most earnestly to obey your majesty, in honor or in dishonor, in life or in death, and with no exception save the word of God, by which man lives. In all the affairs of this present life, my fidelity shall be unshaken, for here to lose or to gain is of no consequence to salvation. But when eternal interests are concerned, God wills not that man should submit unto man. For such submission in spiritual matters is a real worship, and ought to be rendered solely to the Creator."-- Ibid., b. 7, ch. 11.
On the journey from Worms, Luther ' s reception was even more flattering than during his progress thither. Princely ecclesiastics welcomed the excommunicated monk, and civil rulers honored the man whom the emperor had denounced. He was urged to preach, and, notwithstanding the imperial prohibition, he again entered the pulpit. " I never pledged myself to chain up the word of God," he said, " nor will I."--Martyn, vol. 1, p. 420. He had not been long absent from Worms, when the papists prevailed upon the emperor to issue an edict against him. In this decree Luther was denounced as " Satan himself under the form of a man and dressed in a monk ' s frock."-- D ' Aubigne, b. 7, ch. 11. It was commanded that as soon as his safe-conduct should expire, measures be taken to stop his work. All persons were forbidden to harbor him, to give him food or drink, or by word or act, in public or private, to aid or abet him. He was to be seized wherever he might be, and delivered to the authorities. His adherents also were to be imprisoned and their property confiscated. His writings were to be destroyed, and, finally, all who should dare to act contrary to this decree were included in its condemnation. The elector of Saxony and the princes most friendly to Luther had left Worms soon after his departure, and the emperor ' s decree received the sanction of the Diet.
Now the Romanists were jubilant. They considered the fate of the Reformation sealed. God had provided a way of escape for His servant in this hour of peril. A vigilant eye had followed Luther ' s movements, and a true and noble heart had resolved upon his rescue. It was plain that Rome would be satisfied with nothing short of his death; only by concealment could he be preserved from the jaws of the lion. God gave wisdom to Frederick of Saxony to devise a plan for the Reformer ' s preservation. With the co-operation of true friends the elector ' s purpose was carried out, and Luther was effectually hidden from friends and foes. Upon his homeward journey he was seized, separated from his attendants, and hurriedly conveyed through the forest to the castle of Wartburg, an isolated mountain fortress. Both his seizure and his concealment were so involved in mystery that even Frederick himself for a long time
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