The Great Controversy The Great Controversy | Page 146

Chap. 8 - Luther Before the Diet
A new emperor, Charles V, had ascended the throne of Germany,
and the emissaries of Rome hastened to present their congratulations and
induce the monarch to employ his power against the Reformation. On
the other hand, the elector of Saxony, to whom Charles was in great
degree indebted for his crown, entreated him to take no step against
Luther until he should have granted him a hearing. The emperor was thus
placed in a position of great perplexity and embarrassment. The papists
would be satisfied with nothing short of an imperial edict sentencing
Luther to death. The elector had declared firmly that “neither his
imperial majesty nor any other person had shown that Luther’s writings
had been refuted;” therefore he requested “that Dr. Luther should be
furnished with a safe-conduct, so that he might appear before a tribunal
of learned, pious, and impartial judges.”—D’Aubigne, b. 6, ch. 11.
The attention of all parties was now directed to the assembly of the
German states which convened at Worms soon after the accession of
Charles to the empire. There were important political questions and
interests to be considered by this national council; for the first time the
princes of Germany were to meet their youthful monarch in deliberative
assembly. From all parts of the fatherland had come the dignitaries of
church and state. Secular lords, highborn, powerful, and jealous of their
hereditary rights; princely

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