hosts the Carmelites, as he had done all that could reasonably be expected. His friends had advised him to appeal to the Pope. He did not himself exactly see the necessity of this measure, after what had passed, but he yielded to their wish, more especially as he thought his sovereign would be better pleased with an appeal than a recantation." Having prepared this document, which he entitled, "Appeal from the Pope ill informed to the Pope better informed," in due order, and before competent witnesses, and provided for its publication, he thought it prudent to quit the city, apprehending mischief from the sullen silence of the Cardinal. Mounting a horse which Staupicius had procured for him, while it was yet dawn on the morning of the 19th of October, a friendly senator having taken care to have the gate opened, he set out on his return home, in a state of great weakness.

Cajetan, vexed at his escape, wrote to the Elector, justifying his own conduct, and complaining of the want of confidence in him, shown on this occasion. He mentioned his hope that the affair would have been amicably terminated, through the intervention of Staupicius; declaring that his desire had been, at once to preserve the dignity of the Apostolic see, and prevent any unpleasant consequences to the accused monk; but as the latter had chosen to act in such an unbecoming manner, it became the duty of Frederick to consult his own honour and conscience, by sending him to Rome, or banishing him from his country; and that, in fine, nothing less was to be expected, than that the Pontiff would immediately pronounce a sentence against him. The Elector remonstrated in behalf of his subject. He stated that Luther "had made his appearance, as demanded of him, but could not obtain an impartial hearing: that he

could never have supposed, it was intended to continue the process at Rome; and that he could not agree, either to send him to Rome, or eject him from his own state; for he had not been proved to be in error, and his banishment would be a great loss to the infant university of Wittenberg." In pursuance of the honourable part which he thus acted, His Highness sent the Cardinal's letter to Luther himself, who replied by detailing to his sovereign the transactions at Augsburg; regretting that there should be so great a stir among such personages on account of one in so humble a station as himself; and professing that he was ready to suffer exile, if it should be thought expedient, for he did not consider himself safe in any place from the malice of his persecutors, and was at all events unwilling that another should be involved in his quarrel. He concluded by thanking His Highness, praying for his prosperity, and rejoicing that he was counted worthy to suffer for the sake of his Saviour.

Meanwhile the university itself took the alarm, and interceded with their sovereign for the Professor, who thereupon formally requested him not to leave his capital. The firmness of the Duke was very encouraging to Luther, especially as he could not but be apprehensive of the issue; for Frederick had not declared himself a partisan of the Reformer, and had not even read his works, or heard his sermons. He acted from a sense of justice, from indignation at the dictating tone assumed by the Legate, and from regard to the character and reverence of the abilities of Luther. He was now confirmed in this line of conduct, by a letter received from the learned Erasmus, in the spring of 1519; to which he returned an answer worthy of the nobleness of his character, and assuring, him that nothing should induce him to deliver up so excel

lent a person to the malice of his enemies.

Soon after his return Luther undertook to supply the place of preacher at the church of Wittenberg for Simon Heinsius, the ordinary pastor, an erudite and religious man, who was then labouring under bodily infirmities. In one of his discourses, he requested the people, in case he was violently assaulted by the papal agents, not to be offended with His Holiness or any other person, but to commit the cause to God. His engage ments as a parochial minister at this season, though an addition to his academic employments, would doubtless have a salutary effect on his mind, tending to solemnize and divert it from brooding over his personal difficulties; while the affection of his congregation would unite with the favour of their prince in tranquillizing and comforting his spirit.

Leo X. much irritated at this presumptuous Saxon, published a brief about indulgences, in which he called on all the world to hold and preach this doctrine. This produced from Luther a new act of appeal to a council, wherein he related what had passed at Wittenberg and Augsburg; and declared that a holy council represented the universal church, and was superior to the Pope in all matters concerning the faith; on which account he appealed to that supreme tribunal, having first protested, that he had no intention to speak any thing against the Apostolic see; but as the Pope was merely a man, and fallible as others, as was evident in the instance of St. Peter himself, the only redress left to those who conceived themselves oppressed by him, was to appeal to a council *.

At this critical juncture the Emperor died, before the papal bull which threatened with excommu

*P. Sarpi, Hist. Conc. Trid. 1. i. c. 22. -Borner. Diss. de Colloquio Luth. cum Cajetan. Loescheri Act. Reform. tom. ii. c. 11.

nication all who opposed indulgences could be presented to him; and during the interregnum the Vicariate of the empire devolved on Frederick of Saxony, and the Elector Palatine; while this increased the security of the Reformer, by increasing the power of his patron. Leo resorted to flattery to gain the latter over to his side. He accordingly determined to send him the golden Rose, an honour to which Frederick had aspired for the last three years, and in contemplation of which he had shown great devotion to the see of Rome, and had caused relics to be brought from Heidelberg to his capital. But as the present was now accompanied by a letter exhorting him to active measures against Luther, he felt considerable reluctance in accepting it, though a similar donation had never been made to a Duke of Saxony, except in the instance of his father Ernest, who happened to be staying at Rome, in the pontificate of Sixtus IV. That he might not, however, entirely refuse the gift, he appointed a gentleman of his council to receive it in his name, at Altenburg, on Sunday the 25th of September, from the hands of the emissary Miltitz, a Saxon knight, and chamberlain to the Pope.

This, from ancient times, had been considered as a mark of distinguished favour from the Holy See, and corresponded to the grant of the golden fleece, or the garter, by a Spanish or English monarch. On the fourth Sunday in Lent, a golden rose was blessed by the Pope with much ceremony and prayer. It was anointed with holy oil, and perfumed with musk. It was a symbol of the Saviour, who is the Rose of Sharon, and whose name is as ointment poured forth. After the service, the Pope bore it himself, at the head of his clergy, to any high personage who was sojourning at Rome, or sent it to some foreign prince with a solemn deputation.

[To be continued.]

THE DEATH, RESURRECTION, AND APPEARANCE TO THE DISCIPLES, OF JESUS.

FROM GRAHAME'S SABBATH, AND OTHER POEMS,

"T is finished: he spake the words, and bowed
His head, and died.-Beholding him far off,
They who had ministered unto him, hope
"T is his last agony: the Temple's vail
Is rent; revealing the most holy place,
Wherein the cherubim their wings extend,
O'ershadowing the mercy-seat of God.
Appalled, the leaning soldier feels the spear
Shake in his grasp; the planted standard falls
Upon the heaving ground; the sun is dimmed,
And darkness shrouds the body of the Lord.

THE setting orb of night her level ray
Shed o'er the land, and on the dewy sward
The lengthened shadows of the triple cross
Were laid far stretched,-when in the east arose,
Last of the stars, day's harbinger: no sound
Was heard, save of the watching soldier's foot:
Within the rock-barred sepulchre, the gloom
Of deepest midnight brooded o'er the dead,
The Holy One: but, lo! a radiance faint
Began to dawn around his sacred brow:
The linen vesture seem'd a snowy wreath,
Drifted by storms into a mountain cave:
Bright and more bright, the circling halo beamed
Upon that face, clothed in a smile benign,
Though yet exanimate. Nor long the reign
Of death; the eyes that wept for human griefs,
Unclose, and look around with conscious joy.
Yes; with returning life, the first emotion
That glowed in JESUS' breast of love, was joy
At man's redemption, now complete; at death
Disarmed; the grave transformed into the couch
Of faith; the resurrection and the life
Majestical he rose: trembled the earth:
The ponderous gate of stone was rolled away;
The keepers fell; the angel, awe-struck, sunk
Into invisibility, while forth

The Saviour of the world walked, and stood
Before the sepulchre, and viewed the clouds
Empurpled glorious by the rising sun.

THE evening of that day, which saw the Lord
Rise from the chambers of the dead, was come.
His faithful followers, assembled, sang

A hymn, low-breathed; a hymn of sorrow, blent
With hope;-when, in the midst, sudden he stood.
The awe-struck circle backward shrink; he looks
Around with a benignant smile of love,
And says, Peace be unto you :-faith and joy
Spread o'er each face, amazed;-as when the moon,
Pavilioned in dark clouds, mildly comes forth,
Silvering a circlet in the fleecy ranks.

THE VILLAGE PASTOR, No. VII.

Ir is our privilege to look out for and to notice the gracious answers which our Father who is in heaven gives to our prayers; and to mark the smiles bestowed on our Christian labours, by Him who sent us here to work while it is called to-day. Those who are earnestly labouring in Sunday schools, and are anxiously looking forward to the result of such labours, should not only commit themselves, their efforts, and their little flock, into his hands, from time to time in prayer for his holy Spirit to direct, sanctify, and bless the teacher and the pupils; but should also frequently review what the Lord appears actually to be doing either among the children whom they teach, or the relatives of those children through their instrumentality. This will encourage the teacher to labour and not faint; it will show, from time to time, that however poor and despised the earthen vessel may be in itself, yet that the Lord can and often does put his inestimable treasure into it, and cause that treasure to be poured out from such worthless vessels to the enriching of immortal souls. It is now many hundred years since the Lord declared that he would perfect praise out of the mouth of babes; nor through all these long succeeding periods has he ever been unmindful of his promise. On the contrary, as it concerns our own land especially, he has gone on in the strength of his power, and displays, increasingly displays, the riches of his grace in behalf of children: so that not only has more instruction been furnished them, but also more of the moral and religious effects of that instruction has been visible, both in the character and conduct of many of the children themselves, and in the improved morals of many of their

APRIL 1823.

or

parents and relatives. It is my
object in this communication to
detail a few instances in proof
of the effects produced among
the elder branches of families
through the instrumentality of their
children who attended, or are now
attending, Sunday schools. I might
particularize more than one
two cases wherein the children
have taught their parents to read,
until they could examine the Holy
Scriptures for themselves; but I
shall no further notice these advan-
tages, great as they certainly are,
than to say that such has been the
case, and that such is now the
course of mental improvement
going on in some of our cottages
scattered over retired and beautiful
though unnoticed commons.
us, then, look at another class of
proofs than those of parents being
taught by their children to read the
Holy Scriptures.

Let

In

I

John P was, some years ago, one of my sickly and fretful parishioners. His wife had become, I trust, seriously in earnest in the pursuit of eternal life, and their two eldest girls were in our school. Phoebe was not more than ten years old, when one day her father was taken dangerously ill with internal inflammation. the agonies of his sufferings and the terrors of his mind he sent for me to administer some relief. remained with him until I saw a portion of his bodily pains relieved by the application of suitable means; and then, considering it a fit time once more to point out to him what I had oft-times before urged, namely, his discontented, fretful state of mind, his distracting and criminal anxiety about the events of the morrow, which were ever filling him with fears, lest food and raiment should fail; and moreover, the folly and criminality of his neglecting that bread which

S