e was bent upon the destruction of Luther; but God was his defense. His
doctrines were heard everywhere,--"in cottages and convents, ... in the
castles of the nobles, in the universities, and in the palaces of kings;"
and noble men were rising on every hand to sustain his efforts.

It was about this time that Luther, reading the works of Huss, found that
the great truth of justification by faith, which he himself was seeking to
uphold and teach, had been held by the Bohemian Reformer. "We have all,"
said Luther, "Paul, Augustine, and myself, been Hussites without knowing
it!" "God will surely visit it upon the world," he continued, "that the
truth was preached to it a century ago, and burned!"(188)

In an appeal to the emperor and nobility of Germany in behalf of the
Reformation of Christianity, Luther wrote concerning the pope: "It is a
horrible thing to behold the man who styles himself Christ's vicegerent,
displaying a magnificence that no emperor can equal. Is this being like
the poor Jesus, or the humble Peter? He is, say they, the lord of the
world! But Christ, whose vicar he boasts of being, has said, 'My kingdom
is not of this world.' Can the dominions of a vicar extend beyond those of
his superior?"(189)

He wrote thus of the universities: "I am much afraid that the universities
will prove to be the great gates of hell, unless they diligently labor in
explaining the Holy Scriptures, and engraving them in the hearts of youth.
I advise no one to place his child where the Scriptures do not reign
paramount. Every institution in which men are not unceasingly occupied
with the word of God must become corrupt."(190)

This appeal was rapidly circulated throughout Germany, and exerted a
powerful influence upon the people. The whole nation was stirred, and
multitudes were roused to rally around the standard of reform. Luther's
opponents, burning with a desire for revenge, urged the pope to take
decisive measures against him. It was decreed that his doctrines should be
immediately condemned. Sixty days were granted the Reformer and his
adherents, after which, if they did not recant, they were all to be
excommunicated.

That was a terrible crisis for the Reformation. For centuries Rome's
sentence of excommunication had struck terror to powerful monarchs; it had
filled mighty empires with woe and desolation. Those upon whom its
condemnation fell, were universally regarded with dread and horror; they
were cut off from in