rnished with a
safe-conduct, so that he might appear before a tribunal of learned, pious,
and impartial judges."(198)

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, high-born, powerful, and jealous of their hereditary
rights; princely ecclesiastics, flushed with their conscious superiority
in rank and power; courtly knights and their armed retainers; and
ambassadors from foreign and distant lands,--all gathered at Worms. Yet in
that vast assembly the subject that excited the deepest interest, was the
cause of the Saxon Reformer.

Charles had previously directed the elector to bring Luther with him to
the Diet, assuring him of protection, and promising a free discussion,
with competent persons, of the questions in dispute. Luther was anxious to
appear before the emperor. His health was at this time much impaired; yet
he wrote to the elector: "If I cannot go to Worms in good health, I will
be carried there, sick as I am. For if the emperor calls me, I cannot
doubt that it is the call of God Himself. If they desire to use violence
against me, and that is very probable (for it is not for their instruction
that they order me to appear), I place the matter in the Lord's hands. He
still lives and reigns who preserved the three young men in the burning
fiery furnace. If He will not save me, my life is of little consequence.
Let us only prevent the gospel from being exposed to the scorn of the
wicked, and let us shed our blood for it, for fear they should triumph. It
is not for me to decide whether my life or my death will contribute most
to the salvation of all.... You may expect everything from me ... except
flight and recantation. Fly I cannot, and still less retract."(199)

As the news was circulated at Worms that Luther was to appear before the
Diet, a general excitement was created. Aleander, the papal legate to whom
the case had been specially intrusted, was alarmed and enraged. He saw
that the result would be disastrous to the papal cause. To institute
inquiry into a case in which the pope had already pronounced sentenc