1544.
While, therefore, Charles V. was carrying on his wars, alternately with the Barbary States, and with Francis I. of France, the foundations of the Protestant Church, in spite of all divisions and disturbances, were permanently laid in Germany. Although he had been brilliantly successful in Tunis, in 1535, he failed so completely before Algiers, in 1541, that Francis I. was emboldened to make another attempt, in alliance with Sultan Solyman of Turkey, Denmark and Sweden. So formidable was the danger that the Emperor was again compelled to seek the assistance of the German Protestants, and even of England. He returned to Germany for the second time and called a Diet to meet in Speyer, which renewed the Religious Peace of Nuremberg, with the assurance that Protestants should have equal rights before the Imperial courts, and that they would be left free until the meeting of a Free Council of the Church.
Having obtained an army of 40,000 men by these concessions, Charles V. marched into France, captured a number of fortresses, and had reached Soissons on his way to Paris, when Francis I. acknowledged himself defeated and begged for peace. In the Treaty of Crespy, in 1544, he gave up his claim to Lombardy, Naples, Flanders and Artois, while the Emperor gave him a part of Burgundy, and both united in a league against the Turks and Protestants, the allies of one and the other. In order, however, to preserve some appearance of fidelity to his solemn pledges, the Emperor finally prevailed upon the Pope, Paul III., to order an Œcumenical Council. It was just 130 years since the Roman Church had promised to reform itself. The delay had given rise to the Protestant Reformation, which was now so powerful that only a just and conciliatory course on the part of Rome could settle the difficulty. Instead of this, the Council was summoned to meet at Trent, in the Italian part of the Tyrol, the Pope reserved the government of it for himself, and the Protestants, although invited to attend, were thus expected to acknowledge his authority. They unanimously declared, therefore, that they would not be bound by its decrees. Even Luther, who had ardently hoped to see all Christians again united under a purer organization of the Church, saw that a reconciliation was impossible, and published a pamphlet entitled: "The Roman Papacy Founded by the Devil."
1546. LUTHER'S LAST DAYS.
The publication of the complete translation of the Bible in 1534 was not the end of Luther's labors. His leadership in the great work of Reformation was acknowledged by all, and he was consulted by princes and clergymen, by scholars and jurists, even by the common people. He never relaxed in his efforts to preserve peace, not only among the Protestant princes, who could not yet overcome their old habit of asserting an independent authority, but also between Protestants and Catholics. Yet he could hardly help feeling that, with such a form of government, and such an Emperor, as Germany then possessed, peace was impossible: he only prayed that it might last while he lived.
Luther's powerful constitution gradually broke down under the weight of his labors and anxieties. He became subject to attacks of bodily suffering, followed by great depression of mind. Nevertheless, the consciousness of having in a great measure performed the work which he had been called upon to do, kept up his faith, and he was accustomed to declare that he had been made "a chosen weapon of God, known in Heaven and Hell, as well as upon the earth." In January, 1546, he was summoned to Eisleben, the place of his birth, by the Counts of Mansfeld, who begged him to act as arbitrator between them in a question of inheritance. Although much exhausted by the fatigues of the winter-journey, he settled the dispute, and preached four times to the people. His last letter to his wife, written on the 14th of February, is full of courage, cheerfulness and tenderness.
Two days afterwards, his strength began to fail. His friend, Dr. Jonas, was in Eisleben at the time, and Luther forced himself to sit at the table with him and with his own two sons; but it was noticed that he spoke only of the future life, and with an unusual earnestness and solemnity. The same evening it became evident to all that his end was rapidly approaching: he grew weaker from hour to hour, and occasionally repeated passages from the Bible, in German and Latin. After midnight he seemed to revive a little: Dr. Jonas, the Countess of Mansfeld, the pastor of the church at Eisleben, and his sons, stood near his bed. Then Jonas said: "Beloved Father, do you acknowledge Christ, the Son of God, our Redeemer?" Luther answered "Yes," in a strong and clear voice; then, folding his hands, he drew one deep sigh and died, between two and three o'clock on the morning of the 17th of February.
1546.
After solemn services in the church at Eisleben, the body was removed on its way to Wittenberg. In every village through which the procession passed, the bells were tolled, and the people flocked together from all the surrounding country. The population of Halle, men and women, came out of the city with loud cries and lamentations, and the throng was so great that it was two hours before the coffin could be placed in the church. "Here," says an eyewitness of the scene, "we endeavored to raise the funeral psalm, De profundis ('Out of the depths have I cried unto thee'); but so heavy was our grief that the words were rather wept than sung." On the 22d of February the remains of the great Reformer were given to the earth at Wittenberg, with all the honors which the people, the authorities and the University could render.