"'There did the steadfast Lutherans keep that saying in their hearts—"Hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown." Ay, when before the beginning of the Diet the Lutheran ministers earnestly besought the Elector of Saxony that he would not for their sakes run into danger, but graciously permit them to appear alone and give in their declaration before the emperor, the undaunted prince made them answer—"God forbid that I should be shut out from your company; I will confess my Lord Jesus Christ with you."
"'This is one story about those words; now I will give you another—'"
"Stop one minute, Ditto. Uncle Eden, I do not exactly understand all that?"
"What do you not understand?"
"Who were all those people?"
"The Catholic nobles of the German empire, with Charles the Fifth, a very powerful emperor, at their head, and the chief Catholic church doctors and dignitaries,—all that on one side; representing the powers of this world. On the other side, a little handful of men whom Luther's teaching had awakened out of the darkness of the Middle Ages, confessing Christ before men; representing the feeble flock of His followers."
"Yes," said Maggie thoughtfully. "Was there danger?"
"There was great danger to whoever got into the power of the Catholic lords."
"Do you think the world is always against the truth, Mr. Murray?" Flora asked.
Mr. Murray answered in the words of the psalm—"'Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and their rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.'"