such a quarrel with the Elector Joachim of Brandenburg, upon this subject, that, as Luther relates, they grasped their knives. But Duke George frankly declared, that the German princes would never suffer so shameful a violation of the safeconduct, especially at the first Diet of the Emperor; that this would not agree with ancient German honesty; that what had been promised must be performed. Which, indeed, was spoken in a noble and princely spirit, and must, in fairness, be praised in one, who was, in other respects, a vehement enemy.

Hopes were still entertained, of bringing Luther, by private conversations, to a change of sentiments. In a conference of this sort, at which Reichard, archbishop of Treves, the Elector Joachim, of Brandenburg, Duke George, and some counts and deputies of the cities, were present, the chancellor of Baden, Doctor Vehus, conducted the conversation, and, after that, the archbishop of Treves took Luther, privately, into a chamber, where the official,' Eck, and Cochlaeus were likewise present. On the next day, April the twenty-fifth, Vehus, with Doctor Peutinger, continued the labor, both before and after noon. But the Elector Frederic was not willing that Luther should hold discussions with them, alone; and sent some of his counsellors to join them. At length, the archbishop of Treves took him aside, once more, upon which, Luther declared, he knew no better counsel than that of Gamaliel: "If this counsel or this work, be of man, it will perish; but if it be of God, you will not be able to smother it." He added, "If my cause is not of God, it will not last beyond two or three years; if it be of God, it cannot be stifled." Upon this, the Elector (the archbishop of Treves was one of the electors) asked, whether nothing could possibly be done, by the recantation of certain articles. Luther answered, "My gracious lord, so that they be not the very ones, which they have condemned at Constance." Upon this, the Elector said: "Those, I fear me, are the very ones. "Those," replied Luther, "I cannot yield, happen to me what may.'

At length, leave to depart from Worms, was granted

him, according to his desire. The electoral 'official' of Treves and the private secretary of the Emperor informed him, that since, in spite of so many exhortations, he would not yield to the authority of the Church, his imperial majesty must consider himself as the advocate of the Catholic faith, and consequently command him to return to his home, under free safeconduct, within twenty-one days, and not to excite the people, on the way, by preaching or writing. Luther answered, upon this, "As it has pleased the Lord, even so it has happened; blessed be the name of the Lord." He added, that, above all, he most devoutly and obediently thanked the emperor's majesty, the electors and estates of the empire, that they had heard him, so graciously, and that the promised safeconduct had been kept, and should still be kept, inviolate. For that he had desired, in all his doings, nothing but this, that a reformation, on the ground of Holy Writ, for which he had so earnestly petitioned, should be undertaken and executed. As for the rest, that he would cheerfully do and suffer every thing for the emperor's majesty, and the empire; would submit life or death, honor or shame, and keep nothing for himself, except the word of God, freely to profess and testify to the same. And, finally, that he would commend himself most devoutly to his imperial majesty, and the whole empire.

Thus Luther left Worms, on the twenty-sixth day of April; having first taken leave of all his friends. He arrived at Friedburg on the twenty-eighth. Being now in Hessian territory, he sent back the imperial herald, with two letters, one to the Emperor, the other to the estates of the empire. In these, after a relation of all the transactions at Worms, he complains, that his doctrine had not been inquired into, on the grounds of Scripture, and once more expresses his thanks, for the safeconduct. He concludes the letter to the Emperor, with these words: "Therefore, I most earnestly pray, not for myself, alone, for I am an unworthy and despised man, but for and in the name of all Christendom. This it is which has moved me, to send this epistle. For I wish

ed, from all my heart, that your imperial majesty should be a blessing to the whole empire, and to the noble and most worthy German nation, and that all should be kept in God's grace, with all success and happiness. I have not, thus far, sought any thing else but the honor of God, and the general welfare and salvation of every man ; and have not considered my own advantage; nor do I, now; whether God permit my adversaries to condemn me or not. If Christ, my Lord, prayed for his enemies on the cross, much more shall I be careful of, and pray and implore God for, your imperial majesty, the whole empire, and my beloved forefathers, and the whole of Germany, my dear fatherland, for the which I hope every thing good, according to my cheerful and confident trust in Christ, my Lord."

*

At his departure from Worms, he had been prohibited, indeed, from all preaching; but he had no ways assented to this condition. On the contrary, he had made this reservation, "that God's word remains unfettered, and that he was at liberty freely to profess it." He preached, therefore, at Hirschfeld. At this place, the abbot, a Benedictine, who was one of the princes of the empire, received him with extraordinary honors, and invited him to preach, although Luther reminded him, that he might chance to lose his abbey for it. He likewise preached at Eisenach. While he was proceeding on his journey, having left the main road, to visit some friends near Salzungen, he was suddenly seized upon, not far from Altenstein and Waltershausen, by an arrangement of the Elector, in concert with John von Berlepsch, bailiff at Wartburg, and Burkhard Hund, lord of Altenstein, by some disguised horsemen, who, however, were soon recognised as kind friends. They lifted him out of the carriage, placed him on horseback, led him about in the forest for some hours. At length, at eleven o'clock at night, they brought him to the castle of Wartburg,

*To these beloved forefathers" the previous " being careful of," it would seem has only reference, which, indeed, appears clearer from the original.

near Eisenach, the ancient residence of the landgraves of Thuringia.*

*Here Luther passed under the name of Knight George, (or, as we would express it in modern idiom, Chevalier George,) and here, in silvan solitude, in one of the finest spots of the Thuringian Forest, he translated the New Testament into German. In this retirement, where his prince kept him for his safety, he remained ten months, when, informed of the destruction of pictures, and other fanatical disturbances, excited by Carlstadt, he could remain no longer. Feeling called upon to hasten to the fanatics, in order to preach reason, peace, and order, in the name of sound religion, he left the castle, notwithstanding the new proclamation of outlawry, which the Emperor had just issued against him from Nuremberg. His letter to the Elector Frederic, upon this occasion, like his whole appearance at Worms, proves the heroic firmness of his soul.

THE SIEGE AND SURRENDER OF RHODES, IN THE YEAR 1522.

BY THE ABBE VERTOT.

THE universal desire to visit those spots, which, for any reason, are endeared to us, or which have been hallowed by important or great actions,—a desire common to mankind, in all periods,-became gradually a distinctive feature of the middle ages, as shown in the pilgrimages which were made to all places considered peculiarly sacred, but especially to the country where the Saviour had lived, taught, and suffered. The religious fervor, and the romantic and venturous spirit, so universally blended and diffused in that age, naturally presented in the most attractive light, a perilous journey to the tomb of Christ and the city of Jerusalem. This was especially the case, when, likewise in the spirit of the times, such a pilgrimage came to be considered, and finally to be proclaimed, by the Church, as a good work, of itself, possessing, as such, some degree of merit in the eyes of the Deity, which might counterbalance previous failures and wrongs. Yet, the chief agent which impelled thousands and thousands to visit Jerusalem and Mount Sinai, we must seek in the devotional glow and religious fervor of the times, which had seized upon the otherwise universal desire of mankind, already mentioned, to visit hallowed spots. It is originally the same impulse, which makes the scholar desire to see Athens or Rome, and the citizen to walk over the battle field where his ancestors bled for the liberty which he enjoys. It is this, which gives to the little town of Palos a very different interest, in the eyes of every one who honors the heroic perseverance of Columbus, from that, with which he views other seaports infinitely more important, in the commerce of nations. For the pilgrimages to the Holy Land were performed by thousands, long ere the Church declared them to possess the effective agency of good works. The pilgrims, however, were exposed to many privations; and, not unfrequently, to the serious wants and the numerous sufferings, brought on by diseases peculiar to the East, and to which