Adrian had been Grand
Inquisitor in four kingdoms, and he moderated expectation by inviting
the Germans to be worthy of the illustrious example set by their
ancestors, who burnt John Hus and Jerome of Prague. Therefore
Erasmus, when summoned to Rome to advise with him, declined to
come. "If they were going to shed blood," he said, "he would not be
wanted."

When, at the end of a year, Luther came out of his retirement, he
found that the world had changed. The seed that he had scattered was
coming up with variations. His own Saxon neighbours, led by
Carlstadt, were disposed to ride favourite opinions to death, with the
exaggeration and exclusiveness of enthusiasts. In Switzerland,
Zwingli held doctrines differing widely from his own, with a
republican and aggressive spirit that was hateful to him. The
Anabaptists started from his impulse, but in their earnest striving
after holiness adopted principles which involved a distinct reaction
towards medieval religion, and carried the multitude away. Near the
Swiss frontier, Zurich encouraged an agitation among the country
people, that was fomented by Lutheran and Anabaptist teachers, and
broke out soon after into anticipations of 1789. Luther turned from
the foe beyond the mountains to the foe within the gates, and employed
himself thenceforward in repressing misconceptions of his system to
men who were in some sense his disciples. Against Rome the tide was
manifestly rising. The danger was on his own side. This is variously
called the reversal of original principle, the great surrender, the
breach between Reformation and Revolution. Luther was acquiring
caution and restraint. The creative period of the Reformation was
over. All the ideas by which he so deeply moved the world had been
produced in the first five years. Beyond the elementary notions that
govern life, he lost interest in the further pursuit of theology.
"Abraham," he said, "had faith; therefore Abraham was a good
Christian." What else there might be in Christianity mattered less;
and nearly all metaphysical inquiry, even on the Trinity, was
neglected by the German reformers.

It is the extremity of his Conservatism that has put him wrong, even
with those who regard politics as quite distinct from ethics. He
defended Passive Obedience; he claimed to be the inventor of Divine
Right; and the constitution of the Lutheran Churches contributed even
more than the revival of the Civil Law to establis