ans, for the youthful emperor, whose crown was not yet warm upon his
brow, and who was almost a stranger in Germany, to undertake to crush
him. To appease the pope he drew up an apologetic declaration, in which
he said, in terms which do not honor his memory,

"Descended as I am from the Christian emperors of Germany, the Catholic
kings of Spain, and from the archdukes of Austria and the Dukes of
Burgundy, all of whom have preserved, to the last moment of their lives,
their fidelity to the Church, and have always been the defenders and
protectors of the Catholic faith, its decrees, ceremonies and usages, I
have been, am still, and will ever be devoted to those Christian
doctrines, and the constitution of the Church which they have left to me
as a sacred inheritance. And as it is evident that a simple monk has
advanced opinions contrary to the sentiments of all Christians, past and
present, I am firmly determined to wipe away the reproach which a
toleration of such errors would cast on Germany, and to employ all my
powers and resources, my body, my blood, my life, and even my soul, in
checking the progress of this sacrilegious doctrine. I will not,
therefore, permit Luther to enter into any further explanation, and will
instantly dismiss and afterward treat him as a heretic. But I can not
violate my safe conduct, but will cause him to be conducted safely back
to Wittemberg."

The emperor now attempted to accomplish by intrigue that which he could
not attain by authority of force. He held a private interview with the
reformer, and endeavored, by all those arts at the disposal of an
emperor, to influence Luther to a recantation. Failing utterly in this,
he delayed further operations for a month, until many of the diet,
including the Elector of Saxony and other powerful friends of Luther,
had retired. He then, having carefully retained those who would be
obsequious to his will, caused a decree to be enacted, as if it were the
unanimous sentiment of the diet, that Luther was a heretic; confirmed
the sentence of the pope, and pronounced the ban of the empire against
all who should countenance or protect him.

But Luther, on the 26th of May, had left Worms on his return to
Wittemberg. When he had passed over about half the distance, his friend
and admirer, Frederic of Saxony, conscious of the imminent peril which
hung over the intrepid monk, sent a troop of masked horsemen who seized
him and conveyed him to the castle of War