surroundings he now entered, and the proceedings impending over him,
were wholly novel and unaccustomed. But he met with men who received him
with kindness and consideration; several of them were gentlemen of
Augsburg favorable to him, especially the respected patrician, Dr.
Conrad Peutinger, and two counsellors of the Elector. They advised him
to behave with prudence, and to observe carefully all the necessary
forms to which as yet he was a stranger.

Luther at once announced his arrival to Cajetan, who was anxious to
receive him without delay. His friends, however, kept him back until
they had obtained a written safe-conduct from the Emperor, who was then
hunting in the environs. In the mean time a distinguished friend of
Cajetan, one Urbanus of Serralonga, tried to persuade him, in a flippant
and, as Luther thought, a downright Italian manner, to come forward and
simply pronounce six letters--"_Revoco_" ("I retract"). Urbanus asked
him with a smile if he thought his sovereign would risk his country for
his sake. "God forbid!" answered Luther. "Where then do you mean to take
refuge?" he went on to ask him. "Under heaven," was Luther's reply.

On October 11th Luther received the letter of safe-conduct, and the next
day he appeared before Cajetan. Humbly, as he had been advised, he
prostrated himself before the representative of the Pope, who received
him graciously and bade him rise.

The Cardinal addressed him civilly and with a courtesy Luther was not
accustomed to meet with from his opponents; but he immediately demanded
him, in the name and by command of the Pope, to retract his errors, and
promise in future to abstain from them and from everything that might
disturb the peace of the Church. He pointed out, in particular, two
errors in his theses; namely, that the Church's treasure of indulgences
did not consist of the merits of Christ, and that faith on the part of
the recipient was necessary for the efficacy of the sacrament. With
respect to the second point, the religious principles upon which Luther
based his doctrine were altogether strange and unintelligible to the
scholastic standpoint of Cajetan; mere tittering and laughter followed
Luther's observations, and he was required to retract this thesis
unconditionally. The first point settled the question of papal
authority. The Cardinal-legate could not believe that Luther would
venture to resist a papal bull, and thought he had probably not read it.
He read