The Conservative Reformation and Its Theology - Saint Mary ...

and by prophets and martyrs, with and without emperors, kings, and
princes,) undertaken by a poor monk alone, who carried it out under the
ban both of the Pope and the Empire. In the second, we see him
surrounded by friends and disciples, always the spiritual head of his nation,
and the revered adviser of princes, and preacher of the people; living in the
same poverty as before, and leaving his descendants as unprovided for as
Aristides left his daughter. So lived and died the greatest hero of
Christendom since the Apostles; the restorer of that form of Christianity
which now sustains Europe, and (with all its defects) regenerating and
purifying the whole human race; the founder of the modern German
language and literature; the first speaker and debater of his country; and at
the same time, the first writer in prose and verse of his age."
Erasmus.
The relations of Erasmus and Luther form an interesting chapter in
the history of the Reformation. With all the caution of Erasmus, and the
difference of spirit and principle in the two men, he could not help feeling a
profound though uneasy reverence for Luther. In writing to Cardinal
Wolsey, in 1518, when Luther's name was just rising, he says: "As to
Luther, he is altogether unknown to me, and I have read nothing of his
except two or three pages. His life and conversation is universally
commended; and it is no small prejudice in his favor, that his morals are
unblamable, and that Calumny itself can fasten no reproach on him. If I
had really been at leisure to peruse his writings, I am not so conceited of
my own abilities, as to pass a judgment upon the performances of so
considerable a divine. I was once against Luther purely for fear lest he
should bring an odium upon literature, which is too much suspected of evil
already. Germany hath produced some promising youths, who have
eloquence and learning, and of whom she will one day, in my opinion,
have reason to boast, no less than England can now boast of her sons." 50
In a letter to Melanchthon, (1519,) he says: "All the world is agreed
amongst us in commending his moral character. He hath given us good
advice on certain
50 Quoted by Jortin, "Life of Erasmus," London, 1728, 4to, p. 129.