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In Germany to the Leipsic Disputation - James Aitken Wylie

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would not let him perceive that I saw through his<br />

Italian tricks."<br />

There came now a pause in <strong>the</strong> controversy.<br />

Lu<strong>the</strong>r laid aside his pen, he kept silence on<br />

indulgences; he busied himself in his chair; but,<br />

fortunately for <strong>the</strong> cause at stake, this pause was of<br />

no long duration. It was his enemies that broke <strong>the</strong><br />

truce. Had <strong>the</strong>y been wise, <strong>the</strong>y would have left <strong>the</strong><br />

monk in <strong>the</strong> fetters with which Miltitz had bound<br />

him. Not knowing what <strong>the</strong>y did, <strong>the</strong>y loosed his<br />

cords.<br />

This brings us <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Leipsic</strong> <strong>Disputation</strong>, an<br />

affair that made a great noise at <strong>the</strong> time, and<br />

which was followed by vast consequences <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />

Reformation.<br />

Such disputations were common in that age.<br />

They were a sort of <strong>to</strong>urnament in which <strong>the</strong><br />

knights of <strong>the</strong> schools, like <strong>the</strong> knights of <strong>the</strong><br />

Middle Ages, sought <strong>to</strong> display <strong>the</strong>ir prowess and<br />

win glory. They had <strong>the</strong>ir uses. There were <strong>the</strong>n no<br />

public meetings, no platforms, no daily press; and<br />

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