Protestantism in Sweden and Denmark - James Aitken Wylie
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From Lutheranism the four bishops turn to Dr.<br />
Eck. Their pen loses none of its cunn<strong>in</strong>g when they<br />
come to recount his great qualities. If Lutheranism<br />
was the plague that was darken<strong>in</strong>g the earth, Eck<br />
was the sun dest<strong>in</strong>ed to enlighten it. If Lutheranism<br />
was the serpent whose deadly virus was <strong>in</strong>fect<strong>in</strong>g<br />
mank<strong>in</strong>d, Eck was the Hercules born to slay the<br />
monster. "To thee," said the bishops, cast<strong>in</strong>g<br />
themselves at his feet, "thou most eloquent of men<br />
<strong>in</strong> Div<strong>in</strong>e Scripture, <strong>and</strong> who excellest <strong>in</strong> all k<strong>in</strong>ds<br />
of learn<strong>in</strong>g, we br<strong>in</strong>g the wishes of our Estates.<br />
They seek to draw to their own country the man<br />
who, by his gravity, his faith, his constancy, his<br />
prudence, his firm m<strong>in</strong>d, is able to br<strong>in</strong>g back those<br />
who have been misled by perverse <strong>and</strong> heretical<br />
teachers." Not that they thought they could add to<br />
the fame of one already possessed of "imperishable<br />
renown, <strong>and</strong> a glory that will last throughout the<br />
ages;" "a man to whom noth<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> Div<strong>in</strong>e literature<br />
is obscure, noth<strong>in</strong>g unknown;" but they urged the<br />
greatness of their need <strong>and</strong> the glory of the service,<br />
greater than any ever undertaken by the<br />
philosophers <strong>and</strong> conquerors of old, the deliverance<br />
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