These considerations spurred Tetzel on to issue against Luther fifty Theses on the power of the Pope; for, indeed, it had not eluded his observation that much the greater part of the applause received by Luther was owing far more to his insidious attacks on the authority of the Holy See than to his reprobation of the Indulgence. Tetzel's fifty Theses, published about the end of April, 1518, maintained, therefore, that the highest power having been received by the Pope exclusively from God, cannot be extended or limited, either by any man, or by the whole world, but only by God Alone. That in his power of jurisdiction the Pope stands above all other bishops separate or united. That, although, as a private man, the Pope may hold, on a point of faith, a wrong opinion, yet when he pronounces judgment on it ex cathedrâ he is infallible. That Indulgences cannot be granted by the rest of the prelates, whether collectively or singly, but only by the "Bridegroom of the whole Church," viz., the Pope. That what is true and of faith about Indulgences, only the Pope can decide. That the Church has many Catholic truths, which are neither expressly declared in the canon of Scripture, nor explicitly stated by the holy Fathers. That all doctrines relating to faith, and defined as such by the Apostolic See, are to be reckoned among Catholic truths, whether or no they are contained in the Bible. As a warning for the Elector of Saxony, Tetzel declares that all those who patronize heretics, and use their power to prevent them from being put upon their trial before the lawful judge, incur excommunication. These fifty Theses of Tetzel's were strictly in the spirit of the scholastic theology in vogue, a spirit which the experience of such councils as those of Basle, Constance, and Florence had contributed not a little to evoke. Luther at once perceived what a stumbling-block Tetzel had thrown in his way. He did not attempt to dispute the fifty Theses. Had he done so he must have plainly acknowledged himself a heretic. As matters stood, this would have been premature, would have spoiled all, would have ruined. him and his cause. Tetzel had not designated Luther personally as a heretic. But Luther chose to assume that he had done so, and forthwith let loose a storm against him of such brutal and malignant invective as Luther alone was capable of. Adopting the tone of an injured man, a man shamefully misunderstood, he filled Germany with hypocritical asseverations of his orthodoxy and his devotion to the See of Peter. All his party, all Tetzel's opponents, followed in his wake. The heathen-minded Humanists, in particular, singled out Tetzel as the butt of their ribald satire, holding him up to scorn and execration as the very impersonation of every imaginable monastic abuse and scandal. The persecuted man found little or no shelter from the tempest. The friends of religion and the Church were intimidated, confounded, paralysed; apathy, indecision, cowardice, delusion, prevailed among the guardians of the faith, prevailed among the German bishops. Rome herself was slow and lenient in her measures. Although she cited Luther to come and answer for himself to her, she consented, in the persons of Cajetan and Miltiz, to go to him. Cajetan, all patience and condescension, allowed himself to be trifled with and duped. Miltiz truckled to Luther, reviled Tetzel, betrayed his trust. In vain did Hermann Rab, Provincial of the Saxon Dominicans, address a touching letter in Tetzel's defence to Miltiz. It is dated at Leipzig, January 3, 1519, and is quoted in full by Dr. Gröne: Truly I should not know where to find a man (observes Hermann Rab in this letter) who has done and suffered, who still suffers so much for the honour of the Apostolic See, as our venerable father, Magister John Tetzel. If his Holiness only knew it, I doubt not but that he would distinguish him in a worthy manner. With what lies and slanders beyond number he is overwhelmed, all the street corners, where they resound in your ears, attest. I only wish your Excellence had heard the sermon he preached on the feast of our Lord's Circumcision, for then you would not have failed to convince yourself what his sentiments are, and always have been, towards the Holy See. Miltiz commanded Tetzel to retire to his cell at Leipsic. He obeyed. His career was now terminated. He never ascended the pulpit again. The fatigues and excitement he had undergone; the persecution he suffered; his deserted and forlorn condition; above all, the course of events, so ominous for the Church and the Papacy, to which he clung with all his soul; these things preyed upon his mind and body to such a degree that his health gave way, and he died in a state of profound melancholy in the month of August of the above-mentioned year. He is supposed to have been about sixty years old. Tetzel could not have set up a better monument to his own character (writes Dr. Gröne) than he did in the grief and affliction which hastened his end. The ruin of the Church, the wild infidelity, and unspeakable disorders which the triumph of Luther must needs entail on Germany, this was the worm that gnawed his vital thread. It broke his heart to be forced to see how the sincere champions of the old Church truths were left alone, were slandered, despised, and misunderstood by their own party, while the mockers and revilers of the immutable doctrine won applause on all sides. In a chapter devoted to a refutation of the infamous calumnies and profane anecdotes recorded of Tetzel, it is shown by Dr. Gröne that they were mostly borrowed from the Decameron of Boccacio and a congenial German production, styled, Der Pfaffe Amis. For example,-Tetzel, being anxious to impart extraordinary interest to the indulgence he had to preach, once told the people he would show them a feather which the devil, in combating with the archangel Michael, had plucked from the archangel's wing. But a couple of godless wags, entering his chamber during his absence, stole the feather out of the box in which it was kept, and put some coals from the fire-place in its stead. Tetzel, ignorant of the theft, mounts the pulpit, box in hand, and declaims with great fervour on the wonderful qualities of his heavenly feather. Then opening the box, finds it full of coals. Nothing abashed, he cries out, "What wonder if, among so many relic-boxes as I possess, I have taken the wrong one.' And forthwith he extols the miraculous power of the very coals on which S. Lawrence was broiled. Another merry tale of the sort is the following:-"Tetzel," they say, "once desired to lodge with the sacristan at Zwickau. But the sacristan excused himself as being too poor to entertain so renowned a guest. We'll see that you have money enough,' said Tetzel, 'only look what saint it is in the calendar to-morrow.' The sacristan found the name of Juvenalis. 'A very unlucky name, he regretted to say, because it was so little known.' 'But we'll make it known,' replied Tetzel. 'Ring the bells to-morrow as if for a festival, and let High Mass be sung. The sacristan obeyed, and the people throng the church. After the Gospel Tetzel ascends the pulpit, and speaks:Good people, to-day I have something to tell you which, if I were to withhold it, would be the very ruin of your salvation. Hitherto, you know, we have always invoked such and such saints, but now they have grown old, and are tired of hearing and helping us. To-day you commemorate Juvenalis, and although till now he has been unknown, let us none the less honour him with all our hearts. For as he is a new saint, he will be all the more indefatigable in praying for Juvenalis, my friends, was a holy martyr, whose blood was innocently shed. Now if you also would participate in his innocence before God, let each of you put an offering on the altar during Mass. And do you, ye great and rich ones, precede the rest with your good example."" us. Again, in 1512, Tetzel, after having preached at Zwickau, had got all his money packed up, and was about to depart. But the parish priest, with his chaplain and clerk, came ART. III.-LORD PLUNKET'S LIFE AND SPEECHES. 1867. The Life, Letters, and Speeches of Lord Plunket. By his Grandson the Hon. THE By the Right Hon. LORD PLUNKET, Edited, with a Memoir and Historical Dublin: Duffy. 1856. HE publication of the materials of history in the correspondence and speeches of eminent men, is one of the characteristics of our times. Mr. Plunket's work which has just appeared, partakes of this character. It contains a considerable number of highly interesting and valuable letters, which form the most original part of his volumes. In this respect it could not be expected to compete with those which. give us the letters and despatches of the illustrious general of our age, or again of great administrators like the Marquis of Wellesley or Lord Cornwallis, for the most important years of Plunket's life were spent in a private station. His own letters, moreover, which, although they could not have equalled in historical importance those written by men in high official situations, could not have failed to be highly interesting, have in few instances been preserved, or at least have not been accessible to his biographer. There are interesting and important letters of his, some of which we shall mention; but the most important in the volume were not received by him. Among these we have read those of Lord Wellesley with especial interest. His public life was always distinguished by something of almost monarchical stateliness. His private letters to Plunket, when the two were united, as Lord Lieutenant and Attorney General, in a struggle against the bigotry of their colleagues in administration, present him in a new character. He complains of the treatment he received from the English Government, in language more forcible than dignified. March 19, 1824, he writes: This country is in the most tremendous condition, and I am left without support or countenance to submit to the kicks of the ass and the dirt of the monkey. The suppression of my despatch on this great subject is an ignominy, an insult not to be endured. It is a sequel of the same plan of extinction which on the questions of the Statue, the Riot, the Orange and Ribbon con |