"All parties must unite in admiring and venerating the man who,
undaunted and alone, could stand before such an assembly, and
vindicate with unshaken courage what he conceived to be the cause of
religion, of liberty, and of truth, fearless of any reproaches but
those of his own conscience, or of any disapprobation but that of his
God."--Roscoe's _Life of Leo X._, vol. iv. p. 36.

Luther himself, afterward recalling the event, said: "It must indeed
have been God who gave me my boldness of heart; I doubt if I could
show such courage again."


LUTHER'S REFUSAL TO RECANT.

A weak, poor man, arraigned and alone before the assembled powers of
the earth, with only the grace of God and his cause on which to lean,
had demand made of him whether or not he would retract his books or
any part of them, _Yes_ or _No_. But he did not shrink, neither did he
falter. "Since Your Imperial Majesty and Your Excellencies require of
me a direct and simple answer, I will give it. To the pope or councils
I cannot submit my faith, for it is clear that they have erred and
contradicted one another. Therefore, unless I am convinced by proofs
from Holy Scripture or by sound reasons, and my judgment by this means
is commanded by God's Word, _I cannot and will not retract anything_:
for a Christian cannot safely go contrary to his conscience." And,
glancing over the august assembly, on whose will his life hung, he
added in deep solemnity, those immortal words: "HERE I STAND. I
CAN DO NO OTHERWISE. SO HELP ME GOD! AMEN."[14]