Year: 1874

the Third recognized IN MN tne heau Oh every c"-
poral authority but no fixed rule was acknowledged
at Rome that the line of the emperors should be en-
titled to allegiance lords over the church. VI the
two great ideas which Charlemagne had united In
his crown the universal monarchy was creature OF
the past had fulfilled its destiny. and could never
be renewed Christianity, on the other hand, had a
life of its own. One hundred aud forty-eght years
after the death of Charlemagne 0tho the First was
crowned at Rome as the first holy Roman emperor OF
the German nation. He made himself master alike
over the Church and the State. But he could not
renew the authority of Charlemagne. He in no wise
represented universal monarchy, nor was his supre-
macy over O Church which claimed to be cathohc'
acknowledged by Kingdoms collectively greater thah
his own But the annexation OF the crown OF I'a'y
to that of Germany yoked together the powers OF the
Emperor and the Pope for an inevitable conlct' Inc
Pope was Oh the winning side. de reduced Ms ad-
yersary to hepessness by ginning the princes Oh tne
empire and controlled the clergy by the strength OF
ties of which they acknowledged the force He rep
resented the kingdom of Christ which was owned
throughout Christendom TO be without bounds
Ruling in Rome, he was clad with the prestige OF
authority over the eternal city and the world. The
monarchy had no mode of directly invoking the pop
ular support But the Pope. through the clergy. had
equal dominion the conscience in every cottage
and every castle. He therefore strong with the
people, through the people. The Emperor had the
oaths of his vassals the Pope the allegiance OF the
church-militant. The Emperor ruled through subor-
dinates who disputed bis commands the Pope,
through prelates who received his word as the voice
ofinfallibily Alength two centuries after the cor
onation of Charlemagne. Pope Gregory the Seventh
compelled the acknowledgment of all the 2reten-
sions of the Roman See lord over conscience and
over kings


The victory of the mightest Emperors Of the Ger
man nation, according to Mr.. Bancroft, could not
have been won by the Roman Pontifs, unless right
had in some degree been on their side In contend


ing against the absolute power of the Emperor over
conscience they were contending for the sacred
rights of the race But the despotism which they
snached from the scepter they appropriated to their
own uses The complete victory of the Pope over
the Emperor was barren and hollow 1t did not
organize public life, but national dissolution. 1t
established triumphant hierarchy, but not the
greatness of the people.


The time for reaction was now at hand. Inc
theory of the Popes supremacy had given rise to the
most foul abuses. He was accepted not only as the
arbiter of truth but as the interpreter OF morals
As the representative of the eternal wisdom ON earth
he claimed dominion alike over the reason and the
conscience, ruling in all things and never ruled
judging all things and never judged.


In passage of Plato's Republic" now, we be-
heve referred to by Mr. Bancroft for the first time,
mention is made of mendicant divines
who claimed the power to absolve
man from his sins on the performance OF
certain ceremonies. The method practiced on O
small scale by yagabond prophets in Athens was
formed by the Papal See into system for the world
It filled its treasury by organized traffic in lndul
gences promising pardon here and beyond the grave
On the 9th of November 1915 Pope Leo the Tenth
affirmed his power, the successor OF ST. Peter and
the vicar of Christ, to remit the sins OF the living
and the dead. But absolute power, first or Last al
ways brings its holders to perdition. The earth,
wrapped in thickest darkness, sighed for the dawn


The son of German peasant. trained in the school
of Paul of Tarsus kndled light for the world. lie
taught that no man embodies the authority OF God.
that the Pope is right in denying the divinity OF the
Emperor but that he blasphemes in assuming
divinity for himself. The great weapon of Luther
was the doctrine of Justification by faith. Every
man must work out his own salvation. No other
not priest, nor bishop, nor pope, no, nor all the
prOphets-cau serve for the direct connection OF the
intelligent reason of the individual with the infinite
and eternal intelligence. This principle, says Mr.
Bancroft solves every problem 1t is freedom against
authority elfactivity against superstitous trust In
other men. 1t announced the expiring dominion OF
foreign prince over the consclences OF the peoples
1t assigned to the Pope his true place as an errng
mortal with no pretense to authority over the
souls of men. Luther struck superstition at
the root The Pope stripped dominion over
conscience from the Emperor; Luther stripped


it from pope, prelates, and priests. His teach
ing was vindcatiOn for all mankind of the
rights of reason. Well did Leibnitz say of him ::
This is he who in later times taught the human
race hope and free thought The lessons of reform
went out from Luther through all the land, kim
ding the people with the promise of happier age.
Born in the rank of peasant he forgot his lin
cage and as the prophet of German unity and free
dom. touched the hearts of his countrymen by his
pregnant writings in their own tongue. The teach
ipgs of Luther were at the foundation of new era.
They formed the common principle on which French
men first colonized what is now Nova Scotia and
Florida and on which Englishmen and the Dutch
planted the States between Canada and the Chesa-
peake 1t was strongly represented in the more
southern settlements Thus although Germany ap-
proprated no territory in Anne rica, it gave to the
colonies of New -Netherland and New England their
laws of being.


The German philosophy of the eighteenth CEN
tury, as is shown by Mr. Bancroft was in the same
direction and it received powerful support from
the popular literature of the day. Kant, who stands
among the wise by the side of Plato and Aristotle,
reformed philosophy as Luther had reformed the
Church. on the principle of the self-activity of the
individual mind. He passed between dogmatism
and doubt to the school Of reason. The method of
Kant was based on freedom of mind. and his fidelity
to human freedom has been called in question.
Hence his friendship for America was inherent
aud inevitable. He was one of the first
among the German nation to sacrifice personal
favor to the cause of the United States. Les
sing followed in the same steps. In his view, the
class of mobiles had become superfluous. The