His energetic assault aroused a number of opponents and an
active controversy ensued; ending in Luther's being cited to appear
before Cajetan, the pope's legate, at Augsburg. From this meeting no
definite result came. After a heated argument Cajetan ended the
controversy with the following words:
"I can dispute no longer with this beast; it has two wicked eyes and
marvellous thoughts in its head."
Luther's view of the matter was much less complimentary. He said of the
legate,--
"He knows no more about the Word than a donkey knows of harp-playing."
In the next year, 1519, a discussion took place at Leipzig, between
Luther on the one hand, aided by his friends Melanchthon and Carlstadt,
and a zealous and talented ecclesiastic, Dr. Eck, on the other. Eck was
a vigorous debater,--in person, in voice, and in opinion,--but as Luther
was not to be silenced by his argument, he ended by calling him "a
gentile and publican," and wending his way to Borne, where he expressed
his opinion of the new movement, demanded that the heretic should be
made to feel the heavy hand of church discipline.
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