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Page 30
A clerk of Parma, named Roland, was charged with the delivery of this
letter, and the decrees of the conventicle of Worms. A synod had been
convoked in the Church of Lateran, and the Pope, surrounded by his
bishops, occupied a chair elevated above the rest. Roland's mission had
been kept a profound secret, and, when he appeared before the conclave,
not a prelate there could guess his purpose. They had not heard the
voice that had gone forth from Worms. But they did not long remain in
suspense. Turning to the Pope, the envoy thus began "The king, my
master, and all the ultramontane and Italian bishops, command you to
resign, at once, the throne of St. Peter and the government of the Roman
Church, which you have usurped; for you cannot justly claim so exalted a
dignity without the approbation of the bishops and the confirmation of
the emperor!" Then addressing the clergy, he thus continued: "My
brothers, it is my duty to inform you, that you must appear before the
king at the approaching festival of Pentecost, to receive a Pope from
his hand; for the tiara is now worn, not by a Pope, but by a devouring
wolf!"
Receive a Pope from the king! receive from C�sar what he must usurp to
bestow! Had Gregory flinched, the independence of the Church would have
been sacrificed, and her acknowledged inability to cope with royal vices
would have permitted every European monarch to change his queen with his
courtiers. Henry IV would have had his successor to Bertha; Philip
Augustus his Agnes de M�ranie; and Henry VIII his Cranmer and his
scaffold without one moment's opposition.
But no sooner had Roland pronounced those last words, than the Bishop of
Porto leaped from his chair, and cried out: "Seize him!" The prefect and
nobles of Rome and the soldiers drew their swords, and, in their sudden
fury, would have killed the audacious envoy, had not Gregory, repeating
his magnanimity to Cencius, covered the clerk with his own body, and by
his calmness and eloquence controlled the indignation and disgust of his
too zealous friends.
"My friends!" he said, with all the dignity of human greatness, elevated
and purified by the most exalted piety, "disturb not the peace of the
Church. Behold the dangerous times, of which the Scripture speaks, are
come, when men shall be lovers of themselves, covetous, haughty, and
disobedient to parents. We cannot escape these scandals; and God has
said that He has sent us like sheep in the midst of wolves. It is
necessary for us then to combine the innocence of the dove with the
prudence of the serpent. Now, when the precursor of Antichrist erects
himself against the Church, he must find us innocent and prudent; these
dispositions constitute wisdom. We must hate no one, but bear with the
madmen who would violate the law of God. Remember that God, descending a
second time among men, proclaims aloud: 'He who would follow me must
forsake himself!' We have lived in peace long enough, and God wishes
that the harvest should again be moistened with the blood of His Saints.
Let us prepare for martyrdom, if it shall be needed, for the law of God,
and resolve that nothing shall sever us from the charity of Jesus
Christ."
The synod, in breathless interest, listened to the holy Pontiff, who
then proceeded with wonderful composure to read the charges that had
been preferred against him. Among Roland's letters was another signed,
"Henry, king not by usurpation, but by the grace of God, to Hildebrand,
false monk and anti-pope." This was couched, if possible, in language
more insulting than the former. One sentence will show the temper of the
document, and prove that the king was struggling to build up a monarchy
of divine rights and appointment. "A true Pope, Saint Leo, says, _Fear
God! honor the king_! But as you do not fear God, neither do you honor
me whom He has appointed king." Can any expression more clearly indicate
that Henry of Austria had resolved to crush a Pontiff who stood between
him and unquestioned despotism, and that he aimed at a heaven-
commissioned temporal power, often conceded, it is true, but never by
Catholicity. The letter concludes with these words: "I, Henry, king by
the grace of God, warn you, with all our bishops: descend! descend!"
When the Pope had finished reading the invectives of Henry and those who
were weak enough to second his ambition, so great was the exasperation
of the synod, that he adjourned it to meet the next day. When the morrow
came, in the presence of one hundred and ten bishops, he recited his
former indulgence to Henry, his paternal remonstrances, and his repeated
proofs of love and goodness. The whole assembly rose in a body, and
implored him to anathematize a perjured prince, an oppressor, and a
tyrant, declaring that they would never abandon the Pope, and that they
were ready to die in his defence. It was then that Gregory VII rose and
pronounced, amid the unanimous acclamations of the synod, the sentence
of excommunication against the emperor.
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