ritable and turbulent disposition, began in 1517 by exclaiming against the abuses which are said to have been practised in the publication of the Indulgences granted by Pope Leo X. to those who should contribute to the rebuilding of St. Peter's Church in Rome. But soon after he arbitrarily set himself up as a reformer of the Church, inveighed against the Ecclesiastical authorities, especially against the Pope, whose supreme power he denounced as usurpation and tyranny, and which he said he would bring to a miserable end. In pursuance of his wrong views, he rejected many articles of faith which the Church had received from Christ and His Apostles. He repudiated the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, Fasting, Confession, Prayers for the Dead, and many other pious practices; he declared good works to be useless, and taught that man is justified and saved by faith alone. Moreover, he threw open the monasteries and convents, and gave leave to the monks and nuns to marry; and he presumed to award to princes and sovereigns the right of confiscating the property of churches and convents, and of assigning it to any use they pleased. Finally, he broke the vow of chastity which he had solemnly made as a monk and as a priest, and committed the double sacrilege of taking a nun for his wife. Luther boasted that he took his doctrine from the Bible only; but being misled by the false rule of private judgment in its in-
