u ! LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. Shelf.Au.3 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. DR. MARTIN LUTHER, Born Nov. lOth, 1483. Died Feb. 18th, 1546. THE LIFE OF Dr. Martin Luther OFFERED TO THE LUTHERAN CHURCH IN AMERICA PROF. W." WACKERNAGEL, D.D. TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN BY PROF. C. W. SCHAEFFER, D.D. 2 Ip If *rafo* of tip Btrnomj. 1. LUTHER'S PARENTS, HIS BIRTH AND EARLY YOUTH. MOUNTAINOUS region rises in the heart of Germany, rich in forests and marked by narrow valleys, abounding in re- freshing streams of water. It is known as the forest of TMringen. At its west- ern boundary and not far from the town of Salzungen lies the village of Mohra. About the year 1483, the population of this village consisted of some fifty fami- lies, sturdy, honest and prosperous peasants, the most of them being the owners of the ground they cultivated. There was a chapel in Mohra itself, but the church of the (25) 26 parish to which Mohra belonged stood in the village of Hausen near Salzungen. The peasant race from which Luther descended had, for many years, been settlers at Mohra. The name itself has altogether an honorable signification, for "Luther" means a man of distinction in the army. The citizens of Mohra kept themselves aloof from the turmoils of war- fare, but they understood well how to maintain their Hans Luther. rights in peace. The most distinguished man of the family of Luther never blushed to acknowledge that he had descended from a race of peasants. " I am the son of a peasant," he once said; "my father, my grandfather, and my great grandfather were all industrious peasants." Martin Luther's father, Hans Luther, was the oldest son of his parents. It had been from old times the pre- 27 vailing usage of the peasants of Thiiringen that the in- heritance of the family estate should descend to the youngest son. The elder brothers upon assuming any domestic responsibilities of their own always left home to establish themselves elsewhere; and Hans Luther as a skillful miner found employment in Mohra, where the yield of copper was such as to reward the toil of the laborer. Shortly after his marriage he removed from Mohra to the county of Mansfield near the Harz moun- tains, first taking up his abode in Eisleben, where also he was occupied with mining as it was there carried on. Six months after his son Martin was born, he settled in Mansfield and became a burgher of that enterprising city. Though somewhat straitened in circumstances at first, he was nevertheless enabled in due time to extend his mining operations, and having rented two furnaces be- longing to the Count of Mansfield he managed them in his own interest. In honor of his strict integrity the citizens made him a member of the City Council, and the aged Count Gunther held him in high honor for his unwearied industry. Hans Luther was a good man, ren- dering due reverence to the ecclesiastical authority, seek- ing to w T alk uprightly before God, and professing the faith that was maintained by the church. He was accus- tomed to associate freely with the clergy of Mansfield, because he felt that his own knowledge might be in- creased by intercourse with learned men. However, he was not backward in speaking of anything of which he disapproved, and was specially pointed in condemning the clergy for interfering with the rights of parents and the private affairs of families. 28 The family name of Margaret, Luther's mother, was Ziegler. She descended from an old Franconian family, and had relations living at Eisenach and Gotha. She was a true helpmate of her husband, faithfully sharing with him in the heat and burden of the day. In the early times of their residence in Mansfield she would even go out into the forest, and gathering up wood for domestic uses, would carry it home upon her shoulders. Margaret Luther. As Hans Luther himself rose in standing and in the con- sideration of his fellow citizens, the respect accorded to Madam Margaret advanced in the same proportion. Me- lanchthon heard her spoken of in Mansfield as a paragon of virtuous women, specially distinguished for purity, piety and devotion. Both the father and mother attained good old age. They were both somewhat low of stature, 29 with well developed limbs, and of dark complexion. They had four sons and three daughters. Two sons and the three daughters, the wives of Mansfield burghers, survived them. Parental joy first entered the home of Hans and Mar- garet Luther between 1 1 and 12 o'clock on the night of November 10th, A.D. 1483, when a healthy boy first rested in their arms. The next day he was baptized in St. Peter's Church; his father giving him the name Martin, in honor of the pious knight Martinus, who had been re- vered as a saint, and whose festival occurred on November 11th. The name Martin is derived from Mars, the god of war, among the Romans; and so both the baptismal name and the family name of Luther have a warlike sound, and truly Martin Luther was a chosen leader to carry on the wars of the Lord. Martin began to go to school in his early youth. If the weather was unfavorable, or the roads obstructed with the drifted snows of winter, his stronger school-mate, Nicholas Oemler, would come and help him along. Yet, his parents did not fail in their duty and did not commit to the schoolmaster the work of training the mind and the heart of their child in the knowledge and the fear of God. Their discipline in their family was strict, and whilst Martin stood in wholesome fear of his father, his heart turned towards his mother in childlike affection. Being her first-born he was specially dear to her, because he gave to the younger children such a fine example of obedience and good behavior. The little Martin rapidly acquired whatever learning was taught in the village school, such as reading, writing, 30 arithmetic and the principles of Latin grammar. The teacher was a hard master, not qualified for his position, and hasty in heating his scholars unmercifully for the least blunder, on account of which, as was natural, their improvement was slow. In consequence of such severe handling Martin began to lose his cheerfulness and be- came reserved and shy. From his hard experience in Luther taken to School. school, however, he always found a pleasant relief in going to church, where both eyes and ears were gratified, where the senses were charmed and fascinated, where the imagination was specially aroused by the display of so much that was mysterious. The choral music and the 31 organ had peculiar attractions for him, and on the great festivals, Christmas, Easter and Pentecost, the whole con- gregation was accustomed to sing short hymns in the German language. Sometimes the children had to re- peat the ten commandments, the creed and the Lord's prayer in the church, although there was as little instruc- tion given upon these subjects and upon the history of the Bible in general as upon the preaching of the Gospel itself. In Mansfield even, although the priests were not illiterate, nevertheless they were blind guides. The peo- ple knew nothing about the faith of the Gospel, and so their minds were the more completely filled up with the wild phantoms of superstition. Everywhere, both in town and in the country, they would see ghosts, and everywhere they were terrified with the dread of evil spir- its. The most cruel proceedings against witches orig- inated in that age, and even people who were otherwise intelligent, as Luther's parents were, were deluded by this superstitious notion. In later years Luther related many a sad and melancholy instance of this heathen supersti- tion, showing the horrors of its gloomy reign before the day of the Reformation had dawned upon the world. 2. MAGDEBURG. EISENACH AXD ERFURT. When he was fourteen years old, Martin left the home of his parents and went to Magdeburg. He had, as a traveling companion, Hans Reinecke, whose family were in easy circumstances. This young man showed much kindness to Luther, who, indeed, stood in need of it; and in after years the great Doctor Martin never forgot it. 32 In Magdeburg, the brethren of the Common Life, of which order Thorn as-a-Kempis and John Wessel were members, had opened a high school to which many students resorted. The tuition was gratuitous, but the students had to provide their own support. They organ- ized companies of singers among themselves, who would go from house to house singing their melodies, in the hope that people would give them bread, for the love of God. Martin also belonged to such a company, and many a time got his daily bread by singing; yet he was not altogether without means in Magdeburg, for, he was often invited to enjoy the hospitality of Dr. Mosthauer. In Magdeburg he formed a friendship with a school-fel- low somewhat older than himself, Winceslaus Link, and this friendly attachment continued for life. His close application to study and his insufficient supply o/ whole- some food, was more than his youthful strength could bear; and so he was laid up with a severe attack of fever. One day when his companions were in attendance at church, he worked himself along on hands and feet into the kitchen, and having there taken a hearty drink of cold water, he returned to his bed and fell into a deep sleep, from which he awoke refreshed and free from the fever. In the streets of Magdeburg he would sometimes meet a monk, who, by his fastings and watchings, had been wasted away to skin and bone, bearing the heavy pack of a beggar upon his weary shoulders. The people would whisper to each other, "that is a holy man." This was 210 other than a prince of Anhalt, who expected to earn heaven by these severe penances; but alas! he would 33 find himself mistaken, for he thought more of his own merits than of the merits of Christ. During the Christmas holidays, Martin, in company with others, would go on singing excursions into the country, hoping that the farmers would give them some animal food in return for their music. As they sang about the child Jesus, in front of a certain house, the owner suddenly rushed out, and, in a very rough tone cried out "boys, where are you?" Terribly alarmed they scampered off; but at some distance, turning around, they saw the farmer beckoning to them, with food in his hands. This restored their confidence, and going back to him they obtained what they had desired. As Martin's mother had relations living at Eisenach, it was the wish of his parents that he should go thither, which he did, after having spent only one year at Mag- deburg. It was naturally expected that these relations would take some friendly interest in the boy's welfare ; and so he was received into the family of his cousin Con- rad, Clerk of the church of St. Nicholas. However, as he had to supply his own daily bread, nothing remained for him but the former practice of singing for his living, which, nevertheless, proved to be a very hard service. He lost much precious time, and often had to go supperless to bed. His spirits sank, and in gloomy seasons he would contemplate abandoning the studies in which he so much delighted, and going back to engage in the work of mining at Mansfield. Then, however, Providence raised up for him a friend to act the part of a mother. Madam Ursula, wife of a prosperous merchant, Kunz Cotta, had for a long time been much pleased with the 34 fine voice of the Mansfield boy, and favorably impressed by the spirit of devotion with which he joined in the worship of the church. She took him into her own house and gave him protection and support, so that, de- livered as he was from anxious cares about his subsist- ence, he could now prosecute his studies with his whole heart. Through his daily intercourse with this excel- lent woman he acquired refined manners, and was saved from having any sympathy or part in the usually rough and reprehensible behavior of the school boys. The family of Schalbe, from which Madam Ursula descended, also showed him kindness. This family had established, Luther before Madam Cotta's House. at the foot of Wartburg, a small cloister school, called Schalbe College, to which poor students were admitted. Here Luther was allowed to come and go at pleasure, the occupants of the establishment paying him much at- 35 tention, and especially Master Braun, who was the Yicar of St. Mary's Chapter. Martin's spirit, that had been much beclouded, now cleared up again under the influ- ence of so much friendliness and love; and he became a bright and cheerful young man, the favorite of his friends and benefactors. In the school of St. George's Church, Martin received a thorough training. The teacher, John Trebonius, was a man of considerable learning. It was his custom, upon entering his school-room, to remove his cap and salute his scholars with marked politeness; for, he said, the Lord may, perhaps, make doctors or chancellors, or rulers and governors out of many of these young men. The way that Trebonius took to inspire his pupils with the love of learning was different from that which had been pursued by the tyrant of the school at Mansfield. Luther ever cherished a grateful remembrance of him, and also of his able assistant Wigand, who afterwards became a preacher of the gospel. The teachers, for their part, spoke in high terms of Luther's extraordinary gifts and of his astonishing application. He was distinguished by the felicity and copiousness of his address, and was far in advance of all his fellow students. Early in the summer of 1501, Martin Luther entered the high school at Erfurt. Hans Luther wanted his son to be a jurist; and so it was his wish that Martin should study jurisprudence at Erfurt. He cherished the hope perhaps, that his son might become burgomaster of Mansfield, or even chancellor of the elector. It was now no longer necessary for the son to get his bread by sing- ing, for his father had come to be a man of considerable 36 property, and Martin was furnished with funds sufficient to buy his books, an advantage which did not fall to the lot of every student. Erfurt was a large and prosperous city, even wealthy. Its university held the first rank among all the high schools of Germany. In learning and in aptness to teach, its professors rivalled the proud doctors of the cele- brated University of Paris. Jodocus Trutvetter and Ar- noldi von Usingen, both of them philosophers and theo- logians, were celebrated throughout all Germany and famous as the Erfurt doctors; whilst Peter Luder, Mater- nus Pistoris, and Nicholas Marschalk, were distinguished as teachers of the ancient languages, and as commenta- tors of the classic poets. According to the usage then prevailing, Luther did not, at once, enter upon the subject of jurisprudence, but be- gan with the study of philosophy. This included seven different branches, commonly called the liberal arts, namely: grammar, rhetoric, dialectics, arithmetic, geom- etry, physic, astronomy. Further, the classic languages and authors also, were included in the course of philoso- phy. After the student had finished the study of all these several branches, then he could begin to give attention to the special subject which he had chosen for his profes- sion. These preparatory studies were altogether in har- mony with Luther's taste and disposition. His habit of close application still clung to him at Erfurt. He found great delight in the study of the ancient languages and authors, and in respect to rhetoric and logical reasoning his talents were of a high order. He took great interest in pondering upon difficult questions and endeavoring 37 to solve them. He would even amuse himself by start- ing cunningly devised subjects and disputing about words. The chief text-book acknowledged in all the uni- versities was the work of the heathen philosopher, Aris- totle, who was so profoundly venerated as to be regarded as the great teacher of the philosophy of faith. Theolo- gians did not hold the Divine Scriptures to be the rule and measure of their teachings. The heathen, Aristotle, held the position the Holy Scriptures should have occu- pied; and along with him ranked the Scholastics, as they are called, who, instead of the pure doctrine of the church, bright with Divine life, fixed up a hideous, bony skeleton without flesh and blood, and fumbled so reck- lessly with the letter of the word that the Spirit itself de- parted from them, leaving, in the letters, nothing but piercing thorns behind. The life of the university, which was largely attended, was a very busy one, and Luther threw himself heartily into it. He marched with the students in their public processions, and was sure to attend all academic exer- cises, giving close attention to the speeches and discus- sions. In the circle of his familiar friends he was spoken of as the learned philosopher, and never failed to be present when important questions were agitated in a public meeting. However, poetry of the highest order, and the most profound philosophy could not long satisfy his heart, which, even whilst he was occupied in the study of Aristotle, had begun to feel a raging thirst for the Truth. It was the will of God that he should study philosophy thoroughly, in order that he might learn by experience, both for his own good and for that of many 38 others, that it is not the rich, but only the poor in spirit who enter into the kingdom of heaven. This thorough understanding of what was false in the scientific teach- ings of the day, enabled him afterwards to oppose those false teachings with great effect. The time that Luther spent at Erfurt was not lost any more than was the time which Moses spent during his education at the Egyptian Court, or the time that Paul spent as a student at the feet of Gamaliel. Yet, it was not the most effectual place of training after all. During his residence in Erfurt, Luther was regular in his attendance at church. The pastor, Sebastian Wein- mann, was earnest in urging his people to maintain cor- rect morals, and Luther was much interested in his ser- mons, although he never heard anything beyond the thunders of the law, the gospel itself having neither local habitation nor friend in Erfurt. The lives of most of the clergy and of the monks, were scandalous. When a cer- tain rich and luxurious canon of the church was about to die, he cried out, " O, that I had been only the servant of a swineherd !" The church always put on a great dis- play w T henever any high church official would visit the city, and the professors of the university always paid great court to the visiting dignitary. It was considered important to have credit for sincere devotion to the papacy, and, to present the appearance of piety and sub- ordination, at least. Luther had been a whole year in Erfurt before he had a sight of the Holy Bible, a book for which even the learned men of Erfurt had no regard. He had had no thought that the Bible contained anything more than 39 the lessons that were publicly read in the church from the Gospels and the Epistles. In the library of the uni- versity he took the Holy Scriptures in the Latin language into his own hand for the first time. In glad surprise at Luther flnds the Bible ra the Library at Erftjrt. the large volume, he opened it, and was charmed by read- ing the history of Samuel and Hannah. After this he often went to the library, although the Bible had not yet, even then, become the book of books to him. 40 On St. Michael's day, 1502, Martin Luther received his first academical degree, the degree of Bachelor of Arts. On Epiphany, in 1505, he was made Master of Arts, being the second in a class of seventeen, and he was the pride of his teachers and fellow-students. On a certain occa- sion, when he was confined to bed in consequence of too severe study, a friend of his, a student from Meiningen, comforted him with the prophetical declaration, "Martin, be of good courage, you'll prove to be a great man yet." In compliance with the wishes of his father, Magister Martin Luther began the study of jurisprudence in the early summer of 1505. His father furnished him with a costly work, the Laws of Justinian (Corpus Juris Civilis), elucidated by the comments and explanations of mediae- val jurists. His teacher was Dr. Gode, a very distin- guished man, and the prospect of a successful career opened up before him. But, whilst in the midst of these scenes, he suddenly disappears. 3. IN THE MONASTERY. A short time before he received the degree of Master, Luther had to experience a very severe trial. Whilst going homeward on a vacation in company with a friend, he inadvertently wounded himself in an artery of the leg with the short sword which it was then the fashion to wear. As he saw the blood flowing from the wound upon the road and afterwards in his room, he called loudly upon the Virgin Mary for help. It was with great diffi- culty that the flow of blood was checked until the arrival of a surgeon, and it opened again during the following 41 night. He was confined to his room for a long time, and during this time he learned to play the lute. After his recovery he was suddenly struck by another terror; for one of his friends, whose companionship had been .truly pleasant to him, was found one morning dead in his bed pierced by a poniard. In July, 1505, the young Master went to Mansfield on a visit. Upon his return, and when near the City of Erfurt, he was overtaken by a storm. The lightning and thunder were terrific, and as he sank to the ground in mortal dread he cried out: "Help me, O St. Ann, help me, and I will be a monk!" The storm passed away, and the poor man, crushed both in body and mind, crawled towards the town. Upon his freely relating this occurrence and his vow to his friends, they strongly dis- suaded him from it, but they found that his purpose was fixed. He invited his friends to call upon him on the evening of July 15th, when he maintained a cheerful humor, repelled all attempts at expostulation on their part, and took an affectionate farewell of them. The next day they accompanied him, with great lamentations, to the door of the monastery. Martin Luther could not satisfy himself with the mere external observance of the rules of the church, as was the fashion with so many of his fellow-students. His intel- lectual familiarity with the philosophers and poets of ancient times had not made him indifferent or skeptical concerning matters that relate to eternal life. But this eternal life, peace with God, he had not yet been able to secure; nor had he advanced so far as to search the scriptures. The witness of the grace of God in Christ 42 had not yet penetrated his heart; what he knew about Christ was not calculated to comfort him, terror-stricken as he was under a sense of the wrath of God. This wrath had thundered over him three times already. He Luther enters the Monastery at Erfurt (1505). quaked within himself, even when he seemed to rejoice with them that did rejoice, or when he devoted himself to his studies he quaked under the fearful thought that he might be snatched away instantly and hurled into hell. How could he escape this wrath? Whither should 43 he go to obtain help and deliverance ? The terrible alarm that he felt in the neighborhood of Erfurt had constrained him to make the vow to be a monk. The quiet cloister, that grave of the living, seemed to him to be a safe har- bor where he might escape from the rough waves that had been tossing him about. There, free from all worldly cares, he would serve God with fasting and in prayer, and he proposed to appease Almighty God by a strict life of self-denial and mortification. By constant intercourse with holy men and familiarity with holy things, he be- lieved that he could become holy himself, and indeed, grow to be so holy at last that the gates of heaven would be opened wide to receive him. In becoming a monk, Luther was most deeply in earnest. He was persuaded that God himself had put the thought into his heart by the intervention of the saints, and especially by that of St. Ann the patron saint of the miners. It was for this reason that, though otherwise a dutiful son, he did not take counsel with his father, but simply informed him of his unalterable determination. Hans Luther was very much displeased with his son. He very properly charged him with disobedience, with a lack of filial respect, warned him against self-deception, and expressed his apprehen- sion that the life of a monk would not, by any means, lead his son to that holiness for which he was hoping. But when the father's letter arrived at Erfurt it was too late. Martin Luther entered into the Augustine Monastery. The Order of Augustines was, at that time, in good re- pute. They were believed to be men of learning and piety. Luther's teacher, Usinger, belonged to this order, 44 and the superior of the several monasteries in Thiiringen and Saxony, was Dr. John Staupitz, a learned, pious, dis- creet man. Within the first weeks of Luther's living in the mon- astery the plague broke out at Erfurt, and the circle of his friends was violently broken. Several of them died right off, and Luther, feeling himself to be entirely dead to the world, resolved to remain in the monastery until his end should come, which, he thought, was already near. The rules of the order required that the novice should be on probation for one year. At the end of his proba- tion he had to take a solemn vow, which ran after this manner: "I, brother Martin, make my profession, and promise obedience to Almighty God and to the holy Vir- gin Mary and to you, brother N. Prior of this monastery, in the name and stead of the Prior General of the Order of Brother Ascetics of St. Augustine, Bishop and his suc- cessors; to abandon all private aims and to live in chas- tity, according to the rule of the same St. Augustine, until I die." After taking this vow he wore the black mantle of the order and the leathern hood; having also thrown over the cowl, a white scapular, a piece of cloth covering the breast in front, and upon the back reaching down to the feet. In his cell there was one window that opened towards the garden. According to the fashion of monks he took a new name, and having selected the name of the great church-father, Augustine, he was called brother Martinus Augustinus. Yet, after all, he preferred his own baptismal name. His probation proved to be a very severe one. It looked 45 as if the brothers had determined to crush out of the novice all the credit and learning of the Master's degree by heaping mean and disgraceful services upon him. The university remonstrated with the monks on his be- half, and the Prior General Staupitz was prompt in show- ing his sympathy with brother Martin. As the result of this, his services became easier for a time. He had to take his bag and go out into the country gathering up vegetables and cheese among the farmers. The strict observance of the sanctimonious usages of the order was exacted of all without distinction. No one was allowed to absent himself during the hours appointed for prayer by day or by night, or to reduce the prescribed number of prayers, or to shorten the time appointed for hearing mass and for fasting. The old monks enjoyed themselves in imposing the practice of self-denial and of humility upon the younger brothers. Among these old monks, as is the case in all monasteries, there were some who, not- withstanding the strict rules of the order, had fed them- selves up into a fine condition of corpulency and managed to keep their hands clear of the common work. But brother Martin was a sincere monk and terribly strict with himself. He aimed to surpass all in devout exer- cises. If salvation were dependent upon monkery he would certainly have been saved. " In truth," these are his own words, "in truth, I have often fasted until I became sick and was almost dead." It is said that some of the brothers once found him completely exhausted, and roused him up again by the sound of music. Those persons who, in after years, were his enemies could never reproach him with his demeanor during his life in the 46 monastery. One of them once spoke of him as a second Paul, miraculously converted and put into the sacred office. It was of great advantage to brother Martin that he Luther Aroused from his Exhaustion through Music. had a pious and learned monk as his instructor; but when the Holy Scriptures were placed in his hands for his own private study he held that to be a much higher privilege. He kept that book in his cell and always con- tinued to read it, until he finally departed from Erfurt. Dr. Staupitz exhorted him to endeavor to be well versed 47 in the Holy Scripture, so that he might be a good theo- logian. Martin, however, was the only monk of the monastery who read the Bible. Yet, the Holy Scriptures was not the only volume that he studied. The works of mediaeval teachers, the scholastics, also stood upon his shelf, and he made himself thorough master of their con- tents. Here he began already to observe a difference between the doctrine of the Bible and the teachings of the Church of Rome, and in the course of his careful in- vestigation he soon discovered that the most venerated doctors did not agree at all, even among themselves. Some of them denied the supreme pow r er of the Pope, and others had their doubts about the doctrine of the Mass. The question that interested him most of all, related to man's justification before God, and upon this question he noticed the widest difference between the doctrine of the Bible and the teachings of men. Sincerely in earnest about becoming truly pious, he endeavored to find out for himself and for others the right ways and means of being so. In this spirit he spent years of study, of prayer and of wrestling with God. Often did he sink down in deep distress, and then he would seek to comfort himself by con- fession and absolution. But what comfort could he find here? In the absolution he w r as told that the merits of the Virgin Mary, of the saints, of the monk's vow, together with his own good works were the means by which forgive- ness of sin must be obtained. He sank down to such a degree as to believe that he had been fore-ordained to be damned, and this lodged him in the depths of melan- choly. He shuddered to think of Christ crucified, and the psalms sung in the Mass were a torment to his soul. 48 The temptation grew more and more severe; and as there was no one to sympathize with him he was left all alone. The rest of the brothers, never having had any sorrowful experience of heart, did not understand the condition of brother Martin, and began to think that he was beside himself. Yet there was one among them who understood his case better than did the others. This was his own instructor, who, when his distress was at its height, repeated to him the article, "I believe in the for- giveness of sins," and assured him that the Lord Him- self has encouraged us to hope. Dr. Staupitz, having be- come specially interested in the young brother, and, for his sake, visiting the monastery at Erfurt more fre- quently than the rules of the order required, contributed, by the will of God much more to his relief. As well as a Roman theologian could understand it, Staupitz led Mar- tin by a different path. He rebuked his morbid dispo- sition to go about raking up his sins, and told him that he was troubling himself only with the phantoms of a frightened conscience. God takes no account of imagi- nary offences, even as, for His own part, the sacrifice of His Son for us, was not an imaginary affair, or a mere pretence, and as Christ is not an imaginary, but a posi- tive, genuine redeemer. He exhorted him to go to Christ, who does not terrify but comforts the soul. As to his distressing thoughts about fore-ordination, he en- deavored to dispose of them by saying, " Why will you torment yourself with such speculations? Behold the wounds of Christ and his blood shed for you. If you look there, then the Divine predestination will shine forth full and clear before you." Brother Martin felt as though he had heard a voice from heaven. 49 As he began thus to revive, his old instructor helped him on a little further, giving him a sermon of the great monk St. Bernard, who died A. D., 1153, which sermon presented St. Paul's doctrine of justification by faith. His conflicts, however, and his craving for Divine com- fort drove him more and more into the study of the Holy Scriptures. It often happened that one single pas- sage would engage his attention for days together, as for example, "The Lord is not willing that any should per- ish." His most terrible conflicts, however, came on about the time when, according to the will of his superior, he was about to be ordained a priest. 4. ORDINATION TO THE PRIESTHOOD. Brother Martinus Augustinus was ordained as priest on Cantate Sunday, 1507. The fathers of the Augustin- ians had resolved that the young monk should be ad- mitted to that order which, according to the doctrine of the Roman church, by its mediation, secures the grace of God for other men. A Romish priest, in the full con- sciousness of such a mediatorial office, was authorized to esteem himself as more holy than the most pious layman, and even superior to the German Emperor. The poorest priest could do what the Emperor, with all his power and grandeur, could never achieve; for he could produce the body of the Lord and make it to be present, in the Mass, and then offer this same body as a sacrifice to God. To such a depth had the false teachings of Rome de- scended. Brother Martin was permitted to invite his friends to 50 witness his ordination; so he invited Braun and Con- rad, of Eisenach, and also his father, of Mansfield. The displeasure of his father had ceased, and yet he lamented him as the son whom he had lost. Two of his sons, younger than Martin, had' died within a short time; and after this the disapprobation which he had shown of the choice of his oldest son began to disappear. On the eve of Cantate he arrived at the monastery of Erfurt with twenty horses, all mounted by citizens of Mansfield. His design was to do honor to his son. The officiating bishop who ordained Martin was John Lasphe. As he placed the sacramental cup in Martin's hand he said : " Keceive the power to offer sacrifice for the living and the dead." When Martin read Mass for the first time, he was seized with such trepidation that he was just on the point of going away from the altar, but his old instructor prevented it in good time. He then read through, and observed the many appointed ceremonies without mistake. After the ceremony, other friends and several Doctors and Masters of the university took part in the collation that had been prepared in the monastery. Martin, upon noticing that his father was interested in cheerful con- versation with the clergy, took advantage of a favorable opportunity and addressed him thus: "Father, why did you oppose me so much and become so much displeased with me, not willingly consenting that I should be a monk and perhaps, even now, you do not heartily con- sent? The life of a monk is certainly tranquil and godly." To this, Hans Luther replied with an impressive air: "My learned sirs, have you never read in the Holy 51 Scriptures, that a man should honor his father and his mother?" This startled his son Martin, who at once looked down-cast and ventured to make no reply. The others interposed, and referred to the occurrence near the gate of Erfurt, representing it as a call from heaven. But Hans Luther said, significantly: "I pray God that it may not prove to have been a phantom of the devil." Martin, as long as he lived, could never forget these solemn words of his father. The new priest devoted himself to his office with hearty sincerity. He read Mass every day, and sought, by faithfully ministering at the altar, to secure the Divine approbation. It fell to his lot to hear confession; and in order to protect himself against all enticements he would send the females off to the confessional of some other priest. He began the work of preaching, though he was not yet willing to enter the pulpit, but would make spiritual addresses to the monks in the refectory. First as monk, and now also as priest, he felt himself to be under a two-fold obligation to be an obedient son of the church and a faithful servant of the Pope. Indeed, so ardent was his devotion to Rome and to the Bishop of Rome, that he himself says, that at that time he would have been ready to deliver heretics to death and to pile up the wood around them. 5. IN WITTENBERG. In 1508, brother Martinus Augustinus Luther was twenty-five years of age ; and yet, according to the testi- mony of his enemies, he was held to be the most accom- 52 plished scholar in the whole order of Augustines. No one understood this better than did his superior, Dr. Staupitz, whose views had been solicited by the Elector of Saxony, concerning the founding of the University of Wittenberg and its necessary appointments. When the time came to increase its means of instruction, Staupitz was commissioned to secure the services of the most com- petent men for the professorships; and so the attention of the Prior was at once directed to the monk at Erfurt. In the year 1490, after the death of the Elector Ernst, Saxony was divided into two parts. Duke Albrecht had possession of Meissen, with Dresden and Leipsic the seat of a university. The Elector Frederick had possession of Thuringia in addition to the Electorate. The Elector Frederick had enjoyed the advantages of a learned train- ing, and was the friend of science and of learned men. So, he had determined to found a university in his own dominions, and Wittenberg was chosen to be the seat of it. Wittenberg, which became so famous, not on account of its university, but on account of the reputation of one of the professors of the institution, was a small town on the river Elbe, containing somewhere about four hundred low, frame houses. The country around it was sandy and stony, and waste barrens might be seen stretching far away. The inhabitants of the town were an uncouth people, and had no relish for education and refinement. The largest building in Wittenberg was the Castle church. In the year 1493, the Elector went on a pil- grimage to Jerusalem, and brought home with him certain relics, the bones of saints, which he had obtained in 53 the holy city. These relics were treasured up in the Castle church, and exhibited to the people from time to time. Many persons went on a pilgrimage to see them, and so they were the means of collecting much money. A body of ecclesiastical dignitaries was connected with the Castle church, the several offices of the Chapter were conferred upon the academic professors, and the hope was indulged, that the monks of the Order of Augustines in Wittenberg might be engaged as teachers. The university was founded in the year 1502. The first rector was Martin Pollich, of Melchrichstadt, phy- sician in ordinary to the Elector, doctor of theology, ju- risprudence and medicine, one of the most learned men of Germany. The theological faculty, the dean of which was Dr. Staupitz, chose St. Paul as their patron saint. Wittenberg was not subject to the authoritative control of the church as the other universities were. By virtue of imperial ordinances, its sovereign protector was the Elector of Saxony. In addition to Dr. Pollich and Dr. Staupitz, Magister Trutvetter, of Erfurt, proved to be a bright ornament of the new university. In the year 1504, two young theo- logians, Andrew Bodenstein, of Carlstadt, in Franconia, and Nicholas von Amsdorf, began their academic course at Wittenberg. The number of students in attendance in 1508, amounted to one hundred and eighty. It was in this year that the university received a new constitu- tion and also a new professor, who changed much that was old and antiquated into what was fresh and new. Late in the autumn of 1508, brother Martin, as yet in Erfurt, was ordered by his Prior, Staupitz, to repair to 54 Wittenberg without delay; and upon his arrival he was at once introduced into the university by Dr. Staupitz himself. As he held only the degree of Master, he was not authorized to lecture on theology. He began by giv- ing instruction in the philosophy of Aristotle, for which, however, he had no relish; yet he handled it, because he was accustomed to respect the wishes of his superiors. In the month of March, 1509, he was made Bachelor of Theology, after which he lectured upon the Holy Scrip- tures for a whole year. As he continued to reside in the monastery, he was still called the monk, brother Martin. Here, too, he began to preach in the little church of the monastery, which was an old chapel, of frame-work and clay, poorly furnished', its dimensions twenty by thirty feet, very rickety, propped up on all sides, and with a low pulpit made out of unplaned boards. Myconius says, that it looked for all the world like the pictures which the painters draw of the stable at Bethlehem where Christ was born. Brother Martin still continued to be as diligent as he had ever been at Erfurt, giving himself wholly to study at Wittenberg. Aristotle could not answer the question, How can a sinner be justified before God? Indee.d, he was not asked to answer it. In the Bible Luther had already found the declaration, "The just shall live by his faith;" and in his heart, he pondered it long. As occu- pying the chair of a professor, he made no great preten- sions; and yet, his freshness and vigor soon began to work with effect. The rector, Pollich, often said, "as to the methods of teaching that have hitherto prevailed in all the universities, this monk will yet turn them upside 55 down." He seemed to read that, in the keen eyes of Luther already. In the autumn of 1509, brother Martin was called to Erfurt, where he remained for eighteen months teaching the Dogmas of Peter Lombard, all the while living in the monastery according to the rules of his order. In the spring of 1511, he returned to Wittenberg, but he was not permitted to retain a permanent abode as yet on the banks of the Elbe. He had to prepare to set out upon a journey that was to affect his entire life, and to have a mighty influence upon the whole church itself. 6. "HOLY ROME." A controversy had arisen among the German monas- teries of the Augustines. A new arrangement of districts had been proposed, to w T hich some of them were unwill- ing to submit. The matter was referred for settlement to the supreme judicature of the church at the Papal Court. The Wittenberg Professor, brother Martin, was commis- sioned by his superior to go to Rome and obtain an au- thoritative judgment. It was confidently believed that he would do everything that might be necessary to shield the order against injury. The duty with which he was then charged was a very honorable one, and the prospect of visiting Rome was very gratifying to himself. From his very childhood he had been wont to regard Rome as the most holy city of all Christendom. A pilgrimage to Rome seemed to him to be a work of extraordinary merit, and according to the general opinion of that day a con- fession and an absolution in the City of Rome were worth 56 a thousand times more than a confession and absolution at home. So in the autumn of 1511, brother Martin set out upon his journey, accompanied by another monk as the rules of the order required. Staupitz had given him ten guilders in gold, to secure the services of an advocate in Rome, but they had no money for their private ex- penses, as they traveled on foot and were supplied with food and lodging in associate monasteries on the way. Their road to Italy lay through Franconia and Bavaria and across the Alps. In about eight weeks they reached the City of Rome. Brother Martin traveled with his eyes open, and was much pleased with what he saw in Italy. He spoke in strong terms of the precious fruits of the gardens and the vineyards, whilst the olive-orchards reminded him of many passages in the Psalms. He was, however, less pleased with the Italian people themselves. Their crafti- ness and presumption seemed to him to be remarkable. Yet, on the contrary, he speaks favorably of their kindly disposition towards the poor and the sick, and these two German monks were entertained with much generous hospitality in the several monasteries which they visited. Brother Martin was much shocked at the luxurious life of the monks and at the worldly character of their con- versation. The nearer he came to Rome, the further did the clergy seem to him to be removed from the principles of a godly life. He himself faithfully observed the rules of his order, and would read Mass whenever an opportu- nity offered. But everywhere in the midst of smiling fields and sparkling streams, in populous cities and in ostentatious churches, the words continued to follow him, "The just shall live by his faith." 57 At last, the steeples and the towers of the "Eternal City" greeted him. He prostrated himself upon the ground, lifted up his hands and cried out: "Hail, Holy The Pope's Magnificence. Rome!" With the reverent spirit of a child upon its entering a church for the first time, he passed through the gate of the city, and went for lodging to the monas- 58 tery of the Augustines. His business at the Papal Court was soon settled, the proceedings at law had been wisely arranged, and so he had sufficient leisure to move about through the city. For weeks, sometimes indeed at the peril of his life, he passed around amid the mighty ruins of ancient Rome's imperial glory. His visits to the Col- osseum, so immense in its proportions, and to the mag- nificent baths of Diocletian with their grand aqueducts, were frequent and long. His favorite places of resort, however, were those that had some connection with the history of the ancient Christian Church. Among these was the Church of St. Calixtus, where the bodies of many thousands of saints, and the remains of more than forty popes were carefully laid away. As a pious monk having a believing spirit, he went through all the acts and ex- ercises that were required to be done at the many holy places in Rome, and the observance of which was held to be a meritorious work in the highest degree. In front of the chapel of All Saints he worked himself up on his knees until he had mounted twenty-eight steps of the holy stairs, which, as the story had it, once stood in front of Pilate's Judgment Hall in Jerusalem; for the Popes had promised nine years absolution for the mounting of every single one of the steps. He read Mass very often, not only for his own good, but also for the benefit of others. Yet, even in Rome, in the midst of all his meritorious works, performed with such earnestness of heart, and most of all, upon Pilate's stair-case, the words kept ring- ing in his soul, "The just shall live by his faith." The pious German monk had occasion to notice every day that the abomination of sin was as mighty even in 59 the "holy, eternal" city as it had once been in Sodom and Gomorrah. The priests, with very few exceptions, were a lazy and lascivious herd. Not only whilst feast- ing and indulging the humors of drunkenness, but even whilst ministering at the altar, their language was often most lewd and blasphemous. Whilst passing along the highways they showed no respect for their cloth, perpe- trating their abominations openly like the heathen and the beasts. Men of the highest rank were the greatest offenders. The possessions and privileges of the church, like common wares, were bought up at public sale, and the man who would venture to express his disapproba- tion of all this was sure to be set down as a fool. The Romans themselves had this proverb: "If there is a hell, Rome is right over it." What proved to be most shock- ing to the pure-minded German monk was the scandalous things that were related about the Popes themselves. The grave of the female Pope Johanna and that of her child were. pointed out to him. He heard things said about the last Pope, Alexander, that made his 'flesh run cold; the vicar of Christ on earth guilty of incest! The Pope who was then occupying the chair, Julius II, was a soldier and a politician, without heart, without any sym- pathy for spiritual things. His object in becoming Pope was only to amass glory and gold. When brother Martin at last took his departure, he did not say, farewell, holy Rome ! No, but in great sad- ness of spirit he turned his back upon the city that was built over the abyss of hell. In later years he was wont to say, that he would not for a great sum of money have failed to see the city of Rome. 60 Upon his return he passed through Augsburg. Whilst he tarried there he was taken to see a young woman named Ursula, who pretended to be living with- out eating and drinking, and whom Princes had hon- ored with many costly gifts. Luther, who had learned much in Eome, asked her if she would not rather die? But she answered, No ! for she knew how matters are in this world, but did not know how they would be in the other world. To this, Luther replied with much ear- nestness: Ursula, take good care that matters go well with you. Shortly afterwards her deceptions were found out; and the delusions of another Ursula, Rome herself, were found out in like manner. 7. DOCTOR OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURES. Upon his return to Wittenberg, brother Martin did not, at once, resume his lectures at the university. He had divers matters to attend to at the monastery, such as preaching and giving the needful instruction to the novices. Dr. Staupitz, who loved him sincerely, called upon him in September, 1512, and requested him to ac- company him into the garden. There, whilst sitting to- gether under a pear tree, Staupitz stated to his young friend, that he wished to obtain his consent to be ad- vanced to the degree of Doctor of Theology. To this, Martin had strong objections. He felt that he was too young for this, the highest of academical honors, and that he was physically too feeble to undertake any addi- tional labor. Within a few months he would be com- pletely exhausted and ready to die. "Dr. Staupitz," 61 Luther receiving the Degree of Doctor of Theology. said he, "you will take my life." Staupitz answered, playfully, " Well, what of that? The Lord God has great works on hand, and He employs wise spirits in His ser- 62 vice above; so, if you should die, you would have to ren- der Him your services there." Then out of the spirit of obedience Martin yielded his consent. He was advanced to the degree of Doctor, October 18th, and the Elector who had heard him preach and was much interested in his discourses, defrayed the expense of the ceremony. According to academic rule, a new doctor was required at the time of receiving his degree, to lay down certain theses and to deliver an oration. At the same time he had to obligate himself upon the Holy Scriptures, not to teach any vain and offensive doc- trine. In testimony of his high rank he received a cap, the honorable badge of a free man, and a ring, the sym- bol of his official obligation and dignity. The ring given to Luther at this time is still in existence. It is a heavy gold circle, mounted with a silver, heart-shaped shield, on which there are three rings linked together, sym- bolizing the Holy Trinity. So, Luther is now, regular Professor of Theology; and in a short time, in consequence of the death of Dr. Pol- lich and the resignation of Trutvetter, he became the first and the most distinguished professor of the Theo- logical Faculty. Dr. Staupitz took up his abode else- where. Luther's friend, Link, was associated with him as teacher, and at the same time was Prior of the monas- tery at Wittenberg, whilst George Spalatin, another of his Erfurt friends, often sojourned for a while at Witten- berg. Two princes, nephews of the Elector, were sent here to study under his superintendence; and he secured the confidence of the Elector so largely, that his princely Grace honored him with the appointment of Court Chap- 63 lain and private secretary. Although his residence in Wittenberg was subject to interruptions, he nevertheless kept up a continuous correspondence with his friends there, amongst whom Lange also is to be counted, who joined the Theological Faculty in 1515. Many persons, members of Doctor Martin's Order, visited the univer- sity and secured its academic honors. In the monastery at Erfurt, the chief subject of Luther's study had been the Bible; and this turned out to be of great advantage to him at the University of Wittenberg. His whole reading now referred only to the sacred books, and he based his teachings upon the Holy Scriptures alone. Aristotle was put aside altogether, for Martin wanted to be a real doctor of the Holy Scriptures. He began with lecturing upon the Psalms, and then han- dled the Epistle to the Romans, and then, that to the Galatians. From his youth up he had had a special fondness for the Psalms. It had long been customary to sing them in the church, and their language was quite familiar to him. There were many things related in the Psalms which he had, himself, experienced; they were indeed, a mirror, that reflected his own inner life; and how did his heart rejoice to find there so many prophecies concerning Christ! His own writings teach us how he lived and moved in the Psalms. He studied and wrote upon the Epistle to the Romans, for his own good first, before he undertook to explain it to others. The words of the Prophet, Hab. 2: 4, which had accom- panied him to Rome, now began to ring so much clearer in his soul ; now he began to experience what was meant by the saying, "The just shall live by his faith;" now he 64 understood the difference between the law and the gospel. Accordingly, he began to testify against the heresy that men can be delivered from their sins and justified before God by their own works. In a word, he began to preach Christ. Yet, the Doctor still continued to be a learner. He began to give great attention to the study of Greek, in order that he might read the original text of the New Testament correctly; and in like manner did he prose- cute the study of the Hebrew language. In addition to the Holy Scriptures, he was much occupied in studying the works of Augustine, the greatest of the old church fathers, who had taught so mightily, according to the Scriptures, concerning sin and concerning man's corrupt nature, and concerning the counsels of the grace of God. As Doctor Martinus had thus become acquainted with an African bishop already, and derived spiritual strength from him, the time had now come in which a German, who had himself been taught of God, should approach him and prove to be dear to his heart. The writings of John Tauler, so thoroughly pervaded by the Spirit of God, and so full of the joys of faith came into his hands, and he could never grow weary of reading them. He pub- lished an edition of what is, perhaps, the most valua- ble of Tauler's writings, under the title, " German Theology, that is, a precious gem, showing clearly what Adam is and what Christ is." In connection with this he expressed much satisfaction, that in the midst of his continual Latin reading and study he found that Tauler wrote in such a noble and simple German style. It was not the wish of Doctor Martin that his hearers 65 should be learned hermits, but that they should be use- ful and efficient men their whole life long. He no more felt any of his former dread of entering the pulpit ; on the contrary, he felt within his heart a powerful pressure urging him boldly to preach the gospel. So, he began to preach in the parish church in Wittenberg; and the people attended his preaching in such numbers that the town council appointed him to be the regular preacher. The first of his sermons that was printed was preached on St. Martin's day, 1515, and treats of the right way to read the Holy Scriptures. In the summer of 1516, he preached upon the ten commandments. In the spring of 1517, he wrote his first book, which was an exposition of the seven penitential Psalms. At the same time he preached upon the Lord's prayer. Such was the preaching of Doctor Martin that it could not otherwise than attract attention. There never had been such a preacher in Wittenberg, so zealous, so ad- mirably suited to the people. The people enjoyed his sermons and were never tired of listening to him ; for he preached like the Master, as one having authority, and not as the Scribes. There were some, however, who murmured, because he spoke with such penetrating force, and gave so little credit to themselves and to other saints, who were justifying themselves by their own works. In the spring of 1516, Dr. Staupitz, by order of the Elector, set out upon a journey to the lower Rhine. He appointed Doctor Martin as his substitute during his ab- sence, and charged him, especially, with the duty of visiting the monasteries in Saxony and in Thuringia. ee Doctor Martin began these visits of inspection at once ; and this, together with his work at Wittenberg, kept him very busy. The economy of the monasteries, their financial administration, their discipline, their courses of study, the maintenance of good order, the official de- portment of the clergy, and many other matters required his notice and demanded his serious consideration. He well knew how to admonish the brethren who had erred, and how to recover those who had fallen; but indolent monks were his abhorrence. He once wrote to a con- ference which the monks were holding: "I adjure you, be diligent and faithful in the instruction of the young. This is the first and most important subject that claims the attention of your conference." To his friend, Lange, he gave an account of his work, as follows: "I employ two secretaries, and do scarcely anything day and night but write letters. I am preacher of the monastery; I preach in the refectory; they want me to preach every day in the parish church. I superintend the studies of the monks; I am Vicar of the Order, which is about eleven times as arduous as being Prior. I lecture upon the Epistles of Paul, also upon the Psalms. In addition to this I have to write many letters. You see what an indolent creature I am." In the autumn of 1516, the plague broke out at Wit- tenberg, whereupon he began to make preparation for sending the brethren off to healthier quarters. He would not himself leave Wittenberg, for he said: "I have been posted here, I dare not go away until that power which now requires me to remain shall order me to de- part. I hope that the world will not come to an end even if brother Martin should be a victim of the plague." G7 The Doctor's multifarious engagements, so unusual in his day, were the occasion of much anxiety to his friends. The boldness of his discourse, in the pulpit and in the chair of the professor, called forth an array of conflicting opinions. Many were offended at him and cried him down as a turbulent dogmatist, who was too conceited. Outside of Wittenberg the testimony was not all in his favor. The learned scholars of Erfurt and of Leipsic could not endure it, that a young professor in the new university of Wittenberg, should speak in such con- temptuous terms of the great master, Aristotle, and should take his stand upon nothing but the Bible. On the other hand the Elector was well pleased with the Doctor, and sent him many a gift by the hands of Spa- latin. Staupitz too, was highly pleased, and encouraged him to keep on diligently writing books, an undertaking in which he himself was deeply engaged. The Doctor had warm friends in Niirenberg; among them were Scheurl, his fellow student at Erfurt, and the preacher, Link. It is worthy of special notice, that Doctor John Eck, who afterwards was Luther's great opponent, sought, at that time to make the acquaintance of "the Right Reverend Doctor." His bitterest opponent was Emser, a professor at Erfurt, who met Martin and engaged in a controversy with him at Dresden. Afterwards, he un- dertook to revile him as an ignoramus because he pre- ferred to use his own German mother-tongue, instead of Latin, the speech of the learned. IV. 8. INDULGENCE AND THE THESES. HEODOBE, Archbishop of Canterbury in England, in the year 668, one hun- dred years before the beginning of the reign of Charlemagne, the first German Emperor, imposed what may be called a tax for sin, according to which those persons who had com- mitted any sin might be released from suffering the punishment de- creed by the church, upon their pay- ing a certain amount of money. It followed from this that absolution, remission from the punishment of sin, needed not to be sought by expiation, for money would (68) 69 accomplish everything. In the year 1300, Pope Boniface VIII, decreed that the whole human family was subject to the Pope of Rome. In the spirit of this assumption he commanded the whole world to make a pilgrimage to Pome during that year. Whoever should so come was assured that he should obtain remission of the punish- ment of sin as long as he lived, provided he would make an offering to the Pope. Boniface, who was not distin- guished as a benefactor of his race, received much money thereby. There was not one of the Roman Bishops who rose up to protest against this disgraceful transaction. Thomas Aquinas, a great Doctor of the Church, who died a short time before, had even justified this remission or indulgence in a writing which was approved of by the Church Council at the City of Lyons. The priests taught the people that indulgence was a wholesome arrange- ment and calculated to help in saving souls, and the people imbibed these teachings, and so kept on living and dying, ever maintaining their recklessness and in- difference. Even when the priests spoke of indulgence as being only a remission of temporal punishment, the people would interpret it to include eternal punishment as well. Pope Boniface IX began to offer indulgences in other places besides Rome; and so if a man would give to the church, at his own home, the sum of money that a pilgrimage to Rome would cost him, he too might obtain a complete indulgence. Peddlers of indul- gences were sent off through all countries offering their wares at public sale. This was the atrocious way in which the precious doctrine of the forgiveness of sins, through the administration of the office of the Keys, in 70 the Name of Christ, came to be perverted, the House of God turned into a peddler's booth, and the Altar of the Most Holy made the desk of a money-dealer. In the year 1513, Leo X, became Pope. He was a prince of fine training, a lover of art, but he was a heathen. He had a keener relish for the marble images of Venus and Apollo than for the statues of the saints. The high lords and the beautiful women of his court were wont to indulge in all kinds of sport and jests, and Leo himself joined in with them because he had to. Upon the whole he considered the church to be a lucra- tive business, for he was in the habit of saying: "This fable about Christ brings in a great deal of money." With a gratified, but at the same time with a sneering air he would laugh at the German pack-horses wearily bear- ing the heavy sacks of pure gold across the Alps to Rome. Indeed, he had need of much rnone}'. He levied a tithe upon Christendom for the purpose of carrying on war against the Turks, but the money that came in found its way into the pocket of his sister. His ambition was as towering as his covetousness. About the spiritual temple he concerned himself very little, but he would rear a temple made with hands, the fame of which should be spread abroad even in the remotest ages. His predecessor, the stern soldier, Julius II, had begun the erection of St. Peter's Church at Rome, and it was the purpose of Leo to finish it under his own administration.. To this end money, and in large sums, was necessary. Accordingly, he proclaimed a general, an extraordinary and a gracious indulgence. Every Christian was summoned to take part in it, for its object was to prepare for the bones of the 71 Apostles and of other saints a place of repose that should be worthy of them. Albrecht, the Elector and Archbishop of Mayence, un- dertook to carry on the business of indulgence in Middle Germany. He was like the Pope himself in many re- spects, most of all in his love of money. Being himself deeply involved in debt, he fondly hoped to secure a large revenue out of this business for his own part. So he appointed commissioners and instructed them to pro- claim to the people that this great indulgence, now pub- lished, consisted of four distinct blessings: the first was perfect forgiveness of sin and deliverance from purgatory; the second, a letter of confession that would permit the holder to select any confessor he might prefer, and who would be bound by the letter, to absolve him from his offences; the third consisted of a share in the superabun- dant merits of the church, and the fourth secured for the souls of the dead who are suffering in purgatory the full forgiveness of their sins. The commissioners went to work briskly. The busiest among them all was John Tetzel, a Dominican monk, who had had some experience in the indulgence trade, and was no novice in works of iniquity. For the crime of adultery he came very near being put to death by drowning. For audaciousness he could not find his match, and he passed along from coun- try to country with the air of an ambassador from heaven. Whenever he drew nigh to a town the clergy and the town-council would go forth to meet him, singing as they moved along ; bells were rung and the music of the or- gans was heard. Upon entering a church he would fix up a high, red cross, bearing the Pope's coat of arms, and 72 there he would stand day after day extolling his wares. Every soul who had made confession and submissively Tetzel Proclaiming Indulgence. thrown his money into the box should have complete forgiveness of all his sins. If a man wished to do a favor 73 to the dead it was not necessary to do more than the Archbishop himself had said: as soon as the money falls into the box, so soon does the soul leap out of the flames of purgatory into heaven. As a speaker, Tetzel had popular talents, and understood the art of interlard- ing his discourse with all kinds of stories and compari- sons. To his own reproach, he almost invariably intro- duced matters of a low and disgusting kind. In the autumn of 1517, he came into the neighborhood of Wit- tenberg. Here too, as elsewhere he sold grace for gold on the best terms he could get and with all his might. He extolled the efficacy of the indulgence cross, and said that it equalled that of the cross of Christ; he represented himself also as having the advantage of the Apostle Peter, because he had saved more souls by his indulgence than Peter had by his preaching. The people traveled miles to hear him, and the Wittenbergers went a whole day's journey to Jiiterbok where he was. But there was one man in Wittenberg who would never go with them. This was not the first time that Luther, the Augustinian, felt constrained as Doctor of the Holy Scriptures and preacher in the parish church, to testify against indulgence. He had already done this in his preaching in the year 1516. His sermon had dis- pleased the Elector, for his Castle Church with all its wealth of the bones of saints had been a noted place of pilgrimage, and had obtained much money through in- dulgence. But Luther, as devoted to the service of truth, had no respect of persons. The news of Tetzel's opera- tions reached Luther in the confessional. As he refused to give absolution to those persons who, though making 74 confession, were yet unwilling to forsake their sins of lewdness, of dishonesty, etc., they thrust their indulgences into his face, and running off to Tetzel began to com- plain against Luther. Then he began to write, and we may well add, impelled by the Holy Ghost. He said afterwards, in referring to this: "When I began to write I said to God, in deep sin- cerity, that if it was at all His purpose to use me in be- ginning a game, He should be sure to direct it Himself, and by all means should keep me, that is my own wis- dom, from getting mixed up in it." The consecration of the Castle Church at Wittenberg was celebrated on All-Saint's day, November 1st. It was customary to honor the festivals of the church with aca- demic exercises, and to post the notices of any learned exhibitions intended for the occasion upon the church doors. On this festival of the consecration it had been intended to exhibit the relics and to dispense indul- gences to the devout. Now, it was not only against the mischief perpetrated by Tetzel, but also in opposition to that domestic usage which had brought in such large sums of money for the church and for the University of the Elector, that Luther came forth with such heroic courage. The exercises of the festival began at noon on October 31st, 1517. Before the services of the afternoon had be- gun, Luther nailed a large sheet of paper, written from top to bottom, on the door of the church. Then he calmly entered the church and preached a sermon adapted to the occasion. He discussed the history of Zaccheus; and in the course of his sermon he said that Christ should be 75 all in all to us, and that to those to whom Christ is any- thing, everything else is nothing. The celebration of the Ltjther Nails his 95 Theses on the Church Door. consecration of the church should not end with that fact alone; it should lead to a consecration of the heart to God. 76 Whilst he was in the pulpit proclaiming the free grace of God, a crowd, steadily increasing, of persons connected with the university, stood before the church door, and read, first with curiosity and then with growing astonish- ment, what they found there written. The title or in- scription ran thus : " Disputation of Doctor Martin Luther, in explanation of the efficacy of indulgence ; out of love for the truth, and with a pure desire to bring it to light. What here follows will be discussed at Wittenberg, un- der the direction of the Reverend Father, Martin Luther, Master of the Liberal Arts and of Theology, and regular professor of the same. He begs, at the same time, that those persons who may not be able to join us in this dis- cussion by their personal presence may be pleased to do so, in their absence, by writing. In the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen." Then followed ninety-five Theses, propositions to be discussed by the learned. The first Thesis read thus : " When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ says ' repent, etc.,' he means that the whole life of believers should be a repentance." That same summons "repent and be converted," with which our Lord and Saviour began His work, that same summons began the conflict of the Reformation. Because indulgence had completely obliterated the meaning of the change of heart wrought in repentance, and altogether destroyed the fear of God, therefore, the first sixty Theses were di- rected against indulgence. The sixty-second Thesis reads thus : " The true treasure of the church is the most holy gospel of the glory and the grace of God;" sixty-third: " This treasure is, as might be expected, the most hateful, because, out of the first it makes the last ;" sixty-fourth : 77 " The treasure of indulgence, however, is, as might be ex- pected, the most acceptable, because, out of the last it makes the first." Towards the end of the Theses, Luther undertakes to shield the Pope against the scandals that were occasioned by the wild harangues of the indulgence peddlers. At the conclusion, he repeats his notice of the great danger that attaches to indulgence, namely: carnal security and a flying from the wholesome sorrows of re- pentance. From beginning to end he introduces no doc- trines of man's devising, since for him, in all the ninety- five Theses, the authority of the Lord and Master was enough. Martin Luther began the conflict in the Name of his Lord and Master Jesus Christ. He expected that con- tradiction and confusion would follow, and he was pre- pared for them. Yet, he had not anticipated that within two weeks printed copies of his Theses would be scattered over the whole of Germany. A contemporary writer says, that "within four weeks they had been spread over nearly the whole of Christendom, as if angels themselves had been the messengers." Luther was startled upon discovering what a circulation they had obtained, for he had prepared them only for the circle of learned men. But now they came to be read by citizens in towns and peasants in the country. The reception they met was diversified. Friends, at a distance, rejoiced at their ap- pearance, and greeted their author as the herald of a new age that had long been desired. Those who were nearest to him were not especially edified. The brothers of his monastery were afraid of bad results, and begged him not to bring their Order into disgrace. They 78 thought they could see the stake already erected for the burning of the heretic. The people of Erfurt, always unfriendly, judged him harshly, and reproached him for his audacity. The views entertained by those who were more favorably disposed were thus stated to Luther in a letter written by Albert Krantz, a theologian of Ham- burg: "You are telling the truth, my dear brother, but you will accomplish nothing. Go into your cell and cry out, 'God have mercy upon me!'" No one appeared to take part in the disputation about the ninety-five Theses. The teachers in the university, his colleagues, maintained a prudent bearing. At first, he was faint-hearted himself, but he soon showed the courage of a hero. To his brothers of the monastery, who were quite anxious, he said, "if it has not been undertaken in the Name of God it will soon come to nought, but if it has been begun in His Name, then let God Himself carry it on." Sometimes he would, significantly, subscribe his letters, "Martinus Eleutheros," L e., Martin the Liberal. It had been his intention to publish an exposition of his Theses under the title " Indulgence and Grace," but the Bishop of Brandenburg, who was his friend, advised de- lay, and admonished him not to attack the power of the church lest he might get into trouble. John Tetzel, finding unexpected pleasure in the prose- cution of this vile business, was not idle, as may be sup- posed. He wanted to give tit for tat, and to issue a set of counter-theses. So he managed very soon, to have himself proclaimed Doctor of Theology, at Frankfort on the Oder; and then, with the help of Professor Wimpina, an enemy of the Wittenbergers, this new-fledged doctor 79 drew up his Theses. They lug in the infallibility of the Pope, and puff him up as being superior to the Word of God. When a young monk undertook to contradict Tetzel, he was punished with confinement in the prison of a monastery. The Dominicans, to which order Tetzel belonged, held a general meeting for his encouragement. But they could hardly avoid doing so, for Thomas Aqui- . nas, the formulator of the doctrine of indulgence and of the supreme authority of the Pope, was himself a Dominican. The transactions of this meeting of the Dominicans did not give Luther much trouble. He was startled, how- ever, by the arrival about the same time of an answer, adverse to his Theses, from Rome, for he still believed in the Pope, and he had expected a favorable response. At first, Leo X took little notice of the Theses, and his courtiers were surprised at his coolness, especially, be- cause the affair threatened to be so damaging to the Ro- man Exchequer'. The Pope himself considered that brother Martin had " a good head," and looked upon the whole affair as an envious quarrel among the monks. In the loftiness of his exaltation he allowed himself to float gracefully upon the clouds of incense which his devotees kept rising up about him; for he had skilfully succeeded in having a council composed of Italian Bishops to proclaim him sovereign of the whole world, even "a god upon the earth." However, the theologians of the Court of Leo X undertook, with the greatest zeal to do, what the Pope thought to be beneath his dignity. Silves- ter Prierias, a venerable and learned Dominican, had been appointed Censor for all books that were published 80 within the Roman dominions, and also Judge of what- ever concerned the Christian faith. This man now felt himself bound to furnish the Pope with a keen lance. In three days he drew up a document in which he con- tended that, the holiness of the Pope was unassailable and his decrees infallible, at the same time condemning the Theses of Luther as the audacious assault of a heretic. Prierias absolutely, asserted that the Pope himself was the church ; that the church could not err, consequently, the Pope could not err. The Pope, he said, dispensed indulgence, and whoever spoke against this was a heretic and must be silenced. The language of the distinguished courtier in this, his writing, was of a kind so low and so gross, that whatever happened to be said on the German side, in violation of good taste, during the heat of the conflict in after years, may be regarded as making some approach towards it. Prierias concluded his prize essay by saying, in the genuine spirit of Rome, that if the Pope would confer a fat bishopric upon this German monk, he would certainly be very prompt and eloquent in preach- ing in favor of indulgence. This writing of Prierias took effect at once. Pope Leo issued a command to the general of the Augustine Order to silence the monk, Luther; and by "silence" Rome meant imprisonment for life, or burning at the stake. Luther very well understood the seriousness of the situation. The offensive language of the Prior was far less mortifying to him than was the discovery that the Pope himself was not accessible to the truth. He found that he was condemned as a heretic, unheard ; and now he saw that a violent struggle with Rome was unavoida- 81 ble. So he began to strengthen himself in his God and Saviour. The Psalms became more and more precious to him, and he published an exposition of Psalm 110, under the title " A Prophecy Concerning Christ, the King and the High Priest." His sermon upon "Indulgence and Grace" and a discussion of "Repentance" in the Latin language, also appeared in print. He took ad- vantage, too, of his prominent position as first professor of a most distinguished faculty, to introduce an enlarge- ment in the studies of the university. His friend, Lange, was appointed Vicar of the Order, and this afforded him more leisure for his own work and more freedom in his relation to the Order itself. What Prierias had written and published was the oc- casion of the appearance of a second publication, one which was, if possible, still more odious. John Eck, Pro- fessor at Ingolstadt, really a learned and eloquent man, shot off his poisoned darts against the Wittenberger in a book under the title "Obelisks." This attack Luther felt in his heart; for Eck had sought to cultivate his friendship only a short time before. Yet he did not reply at once. A journey to the fair city of Heidelberg on the Neckar, in the spring of 1518, was a recreation to the busy doctor. A meeting of the German Order of Augustines was to be held there, for the purpose of confirming the election of the Italian, Gabriel Yenetus, who had been nominated by the Pope as General of the Order. This man was not acceptable to the Germans, and they knew that he was not kindly disposed towards them. He was elected after- wards by a majority of Italians, and he helped to poke 82 the fire in Rome. Luther, being a poor monk, traveled on foot. The Elector, unsolicited, had given him letters of recommendation to the Bishop of Wurtzburg and to the Elector, Palatine. He also instructed Dr. Staupitz to take care that the movements of Luther should not be hindered anywhere, for he did not want him to be kept away from the university. The Bishop of Wiirtzburg gave the traveler a friendly welcome; and although he was a Roman Bishop, nevertheless he was both Christian and German enough to write to the Elector of Saxony in reply, that he would take good care of the pious man, Doctor Martin, and see that no harm should be done him. The Elector, Palatine Wolfgang, whose residence was in Heidelberg, showed him marked respect, and offered to render him any assistance that might be necessary. After the meeting had adjourned, Luther had to present and enforce, in a public disputation, the chief articles of the Biblical and Augustinian Theology, which he had been teaching for several years. He did this with such moderation and aptness, that even the Professors of the University of Heidelberg themselves, though they were not specially favorable to him, could not withhold their respectful recognition. The most deeply interested hearers at this disputation were four young men, who in after years, proved to be efficient laborers in the harvest. These were John Brenz, the leader of the Swabian Reform- ers, and his assistant Erhard Schnepf, Theodore Villicanus, the Reformer of Nordlingen, and Martin Bucer, of Stras- burg. The impression which Luther made upon these four men at this time was indelible. The Count Pala- tine, too, informed the Elector that Doctor Martinus had 83 done his native university no little honor, and that great credit had been accorded to him by the most distin- guished scholars. According to the arrangement of his superiors, Luther traveled home to Wittenberg by coach. In Eisleben and Erfurt, his old friends were glad to see him ; and in due time, refreshed in soul and body, he reached Wittenberg in safety. Again, he took hold of his work with vigor. He finished his extended explanation of the 95 Theses and addressed it to the Pope. In the course of it, he gives the Pope a lecture upon Christianity as taught in the Bible, and upon church history, a lecture which might have filled any other than the Pope with astonishment at its learning and versatility of argument, and thoroughly convinced him of the heresies of Rome. In concluding his explanation, Luther says : " The church has stood in need of a reformation which is not the work of man, nor of the Pope, nor of assembled Cardinals, as the last Coun- cil of the Lateran in 1517, has made plain, but the busi- ness of the entire Christian world; yes, the work of God alone. As to the time for the reformation, however, that is known only to Him by whom the times are created." During Luther's sojourn at Heidelberg, the boisterous Professor Carlstadt, undertook to defend the cause of his colleague against the attack of Eck. Lie drew up a long list of Theses, the first of which reads thus : " The text of the Holy Scripture is not laid down only for one teacher of the church, or for several of them, but as a rule for the authority of the whole church." Eck endeavored to ex- cuse himself for the attack he had made, and Luther 84 published a reply which could not be very acceptable to his opponent. Tetzel, too, had a hankering ^to have another quarrel with Luther; but he fared badly, for his boorish audacity met the treatment it deserved. Hoog- straten, who was notorious for his inquisitorial proceed- ings in Cologne, threatened blood, and appealed to the Pope to order Luther to be burned at the stake. Luther rebuked him in fitting terms as a blood-thirsty wretch, who if he could, would turn Pope Leo into a raging lion. Everything looked as if Luther was sure to be cast into the lion's den. But the God of Daniel still lived on. 9. JUDICIAL EXAMINATION IN AUGSBURG. Already, before the Pope had received Luther's expla- nation of his Theses, he had instituted proceedings against him on the charge of heresy. Three Roman Pre- lates, one of whom was his enemy Prierias, were appointed as impartial judges of the case. On August 7th, 1518, Lu- ther was summoned to appear at Rome within 60 days. But, for months before this, measures had been taken to make sure of him. Whilst Luther had been traveling from Heidelberg to Wittenberg, Thomas Vio von Gseta, otherwise called Cajetan, came from Rome to Augsburg. He was commissioned by the Pope to persuade the Ger- man Emperor, the King of Sweden and the King of Denmark, to make war against the Turks, and to induce the Emperor of Germany to clear out the poison of heresy from all his dominions. Cajetan was the right man for this business; for at the late council he had declared that the church was the natural born servant of the Pope. 85 In the summer of 1517, a large German Diet met in Augsburg, under the old Emperor, Maximilian, the in- tention being to make arrangements for another Turkish war, and to raise funds for carrying it on. Many princes, however, were not in favor of this, be- cause they had no confidence in the treasurer at Rome. Cajetan entered Augsburg with royal pomp. He was the bearer of a cardinal's hat for the Elector of Mayence, the head manager of the indulgence business in Germany. On the very first day he poured the affair of the Luth- eran heresy into the ears of the Emperor, but Maximilian himself had read Luther's Theses with inward satisfac- tion. True, he was of very fickle disposition, and could not take a decided stand either for or against anything, for which reason his administration was not a successful one. However, as to the present business, he had made up his mind not to deliver the German monk into the claws of the Roman lion. He put off the Cardinal from day to day, and advised the Elector of Saxony to take good care of the monk, for he might yet prove to be very useful. The Elector himself tried to keep the Cardinal quiet. He even wrote to the Pope, and requested him to refer the whole affair to the authority of a German Judi- cature. Luther, on behalf of the university, had made the same request of the Elector, to-wit: that the Elector should prevail upon the Emperor to submit the case to German judges, for he saw very clearly what dangerous snares they were now setting for his life. Luther made no sign, either of fear or of surrender. He wrote a book, keen and acute, in answer to Prierias, in which he maintained, in opposition to Prierias, that 86 he recognized the church, not in the Pope, but in Christ; and that not only the Pope could err, but even councils too. He holds the writers of the Holy Scriptures alone to be infallible and above error, but not the church fathers. This book made an extraordinary excitement; and a sermon upon Excommunication, calmly as it was delivered, roused the adherents of the Pope into a storm. So far was Luther from being alarmed, that he declares himself ready to prove, that there were people in Ger- many who were well aware of the crafty tricks and knavery of Rome. In the midst of all his severe conflicts, Luther never neglected in the least the duties of his official position at the university, and in the church of the parish. Much rather did he desire to do even more in these depart- ments of his work. The mass of young men studying at the university diligently attended his biblical lectures; and he wrote once to a friend that, at Wittenberg, the course of study was pursued with a burning zeal, and the students were as busy as ants. A zealous interest in biblical studies infected the students of the university of Leipsic also. A desire that he had long cherished, to have a competent teacher of the Greek language near him, now came to .be most happily fulfilled. Philip Mel- ancMhoii, looking like a little school-boy, timid, retiring, and yet of such astonishing scholarship, so apt to teach, came to Wittenberg about the end of August, and as academic teacher, began a work which was to have such an important influence upon Luther and upon the church. In his oration, delivered upon his induction into office, he spoke, to the joyful surprise of Luther, concerning the 87 corruptions of the scholastic philosophy, and concerning the importance of the study of the learned languages for the sake of the Holy Scriptures. He gave extra lectures Philip Melanchton. upon Homer, the Grecian poet, and also upon St. Paul's Epistle to Titus. Luther was his first pupil, for he de- 88 sired the help of Melanchthon for the purpose of advanc- ing his knowledge of Greek. Meanwhile, the Elector endeavored to prevail upon Cajetan to agree that the judicial examination of Luther should be made within German territory. To this the Pope would by no means consent. In a letter addressed to the Elector, he called Luther a child of iniquity, and insisted that he should be delivered up to Kome. Finally, however, he showed signs of relenting, for he did not want to lose his influence with the most powerful of the German Princes. Cajetan then took the hint and gave Luther a hearing in Augsburg. Luther's friends were very much concerned about him. Staupitz wrote him a letter full of tender sympathy, and others begged him not to be so rash in exposing himself to danger. The Count of Mansfield advised him not to go to Augsburg, because he had been informed of a con- spiracy to take his life. Luther returned his thanks to all these persons for their friendly interest in him, and obeying the summons of the Elector went to Augsburg. His spirit, however, was under a cloud, and he thought within himself "my end has come." All along the road he could not rid himself of the thought of the stake and martyrdom, and he sighed and groaned, saying, " alas ! what a disgrace must I be to my dear parents I" Luther traveled by way of Niirnberg. Scheurl, the friend of his student-life at Erfurt, was living at Niirn- berg, and it was the pleasure of the Elector that he should be Luther's legal adviser at the judicial hearing. Scheurl had not been informed of this, and was then ab- sent upon some business in the service of the city. Lu- 89 ther arrived at Augsburg on October 7th, and took lodg- ings in the Carmelite monastery, the Prior, John Frosch, being his friend. Dr. Peutinger and Canon Langeman- tel called upon him, as did also Riihel and Feilitzsch, counselors of the Elector. They advised him not to ap- pear before the Cardinal until he had secured a certifi- cate of safe conduct from the Emperor, as a protection against any insidious arrest. The Italian, Serralonga, also made him a visit for the purpose of questioning him. Serralonga could not see anything that was at all serious in the whole affair. Luther should only pro- nounce six letters of the alphabet (" revoco," I recant), and all would be right. In defence of indulgence he was constrained to say, that it was right to teach the common people what was not true, provided it only brought in their money. He asked Luther, " Suppose that Prince Frederick will not take up arms in your de- fence, where will you be then?" To which Luther re- plied, " under the heavens." The crafty foreigner could do nothing with the honest German, and so he took his leave. Cardinal Cajetan was not well pleased with the impe- rial letter of safe conduct which had been granted to Luther. Cajetan himself arrived on October 12th, and Luther, accompanied by two Carmelite and two Augus- tine monks, waited upon him at once. He approached the Cardinal with the most profound reverence, begged his forgiveness for anything that he might have taught or done inconsiderately, and declared that he was ready to receive proper instruction and to be guided on the right way. The Cardinal received him courteously and 90 spoke in recognition of his scholarship. He said that he was not disposed to enter into any disputation, but rather to settle the business in a fatherly way. His Holi- ness, the Pope, demanded three things of Luther; first, that he should recant his heresies; secondly, that he should promise to abstain from them in future; thirdly, that he should refrain from everything else that might disturb the peace of the church. Cajetan kept the letter of the Pope containing these three demands in his own pocket, although Luther asked permission to see it. Luther then requested the Cardinal to point out his heresies, for he himself was not aware of any. Cajetan then brought up the 95 Theses, together with the expla- nation of them, and strongly urged that Luther had de- nied the essential identity of indulgence and the merits of Christ, and that he had asserted that a saving recep- tion of the sacrament depended upon the faith of him who received it. Notwithstanding all his shallowness, Cajetan had ex- actly hit the two fundamental thoughts of the Theses. Luther had seen how indulgence had brought the all- availing merits of Christ into contempt; and as to the efficacy of the Sacrament, he saw that that depended upon faith, because God Himself had made the fulfil- ment of His promise of grace to depend upon our em- bracing that promise by faith. The Cardinal held him- self to be very learned in the Scriptures, but as he was now led into a controversy, in spite of himself, he became involved in all manner of absurd contradictions. So he abruptly put an end to the interview, demanding of Lu- ther an unqualified submission to the Pope, as supreme 91 lord both of the Scripture and of the church. Luther, however, begged to be allowed one day for consideration. Upon Luther's return to the monastery he found his venerable fried, Staupitz, awaiting him there. They then took counsel together as to the mode of proceeding with the Cardinal. The next day Luther, in company with four jurists, one notary and Dr. Staupitz, waited upon Cajetan. He read a solemn protest against the constraint involved in the three demands of the Pope, as long as he was not convicted of heresy. He was pre- pared to submit to the righteous decision of the church, and begged that the judgment of divers universities might be obtained. At the reading of this paper Caje- tan smiled with an aristocratic air, and advised his "poor brother" to take serious thought with himself and to renounce all ideas of resistance. Luther then begged to be allowed to give his answer to the three demands of the Pope in writing. This ruffled Cajetan, and he turned upon Luther sharply, saying, " My son, I have not con- tended with you and will have no strife with you, but out of respect to your sovereign Lord and Prince, I am willing to treat you like a father and to give you a gra- cious hearing, as also to admonish you and to instruct you." However, when Dr. Staupitz had spoken in favor of Luther's request, the Cardinal gave his consent. Lu- ther then went to work at once. Notwithstanding the very short time allowed him, he explained, in a manner thoroughly clear, the reasons why he could not submit to the demands of the Pope, without doing violence to his Christian conscience. In justification of his position in regard to the necessity of faith, he used the following 92 language : " Faith alone, in the word of Christ, justifies, obtains merit, secures life, and qualifies for the worthy reception of the Sacrament; without faith everything else is nothing but self-presumption or the stragglings of despair — for the just shall live by his faith." The next day Luther delivered this Augsburg confes- sion to the Cardinal. Cajetan threw it contemptuously upon the table, saying, that he would send it to Rome. Then he began to storm away at Luther, who was not able to put in a word. Whenever Luther attempted to produce some proof from the Scripture, Cajetan would suddenly dart off upon something else. At last his pa- tience was all gone, and with loud rage he called upon Luther "enough, recant!" But Luther refused to recant and referred again to the protest and the appeal he had made the day before. At this the Cardinal broke through all bounds and said, that if Luther would not recant on the spot, or present himself before his judges at Rome, he would hurl the anathema of the church against him and against all who favored him ; and he had a Papal Mandate in his hands empowering him so to do. Caje- tan arose, saying, " Be gone, recant, or never let me see your face again !" and Luther retired in silence. The Cardinal sent for Dr. Staupitz, and in many words stated to him what a friendly feeling he had for Luther. He then begged the Prior to act the part of mediator, but Staupitz declined. Thereupon the hot-blooded Ro- man gave vent to his displeasure, saying: "I do not want to have anything more to do with that beast; his eyes are deep and he has got strange speculations in his head." 93 Luther did not come before the Cardinal again, but re- mained quietly in the monastery. Staupitz visited him and encouraged him, saying, " Remember brother, that you have begun this in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ." He also absolved him from the rule of his Or- der, so that, in case silence should be imposed upon him, he might be able to plead that he was not bound by the monk's vow of obedience. Staupitz and Scheurl even contemplated the extraordinary project of sending Lu- ther to Paris, the university of which was likewise op- posed to the sole supremacy of the Pope. Lack of funds, however, defeated the plan, and Luther had to continue on in the service of his fatherland. Luther again made his appeal in legal form before a Notary. He appealed, not to a Council, but from the Pope ill-informed to the Pope to be better informed. For several days he was expecting to receive a communica- tion from Cajetan, but in vain. Cajetan's silence made Luther's friends uneasy, so in the night of October 20th, the Canon, Langemantel, had a door opened for his egress in the city wall ; the Council furnished him with an experienced attendant who knew the roads, and Lu- ther escaped from the city unobserved. On the first day they rode 40 miles to Nurnberg, and when Luther dis- mounted he fell down, unable to stand. In Niirnberg, a communication from Spalatin reached him, which con- veyed a Papal Brief, commanding Cajetan to arrest the heretic, Luther, and take him a prisoner to Eome. It was intended that the anathema should strike all the adherents of Luther, even the Princes themselves who protected him. This arrangement had been determined 94 already at that time when Luther was first summoned to appear at Rome. Cajetan had only been playing with him, trying to put him at his ease, so that he might the more easily get him into his power; and the Pope him- self had ordered the execution of this treacherous scheme. Luther afterwards remarked, " what a strange affair the conscience of ' the other god of the whole earth ' must be." Luther arrived at Wittenberg in good condition on October 31st. He informed Spalatin of his return in this manner: "By the grace of God I have come back in good health, yet, not knowing how long I shall remain here ; for my business is in such a state that I both fear and hope at the same time. * * * * I am full of joy and peace; and indeed, I am surprised to find that many persons regard the trial to which I have been sub- jected as having been something great." The Elector informed Luther that Cajetan had made another demand upon him to deliver him up at Rome, but he added, that he still insisted upon the hearing be- ing had in German territory. He expected, however, that his professor would conduct himself somewhat more prudently. To this Luther could not consent. He pub- lished in the Latin language a report of his interviews with Cajetan, and at the same time an appeal from the Pope to a General Council. As to his respect for Rome, he had already got to the bottom of it. Referring to this matter, in a certain letter he says, that the veritable Anti- christ may be seen looking out at the Court of Rome. Every day he was in expectation of having the anathema hurled at him; and in order that he might not involve others in misery he proposed to leave Wittenberg. In 95 the pulpit he bade farewell to his congregation, exhort- ing them not to be alarmed if he should suddenly disap- pear, but to commit all to God. He did not allow any- thing to interfere with his important labors as preacher and professor; and just at this time he cheerfully em- braced the opportunity to prepare for publication his "Exposition of the Lord's Prayer for the General Laity." In its preface he says: "My desire is, if possible, to ren- der a good service even to my enemies, for my disposition has always been to be useful in helping everybody, and to do harm to no one." In Rome it was now proposed to take another course, and to yield a point or two. The Pope's Bull, indeed, had condemned the heresies that had been started in Germany, but the name of Luther had not been men- tioned. Pope Leo X. sent off his chamberlain, Charles von Miltiz, a commissioner, to the Elector, bearing two letters of very different import. In the one the Pope in- forms the Prince, that Miltiz would place in his hands the consecrated golden rose, the precious fragrance of which would pervade his heart and so tenderly incline him to give cordial support to the chamberlain in his praise-worthy object. In the other, the Pope demands that Luther, "this child of Satan, this offspring of the Devil, this son of perdition," shall be delivered up to him. Miltiz was in no great hurry, for he wanted first to ascertain what was the prevailing sentiment in Ger- many. To his amazement, he discovered that the glory of Rome had in large measure faded away from before the eyes of the people, and that their interest in Luther and in his cause was so much the more deep and decided. 96 For this reason he felt that it would be advisable to deal gently with Luther. He met Luther and Spalatin in Altenburg shortly after New Year. Being a thorough courtier, he spoke with Luther in captivating terms, took him to task quite tenderly, and then would yield the point. Luther looked upon him as a man of honor, and so, yielding to Miltiz, he promised to address an humble letter of regret to the Pope, and to cease writing for the future, so that the conflict might cease. However, to his promise he appended the proviso, "so far as the other party will keep quiet." In the evening the several gen- tlemen supped together in cheerful mood, and Miltiz kissed the Wittenberg Doctor upon taking his departure. It was not long, however, before Luther discovered what was hidden behind the smooth outside of the Chamber- lain of the Pope. He detected his hypocrisy; but at first he kept the discovery to himself. Miltiz then went to Lepsic and had a reckoning with the indulgence vendor, Tetzel, concerning whom he had been informed, that he never ceased to be himself, even in the busiest times. He held him to a strict account, and charged him with new violations of chastity. Tetzel died in the following summer, having been long sick and forsaken. During his sickness Luther wrote him a letter of consolation. Miltiz requested the Archbishop of Triers to sit as Judge in the case of Luther, against which Luther had no objection. Meanwhile, the Pope kept quiet, for he was now less disposed than ever to disturb his friendly relations with the Elector, because the Emperor Maxi- milian had died January 12th, 1519, and Frederick had become Regent of the Empire in North Germany. > 97 At the request of the Bishop of Brandenburg, who now visited Wittenberg, Luther wrote once more to Pope Leo X. on March 3d. He justifies his movement in terms of profound humility. He wrote a book for the people entitled " Information Concerning Several Articles which his Enemies had Cut Out and Imposed upon Him." Miltiz and Cajetan met the Archbishop of Triers in Coblenz. Luther was invited to go to this meeting, but Frederick the Wise would not give his consent. He pre- ferred that the matter should be brought before the first Diet, to be held under the presidency of the newly elected Emperor Charles, of Spain. Miltiz had to go back to Rome leaving the object of his mission unaccom- plished. 10. THE DISPUTATION AT LEIPSIC. "So far as the other party will keep quiet." This was the condition on which Luther had promised Miltiz to be silent. But the other party would not consent to keep their mouths shut. Dr. John Eck,, of Ingolstadt, thought that it would ruin his good health if he were not allowed to ventilate his talents. He boasted of the bright display he had made in disputations at Bologna and Vienna. Before Luther had met Miltiz, Carlstadt had invited Eck to meet him for a trial of skill in a pub- lic disputation at Wittenberg. Wittenberg, however, was too small a place for the great Doctor, and so they agreed upon Leipsic. Eck presented 13 Theses, as the subject for the disputation. They were not directed against Carl- stadt, but against Luther. Carlstadt wished to bring up 7 98 the doctrine of Augustine concerning grace and free win, as the subject of discussion, but Eck moved directly against Luther's explanation of repentance, and indulg- ence, and purgatory, and maintained the supreme au- thority of the Pope as the successor of Christ and St. Peter, ever since the Council of Nice. Yes, he even called upon Luther, saying, that as he was the man who had been scattering the tares abroad, he was bound to Dr. John Eck. appear at the disputation and to defend his cause. Lu- ther believed that this presumption on the part of Eck released him from the obligation of the promise he had ■ given to Miltiz. He accepted the challenge, and drew up counter-theses. He attacked the "divine right" of the Papal Supremacy, drawing his arguments from the Scriptures and from the orthodox church fathers, Cyprian, 99 Athanasius and Augustine. As he had done to his own 95 Theses, so too, to the 13 Theses of Eck, he appended a series of explanations, in which he announced his con- victions without reserve. He maintained that "the Christian faith cannot admit that there is any other Head over the church universal on earth than Christ. The church, with all its spiritual treasures, is not con- fined to Rome alone, but is everywhere, where the one baptism, the Divine Word, the sacraments, where faith and love and hope are, wherever God's Word is preached and believed. There is the true faith; and this is the Rock against which the gates of hell cannot prevail; where faith is there is the church ; where the church is there is the Bride of Christ; where the Bride is there is everything that belongs to the Bridegroom." When the University of Leipsic was informed that Lu- ther, and not Carlstadt, was- to lead in the disputation against Eck, it refused to open its halls for the occasion. The Bishop of Merseburg, Chancellor of the University, had raised objections; but as Duke George, of Saxony, was desirous of hearing Luther, the Bishop and the Uni- versity finally yielded their consent. Duke George gave Luther permission to appear; but in the passport he was named only as the traveling companion of Carlstadt. Carlstadt and Luther arrived in Leipsic, June 24th, 1519. As being Luther's senior and the first disputant, Carlstadt led the way, Luther's coach following. The Rector of the University of Wittenberg, Duke Barnim, of Pomerania, Nicholas von Amsdorf, and Professor Lange, of Erfurt, accompanied them. Two hundred students of Wittenberg, armed with lances, marched with 100 the coaches for their protection and as a guard of honor. Unfortunately for Carlstadt, his coach broke down and he fell in the mud. Luther then passed on in advance, the spectators remarking, he will mount to the top, the other will fall below. Eck himself had already reached Leipsic. Duke George had had the large Pleissenburg Hall pre- pared for the disputation. A commission was appointed to determine the order of proceedings. Carlstadt and Luther prevailed upon the commission to appoint secre- taries, because they had reason to suspect that their ene- mies would distort their arguments. Luther also suc- ceeded in carrying the point that the transactions should not be referred to the Papal Court, but to a General Coun- cil that was to be expected, or to some university, for a final adjudication. The Disputation was opened with due solemnity, June 27th. One of the professors delivered a salutatory ad- dress in the great hall of the university. Then the as- sembly went to attend Mass in the church of St. Thomas, where a choir of twelve voices furnished the music. After this they marched to the Castle, escorted by the military of the city with drums in advance. Two tri- bunes or pulpits were erected in the hall. Above the one intended for Eck was hung a picture of St. George and the dragon; above the other a picture of St. Martinus the friend of the poor. Peter Schade, a Professor of Leipsic, occupied two hours in the delivery of an elegant oration upon the Art of Controversy. After this the choir sang a hymn of invitation to the Holy Spirit, dur- ing which the whole assembly were upon their knees. 101 They were then dismissed for dinner, and the regular Disputation began at two o'clock in the afternoon. Eck and Carlstadt met face to face. The audience was of a highly respectable character, and many members of the nobility were there in company with Duke George. There were members of the Church of Bohemia likewise in attendance. The military of the city was stationed not only at the castle, but about the lodgings of the Wittenberg students also, for the purpose of protecting them against the people of Leipsic, who were of the other party. The controversy between Carlstadt and Eck upon the subject of Free Will and upon man's ability to do good works continued for four days. Carlstadt contended for the doctrine of the Bible, and Eck opposed that with the doctrine of Rome. Eck was an experienced disputant, well versed in controversy, and had command of an ex- cellent memory. Carlstadt had more mettle than skill, and on the fourth day it looked as if Eck would come off with flying colors. Luther was ill at ease with the course of the Disputation. He said : " This affair was not begun in God's Name, and it will not end in His Name, for the opposition is contending for personal glory rather than for the glory of the truth." The people of Leipsic lav- ished their honors upon Eck and treated the Wittenber- gers with cool reserve. At the request of Duke Barnim, Luther preached in the hall on June 29th, the day of the Apostles Peter and Paul, having Matt. 1G: 13-19 for his text. Although the sermon was truly edifying and practical, nevertheless it was not well received. Eck preached against Luther in 102 two of the churches, Luther himself not being admitted to any of the city pulpits. Upon one occasion as he en- tered a church whilst the monks were reading mass they quickly gathered up the sacred vessels and hurried off with them, lest the sacrament might be polluted by the presence of the heretic. At last, it happened that Luther encountered the In- golstadt Doctor, July 4th. They agreed at once to discuss the question of the Pope's supremacy, Luther announcing beforehand that he would not have touched this subject at all had not Eck challenged him to lay hold of it. The Leipsic Professor, Peter Schade (Mosellanus), described the appearance of both contestants in a letter: " Martinus is of medium stature, of slender frame, and in conse- quence of severe study and anxiety so lean that you might almost count his bones. He is yet in the prime of life, and his voice is clear and ringing. In speaking he shows his command of an extraordinary wealth both of thought and of language. In company he is courteous and friendly without austerity. He is scrupulous in the useful application of every hour to its appropriate work, and in the circle of his friends he is cheerful and delights in the sallies of wit. He always appears to be fresh and lively, and in the face of the terrors of his foes he main- tains an assured peace of mind and a cheerful counte- nance. I willingly satisfy myself that this man has not undertaken so great a work without Divine assistance. The opposition maintain that he brought a nosegay with him to the Disputation, and that he has been smelling at it." " Eck, on the other hand, can make a more stately dis- 103 play of his sides and corners. In body he is large and coarse. He has a loud, harsh voice, fleshy, flabby face, large eyes and a big mouth. He has a good memory, but his judgment is not keen. He is master of the art of imposing upon uneducated people by a torrent of bom- bast. In addition to this he has an incredible amount of audacity and cunning. His every word and act seemed to be directed upon one single point, that is, to have himself acknowledged by the whole world as a great doctor." For five days Luther and Eck disputed about the di- vine authority of the Papal rule. Luther was willing to recognize that rule as being of human authority for the sake of good order, but he denied that it was of divine authority, because such presumption would be a usurpa- tion of the royal prerogative of the One Head in Heaven. Eck maintained, with calmness of manner, that the Greeks were heretics, and that probably there were only a couple of monks among them who would be saved as they quietly held on to Rome. As to the Bohemians, he said that the adherents of the pestilential heresies of John Hus were enemies of the church, whom the church was obliged to hate. To this Luther replied that there was certainly a communion of true Christians in the Greek Church also, and it was a shame to say that they could not be saved. As to the Bohemians, he said that among the teachings of John Hus, which had been anathematized, there was much that was of a Christian spirit, and in harmony with the Gospel. This declara- tion aroused a powerful excitement in the audience, for at that time no more powerful expression could be used 104 than "you are a Bohemian," which was taken to mean an ungodly, apostate wretch. Duke George belched forth a curse, and Eck rejoiced in his heart at having en- trapped his adversary, who had hitherto been making it too warm for him. The next day Luther opened the Disputation by pre- senting four of Hus's propositions which he asserted were incontestable. It is true that the Council of Con- stance had condemned them; but even a Council may err, the Holy Scriptures alone are unerring. He ap- pealed to this same principle afterwards when the Dispu- tation took up the subjects of purgatory and of indulgence. After Carlstadt had submitted additional Theses about the relation between the grace of God and the human will, the Disputation came to an end on July 16th. Luther left Leipsic at once, but Eck tarried for a consid- erable time, pampering himself with the delicious fare of the city. He was in a merry mood, for he claimed the victory, and was glad to have others award him the palm. Luther arrived in Wittenberg depressed in spirit. He complained to Spalatin that he had never seen such barefaced rancor as he had to encounter there. Yet he had made many friends after all, and found a fervent encomiast in Peter Schade (Mosellanus), who had great influence at Leipsic. The Theological Faculties of Paris and Erfurt, to whose judgment the transactions were sub- mitted, refrained from announcing their decision. Eck was by no means satisfied with his pretended triumph. He sent a Report of the Disputation to Rome, and advised the prompt execution of the condemnation of Luther. He instigated the Franciscan monks in Sax- 105 ony against Luther, whom he accused of despising the Councils, and of holding fellowship with the Bohemians. Again, Luther published "Explanations," this time, how- ever, of the Leipsic Theses, and answered the accusations of the Franciscans in such a way as to make them cau- tious for the future. But now another adversary lifted up his head, whose malignity gave Luther much trouble, to wit, Emser, of Dresden, who had once before published his antipathy to Luther. Emser wrote to the Provost, Zeck, in Prague, Bohemia, and represented Luther as the great spokesman of the Bohemian heresy. This letter indeed had a kind of friendly tone, but Luther saw through its malignity at once, and full of abhorrence at its hypocrisy, answered it in a forcible manner. Emser paid back in like coin, after which Luther let him drop. Luther's Explanations of the Leipsic Theses broke up the sleep of Eck, who had been intoxicated with victory. He published a writing to defend himself and a composi- tion "Against Luther's absurd chase," and then posted off to Rome for the purpose of stirring up the abyss of hell against him, as Luther stated to Spalatin. He in- tended also to offer to the Pope a book upon the Primacy of the Pope which he had written in a hurry, and thus commend himself to the favor of his Lord and master LeoX. Miltiz renewed his efforts to change the course of Luther. He solicited an interview with Luther in the politest terms. Luther repeated the assurance of his willingness to present himself for examination before the Archbishop of Triers. The Elector, however, would not consent to this, for he wished the matter to be brought 106 before the Diet that was approaching. Even the Arch- bishop himself showed no disposition to meddle in the affair now, for it had broken out of the walls of the uni- versities and beyond the cells of the monasteries, and had come to be noised abroad everywhere, so that up and down the land the name of Luther was in every- body's mouth and no one could be neutral any longer. The Universities of Cologne and Louvain burnt Luther's writings and insisted upon it that Luther should be com- pelled to recant. It was an easy matter to supply the loss of the volumes that had thus been reduced to ashes, for the printer, Froben, of Basle, had sent off a large supply to England and to Spain, and could tell a great deal about the favor with which they were received even by certain bishops themselves. Lazarus Spengler, Secre- tary of the Council of Nlirnberg, put forth in the interest of Luther "A Defence of a sincere lover of the Divine Truth of the Holy Scriptures." (Ecolampadius, Preacher in Augsburg, and Adelmann, Canon in the same city, published a work against Eck that cut his vanity to the quick. The Patrician, Bilihold Pirkheimer, of Nlirnberg, a man of the highest character, published a satirical dialogue under the title, " The Corner rounded off" (' der abgehobelte Eck '). Luther did not favor this mode of controversy adopted by Pirkheimer, for in his estimation the matter was too serious and holy to allow him to attack and irritate his adversaries with the keen points of sarcasm. At Melanchthon's suggestion, Luther addressed letters to the two most learned men of the day, Reuchlin, of Ingolstadt, and Erasmus, of Rotterdam. Reuchlin was 107 advanced in years and excused himself from active co- operation, although he did not conceal his favorable dis- position. Erasmus was yet in his prime, and felt flattered by the fact that the celebrated Wittenberg Doctor had written him so respectful a letter. Nevertheless, he was too calculating and too fond of the favors of the great and mighty to be willing to declare himself on the side of Luther. He entered into epistolary correspondence with him, and expressed himself as wishing him well, which, of course, did not injure Luther's cause in the estimation of the learned. Two Bohemian clergymen wrote to Luther in very cordial terms, and assured him of the sympathy of the church in Bohemia. They sent also certain gifts with their letter, and among these was a work of Hus concerning the church, which the recip- ient found to be of special value. In the autumn of 1519, appeared Luther's Exposition of St. Paul's Epistle to the Galatians in the Latin lan- guage, and an Explanation of the Fifth Psalm. He took special interest in the Epistle to the Galatians, for the reason that the fundamental doctrine of Righteousness by Faith was presented there in a manner so concise and clear. We have already noticed his fondness for the Psalms. He was able to instill this fondness for the treasures of the word of God into the hearts of others. His rising renown and Melanchthon's advancing repu- tation drew so many students to Wittenberg that the number increased to about 500. Luther appealed to the Elector for the endowment of a chair of the Hebrew language, and for the commencement of a printing estab- lishment. With the aid of Melanchthon, to whom he 108 was ever becoming more and more attached, he continued diligently in the study of the Greek. Concerning this young friend he expressed himself in this manner. "I am not ashamed to give up my own opinion when the judgment of this grammarian decides otherwise. I have done it often, and do it every day, on account of that divine grace which God has so abundantly poured out into this earthen vessel which Eck treated with contempt — in him I glorify the work of God." Luther devoted the full proportion of time to his ofn\ cial work as preacher. During Lent he gave instruction to the young every day, upon the Decalogue and tha Lord's Prayer. He preached on the week days of the whole year, on the book of Genesis and on the Gospel of Matthew. Several of his Sunday sermons appeared in print and were widely read; for, in the pulpit, his style was of the clearest and simplest kind. Brief articles and discussions, generally intended for the common people, were printed in great variety. As he himself said, he could write rapidly and had a ready memory, so that everything he wrote flowed on naturally, rather than having to be first smoothed down. And yet, he could hardly meet the demands that were made upon him. The Elector, Frederick, had read many of his sermons that were published as pamphlets, and was edified by them. In November, 1519, he requested him, through Spalatin, to write a Postil, that is, an exposition, in the style of the sermon, of the lessons of the gospels and the epistles that were read in the church. Although Luther thought he had no time for it, yet he began the work at once. However, it advanced but slowly. As it was 109 intended chiefly for the use of the clergy he wrote it in Latin. As the brother of the Elector, Duke John, was his friend, he wrote a long and elaborate discourse for him upon " Good Works," as the fruit of faith and of new obedience, together with a practical exposition of the ten commandments. There appeared also, a short, simple exposition of the commandments, the creed and the Lord's Prayer — a forerunner of the catechism. In the preface he said: "Everything that is in the Holy Scrip- tures, and everything that it is necessary for a Christian to know, is thoroughly and abundantly included and easily comprehended in these three parts. In the first place we must learn what we have to do and what to avoid; learn also that in these matters we are helpless; so the ten commandments reveal to man his moral dis- ease. In the next place we must learn by what means we are to do the right and avoid the evil; that is, we must know the proper remedy for our disease. This is what is furnished in the Creed which teaches about God, and about God's mercy in Christ. And the true Creed is not that which only teaches us to learn and to believe about God, but it is that which teaches us to believe in God; that is, to fix our trust in Him without doubting, and to venture all upon Him, both for life and for death. In the third place, the Lord's Prayer teaches us how we should long for the mercy of God, and how we should bow down before him in meek and confiding supplica- tion." 110 11. THE BULL OF EXCOMMUNICATION. The year 1520, towards the end of which Luther, by the burning of the Pope's Bull, announced his with- drawal from the church of the Pope, had been for him, a year of continuous controversy. He had to ward off attacks that were made upon him from all quarters. He had to break through the ranks of his powerful foes and prepare the way for the word of the Lord. He endeav- ored to attain to clearer views and to a more positive as- surance of the truth for himself; and like a prophet, he was called to remove the foreign yoke from the necks of his people. It was in the name of all Christendom that he ventured to draw the sword and to apply the torch. His enemies in Leipsic reported that he was a Bohe- mian bastard, whom his father had picked up in Prague. The baptismal register at Eisleben, however, furnished the evidence of his legitimate and honorable birth. The Bishop of Meissen wrote a pastoral letter against him as a despiser of the Sacrament, but in such an awkward way, that the sharp answer in which Luther replied, was pleasing, even to his enemies. Yet, there was one ex- pression in this letter that occasioned a new uproar, for Luther attacked the celibacy of the clergy as being con- trary to the Holy Scriptures. Luther had addressed a letter of complaint to the first Prince of the church, the Archbishop of Mayence, to which the Archbishop replied in a friendly spirit. He admitted indeed, that he had given little attention to Luther's writings ; yet, he added : if Luther teaches the truth and does it humbly, in the fear of God, giving no encouragement to disobedience of Ill the rules of the church, then his work is of God, and no man can arrest it ; but if his work proceeds from pride, or envy, or malice, it will, of itself, come to nought. Alveld, a Franciscan monk of Leipsic, published a swag- gering book, under the title, " On the Apostolic See," in which he addresses Luther as a perverse heretic and a hound of hell. Luther disposed of him summarily, by sending him his book "Of the Eoman Papacy;" and proved to him that in the true sense of the word, the spiritual Christendom that sanctifies the heart is the church. Of course, there are some external things that belong to this proper church; yet, these things are nei- ther Rome nor the Pope, but they are the word and the sacraments. The church does not need a visible head, for she can have only One Head, and that is Christ in heaven. In his writing against Alveld, Luther's German sympathies were deeply stirred. He spreads out before his Leipsic adversary the abominable knavery of the thieving Romans, who always have this proverb in their mouths, " scrape up the gold of these fools of Germans wherever you can." Old Prierias, now in Rome, turns up, in the excite- ment, once more. He repeated his former declarations, that the Pope was the infallible judge of the truth, and that he derived his authority immediately from God. For the purpose of showing to the world in what absurd doctrines the Romans had lost themselves, Luther had the writing of Prierias published, and accompanied it with a preface, in which he boldly maintained that, at Rome, the veritable Antichrist was sitting in the temple of God. 112 By this time Luther was not left to fight alone. The conflict with Rome was no longer confined to the sphere of the church. What Luther had asserted in his writing to Alveld, concerning Roman craftiness and avarice, was noised abroad and heard everywhere throughout all Ger- many. Out of a lingering respect for the chair of St. Peter, Luther kept what he had himself seen in Rome shut up in the secrets of his own heart. Others, how- ever, were not so forbearing. German scholars, who were sojourning in Rome, wrote to their friends, giving state- ments of affairs most incredible, and yet, only too true. They were especially outraged by the contemptuous treat- ment that was accorded to the Germans. In Rome, Princes of the empire even, were put upon a level with the stable boys of the Pope. Already, at the Diet of Augs- burg, in 1518, the estates of the empire had laid before Cajetan their grievance under Roman insolence. Since that time this insolence had gone on increasing, and now, from among the Knights who were controlled by a patriotic spirit, there arose powerful voices insisting upon the re-establishment of German freedom, and upon de- liverance from the dominion of Rome. Ulricli von Hutten, the favorite of the Archbishop of Mayence, attacked the Romans with cutting satires. His Patron for a long time allowed him to do as he pleased. Thurzo, Bishop of Bres- lau, was not afraid to declare himself boldly for Luther, but he died in the summer of 1520, lamented by Luther as the best bishop of the century. Francis von Sickingen, the most distinguished of all the German Knights, offered Luther a refuge in his castle, in case the storm that was rolling up from Rome should burst over him, and Sick- 113 ingen's friend Schanmburg, proposed to put himself and one hundred other Knights at his command, as a defence. In a writing, in which he attacked the tyranny and the worthlessness of the court of Rome, Luther returned his thanks to the Knights for their offers of friendship. In the month of August, his small volume that acquired such celebrity, was published, entitled, " To the Christian Nobles of the German Nation, Concerning the Improvement of the Christian Character." Luther would allow nothing like physical force, nothing like the shedding of blood. With the help of God, and by his word, he would so ruin the walls that Rome had built up around herself, that no one would be able to restore them. The first wall was the Roman heresy concerning the spiritual power and concerning the unassailable character of the clerical or- der. But in truth, to this clerical order all Christians belong, by virtue of baptism, the word and faith. The second wall was the heresy that the Pope alone has the authority to explain the Scriptures. But Christ says that all Christians shall be taught of God, and St. Paul states his views in I. Cor. 14: 30. The third wall was that the Pope is superior to the councils. Luther now appeals, not to the Pope, but to the Emperors, as having political supremacy, to imitate the example of the first Christian Emperor, Constantine the Great, and to con-, vene a council for the purpose of considering the tribula- tions of the church and improving the condition of Chris- tendom. He enumerates the defects and the abuses of the church, such as the haughtiness of the Pope, the avarice of the Cardinals, the intolerable ecclesiastical taxes, etc., in 26 sections. For the repeal or the amelio- 114 ration of these matters, he gives such practical suggestions as reveal what a large heart this German man of the people had. He speaks also about the monks who vowed so much and performed so little, and of the celibacy of the priests, as a violation both of nature and of the Scrip- ture. He demands a purging of the order of public wor- ship, and a reduction in the number of holidays, by which the people had been seduced into laziness and gluttony, and insists that the abuses of begging shall be corrected. He then adds words of sympathy for the per- secuted Bohemians and says, that heretics should be sub- dued with the word and not with fire. The universities needed a thorough reformation, and his desire was to have schools of a lower grade, and even schools for females, established everywhere. In the 27tn section he speaks of abuses as they occur in ordinary life; of lux- ury, of intemperance, of usury, of the arbitrary dealings of large corporations, etc.; and the book closes with the words: "May God grant us all a Christian understand- ing, and especially bestow genuine spiritual courage upon the nobles of Germany, that they may do their best for the afflicted church. Amen." In this book Lu- ther spoke keenly and to the point. His nearest friends shook their heads at his vehemency. But the nobility, and the Burghers, and the more intelligent peasantry, were of a different opinion. What they had themselves long thought and felt, they found clearly, and truthfully, and boldly, laid before them in this book. In a few days 4000 copies of this book were sold. Soon afterwards he published a sermon on the Mass, intended for Christians generally, in which, after a brief 115 exposition of the Romish heresy, he urged the simplifi- cation of the ceremonies and the use of the German lan- guage, in the celebration of the sacrament. This was followed by another small volume that likewise, became famous "On the Babylonian Captivity of the Church." Although, in his first volume, he had uncovered the ar- rogance of Rome and the miserable defects that were so fatal to the life of the church, nevertheless, he did not regard these as the severest wounds under which the church was suffering. That distinction, he saw, belonged to the tyranny which the power of the Pope exercised in oppressing souls and consciences; and this was the sub- ject he proposed to handle now. Beginning with the seven sacraments, he showed what sacraments the Lord Himself had instituted, and what the Roman church had set up without Divine authority. With great force, and as one learned in things Divine, he pointed out where, and how far, the Roman church was guilty of sin- ning against the Lord and against His saints, and how, by her lust of power, she had plunged so many thou- sands of souls into danger and destruction. Whilst Luther was engaged in these writings in the in- terest of a Reformation, Eck was traveling back from Rome to Saxony. The Pope had issued his Bull of Ex- communication on June 16th, and ordered the Ingol- stadt Doctor to convey it to Germany and proclaim it there. Luther got to see it on October 8th, after Eck, with many officious demonstrations, had posted it on the doors of churches in the neighboring towns. Eck took on like a grand ambassador of the Pope's. The Bull of Leo X., "the servant of the servants of Christ," con- 116 demned 41 propositions of Luther's writings as heretical errors, and amongst them was this one, to-wit: "that it is contrary to the mind of the Holy Spirit to burn here- tics at the stake." The Pope, in tears, through anxiety and grief of heart, had been striving, yet all in vain, to bring this lost child back again. The perverse creature had even appealed to a council, and this itself deserved the punishment of heresy. Yet, notwithstanding, the Pope would imitate the Divine tenderness and offer his gracious hand to this prodigal son, upon his coming back to the bosom of the church. This Bull suspended Luther from the office of preacher, and, if he would not recant within 60 days, he should be regarded as a heretic and -treated accordingly. A threat of like import was pronounced against all his adherents ; and all Princes, and all civil authorities, and all Burghers, and all coun- try people, were admonished to arrest and to confine him and his confederates. Among these confederates Eck counted his own personal adversaries, Pirkheimer and Spengler, of Nurnberg, and Carlstadt, of Wittenberg. Miltiz still tarried in Saxony, for he was not yet ready to give up the hope of a reconciliation. Luther had not fulfilled his promise given to Miltiz, of writing to the Pope, and upon the arrival of the Bull, he was inclined to consider himself entirely released from it. However, Miltiz thought that Luther ought to write to Leo and as- sure that great potentate, that in all he had ever said against the papacy, he had never thought of showing any disrespect to the person of Leo himself. Luther felt, too, that he could express such an assurance, and so he wrote to the Pope, never alluding to the Bull, however, 117 but telling his holiness how sorry he was for him, be- cause, he, the Pope, had been so much misled by wicked tell-tales and advisers. There was nothing that he could recant; and, in cogent language, he warns Leo X. against all idolatrous notions about himself. The letter breathes a spirit of dignified reverence, but there is nothing of the air of servility about it. Luther felt that he was address- ing, not an infallible autocrat, but a fellow-man, for whom he had the sympathy of pity, on account of the dangerous position he occupied. He accompanied his letter with a small volume which he dedicated to the Pope. It was the third of his writings that became so famous in the progress of the Reformation. It appeared in 1520, and bears the title, "The Freedom of a Cliristiaii." In reference to this book, Luther says to the Pope: As to the paper in it, the book is small, and yet, if its spirit is understood, it will be found to contain the entire amount of the Christian life. I am poor, and have nothing else to offer in testimony of my service; and you, for your part, do not need to be improved in anything else than in spiritual gifts. Luther saw, with the eye of faith, what the freedom of the Christian really is. In an extended and intelligible discussion he unfolds two fundamental principles. They are expressed thus: "A Christian is lord over all things and is subject to no man." "A Christian is bound to be the servant of all things, and to be subject to every man." The Christian, as lord, is the inner, spiritual man who, by faith, is righteous, pious, free, enjoys salvation, and has a priestly kingdom and a royal priesthood. The Christian, as servant, is the outer man, who must come 118 to be obedient and conformed to the inner man and to faith, and make no resistance, no opposition. Love to God and delight in Him flow out of faith; and out of love there flows forth a life of purity, and gentleness, and joyfulness, that renders its services free to our fellow-men. A Christian lives not for himself; but he lives for Christ and for his neighbor — for Christ by faith — for his neigh- bor by love. That is Christian freedom indeed — that which makes the heart free from all sin, from laws, from ordinances — that is as high above all other kinds of free- dom as the heavens are above the earth. The Pope had pronounced the doctrine of Luther to be an abortion of hell. This book about Christian freedom might have convinced him that Luther stood upon solid ground, and knew how to point out the true way of sal- vation. But Leo was not willing to learn. In Saxony, the Bull met with a cold reception. The University of Wittenberg did not accept it. The Ad- ministrator of the bishopric of Naumburg, Dr. Schmid- berg, would not allow it to be published. In the Elec- torate of Saxony, it was rejected almost unanimously. Frederick the Wise, when pressed by the messengers of the Pope to deliver up Luther, treated them with cool- ness, and referred them to his Counsellors who, in their turn, said that they had no instruction to take action in the matter. The Roman officials, almost bursting with rage, allowed themselves to indulge in low and scandalous abuse of the most eminent of the German Electors. Eck came to Erfurt to attend to the publica- tion of the Bull there, but the professors of Erfurt showed no disposition to co-operate with him. Bavaria was 119 strictly popish, yet, there were three bishops in Bavaria who refused to accept the Bull. In Leipsic, on the other hand, there was great rejoicing over the condemnation of Luther. In Louvain and Cologne, the writings of Lu- ther were publicly burnt. The same thing was done in Mayence; but the Popish Ambassador, Aleander, who was looking on, came very near being stoned by the peo- ple. Luther soon heard of all this, but as he could not expect anything else, he did not grieve over it. Yet, when he heard that the aged Staupitz, the friend whom he had so heartily loved, had begun to waver, that gave him pain. Staupitz was in Salzburg, where he hoped to end his days in peace; and the Archbishop demanded of him an explanation of his relations to Luther. He was* not willing to join in the hue and cry about heresy; but he had not the courage to declare himself boldly on Lu- ther's side. He wrote for advice to Link, in Augsburg, and made this statement : " Martinus has entered upon a heavy task and bears himself with noble spirit, for he has been taught of God; but I hesitate, for I am yet a child and have need of milk." Luther never wavered. If friends did so, still the Lord, in whom he trusted and whose Spirit filled him with joy, continued to uphold him. In answer to the Bull of Excommunication, he wrote a small volume en- titled, "Against the Bull of Antichrist," in which he makes an appeal to a Council, before which he would summon the Pope to an account. The estates of the em- pire are urged to unite in this appeal, and to withstand the wicked designs of the Pope. Beyond this, he had another answer prepared. As soon as he had been in- 120 formed of the burning of his books, he resolved to pay back in the same coin. On December 10th, he an- nounced to the students that, at nine o'clock, a.m., he would burn the antichristian ordinances and commands of the Pope. At that hour a great crowd gathered at the Elster-gate, and a magister piled up the wood and ap- plied the torch, whilst Luther placed the Papal Decretals on the pile. Then, Luther cast the Bull of Excommuni- cation into the flames, saying, as he did so, " as thou hast grieved the Holy One of God, so let eternal fires consume thee." Luther then returned to the town with the teach- ers of the university; but the students tarried around the fire, singing the " Te Deum " and throwing the books of Eck and Emser after the Bull. The next morning Luther addressed the students in an impressive discourse, saying among other things that, this burning would not accomplish everything, for " if you do not with the whole heart, abjure the authority of the Pope, you will never obtain the salvation of your souls." Luther then published a "Justification" of the act, in which he referred to the burning of the books of " curious arts" at Ephesus, and spoke of his own solemn obliga- tions as preacher and doctor of the Holy Scriptures, to oppose all ensnaring and misleading doctrines. In the month of March, 1521, he published a work entitled, "Ground and Reason of all the Articles which have been Un- righteously Condemned by the Romish Bull." In this book, his attitude is resolute and firm, and the indulgences which he had formerly regarded with forbearance, he now describes as an act of infernal deception and rob- bery. He brings the charge of criminal guilt against the Council of Constance, for having rejected the gospel in 121 its condemnation of Hus, and for having accepted the doctrine of the dragon of hell, instead of the doctrine of the Divine word. To the baptized Christian he accords the right and privilege of searching the Scriptures for himself and without hindrance. To the invidious charge, that he, a mere private man, had presumptuously undertaken to teach everybody else, he replies, that ac- cording to the Scripture itself, God did not take His prophets out of the families of kings and high priests, but generally called his prophets from among people of the lower ranks. He does not claim to be a prophet himself; but of this he is absolutely certain, that he has the word of God, and that his enemies have it not. In the conclusion he says, "I will, very cheerfully, uphold and defend the articles which have been condemned by the Bull, and trust, by the grace of God, to be able to maintain them against all unrighteousness. In the pres- ence of force and violence, however, I have nothing but a feeble body, which I commit to God and to His holy angels, in the interest of that truth which the Pope has cursed. Amen." Luther's sole defence against the Pope was the "Word. He declined to accept the armed assistance which the knights had offered him; for he confided in the word of the Lord for everything. He could very easily have stirred up the people in a mighty revolt against the tyranny of the Pope; but his one grand object was to obtain deliverance of the conscience from the slavery of sin and error. He sought to do only what the Lord en- joined upon him; and before long the Lord commanded him to bear testimony in the presence of kings and em- perors. V. umt- THE DIET OF WORMS. 'ITH threats of severe punishment for any disobedience that might occur, the Pope's Bull had com- manded the emperor, the prin- ces and the civil authorities either to deliver up the heretic, Martin Luther at Rome, or to execute the sentence of death upon him themselves. How- ever, not a hand was lifted up by w T ay of obeying the Pope. The Elector, Frederick the Wise, informed the Pope's ambassadors, who were furious, that any violent proceedings might have the most serious effects upon the peace of the empire. These tools of Rome disregarded the warning, and with high sounding words demanded (122) 123 of the emperor that he should proceed at once to execute the sentence pronounced by the lord of all the earth. The young emperor, Charles V, was the grandson of Charles V. Maximilian I. His father was Philip the Fair, husband of Joanna, Infanta of Spain. Philip died when Charles was six years old, and his mother lost her reason in con- 124 sequence. Upon the decease of his Spanish grandfather, Ferdinand, the Catholic, Charles inherited both Spain and Naples. America likewise was under the dominion of Spain, and so Charles might well boast that upon his empire the sun never set. His German grandfather died in 1519. The grandson then set himself to work at once to obtain the imperial crown of Germany, having as his rival Francis I, King of France. For a long time the Estates of the Empire could not decide the question between them. They knew little about Charles, still less about Francis. The imperial purple was offered to the Elector of Saxony, but he with a wise discretion declined the oppressive honor and gave his powerful influence in favor of the grandson of the German Maximilian. Charles was crowned as Emperor of the Holy Roman German Empire, in Charlemagne's City of Aachen (Aix- la-Chapelle), on October 23d, 1520, having previously been bound to accord important rights to the princes. Charles was in no respect a German. His youth had been spent in Spain and in the Netherlands. He could speak Latin, Spanish and Flemish, but not German. As he had been brought up strictly in the Romish faith, whatever would not drag along heavily in the old rut was unintelligible and repugnant to him, besides his disposition was reserved and touched with melancholy. Even in Spain the agitation that had been awakened by the Gospel had approached him already, but as sovereign he felt himself bound to maintain the authority of the church. His ghostly counsellors having represented the new spirit that had been awakened in Spain itself as a spirit of insurrection, he handled the adherents of the 125 heretical doctrine as rebels. Yet, after all, he was not a devotee of the Pope's. The Pope had actively opposed his election as emperor, and Charles had fixed his long- ing eyes upon the imperial provinces of Italy. Charles' ambassador at Pome advised his master to deal favorably with Luther when he went to Germany, for then Pome would give up to him. For Germany it was an unfortunate circumstance that just in this period of powerful agitation the emperor proved to be such a perfect stranger both to its language and its spirit. Whenever Charles V showed any friendly disposition towards the German princes, it was always the result of his crafty calculation, for he often stood in need of their friendly help in managing his Italian affairs and in his relations with his French rival. These considera- tions determined his bearing also towards the cause ad- vocated by Luther. In the Netherlands the writings of Luther had been publicly burnt at the command of Charles himself. When the Germans were informed of this they expressed their indignation in very distinct terms, and this induced the emperor to move more cautiously. Frederick the Wise begged him not to proceed against Luther without first giving him a hearing. The emperor replied that the Elector should take Luther along with him to the Diet of Worms, for he hoped that the matter might be prop- erly adjusted there. In the meantime, however, Luther had retorted upon the burning of his own books at Co- logne and Mayence by the burning of the Pope's Bull, at which Charles became so indignant that he informed the Elector that Luther would be permitted to go to Worms 126 only on condition that he would recant beforehand. The Legate of the Pope, Aleander, plead with all his might that Luther should not be summoned to the Diet, but that the sentence should be put into execution forthwith. But the emperor concluded to wait for the arrival of the Elector, who reached Worms January 5th, 1521. After conferring with the emperor in regard to the case of Luther, the Elector was able to inform his friends at home that Charles had expressed himself not unfavorably in regard to Luther. Soon afterwards he wrote home again and stated that Aleander is reported to have de- clared : " If you Germans, who give the Pope less money than any other people, cast off the yoke of Rome, we shall see well to it that you fall to work murdering one another until you all perish in your own blood." In February there appeared at Worms another Bull of the Pope leveled against Luther. The arch-heretic should be cast into the flames at once; the emperor was urged to call a halt to the progress of the Lutheran plague, and for the purpose of securing his favorable action the Pope promised him all kinds of political favors. On Ash Wednesday the Legate, Aleander, addressed the Diet in a discourse three hours long. He painted in the darkest colors and displayed the picture of "the Blasphemers, the Husites, the Despisers of Imperial Majesty and of Papal Holiness." He represented the Theses of Luther as so awful that they were enough to justify the burning of thousands of heretics. Many members of the Diet were alarmed, and were opposed to having anything to do with the Husite, Luther. Yet, no definite action was taken. 127 Glapio, the emperor's confessor, had a long interview with Briick, the Chancellor of Saxony. In terms that were wonderful he expressed himself in favor of Luther, and he would most respectfully entreat Luther to favor him with only a little bit of recanting, and then he would take such measures that Luther should be left in peace. The Elector, Frederick, did not trust the smooth-tongued monk, and ordered his Chancellor to have no further in- tercourse with him. The emperor submitted to the Diet an Edict, or ordi- nance of the sovereign authority, declaring that Luther, as being already condemned by the Pope, should have no further hearing, but should be arrested at once. The Estates would not all consent to this, but considered the matter for days together. A member from the City of Frankfort wrote to his friends at home: "The monk has given us a great deal to do. There is one party that would be very glad to crucify him, and I am afraid that he will hardly escape from them, but if it should happen, the danger is that he would rise again on the third day." In Luther's neighborhood the Bishops of Meissen and of Merseburg enjoyed themselves in burning whole wagon loads of Luther's books. Luther took satisfaction for this in writing another book entitled, "Instruction for those who go to Confession." His friend Melanchthon came to his aid with a fine pointed lance in a book against the drivelings of Emser in Leipsic. Then Thomas Murner, a monk, brandished his awkward weapon of filthy mockery against Luther, who held it beneath his dignity to take any notice of the fellow. However, there were others who answered Murner instead of Luther, who himself 128 was not troubled by the mockery of the monk. The cause of the Pope and his friends was more seriously damaged by a book of pictures drawn by Lucas Cranacli, Sr., and accompanied with explanations by Luther. It was called "Passionate of Christ and of Antichrist." In twenty-six twin-pictures Christ and Antichrist appear face to face. In one you see Christ crowned with thorns and opposite to Him the Pope crowned with his tiara, his triple crown. In another you see the Lord washing the feet of his disciples, and opposite the Pope allowing people to kiss his foot. Under the pictures of Christ there are passages of scripture; under those of the Pope there are quotations from the Papal Decrees. Whilst the princes and illustrious men at Worms were engaged in pondering the question of life or death for Luther, he himself kept on in the diligent prosecution of his own official duties. He preached every day, basing his sermons upon the book of Genesis and the Gospel of St. John. He finished the first part of his Postil and continued writing his Exposition of the Psalms. As a service to the young Prince John Frederick he explained the Magnificat, the hymn of the Virgin Mary. The tone and spirit of this explanation is of a kind so gentle and loving that we can hardly persuade ourselves that it was written at so stormy and dangerous a time. " Faith," it says, "faith in its purity and completeness is that with which the soul holds fast to God, and perseveres in the love and praise of God, even then when God hides Him- self and withdraws the light of His countenance; it is that with which the soul, not inordinately desiring its own private gratification, is satisfied in the conviction that God is gracious nevertheless." 129 At last, in the month of March, the Diet answered the Edict which the emperor had submitted. The Diet begged the emperor to have Luther brought to Worms under a safe conduct in order that he might have a hearing before the Diet, and be required to recant his heretical teaching. In case, however, he should persist in his false doctrine, then His Imperial Majesty should proceed against him according to the laws against heresy. On March 6th, the emperor wrote his citation for Luther, and addressed the heretic: "Reverend, Beloved, Devout." Luther was required to appear at Worms within twenty- one days, where and when his doctrines and his writings would be investigated. A safe conduct to and fro would be granted to him. The Papal legate was infuriated by the style of address that headed the Citation, and he never got over it, for the Estates themselves laid before the emperor, in the name of the Germans, a long list of grievances against the Pope. The man who, beyond all others, insisted upon the abolition of Romish abuses was Duke George, of Saxony, the enemy of Luther. And after this the demand for a Council became louder and louder. On March 26th, the royal Herald, Caspar Sturm, ap- peared in Wittenberg and read the imperial Citation in the hearing of Luther. Having prepared for his journey forthwith, he set out for Worms on Tuesday after Easter, April 2d. This time he did not travel on foot. Nicholas Amsdorf, Peter von Swaven, a student, and Pezensteiner, an Augustine monk, occupied the coach with him, the Herald travelling in advance. The journey was more like a triumph than a march to the stake of martyrdom. 130 Everywhere the people came in crowds to meet the trav- ellers. Everybody wanted to see the extraordinary hero who had had the courage to enter the lists against the Pope and against the whole world that believed the Pope to be a God. The City Council of Leipsic honored him with refreshments as he passed along. The Rector and Professors of the University of Erfurt, numbering above forty horsemen, rode forth to meet him, and both citizens and students filled the streets with rejoicing around him. He tarried in Erfurt over Sunday and preached upon the root of all Christian doctrine, to wit: that we become pious and attain to eternal life not by our own works, but by "faith in Christ." He preached also at Gotha and at Eisenach, although he felt seriously unwell. The next Sunday he spent at Frankfort-on-the-Main where he did not preach, but enjoyed familiar intercourse with people of distinction, and in the evening cheered himself in his own room with singing and playing on the lute. Bad news had arrived from Worms. It was said that the em- peror had issued an order that Luther's books should be burnt, and that their author should be forced to recant. Hereupon the royal Herald asked him if he would think of going to Worms in defiance of this order? Luther wrote to Spalatin : " I learn that an imperial order has been issued to frighten me, but Christ lives, and we will go into Worms in spite of the gates of hell and in de- fiance of all the wicked spirits that rule in the air." In Worms his friends knew not what to say or do, and his enemies were triumphing, for the emperor had declared him a heretic, and a heretic has to be burnt. Spalatin had sent out a messenger to meet Luther, advising him 131 not to come, by any means, or he would meet with the fate of Hus. Bucer, Professor at Strasburg, came to Oppenheim to meet him and invited him to call at Eben- ourg, the Castle of Sickingen. Glapio, the emperor's father-confessor, had gone thither for the purpose of having a conference with Luther. He relied upon his own glibness of tongue to turn Luther right around in the eleventh hour. But Luther proposed to go direct on to Worms, and as he wrote to Spalatin, he would go there if there were as many devils there as there were tiles upon the roofs of the houses. Even if Hus was burnt to ashes, yet the truth was not burnt. He intimated to Professor Bucer that if Glapio wanted to say anything to him he might visit him at Worms. On April 16th, after a journey of fourteen days, he arrived at Worms. Worms, on the Rhine, is one of the oldest cities of Germany. It is often mentioned in the sagas of the German heroes of olden times. Its Cathedral existed already about the year 1000, and it is one of the most imposing specimens of architecture on the Rhine, where ecclesiastical edifices are so numerous. Shortly after the building of the Cathedral, a Jewish Synagogue was erected in Worms, which stands yet, and is surrounded by the oldest Jewish cemetery in Germany. At the present day a person might pass through the City of Worms without taking any notice of it, were it not for the fact that its name has forever been linked with the name of Luther. The legate, Aleander, sent word to Rome that the great arch-heretic had entered Worms like a prince. In advance came the imperial Herald clad in state, attended 132 by his servant; in an open coach sat Luther and his companions; Justus Jonas rode mounted by the side of the coach, then followed three counsellors of Hesse and about one hundred other horsemen who had gone out to meet and escort the Doctor. The citizens were generally enjoying their morning repast when the watchman on the tower of the Cathedral gave notice of the approach of Luther by a blast of his trumpet. Everybody ran out upon the streets to see the hero. Luther alighted at the Inn of St. John, where the Counsellors Feilitzsch and Thun and the Imperial Mar- shal Pappenheim had their quarters. The Elector Fred- erick occupied a house immediately opposite. As Luther entered the house he looked around and said ; " The Lord be with us." The adherents of Rome were startled upon his arrival, for they had not expected to see such spirit in a man against whom the Pope had hurled his ana- thema. On the other hand the spirit of Luther's friends ran high, and until late at night he was waited upon by counts and knights and priests. Before breakfast the next morning Count Pappenheim appeared and summoned Luther to meet the Diet at four o'clock in the afternoon. Soon afterwards Luther with a calm expression of countenance left the house to pay a visit of spiritual sympathy to the Knight Minkwitz, of Saxony, who was sick unto death. The Diet assembled in the afternoon. The session was held in the Bishop's palace at the Cathedral. The em- peror and his brother Ferdinand both had their quarters there. Pappenheim and Sturm escorted Luther before the assembly. The pressure of the crowds upon the street 133 was so great that the three had to go through the gardens and by circuitous ways to reach the Bishop's palace ; then the people climbed upon the roofs of their houses that George von Frundsberg. they might see Luther passing along. He had to wait in the ante-chamber until six o'clock before he was ad- 134 mitted. The old Field Marshal G-eorge von Fmndsberg, clapped him on the shoulder and said : " My young monk you are going a road and taking a position the like of which I and many a general has never ventured to do even under the severest strain of battle. If you are right and assured of your cause, then go forward in the Name of God and be of good cheer, God Himself will not for- sake you." Finally, Luther was conducted into the chamber, where he stood in the presence of the Ruler of two worlds, at whose right and left sat the seven Electors of the Empire with the Papal legates, and in the rear of this brilliant semicircle many princes, bishops, knights and delegates of imperial cities. At the foot of the throne stood John Eck, Chancellor of the Archbishop of Triers (not Eck of Ingolstadt), with a desk covered with books before him. Next to Luther stood the Saxon Jurists, and among them was Schurf, of Wittenberg. Eck informed Luther that he had been brought before the imperial throne for the purpose of answering two questions: 1. Whether he ac- knowledged the books now before him to be his own? 2. Whether he would recant what these books contained, or would continue to maintain it? He should seriously consider that these books contain mischievous doctrines, tending to excite the spirit of insurrection among the people. Before Luther could reply, Schurf interposed, "Let the titles of the books be read," which was accordingly done by Eck. Among the books w^hich w r ere said to be full of mischievous and seditious doctrine were the Exposition of the Lord's Prayer, as also the Exposition of the Psalms. 135 Luther then replied with calmness of voice : " As to the first question of the emperor I have to acknowledge that these books are mine, and that I cannot deny any of them. Secondly, I am asked if I will maintain them all, or recant? This question concerns the subject of faith and the salvation of the soul; it bears upon the word of God, which is high above everything in heaven and on earth. To return an indiscreet answer would be pre- sumption and very dangerous. * * * * Therefore, I humbly beg that time for reflection be granted to me so that I may do justice to the question without danger to the Divine word or injury to my own soul.'' The emperor and the estates then had a consultation, and as the result of it, Eck informed Luther that he had himself thoroughly understood the reason why he had been cited to appear, and that his petition did not de- serve any consideration, but that nevertheless the em- peror of his own native goodness would grant him one day more for reflection, at the end of which time he must give his answer by word of mouth. He was then released. As the loud approbation of the crowd about the palace rose around him, Luther retired to his lodgings, a voice being heard among the rest saying: "Blessed is the womb that bare thee." In the Diet opinions varied. The adherents of the Pope murmured at the postponement. The emperor smiled and said that the monk would never make a heretic out of him, and that this awkward creature could never have written those books. Luther, however, upon reaching his lodgings sat down at his desk at once and wrote to his patron, the Imperial Counsellor Cuspinian 136 in Vienna, giving him a statement of all that had hap- pened through the day, and closing with the words: "I shall not recant an iota as Christ is gracious to me." On Thursday, April 18th, Luther was at the Bishop's palace again, and this time also he had to wait in the crowd for the space of two hours. The -delegate from Augsburg, Peutinger, had a long conversation with him, 137 when at last he was called in and found the hall densely crowded. Eck addressed him, and having rebuked him for the evasion of the day before, he propounded the question: "Will you continue to maintain all the books which you acknowledge to be your own, or will you re- cant any part of them ? " Luther replied in the Latin language in order that the emperor might understand him. He spoke distinctly, with simplicity, with a dignified air, and yet with all due reverence. He began with a request addressed to the emperor, that he would give his case a patient and a gracious hearing, because it was the cause of righteous- ness and truth. As to the first question, that concerned the books themselves, the answer that he had given the day before should still stand. But his Imperial Majesty should be careful to observe that his books were not all of one kind. Those books in which he had treated the subjects of faith and morals in a simple and evangelical spirit, and which had met the approbation even of his enemies, he could not recant without giving grievous offence both to friend and to foe. Neither could he re- cant the books which he had written against the do- minion of the Pope, because he would thereby be encour- aging tyranny and opening the flood-gates for the over- flow of everything that was hostile to Christianity. By so doing he would only make himself a cloak for villains and tyrants to cover up their infamy. Among the books that he had written against individuals who had defended the supremacy of the Pope, there might perhaps be some of a tone somewhat too violent, but as he had not been contending for himself and had been zealously fighting 138 for the doctrine of Christ, he could not recant them. Following the example of the Lord, who said in the presence of Annas, "If I have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil/' he would not hesitate to give attention to any one who could bear witness against his doctrine even if he was the meanest slave. He begged all and every one in the illustrious assembly to convince him with the writings of the Prophets, the Evangelists and the Apostles. If he were convinced of his error in any book, he himself would be the first to commit the book to the flames. As to the reproach that his books had occasioned discord and tumult, he was free to say that in his estimation it was a most happy circumstance that zeal and dissension are stirred up about the word of God, for the Lord Him- self had predicted this. If the word of God should be condemned at this time with the hope of thereby securing peace, we should have to prepare ourselves for another deluge, and there are many examples in sacred history that give us the warning. Therefore the great need is that men should fear the Lord. True, the high and mighty lords might not stand in need of his teachings and admonitions, but he could not be faithless to the ser- vice which he was bound to render to his fatherland. He humbly begged his Imperial Majesty and the mighty lords not to allow his enemies to bring reproach upon him, or to damage his cause. So far, Luther had spoken in Latin. Members of the Diet wished him to speak in German. Luther had be- come somewhat wearied, and Counsellor Thun told him that if he felt himself exhausted, he might stop. How- ever, he resumed, and repeated the whole address in his mother-tongue. 139 The emperor and the Popish party were not pleased with Luther's answer. They wanted to hear him say, "I recant," and he had even defended himself and de- manded proof. Eck rebuked him, and to the question : ""Will you recant?" he demanded an answer at once clear and simple without horns and without disguise. To this demand, Luther replied, saying : " As your Im- perial Majesty then and your Excellencies demand a simple answer, I will give you an answer without horns and without teeth in this manner : If I am not convinced by proof from Holy Scriptures, or by cogent reasons — for I do not trust in the Pope, nor in the Councils alone, since it is as plain as day that they have often erred and contradicted themselves — if I am not convinced by the Holy Scriptures which I have cited, and if my judgment is not brought into subjection to God's Word, I neither can nor will retract anything, for it is both hazardous and dangerous to act in violation of conscience. Here I stand, I can say no more ; God help me ; Amen." Startled by these declarations that charged at once both the Pope and the Council with error, the emperor dismissed the assembly. Disorder and clamor broke forth in the hall, and the crowds separated in great excitement. As Luther, attended by several knights, was going out, the Spaniards of the emperor's retinue followed him with sneers and hisses, but the Germans on the contrary, even those who were of the opposite party, were pleased with his manly courage, and Duke Eric, of Brunswick, though a good Catholic, refreshed him with a drink of beer out of a silver goblet at the gate of the palace. At eight o'clock Luther had returned to the hotel of St. John and 140 found many friends awaiting him there. Upon entering the apartment where they were, he lifted up his hands and exclaimed cheerfully, "I'm through with it! I'm through with it ! " then turning to Spalatin he said : " If I had a thousand heads, I would rather have them all cut off than recant in one particular." Decapitation in- deed did not seem to be very remote, for the emperor saw very clearly that all his arts would fail to move this stiff-necked heretic. The Elector, upon whom Spalatin had called, took him aside and said: "Doctor Martinus delivered himself admirably in the presence of His Maj- esty, the emperor, the princes and the estates of the em- pire, both in Latin and in German, but I think he is too daring." The next day the emperor presented his decision to the Diet, asserting that this notorious heretic who was spreading abroad his opinions in conflict with the doc- trine of universal Christendom, had had too much for- bearance shown him already. He would tolerate him no longer. He should be conveyed back to Wittenberg in safety, and there he should be treated as an accursed heretic. Meanwhile, however, the Diet in answer to this decision of the emperor, determined that another effort should be made to induce Luther to recant. The em- peror yielded the point, yet he insisted that the sentence of outlawry should be pronounced upon Luther in case he should persist in his opposition. The Archbishop of Triers was appointed chairman of a Commission that was ordered to summon Luther to appear before them on April 24th. All this time Luther was waited upon by crowds of 141 visitors that were continually changing. Men of emi- nence came from abroad to see him. Duke William, of Brunswick, and the powerful Landgrave, Philip of Hesse, spent much time with him. Even two Representatives of the Jewish Community of Worms called upon him and consulted him about certain matters in the Holy Scriptures, testifying their regard with the gift of two bottles of excellent wine. A message reached him from Ebernberg, Sickingen's Castle, stating that if the attempt should be made to treat Luther with violence he would find that he had no lack of defenders. Reports were buzzing around among the people, hither and thither, that 400 noblemen who could present 8,000 men under arms, had solemnly bound themselves to protect Luther. A note was thrown into the bed-chamber of the emperor with the words: "Woe to thee, O land, when thy king is a child."— Eccles. 10: 16. Luther relied not upon man, but upon the Lord of Hosts, to whom he cried both day and night. One even- ing, whilst the affair was in progress, he prayed in his private chamber, and, as was his custom, with a distinct utterance in this manner: "Almighty, Everlasting God! What delusion controls the world ? How do the people stare with open mouth ! How little faith have they in God ! How soon do they give up, and rattle away upon the common path, the broad road to hell, having respect only for what is pompous and powerful and imposing! If I too should look in that direction that would be the end of me; the die would be cast and the judgment exe- cuted. O God, Thou art my God! Stand by me in defi- ance of all the reasoning and the wisdom of this world. 142 Thou must do it, for the cause is Thine, not mine. As for myself, I have nothing to do here, and no concern with these mighty Rulers of the earth. Hearest Thou not, my God? Art Thou dead? No, Thou canst not die, Thou only hidest Thyself. Hast Thou chosen me for this work? Show me how I may be certain of it. Yea, God has ordered it, for never in all my life would I have undertaken to rise up in opposition to such mighty potentates. * * Come to my help, come; I am ready to lay down my life to this work with the gentleness of a lamb. The work is a righteous work and it is Thine, and so I will never cease to cleave fast to Thee. This I determine in Thy name. The world must leave my conscience free and unrestrained, even if my body, which is the work of Thy hand, shall be brought to ruin. The soul is Thine and belongs to Thee, and dwells with Thee forever. Amen. God help me, Amen ! " On Wednesday, April 24th, at six o'clock a.m., Luther appeared before the Commission. The Electoral Arch- bishop of Triers was disposed to favor him ; he was really in earnest in seeking to bring the business to an amica- ble settlement. The other members of the Commission were Joachim, Elector of Brandenburg; Duke George, of Saxony; the Bishops of Augsburg and of Brandenburg; Count George, of Wertheim ; Peutinger, the delegate from Augsburg; and Bock, a Counsellor of Strasburg. Lu- ther's counsel were, Schurf, Amsdorf, Jonas and Spalatin. The Chancellor of Baden, Jerome Veuss (Vehus), acted as speaker. Veuss addressed Luther in quite friendly terms, and admitted that he had had sufficient reason for attacking 143 the corruptions of the church and the Papal claims of supreme authority; nevertheless, he added, that Luther had gone too far, to the extent of danger, specially, in condemning the councils, a thing which a Christian should never dare to do. Luther returned his thanks for this expression of good will, but defended what he had said about the councils. The Council of Constance had condemned the word of God; and he himself would rather die than recall anything that God had revealed in His word. He begged that he might not be compelled to deny the Divine word ; but if they could teach him a better doctrine by the word of God itself, he would then willingly give up and submit. The Elector Joachim then asked him, " Do I understand you correctly, Doctor, you cannot be convinced by any other means than by the Holy Scriptures?" To which Luther replied: "Yes, your Grace, or by clear and cogent reasons." The members of the Commission then held a consul- tation, the Archbishop still continuing to confer with Luther. He and his chancellor, Eck, and the theologian Cochlaus disputed for several hours with Luther, who, however, would not yield a hair's breadth. Afterwards, Cochlaus came and attacked Luther in his own lodgings; and Luther, listening patiently to what he said, answered him with courtesy. Dr. Veuss presented the report to the Diet, which, then, granted a respite of two days lon- ger, during which time the Archbishop did all he could to prevail upon Luther to give up. He, however, stood as firm as a rock, repeating again and again, "I cannot depart from the doctrine of the Holy Scriptures." Finally, he begged the Archbishop to obtain the emperor's per- 144 mission for his departure; for nothing at all could be done with him there. In the evening, the chancellor, Eck, waited upon him and notified him that his Imperial Majesty ordered him to repair to Wittenberg within twenty-one days, that his safe conduct would continue for that length of time, and that he should neither preach nor commit anything to writing whilst upon his journey. Luther replied : Every- thing has happened according to the will of God, blessed be His name ! He humbly thanked the emperor and the estates for having listened to him so patiently and secured protection for him upon his journey; he would always live as an obedient subject of the emperor, and would always be ready to suffer anything for the sake of his Majesty and of the empire. This one thing, how- ever, he would reserve, that the word of God should not be bound, and that he should have full liberty to preach it and to bear witness for it. Upon taking his leave, Eck gave Luther his hand. Luther knew very well that after twenty-one days the emperor would seek to arrest him and burn him at the stake as a pernicious heretic. But why should he trou- ble himself on that account? Hitherto the Lord had helped him in a wonderful manner. After Eck had re- tired, several gentlemen of .the retinue of the Elector Frederick, came and informed Luther, in confidence, that measures would be taken whilst he was upon his jour- ney to convey him to a place of safety. The next morning, April 26th, Luther started upon his journey homeward, with the same companions who had attended him on his ride to Worms. At Frankfort 145 on the Main, lie wrote to Lucas Cranach, in Wittenberg, and reported what had occurred at Worms, giving an account of the whole in this manner : " There was noth- ing more done than to say, Are these books yours? Yes. Will you recant or not? No. Then be gone ! 0, we blind Germans! in what a childish way do we behave, and let these miserable Romanists make fools and asses of us." At the same time he made arrangements for the regular discharge of the duties of his office as preacher, and committed this to the care of his companion, Ams- dorf. From Friedberg, he addressed a letter to the em- peror and to the estates, and placed it in charge of the imperial herold, who was about to leave him. In the dignified language of this letter he justified his bearing at Worms. In temporal things, which are not to be associated with eternal things, Christians are bound to exercise confidence in each other; but in the doctrines of the Divine word, in the eternal riches, God will not permit us to submit to the judgment of men. To God alone must we submit; and whoever depends upon man in the matter of his salvation, gives to the creature that honor which belongs to God only. At Hersfeld, he was received with every mark of re- spect by the Abbot of the Benedictine Monastery and by the council of the town. At their request he delivered them a sermon on the next morning at five o'clock. On May 2d, he arrived at Eisenach, where also he had to preach. Here he left his companions Schurf, Swaven and Jonas, keeping Amsdorf and the brother Petzen- steiner still in his compan}^ Passing through the Thur- ingian forest, he came to Mohra, the earlier home of his 10 146 parents, and spent one day in pleasant intercourse with his relations. From here he set out for "Wittenberg ; but when the coach reached Wittenberg Luther was not in it. 13. AT THE WARTBURG. On May 4th, 1521, Luther left Mohra, having passed the night at the house of his uncle, Heinz Luther. He took the road to Gotha, which led him over the wooded hills near the castle of Altenstein. Heinz having accom- panied him to this point, here bade him farewell. Lu- ther then proceeded on his way; but scarcely had he passed the hill on which the castle stood, before several armed riders sprang suddenly out upon him and ob- structed his progress. At the sight of the armed men, brother Petzensteiner leaped from the coach, and hid himself at once in the woods. The horsemen compelled the driver to stop and to tell them whom he had in his coach; then dragging Luther out they swore at him like troopers. Amsdorf, whom Luther had previously let into the secret, began to reproach the highwaymen, so that the driver might not understand the affair. The horsemen, taking no notice of these reproaches, hurried Luther off into the forest, far away from the road. Then, mounting him upon a horse, they kept on riding about hither and thither, until late in the night, when they halted at last before the gate of a castle. Luther, who was very tired, was accosted by the commandant of the castle as Squire George, and told to make himself at home. The next morning when the stranger looked out of the window of his room, he saw his behoved Eisenach spread 147 out before him. He was at the Wartburg, that belonged to his Elector. This castle of the Landgraves of Thur- Wartburg. ingia, which, in the year 1207, had been the scene of the contest of the great Minnesingers, was now to be, for a 148 considerable time, the refuge of a much more illustrious singer. It was the commandant, Hans von Berlepsch, and the knight, Burkhard Hund who, in obedience to the orders of the Elector, had waylaid and carried off the Doctor. Thus suddenly hurried out of the world, so to speak, Lu- ther had to lay aside the garb of the monk, and to as- sume the attire of a man of rank. Sir Hans also gave him instructions as to how he should deport himself. He had to allow his hair and his beard to remain unshorn and unshaved. Upon going outside of the castle, he had to gird on a sword, have a gold chain around his neck, behave like a knight, handle his beard, and carry a bold and confident air. A youth of noble descent was his at- tendant; and an experienced and reliable servant, famil- iar with the ways of a knight, always accompanied Squire George, so that no mishap might befall him. The commandant had him splendidly served, and Luther was concerned about his being the occasion of so much ex- pense. He often accompanied the huntsmen at the chase, and would occasionally make an excursion to Gotha. Upon his entering into a house on these occasions, he was apt to forget himself and lay hold of any books that he might observe. His servant admonished him, saying, that that was not in the fashion of a nobleman, for knighthood and scribbling had nothing to do with each other. If he met persons belonging to the priesthood, he would begin to talk about church affairs, and inquire about Luther, so that his attendant would have to hint that it was time for him to go. He went to Eisenach several times, and quietly visited the monks in Schalbe 149 College, who were his friends. The rich fare of which he had to partake daily, did not agree with him. He had been accustomed to the very simple diet of a monk, and now his meat and drink were the cause of all kinds of disorder. He bore his forced leisure very unwillingly, and yet the time did not seem tedious to him. His apart- ment, " in the region of the birds," was a good place for a student; and we shall presently learn what he did there. The news of Luther's disappearance spread through- out Germany like wildfire. It made a great noise in Worms. His friends accused his enemies of treacher- ously putting him out of the way, and these latter said that the whole affair was nothing but a sham. The legate Aleander wrote to the Pope that the Saxon Fox had carried Luther off and hip! him. The emperor held his peace. On May 8th, Charles concluded a treaty with the Pope, binding himself to oppose all the enemies of the Pope; and on the same day he issued his edict against Luther. This edict, however, was laid before the Diet only after the Electors of Saxony and of the Palatinate, and a large part of the members had taken their departure. It pro- nounced Luther to be an obdurate heretic who, as the devil in human form, had gathered up, into one offen- sive swamp, all the old heresies that had been con- demned, had hatched out new ones, had violated all laws, and was teaching the people to live after the man- ner of the beasts. Accordingly, the ban of the empire was pronounced against him. "No one is allowed to give him food or protection ; every man is ordered to ar- rest him and to deliver him up to the emperor. His 150 books, even if there is anything good in them, shall be tolerated no more; and in general, no book shall be printed in future without the knowledge and approba- tion of the spiritual authorities." This edict had been written by the legate of the Pope. In other parts of Germany, the fear generally pre- vailed that the good man, Luther, had fallen into the hands of his ungodly enemies. Many lamented him as dead, and among them was Albrecht Duerer, the distin- guished painter and friend of Maximilian. During the time of the Diet of Worms, he was in the Netherlands, and, upon hearing of the violence committed in the for- est of Thuringia, he wrote in his journal as follows: "0 Lord, as Thy Son, Jesus Christ, was put to death by the priests so that he might rise from the dead and after- wards ascend to heaven, so it has been Thy will that a like event should befall Thy servant, Martin Luther, whom the Pope, a traitor against God, has, with his money, persecuted to death. But Thou wilt cause him to live again. 0, my Lord! as Thou didst afterwards ordain, that Jerusalem should be destroyed on that ac- count, so wilt Thou destroy this presumptuous, autocratic power of the Pope of Rome. 0, Lord! grant us then the New Jerusalem that comes down from heaven, adorned with beauty, the pure, the holy gospel, unobscured by any human teachings. Whoever reads the books of Mar- tin Luther must see, at once, how pure and transparent his doctrine is, in his exhibitions of the holy gospel. 0, God ! if Luther is dead, who will, after this, preach the Divine word with such simplicity and power? 0, God ! what might he yet have written in the next ten or twenty years?" 151 The consternation and lamentation that followed Lu- ther's disappearance reached its highest point at Witten- berg. Melanchthon, above all others, was disconsolate. He gave little credit to Amsdorfs account of the transac- tions. On May 13th, he received a letter from Patmos, as Luther designated his place of concealment, after Rev. 1:9, Spalatin having made arrangements for the secret conveyance of letters. Transported with joy, Melanch- thon wrote to his friend Link: "Our dear father is yet alive." Luther exhorted his young co-worker to apply his talents for the defence of the walls of Zion against Antichrist, promising, that he would help him with his prayers. He begged that certain unfinished manuscripts might be sent to him, so that he might prepare them for the press. After this, the bearer of the correspondence was kept busy. To the Court Chaplain, Spalatin, the fidelity of whose friendship for Luther cannot be esti- mated too highly, he gave a picture of the life he led, as playing the part of a young nobleman. He had to join in the chase, a sort of bitter-sweet indulgence for real heroes, but in truth, a worthy occupation for men of lazy dispositions. Whilst this sport was going on, he had in- dulged in all kinds of spiritual reflections about how the souls of men are persecuted by the devil, and hunted by the dogs of Antichrist. In addition, he relates how he had been himself beset ; for, the change in his mode of life, his loneliness, his continual anxiety about his friends and his nation, made his heart sad; and at such times the devil would set upon him. So he said, at one time, that it is much harder to fight against the wicked spirits under the heavens, than with devils that come 152 upon you in flesh and blood, that is, with wicked men. But, he was a man of prayer and had the shield of faith, and always carried the sword of the Spirit in his hand. Therefore he could say: "Though I stumble often, yet the hand of the Most High holds me up." Among his severe temptations may be reckoned the violent desire he often had to leave the Wartburg, and to appear in pub- lic again. He contemplated making his escape to Er- furt, where the University had declared itself in his favor. Thither he would go, there he would boldly defy the danger. But, after all, he concluded, saying: "I shall not go until the Lord calls me." He was not much dis- turbed by the imperial edict. In one of his letters from the Wartburg he expressed himself thus : " I, poor brother as I am, have now started a new fire; I have made a large hole in the Pope's pocket, and what is to become of me? Where will they get brimstone, and pitch, and fire, and wood enough, to burn the venomous heretic to ashes? Kill him, kill him, kill him, is their cry; if I am worthy of it, I hope that it shall be their lot to fill up the measure of their fathers on me by putting me to death ; but the time is not yet, my hour is not yet come. I have to stir up the rage of the generation of vipers yet more deeply, and win the distinction of martyrdom at their hands in an honorable way." The Popish party soon learnt that Luther was yet alive. Many of them wished him back at Wittenberg again ; for, with all their opposition to him, they were confident that he was much more able to control the boisterous and dangerous tumults of the people,, than were his co-workers, who were often at their wit's end. 153 Shortly after his disappearance, some one wrote to the Archbishop of Mayence: " We have got rid of Luther as we wished ; but I fear that we shall not be able to save our own lives, unless we light our lamps and go about searching for him everywhere, until we bring him back again." His colleagues at Wittenberg exerted themselves most honorably to fill up the void occasioned by his absence. Melanchthon realized the extent of this void painfully. Upon hearing that Luther was unwell, he lamented the fact to Spalatin, saying: "You know with what anxious care we must watch over this earthen vessel in which so great a treasure has been deposited. If we lose it, I shall be tempted to fear that the wrath of God cannot be ap- peased. Would, that with my poor life I might purchase his; for, upon the earth, there is no servant of God more important and useful than he." He implored Spalatin to bring about Luther's return to Wittenberg. When in- formed of all this, Luther himself wrote: "Even if I should perish, the gospel would lose nothing, for you, yourself, far surpass me, and are following like another Elisha, strong in a double portion of the spirit of Elijah." He delicately reproves his disposition to complain, and exhorts him to work on with a good courage. At that time, Melanchthon was busy writing his "Loci Com- munes," a dogmatic work, a sketch of the Evangelical doctrine, of which, it has been well said, that it presents, in scientific form and perfectly coined and stamped, the pure gold that Luther had brought to light. Proofs of the first pages having been submitted to Luther for ex- amination, he perused them with delight, and wrote 154 back : " Go on in triumph and rule." He reminds Me- lanchthon of his obligation, as Bachelor of Theology, to give instruction in public. But, although he was accus- tomed to make edifying addresses to the students, still, he could not make up his mind, either now or afterwards, to engage in the regular work of preaching. Justus Jonas, coming from Erfurt, was added to the Theological Faculty at Wittenberg. The Elector ap- pointed him Provost of the Cathedral Church, and gave him the superintendence of thirty rural parishes. John Bugenhagen, of Pomerania, began to lecture at Wittenberg at the same time; and to these, Matthew Aurogallus was added, as professor of Hebrew. The heart of Luther was gladdened by this nourishing condition of his beloved Wittenberg, which now was becoming too small to ac- commodate the large number of students. About Ascension Day, Luther finished his exposition of Psalm 68, concerning the exaltation of Christ and the glory of His power. To the knight, Franz von Sickin- gen, he dedicated a short work "Concerning Confession," adding Psalm 119, with explanations ; and this was fol- lowed by a sermon on the "History of the Ten Lepers," and by an exposition of Psalm 37, "For the Poor, Little Christian Church at Wittenberg." He was reluctant to spend his time in controversial writing, preferring to oc- cupy himself in such productions as might be useful for the people. However, he felt that his obligations to his cause, which was the cause of Christ, required him to convince his enemies, who had been defaming the " dead arch-heretic," that he was still as bold and defiant as ever. He disposed of Latomus, in Louvain ; of Emser, 155 in Leipsic ; and of the proud Faculty, in Paris, as they deserved. The Pope had done him the honor of asso- ciating him with the arch-heretics Hus and AVycliffe, and anathematized him, together with them, in his Bull John Bugenhagen. upon the Lord's Supper. Luther returned his thanks for this, in a downright German answer, and gave an expla- nation of Psalm 10, for the benefit of the holy father. 156 He became deeply excited, when the Archbishop of May ence began to renew the traffic of indulgence. This abomination he could not overlook. He wrote a short work, though terribly severe, against the. idolatry of in- dulgence. The prudent Spalatin thought that the publi- cation of this work would be too hazardous, and the Elec- tor withheld his consent. Luther submitted to this, but only for a season. He addressed a candid letter to the Archbishop ; and this letter of the despised heretic, whom he had himself cursed, the Archbishop, who was also Elector and Cardinal, answered in a very humble spirit, thus : " My dear Doctor, I have read your letter and re- gard it with favor; but I have ascertained that the causes that induced you to write such a letter have ceased to exist long ago. With the help of God, I desire to act as becomes a pious, spiritual, Christian prince, and I hope that prayer will be offered for me, that this help of God may be granted to me. I can do nothing of myself — I know well, that without the grace of God there is noth- ing good in me, and that I am but dust, as vile as any other if not more vile. In replying to your letter, I will not refrain from these expressions, for I am more than willing to show you kindness and favor for Christ's sake. I can bear fraternal and Christian admonitions quite pa- tiently." What an influence had the name of Luther, even over mighty lords ! The Archbishop stopped the traffic of indulgence; but he did not abandon other sins. His court chaplain, Capito, of Strasburg, was a man of evangelical sentiments; but in his bearing towards his master, he was not a John the Baptist. At Wittenberg, Luther had begun to write a Church 157 Postil in the Latin language, for the use of pastors. At' the Wartburg he undertook the preparation of a German Church Postil; and whilst sojourning at "Patmos," he finished thirteen discourses upon the gospels and twelve upon the epistles. He was deeply interested in this work ; and when the whole Postil was finished, he said that it was the very best of all {he books he had ever written ; and the Papists themselves were glad to have it. It had been his object "to arrange, to prepare, and to serve the lessons of the gospels and the epistles in a cheerful, sim- ple way, and to make them easy of digestion, as a mother does when she prepares pap for her children." God had given him the talent by which he was able to bring the word home to the understanding, the conscience, and the hearts of the people, in language that was at once clear, simple and impressive. He understood the disposition of the Germans, and was more familiar than any other man w T ith their way of thinking. He never preached himself, but always appealed to his readers: "Press on into the word, 0, Christians! and let my explanations and those of other teachers serve only ias scaffolding for the erection of the true building; that we may lay hold of the pure word of God itself, relish it well, and therein abide, for there God dwelleth alone in Zion." It had been the desire of Luther's heart to place the word of God, in comparison with which all human teach- ings are but idle tales, in the hands of the Germans, and the crowning act which he accomplished at the Wartburg was the translation of the New Testament into the Ger- man language. Divers translations of the Holy Scrip- tures into the German language had existed before, but 158 they were not only rude and un-German in their diction, they were also unintelligible and inaccurate in their sub- stance. They had been translated from the Roman Vul- Luther Translating the Bible. gate which abounded in misleading and dangerous errors. Besides, these translations which existed previous to the time of Luther were expensive, and a common man could 159 hardly secure a copy. Prior to Luther's appearance very few people indeed really knew what the Bible was, but as soon as he began to speak so impressively about the word, men began to enquire after it; the demand kept on, waxing louder and louder, and it had to be answered. In the summer of 1521, Lange, of Erfurt, a ripe Greek scholar published a translation of the Gospel of St. Mat- thew. Luther encouraged him to go on in the work, ex- pressing the wish at the same time that there might be a translator of the Bible in every city for the tongues, the hands, the eyes, the ears and the hearts of all Christians ought to be busily employed in studying this one book. In his translation Luther had before him, as original text, the edition of the New Testament that had been published by Erasmus. He gave himself up wholly to the study of it, continually calling upon God for help. The Lord did help him wonderfully, for of all transla- tions of the Bible, even into other languages, Luther's translation wears the crown. It was through Luther's service that the Bible was made to be the most precious treasure of his fellow-countrymen, for no one else under- stood as well as he did how to use the proper word and how to speak the language of the people. Indeed, there were few who had entered so thoroughly into the very life of the inspired word; had such reverence, such love for it, and such a confident reliance upon its mighty power. He was specially careful to maintain purity and harmony in his German diction, for his object was not only to translate the Greek, but to present the word in smooth and honest German. So he made it a rule, which he always obeyed, never to inquire of the Greek language 160 now he ought to speak the German, but to go to the mother in the nursery, to the children on the street, to the common people in the market place, and catch the words and speech that came from them. It may be important to notice what kind of German Luther wrote. In all his writings, but specially in his translation of the Bible, he was careful to maintain one uniform style of German. At that time there had been as yet no distinct style of writing adopted by the authors of books as at the present day. Learned men preferred to use the Latin language. In North Germany the Low Dutch was spoken and occasionally written, whilst in South Germany the more rugged High Dutch prevailed. Luther used that German which had first been used in the government offices of Saxony, and afterwards in other offices of the Estates of the empire. Books on Jur- isprudence, written in earlier times, formed the ground- work of the language employed in the offices of Saxony. Luther did not, at all, copy after the ponderous periods and the intricate style of the clerks of chancery. He not only spoke, but also wrote in a style that was happily popular and indeed inimitable. He is the creator of the new German language as used for the writing of books. After the language of Rome had been bearing rule for centuries, the employment of German for thinking, for speaking and for writing was begun by him. He may even be regarded as the author of the German hand- writing. He bestowed so much labor and zeal upon his transla- tion of the New Testament that he had finished it before he left the Wartburg, and Spalatin and Melanchthon had 161 had parts of it submitted to them for examination. After his return to Wittenberg he reviewed the whole most carefully with the assistance of Melanchthon. The first copy was struck off by the Press of Melchior Lotther, Printer at Wittenberg, on September 25th, 1522. After July, three presses were employed, striking off 10,000 sheets every day. The printed volume was a large folio, and bore the simple title, "Das neve Testament, Deutzsch, Vuitten- berg," without the name of the translator and the printer, and without the date. Lotther's price for the volume was one and a half guilder. In a few months he had to issue a second edition. A copy of it was printed in Basle, as also in other places, for the work proved to be remunera- tive and the demand for it was surprisingly great. Lu- ther had written the " Introduction " to the Epistles, the Revelation, and the New Testament in general. Lucas Cranach furnished wood-cuts as head-pieces -for the several books. The Introduction to the New Testament begins thus: "It would be right and proper for this book to go forth without any other name, bearing only its own name and speaking for itself." But to prevent confusion and to obviate false notions, the people should be informed what the New Testament is :• " It is Glad Tidings, a Proc- lamation spread abroad through all the world by the Apostles concerning the true David who has fought against sin, death and the devil and has overcome them, and so has secured deliverance for all captives without any merit on their part. ***** ^ e ^ no ^ understand the Gospel when we only get to know about the work and the history of Christ; we understand only li 162 then when the Divine voice comes to us and tells us that Christ with His life, His doctrine, His work, His death, His resurrection, with all that He is and has, and can accomplish, is indeed our own." Luther commends the Epistle to the Romans with special warmth, for that among all the Epistles was the dearest to him. He says, indeed, that it is the most important book of the New Testament, of such value and worth that a Christian should not only commit it to memory word for word, but that he should constantly feed upon it as the daily bread of his soul. He explains what St. Paul means by the words law, sin, the flesh, grace, faith, righteousness and spirit. He explains faith as follows : " It is a Divine work in us, by which we are renewed and born again of God ; it makes us altogether different men in heart, in spirit and in all our faculties. 0, what a lively, busy, active, mighty thing is faith ! It is impossible for faith ever to stop off from doing good. Such confidence in the grace of God makes us so happy that without any constraint we are willing and glad to do good to every one, to serve and to suffer for the love and to the praise of God who has shown such mercy unto us. It is therefore impossi- ble to separate works from faith, even as it is impossible to separate the powers of burning and of shining from fire. He who does not perform such works knows neither what faith is, nor what good works are." What Luther earnestly sought to effect was, that the word of God in its completeness and its purity might be the daily food of all who were hungering after righteous- ness. The time was approaching for which the popular preacher Eberlein had sighed, "when every Christian 163 would have a Bible in his house, so that every person who could read might study it daily more or less, turning his heart to God and cherishing right regards for his neighbor. God grant that we may live to see that day ! " The best testimony in proof of the necessity of Luther's New Testament and of its happy influence has been fur- nished by Cochlaeus, an adversary of Luther. He declared "copies of this New Testament have been multiplied to an astonishing amount, so that shoemakers, women and laymen of all classes read it, carry it about with them and commit its contents to memory. As the result of this they have within a few months become so bold that they have dared to dispute about faith, not only with Catholic laymen, but with priests and monks; yes, even with Magisters and Doctors of Theology. At times it has even happened that Lutheran laymen have been able to quote off-hand more passages of Scripture than the monks and priests themselves; and Luther has long ago convinced his adherents that they should not believe any doctrine that is not derived from the Holy Scriptures. The most learned Catholic theologians are now looked upon by the Lutherans as ignoramuses in the Scriptures, and here and there laymen have been heard to contradict the theologians in the presence of the people, and to charge them with preaching falsehoosd and things of man's devising." It proved to be offensive to the popish ranks that the New Testament had been published in such admirable German. Duke George, of Saxony, forthwith forbade its introduction into his dominions, and in this respect he was followed by Bavaria, Austria and Brandenburg. The 164 hostile Emser made an attack upon the book as though it was full of blunders, and set himself to work in pre- paring a translation for the purpose, he said, " of correct- ing what had been perverted, because the Scriptures were given to the clergy alone, and the laymen should concern themselves much more about leading a godly life than about knowing the Scriptures." When his translation was published it came to light that he had simply copied Luther's text, and here and there stuck in an error of his own. Luther's sojourn at the Wartburg terminated on March 3d, 1522. He had secretly made a visit to Wittenberg the previous December, for affairs then seemed to be in such a state that he could not be quiet any longer. So he resolved to lay hold of them himself, happen what might. Accordingly, in his disguise as Sir George and attended by his servant, he set off across the country and reached Leipsic about noon on December 3d. In Witten- berg he went to the house of Amsdorf and tarried there three days. He was much cheered by the sight of his friends, and especially of Melanchthon. When Lucas Cranach entered he acted the part of Sir George, and unable to repress a smile he played with his beard. Cranach drew a picture of him. He was not well pleased with Spalatin, who he thought was cautious over-much. He could not venture out of doors, could do nothing but ask questions. Then returning to the Wartburg by the same route he managed to hold out there until the month of March. Then, however, he could no longer keep away from the field of battle, where the conflict was now grow- ing hotter and more threatening. On the third day of 165 March he had his horse saddled ; in token of his grati- tude he pressed the hand of the kind hearted command- ant, bade him farewell, and rode forth towards Witten- berg. As this was his last act of horsemanship in the character of Sir George, we describe it here as belonging to the period at the Wartburg. Disguised as a knight, but without attendant, he rode on through the country that yet retained the appearance 166 of winter. In the evening of March 4th, he met two Swiss students at the hotel in Jena, who were on their way to Wittenberg. One of these students, John Kessler, of St. Gall, has left an interesting report of this encoun- ter. In the hotel " The Bear," at Jena, they fell in with a horseman who saluted them with a friendly air, and invited them to come in and sit down with him, and par- take of the refreshments he had ordered, although they, on account of their muddy shoes, had taken their posi- tion on a bench at the door. He wore a small, red leather cap; his breeches and his doublet were without ornament; he carried a sword which he held with both hands, and he had a small volume lying before him. He recognized them as Swiss at once, and told them that in Wittenberg they would meet worthy countrymen of their own, viz.: Schurf, the jurist, and his brother the physician. They immediately began to ask about Mar- tin Luther, when he replied, he will, very probably, be in Wittenberg before long, adding that Melanchthon was there as teacher of Greek, and that there were others to teach Hebrew. He advised them to study these lan- guages faithfully, because they were necessary for the understanding of the Holy Scriptures. When they had told him that they had already been studying in Basle, he inquired about Erasmus. Such talk on the part of a cavalier surprised them. As the conversation went on, they felt so much at their ease that one of them picked up the book that lay on the table, and opening it saw that it was a Hebrew Psalter. The student remarked that he would give one of his fingers to understand that language, and Sir George replied that he himself wanted 167 to understand it better, and so kept on studying it every day. Afterwards, the landlord appeared, and having heard them express a strong desire to see Luther, he told them that they might have seen him sitting in that very spot, if they had been there two days before. They then ex- pressed their regret that the bad roads had prevented them from reaching Jena two days sooner, when the landlord called Kessler aside, took him out of the door and told him secretly, " that's he," who is sitting there. Kessler, however, took it as a joke, and his companion thought that the landlord must have said " Hutten," and Kessler understood "Luther," by mistake. Under this impression they continued the conversation, as they sup- posed, with "Hutten." Afterwards, two merchants arrived at the hotel. One of them laid down an unbound book before him; and when the cavalier asked him what it was, he answered: " It is Dr. Luther's Explanation of some of the gospels and epistles, just published; have you never seen it?" to which the cavalier replied, "I expect to get it before long." The landlord then called the travelers to supper, when the two students asked him to consider their cir- cumstances and to supply them accordingly. The cava- lier then added, "only come along, I'll pay the bill." During the repast he talked in a way so friendly and so spiritual, that the merchants and the students were speechless before him, and paid more attention to what he said than they did to the supper. Amongst other things, he censured the conduct of the princes who were then convened in Niirnberg, because, whilst they ought 168 to be considering the interests of the word of God and the grievances of the Nation, they were wasting their time in merry-making, in insolence and in debauchery. He then expressed the hope that evangelical truth would produce more fruit in the rising generation than it does in the pres- ent, in which, poisonous errors seem to be too deeply rooted. The conversation then turned upon Luther, when one of the merchants remarked, that he, being a layman, was of opin- ion, that Luther must be either an angel of heaven or the devil from hell ; and that he would willingly give ten guilder if he could make his confession to Luther, for he might be able to give him such instruction as would be good for his conscience. When the supper was ended the merchants withdrew, and then the students offered their thanks to the stranger, for having paid the reckon- ing, adding, at the same time, "you are certainly Hut- ten." Luther made a jest of this, and, turning to the landlord, remarked, that he had been created a noble- man. To this, the landlord replied at once, "you are not Hutten, but Luther." He, however, still maintain- ing his jesting humor, answered, "these men say that I am Hutten, you take me for Luther, the next man may take me for Markolf " — an ideal character embodying the sturdy, popular wit of the day. Hereupon, he arose, put on his military cloak, gave his hand to the students by way of farewell, and added: "When you reach Witten- berg, present my compliments to Dr. Hieronymus Schurf." They asked him what name they should give, so that, Schurf might understand the message? To this he re- plied, " only say this : he that is to come, sends you his respects, and Schurf will understand it very well." He 1G9 then left them and went to bed. The merchants who had been told that it was Luther, were looking for him early the next morning, intending to excuse themselves for any unseemly expressions they may have uttered the evening before. They found him in the stable busy with his horse. To their apologies he replied, that if they would ever go to Luther to make confession, they would soon find out whether it was he. He then mounted his horse and rode off towards Wittenberg. Whilst tarrying at Borna, near Leipsic, he addressed a letter to the Elector, as an additional justification of his departure from his place of refuge. Heroically trusting in the more powerful protection of God Himself, he reached Wittenberg on March 6th, a number of horse- men escorting him as he approached the end of his jour- ney. In the following autumu, he sent one of the first copies of the German New Testament to his good friend, the commandant of the Wartburg. After all, the mountain air had done him good. Kess- ler describes him as a man of portly mien, " of somewhat plump habit," erect in his movements, with shoulders thrown back and head turned upward; and then, "with deep, black eyes, that twinkled and sparkled like stars, so that you could hardly look straight at them." His expression was gentle and winning. His voice was so agreeable and musical, his manner of address so engag- ing, and his speech so full of power, that when he spoke, he would send such barbed arrows into the hearts of his hearers, that any man who was not a stone and had heard him once, would feel as though he wished to hear him always. 170 And so Wittenberg had its own Luther again. The reeling vessel felt at once that there was a strong hand at the helm. And it was high time. 14. THE FANATICS. Hitherto, Luther had been working through the word alone, and had not attempted to make any change in the order of worship of the church. If he could have gone back to Wittenberg immediately, without risk, he would, no doubt, have maintained this principle, and let the word, to which he confided everything, carry on the work of reformation itself. Yet, his adherents were of a dif- ferent opinion. Luther had been violently torn from them ; and now they imagined that they must lay hold of the work themselves. But in so doing they were very awkward. In Erfurt, John Draconites, a professor, who was deeply interested in the cause of Luther, was driven out of the church by the canon, because, as a Lutheran, he came under the ban. This stirred up a tumult among the stu- dents, who visited their displeasure upon the priests and upon their habitations. When Luther heard of this he expressed his disapprobation of such disorders. He wrote also to his friend, Lange, Prior at Erfurt, " they who do these things have no connection with us." In Wittenberg, the Provost Bernhardi, otherwise called Feldkirchen, took a wife; and at the same time, two coun- try pastors did likewise, for which act they were impris- oned by the Bishop of Meissen. Luther and Melanch- thon defended Feldkirchen, who was a man of blameless 171 life. Luther took his stand upon the biblical principle, that the rule forbidding priests to marry was of the devil, as the apostle clearly teaches, and that all those who use the liberty secured to thern by the word, should be sus- tained in the enjoyment of their rights. Justus Jonas, iii like manner, entered into matrimony, and Luther gave him his best wishes. As for himself he would not entertain the thought of marrying, and reminded his friend Spala- tin of what St. Paul says, I Cor. 7: 28. Carlstadt had stirred up the Augustinians, the breth- ren of Luther's Order, to make use of their " new liberty." They notified the Prior that they were no longer subject to his control; and thirteen of them left the monastery, under the leadership of a young brother, Gabriel Zwilling. Luther wrote, in the Latin language, a discussion of the vow of the monks, for the purpose of instructing them as to the nature of this, their act, because he feared that they were not clear in their own minds. In this discus- sion, he says that God instituted marriage in order that man might be able to fulfil the law of chastity. If God has bestowed upon any one the special grace of maintain- ing chastity in the unmarried state, he should serve God thereby; yet he should not esteem that to be a merito- rious or a perfect work. He dedicated the preface of this discussion to his father, and acknowledges frankly, that his vow, as a monk, by which he was taken away from under his father, was not worth a pin. However, he con- tinues, God, whose mercy is boundless, and whose wis- dom is infinite, has brought good out of these blunders. He has permitted him to learn by his own experience what the wisdom of the schools and the sanctity of the 172 monasteries amount to, in order that no one could after- wards reproach him with condemning what he did not understand. He then asks his father whether he would yet exercise his paternal authority and deliver him from the life of the monk? This question he answers himself: " God has come before you and has delivered me Him- self; for what difference does it make whether I wear a cowl and am shorn or not? Does a cowl and a shaved head make a monk? Paul says, "all things are yours, but ye are Christ's." My conscience is clear. I am a monk, and yet not a monk, a new creature, not the Pope's, but Christ's. Yet, He who has taken me out of monkery has more right to me than you have. You see that it is He Himself who has enlisted me in the very best kind of service, the service of His word. Before this service even the authority and rights of parents must give way; for Christ has said: whosoever loveth father and mother more than me is not worthy of me. So, I trust that I may say, that the Lord has taken away one son from you for the purpose of bestowing His blessings upon many other sons, for which reason you should rejoice, and, I doubt not, do rejoice. The monks of the Augustine Order of the monasteries in Meissen and Thuringia held a convention at Epi- phany in the year 1522. At this meeting they resolved unanimously: "Those brethren who wish to continue on in their way of life and conduct themselves according to the pure doctrines of the Gospel, shall be permitted to do so. They who wish to devote themselves in a more per- fect consecration to Christ in the cloister, shall enjoy that liberty. Those who are competent to teach, shall give 173 instruction; the other brethren shall engage in manual labor in order that they may support themselves and have something left to give to the needy, for they abolish the practice of begging, lay off other offences and will follow after peace among themselves." Carlstadt and Z willing sought, by divers arguments, to prevail upon the Town Council to appoint them preach- ers in the parochial church. They had no call to this position, for Luther still considered himself, as he had a right to do, the pastor of the congregation, regularly called and duly authorized. The mass was abolished, the general celebration of the Lord's Supper with both bread and wine was introduced, and the rule was estab- lished that in approaching the table the communicants should always go in companies of twelve. Carlstadt was very much opposed to the preparatory confession made by communicants, and invited everybody to come to the table. Zwilling gave the communion to children of ten years of age. They called the pictures which had been displayed in the churches "idols in oil;" tore them down and cast them into the flames. Zwilling appeared in the pulpit in the dress of a student. The property of the church they said must be given to the poor, and loaned out to the members of the congregation without interest. The observance of fast-days was abrogated, and the disre- gard of good, wholesome, external discipline was advised. With all this zeal and this -storming and this tearing down, the care of souls, the work of calm and patient in- struction was miserably neglected, whilst a meddlesome, obtrusive presumption undertook to lead the way. Carl- stadt, conceited as he was, and swelling with pride of his 174 own learning, would go to the common people in their own homes and ask them how they understood this or that passage of the Holy Scripture, and of course they were full of wonderment to see a learned doctor go about amongst plain, uneducated people, asking such questions. To all this, Garlstadt would say, that God had hidden these things from the wise and prudent and had revealed them to babes. Carlstadt, Zwilling and More, the school- master, harangued the people in the open air. At first, they advised the people to send their children diligently to school in order that there might be a supply of edu- cated men for the office of the preacher. But now, they required them to keep the children away from school, because learning was a vain and reprehensible thing. The public school-house was changed into a cake-shop. To fill up the measure of confusion, the Zwickau Prophets appeared in Wittenberg about Christmas in the year 1521. In Zwickau, a town occupied by weavers and having direct dealings with Bohemia, Thomas Miinzer had raised a storm. He gathered a swarm of fanatics around him and promised with their help to accomplish the genuine renovation of the church. He proclaimed that the Holy Ghost would speak no more by the mouth of the clergy, but by the mouth of the people. He appointed Nicholas Storch and Thomas Stiibner, two weavers, as prophets, and his adherents chose twelve others as apostles, and seventy-two to be disciples of Christ. But the authorities interfered, and arresting the apostles and the disciples put them in prison, upon which Miinzer made his escape into Bohemia. Storch, however, stood fast and went on prophesying. He rejected infant baptism and talked ' 175 much about lofty revelations. Upon being invited to have an interview with Pastor Hausman, a friend of Lu- ther's, and who had recently been called to Zwickau, he left the town and went to Wittenberg in company with Stiibner. Here Storch was able to make an impression upon the unsuspicious Melanchthon, and yet Philip began to be apprehensive as soon as they came to boast about their talking with God, and about their visions and their dreams. Storch asserted that he had seen the Archangel Gabriel, and that Gabriel had said to him: "Thou shalt sit upon my throne." He had also revealed to him that the church would be reformed by a greater one than Luther, that the whole constitution of society would be revolutionized, that the clergy would all be exterminated, and all the ungodly wiped out. He passed on through town and country, spreading his doctrines everywhere; Cellarius, a student of theology, being also associated with him. They denied that doctrine of the Holy Scriptures which Luther had preached so cheerfully and so elo- quently, to wit, that the atonement of Christ is all-suffi- cient, and they preached up the doctrine of self-righteous- ness and perfection in its stead. At last, they came out with the ruinous heresy that the Holy Scriptures are in- sufficient to teach us the true doctrine, but that we have to learn everything from the spirit, for they said if God had intended to teach men by written books, He would have sent them a Bible direct from heaven. Carlstadt soon formed an alliance with these men from Zwickau, for he saw that their views harmonized with his own. Melanchthon and Amsdorf were at their wit's 176 end, and the other professors could not agree upon any- definite line of action. The Elector himself was much perplexed. The Diet of Niirnberg had been led by Duke George, of Saxony, to threaten him with the imperial ban in case he should fail thoroughly to correct and over- come the confusion that was disturbing his country. To resort to rigorous measures was altogether repulsive to him, yet something must be done and that promptly. Many letters arrived at the Wartburg from Melanchthon and Spalatin. Luther replied, advising them to exercise patience, to have faith, and to prove the spirits. The Zwickau prophets did not occasion him much uneasiness, for he wrote : " Those characters do not move me at all." But he was so much the more aroused by the critical condition of his own congregation at Wittenberg, which had been hurled out of all order and control by the stormy movements of Carlstadt and Zwilling. He charged these innovators with turning things upside down, and with a total disregard of the infirmities of weak brethren ; they had despised the control of Christian love, which is ever patient and rejoices in hope. He had candidly ex- pressed his views in several letters addressed to the Elector, and at last notified him that he was compelled to return to Wittenberg, because his congregation had called him. The Elector replied at once, seeking to dissuade him from taking such a step ; but when this letter reached the Wartburg, Luther was already prepared to start upon his journey. In his answer to this letter of the Elector he used the following heroic language: "I am going to Wittenberg under the protection of a much higher power than that of the Elector. Yes, I maintain that I will 177 secure for your Electoral Grace a mightier protection than your Grace is able to afford to nie. This matter is not to be settled, neither should it be settled by the judg- ment and power of the sword. God alone must decide it without any anxious interference or cooperation on the part of man. Therefore, whoever has the strongest faith will prove to be the most powerful protector. If your Electoral Grace had had faith, you would have seen the Glory of God. But, as you have not yet believed, your Electoral Grace has not yet seen anything. Glory and praise be unto God forever. Amen." Upon his arrival at Wittenberg, Luther wrote to a friend: "In order to drive the wolf out of my fold, I have been compelled to throw myself right into the midst of the ravings of the Pope and the Emperor. According to human laws my enemies around me are authorized to kill me at sight. If Jesus Christ, under whose feet the Father has put all things, wills my death, His will be done. But if this is not His will, who then can murder me?" In Wittenberg he took his abode in the house of Schurf, where his friends gave him detailed reports of the state of affairs; where also he met the two Swiss students, whom he cheerfully saluted and recommended to Me- lanchthon. Schurf, who was of the Elector's Council, wrote to his master and stated that he expected every- thing would be adjusted now since Luther had again appeared upon the scene. For eight successive days Luther preached about the false and dangerous principles and conduct that had violently broken out. He avoided all high wrought 11 178 phraseology, a thing in which Carlstadt was prone to indulge, and called things by their right names, testing them also by the word of God. Without mentioning the name of Carlstadt, he condemned, in very direct terms, the uproar and fanaticism, the violation of the law of Christian love, the intolerance, and the official med- dling and intrusion of which he had been guilty. He pointed out most distinctly the things that were in op- position to the will of God, and which for that reason must be abandoned, yet that their removal should not be undertaken with violence, but rather through the work- ing of the Divine word in the hearts of the people. The heart must first be taken captive, and that can be done only by the word of God. That word alone must be preached, and that alone will finish the work. "In a word, I will preach it, I will proclaim it, I will write about it, but I will never attempt to force any one, nor employ violence upon any one, for it is the property of faith that it has to be accepted willingly and without compulsion. Consider me as an example. I have been opposing indulgence and all the Papists, but I have never resorted to violence. I have been studying the word of God, I have been preaching it and writing about it, and I have done nothing more than this. Now, when I have been asleep, or when Melanchthon and Amsdorf and I have been cheerfully enjoying ourselves in com- pany, this preaching of the word has brought down the Pope to a lower degree of helplessness and occasioned him heavier losses than he has ever experienced at the hands of princes and emperors. I myself have done nothing; it is the word that has done and accomplished 179 all. If I had gone to work in a turbulent way, I might have set a bloody conflict raging all over Germany, I might have begun a game at Worms, in the progress of which the life of the emperor himself would not have been safe. But I have attempted nothing, for I have relied for everything upon the power of the word. Now what would you suppose that the devil must think when he sees that men undertake to prosecute this work in a noisy, boisterous fashion? He sits quietly in hell and says to himself : ' What a splendid game these fools are playing now!' But when we uphold the word and allow it to do the work alone, that is sure to be a grief to the devil. The word is omnipotent, it takes the hearts of men captive, and when their hearts are once secured, then the work is certain to succeed of itself." In his sermon upon the Lord's Supper, he maintains that the changes which had been introduced in its cele- bration were in violation of the principle of Christian love, and love itself should be the fruit of the Holy Supper. "It is pure love that we have received from God, for Christ with His righteousness and all that He has is ours. God is a glowing furnace of fervent love that reaches from earth to heaven. This love, I say, is a fruit of the Sacrament, but I cannot discover its presence among you at Wittenberg, although it has often been preached in your hearing." In his eighth sermon, he explains the scriptural character and wholesome effects of Confession, which Carlstadt had abrogated. He refers to Matt. 18: 15, etc., and insists upon the establishing of an evangelical discipline in the church. He would not surrender confession for all the treasures of the earth, for 180 he knew by his own experience what consolation and strength it had secured for him. " I know the devil well and he knows me too. If you had known him, you would not have abrogated confession as you have done. I commend you to God! Amen.' In fact, Luther's preaching had a wonderful effect, and the promptitude with which the excitement was allayed by his sermons and his prayers, is really astonishing. There was not a man to withstand him. Zwilling was tamed, and that so thoroughly that Luther endeavored to secure a pastoral charge for him. Carlstadt stopped preaching altogether. He was out of humor with Lu- ther, and wrote against him ; yet, when Luther took him to task about it, he denied having done so. It was with great satisfaction that Schurf reported to the Elector how happy the Wittenbergers were on account of the return of Luther; for, now, his earnest spirit that never tired and was always so practical, was bringing everything into complete order. The city council acknowledged his services by offering him a valuable gift, and when the results of his return came to be known at Niirnberg, the members of the Diet, then in session there, became at once more cordial in their bearing towards the Elector. After this change of affairs had been going on for about four weeks, the Zwickau prophets, Stiibner and Cellarius, sought an interview with Luther. To this he hesitatingly gave his consent ; and when they came they found Melanchthon in his company. Stiibner began with extolling Luther above the apostles, against which Luther protested. They began then to talk about the revelations that had been given to them ; whereupon he 181 told them that he could find no foundation for such pre- tensions in the Holy Scriptures; that they were nothing but presumptuous conceits and fancies, even the ruinous fancies of a lying spirit. In reply to this, Cellarius be- gan to cry out like a mad man, to stamp upon the floor, and to strike the table with his fist. Stiibner asserted that even God Himself could not overthrow his doctrine, for he had received it all by revelation from heaven. Lu- ther clung firmly to the doctrine which God has given us in His word, and maintained that, beyond what is in His word, God has no farther communication to make to us. He demanded that these prophets should prove their calling by some miraculous sign; and they boasted, with a menacing air, that they would soon answer the demand. They retired in a very bitter mood; and on the same day they left Wittenberg. In the autumn, Storch visited Luther. He wore the uniform of a soldier, bore himself in a trifling manner, and very soon withdrew. There were no quarters any more in Wittenberg to be occupied either by the Zwickau prophets, or by fanatics of any other kind. 15. NEW ORDER. Luther did not approve of the wild, iconoclastic zeal of Carlstadt. Upon his resuming the duties of the pas- toral office, he was very careful in regard to the mode of public worship and the arrangements of the place of wor- ship, that only those practices and usages should be, at first, abandoned, that were in direct conflict with the w T ord of God. The mass, that is, the unbloody sacrifice of 182 Christ made by the priest, was abolished ; but a liturgi- cal service was not discontinued. The Holy Supper was administered in both kinds; and Luther warmly ex- horted his congregation never to approach the table in a heedless spirit, but that every soul should seek to be sin- cerely prepared for the communion. The regular usage of preparatory confession was restored in due season. In • a book under the title, " Communion in Both Kinds, and Other Reforms," Luther now presented to the notice of all Germany, the same doctrine of the Lord's Supper which he had preached to his congregation at Witten- berg. He sent copies of his eight sermons to Pastor Hausmann, at Zwickau, for he knew that he could make the best use of them in the interest of the congregation at Zwickau, that had been so miserably distracted by the fanatics. He addressed a communication to the people at Erfurt, in which he showed that the worship of the saints does not belong to the class of indifferent things. The bishops of Meissen and of Merseburg, made a visita- tion throughout their dioceses and dismissed all preach- ers who had embraced the evangelical doctrine. Luther encouraged these persecuted men to stand firm in the confession of the truth, and for this purpose published a work with the title " Of Avoiding the Doctrines of Men." He took a bold stand against the Roman bishops in his keen book entitled "Against the Falsely Called Spiritual Rank of the Pope and the Bishops." He claimed and established for Christians in general, the right of appointing a pas- toral office for themselves, without respect to episcopal ordination, to serve in the ministry of the word, which the bishops failed to do and even opposed. Upon this 183 subject he wrote two small books: "The Christian Church Has the Right and Authority to Decide all Doctrines, and to Call its Teachers," and "Of the Ordaining of the Ministers of the Church." Luther did not confine his personal activity to Witten- berg alone. He visited Altenburg at the invitation of its council; and although the Provost at Altenburg would not allow the gospel to be preached, yet the council 184 begged Luther to send them a preacher; and Luther's friend, Link, was called accordingly. When it became noised abroad that Luther would pass through Zwickau, the people flocked thither in such crowds that their num- ber was estimated at 25,000. Luther preached to the masses gathered together in the public square, he him- self standing at a window of the council chamber. Like crowds followed him at Erfurt, where he preached twice a day, in St. Michael's church. Duke John invited him to Weimar, where he entertained him in princely style, and derived unusual satisfaction from his visit. Here, Luther preached six times, exhibiting the fundamental doctrines of the gospel in great simplicity, both of thought and word, as he always delighted to do. He never advised a precipitate discontinuance of the old established order, but always sought first to sow the seeds of evangelical truth freely among the people. The new evangelical order prepared and opened its own way in Wittenberg. The public processions on Cor- pus' Christi day, and on the several festivals of the saints were discontinued, and a regular weekly service was sub- stituted for the daily mass. The ministers of the Castle Church were the only priests of the city who continued the Romish private mass. Their hostility to Luther proved to be a disadvantage to themselves; for, it led the students and the citizens to treat them with derision and persecution. Luther was very much concerned about "The Proper Order of Divine Worship," and published a small book un- der that title. Heretofore, there were three great abuses prevailing in the worship of the church under the Pope. 185 The word of God was kept hidden away from the people; unchristian fables and lies were circulated among the people, in legends, in ballads, in the preaching — all this was done with the conviction that such a service was a meritorious work. Hereafter, the congregation should never come together without having the preaching of the word of God, and the offering of prayer, even though the time so occupied had to be very short. Neither did he propose only the reading of the Holy Scripture ; he re- quired it to be preached and laid down before the people in its attractive, living spirit ; and for these meetings of the church he drew up an Order of Public AVorship. With great propriety he retained those parts of the an- cient order that were not in conflict with the gospel, and such as might serve for the edification of the church. He published a German order for the Lord's Supper, which became at once, and has ever continued to be, the ground work of the order of service in the Lutheran Church. Upon the first introduction of this new form in the service of the church, the advocates of the former usages opposed it as being, in their opinion, a very ordi- nary, miserable affair. Luther then referred these ob- jectors to the very lowly appearance of Christ, in contrast with the splendors of the Jewish temple service, and to the fullness and powers with which Christ might be ex- pected, by faith and love, to work by this new form, or- dinary though it seemed to be. Luther could not avoid bestowing much thought upon the introduction of congregational singing into the church ; and so he carefully prepared a small hymn book, which appeared as the forerunner of many others, about New 186 Year, 1524. We propose to describe in a later chapter the services which Luther has rendered in the depart- ment of Christian song, by the exercise of his extraordi- nary gifts as a poet and a musician. Luther insisted upon the use of the German language in the administration of pastoral acts, as he had done with respect to the Lord's Supper. He wrote a short series of instructions explaining "how a person should be baptized into the Christian faith, in a proper and sensi- ble manner," and dwelt much and often upon the im- portance of confession. He requested the preachers, Jonas and Agricola, to prepare a catechism for the young; they, however, accomplished nothing; for that work had to be done by a greater than they. He felt in his very heart that some new principles were demanded for the training of the young. He re- quired, first of all, that the young should be instructed in the Christian faith, and then also, in such matters as con- cerned their external life and might make them useful citizens. It was not alone in Wittenberg that the fanati- cism of the day had ruined the schools, and decried all human science as a dangerous enemy to the soul; but in many other places also it had done so much mischief, that the work of the student came to be regarded, both far and wide, as an accursed sin. This state of affairs was a great grief to Luther. He wrote to his friends, urging them to labor for the establishing of new schools : "There is nothing so important as the education of the young, and there is nothing that menaces the gospel with greater danger than its neglect." Accordingly, in the year 1524, he published his "Appeal to all the Mayors 187 and Councilmen of the Cities of Germany." He reminded them of the immense sums of money they had hitherto been compelled to give for the work of war and for the support of the Pope; and why should they not give, at least, a portion of such sums for the education of their children? If one dollar was given to carry on the war against the Turks, one hundred dollars would not be too much to be expended in bringing up a boy to be an in- telligent and sincere Christian. Besides, Almighty God has been so favorable to the Germans, has given them a golden year of prosperity, has raised up among them the ripest scholars, men rich in their attainments in lan- guage and art, and thus supplied ample means for the teaching and training of the young. "Truly we are most solemnly bound to be on the alert, so that we may not despise the grace of God and allow Him to knock in vain. He is at the door, and happy shall we be if we open to Him. He salutes us ; blessed is the man who answers His ' greeting. If we fail in this, so that He passes us by, who then shall bring Him back again? Let us call to mind our former misery and the darkness in which we were living. I believe that Germany has never heard so much of the w T ord of God as it hears at this present time ; at least, we have no record of it in his- tory, and if, failing in gratitude and due respect, we allow it to pass away, there is reason to fear that we shall be plunged into more terrible darkness and misery than ever. 0, ye Germans! buy up whilst the goods are offered ; make hay while the sun shines ; accept the grace and the word of God now whilst they are presented to you. You may be well assured that the word and grace 188 of God are a passing shower, which does not return again to the place where it has once been. The Jews once had this word ; but gone is gone, and now they have nothing. St. Paul carried it to Greece; but again, gone is gone; and now they have the Turk. Rome and Italy also, once had the word of God; but still, gone is gone; and now they have the Pope. Now, you Germans dare not natter yourselves that you will have this word forever; for it cannot remain where it is treated with ingratitude and contempt. Wherefore, let every man who has a hand to work lay hold and persevere; for the hand of the slug- gard can reap nothing." " The Lord God Himself has commanded us to teach and educate the children; and of all evils, the worst is the neglect and abuse of the precious characters of the little ones. The parents themselves are often so incompetent and so destitute of pure principle, that they cannot do justice to the children; and so, the civil authorities are bound, for their own sakes, to attend to the education of the young, because, the prosperity, the safety, the rights of the government do not depend upon its treasures and its walls of defence, and its thundering canon ; but upon its courteous, learned, intelligent, honorable citizens. Schools of learning are an absolute necessity for the sup- port of the church and the ministry of the gospel. The learned languages are the sheath in which the sword of the Spirit, the word of God, is deposited, the vessel out of which we drink this water of life. The reason why we now have the gospel almost as pure and clear as the apostles themselves had, is, because the learned languages have now come to be understood again. Wherever these 189 languages are known, you hear nothing that is sleepy and common-place in the preaching, but it is all vigorous and fresh; for the Holy Scriptures are thoroughly studied and faith always reveals itself as something new. The general welfare of the State depends quite as much upon the cultivation of the sciences; for every State and every community needs the presence and service of competent and well educated men and women. History and other useful branches should be taught in addition to the lan- guages ; and the councils of cities would show their wis- dom by founding libraries for the public use." Towards the end of his "Appeal" he says: "I entreat you, my dear sirs, to allow this faithfulness and diligence that I have shown to produce some good fruit. There may be some of you who will regard me as too obscure a character to entitle my advice to their respect, and some who will despise me as a man who has been cursed by tyrants; yet, I hope that they will take notice of this, that I have not been seeking to promote my own per- sonal interest, but have been laboring for the welfare and salvation of all German lands. Even if I am a fool and happen to hit upon what is right and good, it would be no kind of disgrace to wise men to follow me. Even if I were a Turk or a heathen, and they see that what I do does not help me personally but is a good service to Christians generally, they ought not to despise the ser- vice I offer." These admonitions did not prove to be fruitless. Their effect was that the civil authorities felt themselves to be placed in a relation of responsibility for the establish- ment and maintenance of evangelical schools; and wher- 190 ever a reformation in the affairs of the church was un- dertaken, there, also, similar measures were adopted in the interest of the schools. It was the special privilege of. Wittenberg to supply other cities with well qualified teachers for their schools ; and so Cruciger was sent to Magdeburg, and Agricola to Eisleben. The citizens of Niirnberg also founded a gymnasium or college, upon a plan suggested by Luther and Melanchthon. Amongst all the innovations that were undertaken, the one that was most offensive to the papists was the fact of the priests entering into matrimony. They at- tacked Luther furiously, and would not recognize the authority of the word of God in the matter. They re- newed their old habit of extolling the sanctity and glory of celibacy, and abused the state of wedlock as being adapted only to a low, common, animal nature. Luther, armed with the word of God, advanced with the firmness and boldness of a hero, to attack the ungodly doctrine of the papists, which taught that the taking of the monastic vow was a new baptism, and that monks and nuns were angels upon the earth. His sermon upon "The State of Wedlock" exalts the praises of that state which God has ordained and honored ; whilst, at the same time, it can- didly unmasks the fearful hypocrisy that distinguished most of the defenders of celibacy. " This state of wed- lock is, with great propriety, called a spiritual state, be- cause faith is needful in it, and is exercised every day; faith in the Lord, who opens His gracious hand and loads all who live with His benefits. The Spirit saith : he is a wise man who takes a wife — God foresaw this when he made man and woman. Even if a man is not 191 otherwise inclined to wedlock, yet he ought to marry for the purpose of showing his defiance of the devil and his doctrine. When Bugenhagen and Link were married he openly expressed his joy and pronounced it an honorable dis- tinction and a Christian virtue. As to himself he yet preferred the single life: " My inclinations do not bend at all towards matrimony, for I live daily in the expec- tation of death and of the well deserved punishment of a heretic, therefore I will not undertake to decide what the Lord may do with me, nor fix my heart upon anything. Yet my hope is that, by the will of God, I may not have to live much longer." The monks and the nuns were not so completely se- cluded from the world that the atmosphere of the Gospel could not penetrate their cells, and everywhere there were some whose eyes and hearts had been opened, and who accordingly forsook the abodes of pretended sanctity. Many who as "dead to the world" did not well know how to accommodate themselves to their newly acquired freedom, applied to Luther for advice and sympathy, and his assistance was promptly granted. He himself still maintained his wonted simplicity of life, occupying his quarters in the Augustine monastery in company with only one other monk, Brisger the Prior. He wore his cowl until October, 1524, when the Elector presented him with a piece of the best cloth for a new cowl or for a coat. "The cloth was made up into a coat, and I did this for the glory of God, to the joy of many friends and as an expression of defiance and contempt of the devil." 192 16. THE GOSPEL IN THE EMPIRE. The Pope, Leo X, died shortly after New Year, 1522, and was succeeded by Hadrian VI, a man of upright, moral character, and yet a Romanist. He was an enemy of Luther's, and in a verbose letter addressed to the Diet at Nurnberg, he predicted that all kinds of calamities would befall the pious nation if they would allow them- selves to be misled by "this one contemptible monk." Nevertheless he had the honesty to confess: "We are well aware that for a number of years our Holy See has been polluted by much that is to be abhorred, and it is no wonder that the disease has gone down from the head to the members. We have all of us strayed off to our own ways, and for a long time there has been none who has done good." The Diet heard this confession of the Pope with satisfaction, but declined to take any action against Luther. It rather appealed to the Pope to sum- mon a free Christian Council in Germany, and to allow the Gospel to be preached according to the teachings of the Fathers. Hadrian VI, dying soon and suddenly, could not summon the council, and his successor Clement VII followed in the footsteps of his relation Leo X. A new Diet was opened at Nurnberg in January, 1524, and the Papal Legate, Campeggi, informed his master that the majority of the Diet consisted of "great Lutherans," and for his part he had to be very cautious. In the Church of St. Sebald he had to shed tears of wrath whilst listening to a sermon by Osiander about the Roman Anti- christ. At the Easter Communion the Queen of Den- mark, the Emperor's sister, approached the altar and 193 received the Sacrament in both kinds from the hand of Osiander, and by her side were forty persons connected with the Court of the Stadtholder, Ferdinand. Ferdinand himself was obliged to respect the petition of the Aus- trians, begging permission to circulate the writings of Luther in the countries belonging to the crown. The preaching of the Gospel had been begun in Hol- land and Brabant, the hereditary dominions of the em- peror, in the year 1519. Jacob Probst and Henry Moller, of Zutphen, Augustine monks, preached the pure doctrine, though subjected to severe persecution. Finally they were arrested, but managing to escape, they fled to Wit- tenberg where they found freedom and security. Two young monks, Henry Voes and John Esch, were condemned to be burnt at the stake. They continued to be joyful in spirit throughout all the dreadful scene, and in the midst of the flames, glorified the Name of the Lord Jesus. These two youths have the noble distinction of being the first martyrs of the evangelical faith, and shortly after this martyrdom Luther wrote and sent an address to all Christians in Holland, Brabant and Flanders, in which he thanks God for the glorious confession which these young men had made. " The name of the Lord be blessed for ever for permitting us, who have been heretofore ex- alting and worshipping so many false saints, to see the day when genuine saints and veritable martyrs are pre- sented both to our eyes and to our ears. The time has come for that kingdom which is not in word, but in power. ***** Now then, as we see the tribula- tion before us and have such comfortable assurances, let us take new heart, be strong and of a good courage and 13 194 submit even to be slaughtered for the name of the Lord." The martyrdom of the young witnesses for Christ started the poetic spirit that had hitherto been slumbering in Luther into a bright and glowing flame. We shall notice his first hymn, "Ein Neues Lied wir heben an," after awhile. Letters were often sent to Luther by knights and noble- men of high rank begging him to supply them with evangelical preachers, and it was always a pleasure to him when he could promptly comply. In this respect the inhabitants of imperial cities were by no means dila- tory, and among them all, Nurnberg took the lead. Here the preachers were Link and Osiander; here too Hans Sachs in the year 1523, sang his song of the " Wittenberg Nightingale," adding others, marked by the highest style of poetic beauty; here too lived and labored the illustri- ous artist Albrecht Diirer. As the Archbishop of Magde- burg was compelled to allow the preaching of the Gospel, Amsdorf went to that city as pastor, and Cruciger as rector of the school. John Hess, of Niirnberg, preached in Breslau, and Matthew Zell, Bucer and Capito at Stras- ibnrg; whilst Conrad Sam ministered at Ulm, JohnBrenz rat Swabian Hall, and Michael Stiefel at Esslingen. In Augsburg there was opposition to the Gospel, growing ©uttof the pride of the City Council, and yet Urban Rhegius preached there without hinderance. The Gospel was also preached in Worms; in Hamburg the settled pastors began to preach evangelical sermons, and the Reforma- tion made rapid progress in Hessia, in consequence of the Landgrave Philip having decided in its favor. Yet they were not all obedient to the faith. Duke George, of Saxony, was full of rage and fury against the 195 Lord and against His Anointed, and the Dukes of Ba- varia carried on the persecution even unto death. Eck still continued in Ingolstadt and was very busy in ad- vocating burning at the stake. He was resisted by a Hans Sachs. woman, Argula von Grumbach, in whom Luther recognized a special instrument of Christ, who by this weaker vessel overwhelmed the wise and the mighty of the earth with 196 shame. The Archbishop of Mayence punished the city Miltenberg with great severity, because they would not accept the ministry of the priests any more, and Luther sought to comfort and encourage them by an Exposition of Psalm 120. As the people of Mayence had shown their contempt of the Gospel by calling it " a Lutheran affair," he makes this remark: "Although it is by no means pleasing to me to hear the doctrine and the people who believe ,it called * Lutheran/ and although I have to put up with it when they show their contempt of the Gospel by giving it my name, still they will at last have to let Luther and Lutheran doctrine and people alone, and see them come to honor." In North Germany, at Dithmarsh, Henry von Zutphen, who had been called from Witten- berg to Bremen, was, at the instigation of the monks, tor- tured and murdered by the peasants in the most barbar- ous manner. Prussia, the territory of the Teutonic Knights, was governed by the Margrave Albert, of Brandenburg, who had been won for the interests of the Gospel at the Diet of Niirnberg, and who was then seeking help to defend himself against the Poles who were pressing hard upon him. He requested Luther to send him some preachers, and accordingly Briesmann, Paul Speratus and Poliander were supplied. The two bishops of the country embraced the Gospel at the same time, and when King Sigismund, of Poland, in April, 1525, solemnly recognized Albert as hereditary Duke of Prussia, the Teutonic Knights cheer- fully submitted themselves to his evangelical authority. So Luther helped to lay the deep foundations of the Prussian State, for Albert consulted with him much and often concerning political affairs. 197 The saving doctrine of the word very soon passed out beyond the boundaries of the German Empire. In 1519, the Gospel began to be preached in Sweden and the next year in Denmark. Ulrich Zwingli arose in Switzerland and began a mighty movement against Rome and on be- half of the Gospel. The seed of the word grew and in- creased wonderfully. 17. THE MARRIAGE. The liberty of the Gospel had penetrated even the quiet cloister of Nimtzsch, that had been occupied by a sister of the distinguished Dr. Staupitz and other young women, the daughters of prominent families of noble rank. These nuns humbly entreated their friends to rescue them from a life which, in view of the welfare of their souls, they could endure no longer. This entreaty, however, being disregarded, certain citizens of Torgau took an interest in their behalf, and assisted them to escape in the night of Easter, 1523. Afterwards other nuns were taken out about Whitsuntide by their own relations in accordance with the wishes of Luther. One of these nuns was Kath- arine von Bora, born January 29th, 1499. She was taken to the cloister as a child, and was regularly admitted as a nun in 1515. Upon her escape from the nunnery and her deliverance from her vow she found a refuge in the house of Reichenbach the City Clerk of Wittenberg. She led a retired, virtuous life. Luther saw her but rarely, and indeed was not favorably impressed by her, for he had a suspicion that she was highminded. Katharine was not a beauty. Her portrait presents the expressive 198 likeness of a German woman with a healthy, vigorous constitution. Her education had been quite limited, but her natural intelligence was abundant, and despite her life in the nunnery she had fine qualities as a housekeeper. Luther had always advised his friends to marry, but was not willing to think of it in his own case. Howevei\ Luther and his Wife. the older he grew the more lonesome he felt. The weight of his labors almost overpowered him, and he had no one to minister to his relief. His bed would not be made up for weeks, and he had to throw himself upon the hard couch which no friendly hand had fitted for his repose. In this solitary life he sometimes became melancholy, and indeed so utterly prostrated that it was difficult for 199 his friends to rouse him up. People who were merely his nominal friends, such as Erasmus, sought to make fun of him, saying that he tried to persuade others that the yoke of matrimony was easy, but was not willing to have it upon his own neck. On the other hand, Carl- stadt and the fanatics kept quietly watching to see whether he would marry, in order that they might then accuse him with being controlled by carnal principles. He was certain that the Papists would slander him and condemn him. On the second Sunday of Epiphany in 1525, he preached upon the marriage at Cana. In this sermon he condemned the perverseness of those who place so low an estimate upon an institution which God Himself established, and which Christ honored with such signal distinction. A man ought to seek a wife, putting the full confidence of his heart in the word of God, and he should not allow himself to be vexed by any of the cares that belong to the married state. It is likely that this sermon made an impression upon his own mind, for after that time he was disposed to speak with his friends often about his taking a wife. His purpose was to im- press upon his testimony for the Divine Order of Matri- mony a seal that would prove to be a direct defiance of his enemies. He had no desire for indulging in mere external gratification; the circumstances of the times were altogether too serious for that. His desire was to comply with the wishes of his father, and so much the more, because his father had been grieved by his having become a monk. " Before I took a wife I had solemnly resolved in my own heart to do homage to the married state; my purpose was, that if I should come to die un- 200 expectedly and be laid upon my death bed, I would then enter into marriage with some pious Christian woman." So he made this a subject of earnest prayer to God. Luther announced that it was his intention to solicit the hand of Katharine yon Bora; Amsdorf having pre- viously directed his attention to the } r oung woman. Dr. Schurf, who was otherwise a good friend of Luther's, was startled by the information, and remarked : " If this monk takes a wife it will set all the world and the devil to laughing, and that act will upset all the works he has achieved." It was Luther's desire that his entrance into matrimony should have the virtue of a public reform- atory transaction. He was assured that the whole matter was thoroughly right and proper, and he went on with it in the Name of God cheerfully. On the evening of June 13th, he had seated around his table the artist Lucas Cranach and wife, the jurist Dr. Apel, Pastor Bugenhagen and the Provost Jonas, persons whom he had himself invited. No invitation had been given to Melanchthon, because in consequence of his nervous delicacy he had become worried with anxiety and perplexity. Bugen- hagen conducted the marriage ceremony. Jonas wrote to Spalatin : " Luther and Katharine von Bora have been joined in wedlock, and I witnessed the ceremony yester- day. I could not refrain from tears as I looked on. I cannot describe the deep emotion that agitated me at the time. Now, as it is done, and as God has so willed it, I most devoutly pray that every blessing may rest upon the noble, upright man, our beloved father in the Lord. God is wonderful in His counsel, and excellent in His working." 201 The next morning Luther invited the witnesses of the ceremony to breakfast, and appointed June 27th as the day for the formal public celebration of his marriage. His parents, his relations and others who were connected with him by the ties of special friendship were invited. The letters of invitation show what a great noise his marriage had stirred up. "The wise men have been fearfully excited by my marriage. It looks very odd to me, and I hardly believe myself that I ought to have got married. The Lord God has suddenly lodged me in this state, whilst I have been thinking all the time of some- thing altogether different. By entering into wedlock I have made myself so low and contemptible, that I trust the angels are smiling and the devils are howling. The Lord liveth, and He who is in us is greater than he who is in the world." The Papists raised a great outcry, say- ing that the marriage of a monk and a nun would result in the production of Antichrist. It is worthy of notice that the Archbishop of Mayence sent to Luther's wife twenty guilders in gold as a wedding present. On the appointed day Luther and his wife went to church in honor of their marriage. At the altar the Word of God was read to them, prayer was offered and a benediction pronounced upon their union. A beautiful gilt goblet was the present which the University offered to its most distinguished Professor. The city supplied him with wine and with a sum of money to begin house- keeping, and, as was the custom of the day, the guests and friends all brought gifts along with them. Among these, we may say, may have been the marriage ring — a circle of gold with diamond and ruby, having on the 202 inner surface the inscription: "What God hath joined together let not man put asunder." Luther still con- Luther's Marriage. tinued to occupy apartments in the Augustine monastery, for after the breaking up of the fraternity the property came into the possession of the Elector. 203 Luther did not at all believe that wedlock was a Para- dise. He knew that it was a state in which the parties must needs be very forbearing towards each other, and that it was for this reason that worldly minded people and those who falsely pretended to sanctity avoided it. In his Katie he discovered divers infirmities, and she for her part had sometimes to be patient in the presence of his vehemency. Nevertheless he thanked God for having bestowed this "treasure" upon him. Already, during the first year after his marriage, he wrote to a friend that his wife proved to be much better than he had ever ven- tured to hope, and that poor as he was he would not ex- change her for all the wealth of Croesus. After the ex- piration of twelve years he wrote cheerfully: "Thank God, everything has prospered with me, for I have a pious, faithful wife, such a one as the heart of a husband can safely trust in, as Solomon has said. Truly the Lord knows that matrimony is not a natural state, but a Divine Blessing, and when it turns out well the very sweetest and purest life that we can lead ; excelling all celibacy by far, but when it turns out evil then it must be hell itself." When Luther married, the times were hard. During the spring of that year the peasants of Swabia were ar- rayed in armed opposition against the nobles. The taxes which the nobles had to pay to the church and to the ruling princes, as also the increase of their own luxurious habits, constrained them to seek to increase their own revenues, and so they pressed the more heavily upon the peasants, and treated them like beasts of burden. To this was added the rapacity of tax-gatherers as they kept 204 prowling around, and the desolation of the country and the ruin of the growing crops by the hunting parties of the nobility. The peasants could utter their complaints indeed; but at that time already the civil courts had begun to attach much importance to written documents, and the peasants were not allowed to enjoy the privileges of citizens, for the inhabitants of the cities looked down upon them with contempt. To the peasants the preaching of the Gospel was at first very astonishing; afterwards they heard it very gladly. In their profound ignorance, however, they thought that spiritual freedom meant bodily freedom, and that this latter constituted the deliverance of the Christian from Babylonish captivity. At first they dis- played a spirit of moderation, submitting twelve articles to the allied princes, and begging that a Court of Equity might take their grievances into consideration. Among these twelve articles there was one to the effect that the peasants should have the right to choose their own pas- tors, who should preach the pure word of God, and that in consideration of this they were ready to pay the tenth. The peasants proposed that the Court of Equity should be composed of Archduke Ferdinand, the Emperor's brother; the Elector of Saxony; Luther, Melanchthon and some other preachers. The great men, however, only laughed at this. Yet, if they had only yielded this point of the Court of Equity, much misery, much shedding of blood might have been avoided. Luther lifted up his voice aloud and earnestly, pleading for the peasants, and teaching both the spiritual and the temporal tyrants some plain truths. At the same time he also warned 205 the peasants against rebellion and insurrection, and ex- plained to them what true Christian liberty amounted to. Both parties, however, were deaf to his appeals. The in- fatuated peasants finding themselves scorned by the no- bility broke loose, destroyed castles and monasteries and murdered their inmates. Horrible deeds of cruelty were perpetrated, and when they had once tasted blood, the people became so rabid that Luther with a heavy heart had to turn against them and appeal to the authorities to punish the evil doers. The host of Swabian peasants was annihilated at Boblingen, May 12th, by the troops of the allied princes. Subsequently, the supremacy of the nobles was established in Elsass, in the Palatinate and in Franconia. The condition of the peasants in Thuringia under the mild authority of Saxony was much better than that of the peasants elsewhere. The evil spirit of insurrection, however, did not spare them. Thomas Munzer, the leading spirit of rioters, was the agent for seducing them. This man belonged to the party that followed the notions of Carlstadt, who was always straying off further and further from the truth, and at last became an enemy of Luther's. Carlstadt despised the means of grace, the word and the sacraments; regarded Christ only as a model; but set himself up as being altogether a grand and infallible genius. He continued to carry on an active correspon- dence with the Zwickau prophets, and gloried in the cir- cumstance that a double portion of his " spirit " had fallen upon Thomas Munzer, the preacher at Allstadt. This man cried out against the " miserable, coarse, wearisome " Christians, and especially against the "lying" Luther, 206 and demanded of the Elector that he should exterminate all "ungodly, good-for-nothing and neutral Christians." Munzer and his associates, Pfeiffer and Strauss, roamed about through Thuringia preaching liberty, equality and fraternity; speaking of Luther only as "the lifeless, easy going flesh at Wittenberg." They said that the princes and nobles should be put to death; that their possessions should be divided and distributed; that the distinction between master and servant, between rich and poor should exist no longer. When Munzer was banished from Allstadt, the imperial city of Miihlhausen opened its gates to receive him, and here he introduced his princi- ples of social leveling. He ordered the poor to help them- selves to whatever they might find in the houses of the rich, and whatever they might want. He proclaimed in all directions that he had been called of God to establish a new government. Withersoever he and his fellow prophets went, they preached insurrection without fear or shame. The peasants and burghers of Thuringia, all in arms, were massed at Miihlhausen, which was to be the headquarters for the subjugation of the world. Then Luther went to work traveling through Thuringia, preaching, expostulating, dissuading, admonishing wher- ever he met with people who had been misled. His ad- dresses, however, were not received with favor. In some places indeed he was even abused and cursed, and so he returned to Wittenberg sadly sorrowing for the blindness of his people. On May 15th, the host of Munzer, in battle array, met the allied troops under the princes of Saxony, Hessia and Brunswick. Munzer endeavored to inflame the courage of his men by promising to perform 207 a miracle that would put all their enemies to flight, but the issue was directly the reverse. The peasants were beaten and their leader executed with marked severity. The peasant war ended in the summer; more than 100,000 peasants lost their lives, and the survivors were more heavily oppressed after their subjugation than they had ever been before. When the insurrection was beginning, Luther strongly admonished both parties to maintain the peace, but when the storm broke loose, he reminded the authorities that they did not bear the sword in vain. When the disas- trous battle was over, both nobles and peasants wished that he was dead ; the former blaming him with having turned the heads of the peasants by his inflammatory sermons about liberty, and the latter reproaching him as a tool of the princes, who would be glad to bathe in peasant blood. The Pope addressed a letter to the Land- grave of Hessia complimenting him upon his victory over the "ungodly Lutherans," but Philip replied in an- swer: "The Gospel, as the doctrine of Luther must now be called, is never the cause of an insurrection of the people, because it enjoins peace upon all and inculcates subordination to authority." After this the princes prose- cuted the work of the Reformation with greater vigor. Whilst the peasant war was raging in Swabia and Elsass, Frederick the Wise, Elector of Saxony, lay upon his death bed. He was a lover of the Gospel. In the year 1522, already he had issued a coin with the inscription: " Verbum Domini manet in seternum " (the word of the Lord abideth forever), and had the initials of these five words embroidered upon the sleeves of his courtiers. 208 Spalatin conversed with him daily upon spiritual things, and the Elector himself was a diligent student of the Holy Scriptures. He never saw Luther after October 31st, 1517, but was in regular correspondence with him through the intervention of Spalatin. Although he thought that Luther was too adventurous and precipitate, nevertheless, he held him high in honor. Early on May 5th, he partook of the Lord's Supper in both kinds, as it was instituted by Christ, and said to his assembled house- hold : " My dear children, if I have offended any of you, in word or in deed, I beg you for God's sake to forgive me, and I beseech you to obtain for me in the Name of God, like pardon from any other persons whom I may have injured, for we princes are prone to oppress the poor people in many ways, and that does no good." He had also sent for Luther, for whom he cherished the highest regard, but Luther was not permitted to see his princely friend alive. He departed in peace. His physician, in ordinary, remarked : " He was a son of peace, and so in perfect peace he has gone home" — the first German prince who died in the faith as an Evangelical Christian. The body of the Elector was buried at Wittenberg, Lu- ther having been authorized to make arrangements for the funeral in accordance with the Gospel. Instead of the ceremonies that had been usual on such occasions, a sum of money was distributed among the poor. Luther diligently and faithfully extolled the virtues of the de- parted prince, his wisdom, his benignity, his hatred of lying, his love of whatsoever was just and right. The deceased German Elector was quite another man % than Henry VIII, King of England. Henry conceited 209 that he was a great theologian, and undertook to demolish Luther's book upon the Babylonian Captivity. If it had depended upon offensive language the demolition would have been complete. In acknowledgment of this work, the Pope, Leo X, conferred upon him the title, " Defender of the Faith," and accorded ten years' indulgence to every person who would read the king's vituperation. Some- what later than this the same king cut loose from the Pope himself, because the Pope would not tolerate his polygamous practices, and so his kingdom was delivered from the power of Popery rather by the displeasure of its master than by the word of God. Luther replied to this royal clown in the spirit of the Proverb: "Answer a fool according to his folly," and yet did not fail to season his answer with the salt of the Divine word. Henry com- plained to the Elector of the monk's rugged handling, but Frederick the Wise was able to dispose of his English relative in a very graceful manner. In place of Henry, as the advocate of Popery, then came forth the " Prince of Scholars," Erasmus, of Rotter- dam. Erasmus had long been chagrined at the attention that had been paid to Luther, and he had little satisfac- tion in learning that the writings of Luther had found so many readers. The clear simplicity of Luther's style was distasteful, even offensive to his delicacy, that he had cherished so tenderly in the retirement of study. He had too high an idea of himself ever to approve of Lu- ther's doctrine of Justification by Faith alone. Encour- aged by Henry, the enraged king, he attacked Luther in his book, " On Freedom of the Will," a book abounding in work-righteousness and in self-conceit. In the autumn 14 210 of 1525, Luther answered this distinguished opponent in a book entitled, "The Bondage of the Will" (Dass der freie Wille nichts sei), written in a style remarkable for its freshness and propriety. Erasmus and his numerous friends, among the learned who sympathized with him in opinion, might have found much genuine theology in this little book, which explains how there is nothing in man, and how everything must come from God through Jesus Christ. Human reason, highly extolled though it be, must give up and be brought into submission to faith. Erasmus was never able to do this, and in his death he was not sustained by the peace of God. 18. THE TRANSLATION OF THE BIBLE. Whilst the New Testament was going through the press, Luther began the translation of the Old Testament. He was not willing to begin this work during his sojourn at the Wartburg, for the reason that he was not suffi- ciently versed in Hebrew. At Wittenberg, however, he had competent assistance in Melanchthon, and especially in Aurogallus, although the chief part of the work was done by himself. The others, perhaps, excelled him as grammarians, but he was distinguished for his delicate philological discernment that enabled him always to decide upon the appropriate terms promptly and with precision. He was an ardent admirer of the Hebrew language, delighting in its simplicity and its wealth of attractive, figurative forms. His appreciation of the ge- nius of the Hebrew language enabled him to render a German translation which, though not always quite lit- 211 eral, is yet invariably faithful and correct in the sub- ject matter, and has justified itself in the mouths of the people more completely than all subsequent attempts to produce a translation of verbal and literal precision. In prosecuting this work, Luther had before him a copy of the Hebrew Bible that had been printed in Italy in 1494, as also the Septuagint in Greek, and the Latin Vulgate of Jerome. He expressed his views of the un- dertaking in this manner : " I frankly acknowledge that in translating the Old Testament into German, I have undertaken too much, for the Hebrew language, alas! has become so obsolete that even the Jews themselves know very little about it, and as far as I have examined their glosses and interpretations, they are not to be de- pended upon. (He refers to the Rabbis, Moses and David Kimchi). However, although I cannot pretend to have mastered everything, yet I can assert this much, viz., that the German Bible is in many places clearer and more correct than the Latin, so that the German language has a better Bible than the Latin language. But now, we may expect that the mire will stick to the wheel, and that there will be plenty of people who, fancying them- selves more competent than I am, will go on finding fault with my work. Very good, I let all this pass. I foresaw, very clearly from the beginning, that I would hear of ten thousand people who would condemn my work before I would meet with one who could do it one- twentieth as well as I have done. Let any man who claims to be so much more learned than I am, go to work to translate the whole Bible into German, and then let me know how he has succeeded. If he does it better, 212 why should not his work be preferred to mine? I too, thought to myself, that I had some learning, but now I have found out that I am not even master of my native German speech, and to this day I have never read a book, nor a letter that was written in pure, genuine German. There is no one who seems to care about speaking Ger- man correctly, and this is especially true of the office- holders, the strolling preachers, the playwrights who have a conceit that they are at liberty to alter and use the German language as they please. In short, if we were all to join together in the work Ave would all have enough to do to set forth the Bible in a clear light. One might help with his sound and comprehensive intelli- gence; another with his thorough knowledge of the lan- guages; even as I myself have not been doing the work alone, but have employed the services of every person whom I could possibly enlist in my help. So then I beg let every man stop his censures and come and help me as far as he can. And may God perfect the work which He has begun." Luther's translation of the Old Testament was not pub- lished complete at once, but appeared in several succes- sive parts. He feared that if the whole should be issued at once, the volume might be too large and too expensive. The printing was begun with the five books of Moses in January, 1523. The historical books, from Joshua to Esther, followed in the beginning of 1524. Job, the Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Canticles, forming the third division, followed in the same year. The book of Job proved to be a severe test of the patience and pen- etration of the translators. Referring to this, Luther 213 Translation op the Bible. 214 wrote to Spalatin: " Our interpretations seemed to be as little acceptable to Job as were the comfortings of his friends." Some time afterwards he said : " Master Philip, Aurogallus and I had such hard work with Job that sometimes we could hardly finish three lines in four days. Now, however, as it is put into German, every one can read and understand it. Whoever uses his eyesight can pass on and never stumble, but it may not occur to him what rocks and stumps we found rooted here, over which we had to sweat and worry before we could get them out of the way." In the year 1527, Luther was occupied in translating the prophetical books. His progress, however was slow, on account of the variety of engagements that demanded his attention. The book of Isaiah was not finished un- til October, 1529. There was no lack of inaccurate trans- lations, and of such as bore a very ordinary character; and so Luther and his friends took special pains to pro- duce a translation that should be distinguished for its excellence. He wrote thus to his friend Link: "My Dear Sir: What a tremendous and wearisome work it is to compel the Hebrew writers to talk German! How mightily they struggle against leaving their Hebrew and adopting the style of the barbarous German! It is as if we would compel the nightingale to forget its melody and adopt the horrible monotony of the cuckoo." The prophecies of Daniel were finished a short time before the Augsburg Diet, in 1530; and the remainder of the pro- phetical books was ready for the press in 1532. The Apoc- rypha had yet to be attended to. Luther had much en- joyment in the translation of Sirach, because, as he said: 215 " Sirach^ is a valuable teacher, and strong to comfort the common man and the heads of families, in all their di- verse positions." The whole Bible, as translated into German, by Martin Luther, was printed and published in the summer of 1534. The first complete edition bore the title: "The Bible, that is, the Holy Scriptures, Complete, German. Mart. Luther, Wittenberg, MDXXXIV." As in the edition of the New Testament in the year 1522, so also this complete edition of 1534 was furnished, not only with wood-cuts, but also with prefaces and marginal notes written by Lu- ther himself. In a few months a new edition had to be printed. Pirated editions appeared at once, and even that could hardly supply the demand. Well and truth- fully did Melanchthon say: "The German Bible is one of the greatest wonders that God has wrought, by the hand of Doctor Martin Luther, before the end of the world." 19. THE CATECHISMS. John, the brother of Frederick the Wise, undertook the government of the Electorate of Saxony, with the sincere purpose of ruling as an evangelical prince. He instructed Luther to prepare, in the German language, an order of public worship, that might be adopted even outside of Wittenberg. The Elector sent the music directors, Con- rad Rupf and John Walter, to Wittenberg, that they might render Luther their assistance in the arrangement of the music of the German Liturgy. Luther himself composed many parts of the music; and Walter was 216 greatly surprised at his musical talent. This German order was introduced into the parish church for the first' time on the twentieth Sunday after Trinity, in 1525. Luther had it published under the title, "The German Mass and Order of Worship Adopted at Wittenberg;" and in the beginning of the book he said as follows: "We send this forth, not because we want to lord it over anybody or as- sume any absolute authority, but because the Mass and an order of worship in the German language has been loudly demanded everywhere, and because great com- plaints and dissatisfaction have been expressed on ac- count of the many orders of worship that have prevailed, all differing from one another, each place making its own order, sometimes with good intentions, sometimes also out of sheer officiousness. He did not plead in favor of established forms, for the sake of people who were strong in the faith, but argued that the order of worship should be fixed and regular, "most of all on account of the young people, and of such as were comparatively inex- perienced." These classes engaged his anxious concern as long as he lived ; and he sought in all their " reading, singing, preaching, writing and thinking," to have them trained up under the influence of the Divine word. He believed that the order of worship would promote unity and harmony in the church, and that Christians, for love's sake, ought to seek to be of one mind in regard to it, and ought to adopt the same forms and ceremonies. In his "German Mass" he says: "We ought to have now a good, short catechism, containing the Creed, the Ten Commandments and the Lord's Prayer. A catechism sig- nifies instruction for the heathen who want to become 217 Christians, that teaches them what Christianity requires them to believe, to do, to avoid and to know. The whole substance of Christian doctrine, expressed in the language of Scripture, may be given to the children to be placed in two purses, the one the purse for the gold of Faith, the other the purse for the silver of Love. Each purse ought to contain two pockets. In the one pocket of the purse of Faith let them put those passages that teach the fall and corruption of man, and in the other pocket those that speak of our redemption through Christ. In the one pocket of the purse of Love they should deposit those passages that teach us to do good to all men; and in the other, those that show us how to requite the injuries we may receive from other persons. No one should be so wise in his own conceits as to think that this is mere child's play; for Christ became Himself a man, in order that He might draw men ; and so, we too, must become children with the children, if we would draw them." Luther's labors as Eeformer, were not confined to Wit- tenberg. The responsibility of providing orderly ar- rangements in all the affairs of the church throughout the Electorate, fell upon him. The design was, that everything connected with the worship, the preaching, the instruction of the young, the government of congre- gations, should be controlled by the Spirit of the gospel, and should so remain. He knew, too well, how deplora- bly these important matters had been neglected in many places. On October 31st, 1525, he addressed a cogent letter to the Elector, in which he lamented the necessi- ties that were pressing everywhere, both in town and in country, and begged him to appoint men who, as Visitors, 218 should inquire into the condition of ,the parishes, should ascertain the fitness of the clergy to discharge their du- ties as teachers, and should inform the congregations that those who labor in the word and doctrine are not to be deprived of their compensation, nor suffer any dimi- nution of it. The Elector took action at once. He au- thorized the introduction of the German order of worship in the Electorate, on Epiphany, 1526. This could be done without any opposition on the part of the papists; because the Diet of Spires, in 1526, had determined, though in the absence of the Emperor, " that each sov- ereign authority should administer affairs in its own dominion, in such a manner that it might be able to give account to God and to his imperial majesty." The visitation began in Thuringia, in July, 1527, be- ing conducted by Melanchthon, with the assistance of two other theologians and three electoral counsellors. They found that the congregations were in a more dis- ordered and desolate condition than they had antici- pated ; but this was especially the case in those congrega- tions in which the fanatics had had their way. At the request of the Elector, Luther wrote " Instructions for the Visitors Among the Clergy of the Electorate of Saxony," in 1528, and described this visiting of the pastors and con- gregations by intelligent and experienced men, as a "Divine and wholesome undertaking." The "Instruc- tions" specified the fundamental doctrines of the gospel, and stated how they should be taught to the people. The office of superintendent, as overseer of the churches of a definite district, was also included in the arrange- ment; whilst the founding and the improvement of 219 schools engaged marked attention. "In all the towns, and all the villages, good schools ought to be provided for the children ; and the best scholars of these schools should be selected and sent to a high school, so that, in this way, men might be trained who may be able to ren- der good service to their country and their generation." In October, 1528, Luther himself set out upon a visi- tation of the churches, and continued it throughout the winter. He inquired into the capacity and the teachings of the clergy, and exhorted them to be diligent in study and persevering in prayer, at the same time reminding the congregations of their duties, and bringing the church property into a profitable condition. He failed not to inquire of the "poor peasants" wdiat they knew about prayer, and about the chief points of the Christian faith, and he instructed them in these matters as he went along. Upon a certain occasion when a peasant had re- peated the first Article of the Creed, Luther asked him what "Almighty" meant. The peasant answering, "I do not know;" Luther added: "Yes, my friend, neither do I; nor can all the learned men in the world tell what God's Almighty Power means; but do you, with a sin- cere heart, believe that God is your good, kind Father, who knows how to help you, and your wife, and your children in all times of need, and who can and w T ill do it," He also advised the pastors not to preach long ser- mons; for, that would be a weariness to the people. Both Luther and Melanchthon complained bitterly of the stupidity and the avarice of the people. Yet, they had much confidence in the Divine word, and believed that if it was brought home to the hearts of the hearers it 220 would make them bright, active and beneficent. They desired then that the word should be so explained that the people might understand it; and they believed that if it even failed to make any great impression upon peo- ple who had grown old, nevertheless it would train the rising generation in a better way. A good plain cate- chism, direct in its instructions and simple in its arrange- ment, was greatly needed. In the year 1520 already, Luther had sketched the general plan of a catechism in his " Brief Form of the Decalogue." Three years later he published a new edi- tion of his prayer book (Betbiichlein), in which that "Brief Form" was further extended; and in other edi- tions that followed he kept on enlarging it, by the addi- tion of his prefaces to the books of Holy Scripture, his sermons, a calendar, the History of the Passion, and other productions. In the spring of 1525, he committed to Jonas and Agricola, the task of preparing a "catechism for the young;" but as this resulted in nothing, Luther undertook to prepare a catechism himself. The Bohe- mian brethren had published a catechism which they submitted to the inspection of a Lutheran theologian for correction, in 1525, and which they had printed at Wit- tenberg. This catechism, however, was not adapted to the understanding or the use of children. In March, 1529, Luther finished his first catechism, which, in order to distinguish it from the second, is called "Luther's Large Catechism." It bore the simple title: "German Catechism." In the preface, the author says: " This instruction is undertaken and begun with the view of teaching the children and people of a docile spirit. 221 Introducing the Catechism, 1529. 222 The name by which the Greeks, in old times, designated such instruction was 'catechismos,' that is, instruction for children, in those subjects which, of neccesity, every Chris- tian must understand ; in the sense, that whoever does not understand them cannot be numbered among Chris- tians, and cannot be allowed to partake of any sacrament; even as among mechanics, the man who does not under- stand the ways and mysteries of his trade, is disowned and treated as incompetent. Therefore, great care should be taken that the youth may learn the several parts of this instruction, thoroughly, and diligently practice them ; and the head of every family ought, at least once a week, to question the members of his household carefully, so as to ascertain what they have learned." It was Luther's aim to furnish the pastors and the more intelligent heads of fami- lies with such directions and suggestions as would enable them so to simplify the doctrines of the gospel, that they might be comprehended by those who depended upon their instructions. This catechism contains the three chief divisions that are found in the " Brief Form" of 1520; and to these are added the two other chief divisions, to wit, the two Sacraments, whilst, under the division of Baptism, the subject of confession is impressively explained. In a new edition of the Large Catechism, which soon followed, there was "a short exhortation to confession"; and in a third edition, in 1530, there was an extended " Introduction," in which Luther justifies the continuous, diligent use of the catechism, as a brief summary of the whole Bible, over against the high pretentions of those who affected to despise the modest little book. Upon this subject he says: " I too am a Doctor and a Preacher, and as learned and 223 as experienced perhaps, as all those people who, in their own confidence, take so much upon themselves; and yet, I act like a little child who is learning the catechism. Every morning, when the time admits of it, I read and repeat aloud, word for word, the Ten Commandments, the Creed, the Lord's Prayer, several Psalms, etc., and be- sides, I read and meditate upon these subjects every day; and yet I am not as far advanced as I would like to be; so I keep on like a little child, learning the catechism, and I do it very willingly." In a few months, Luther's Small Catechism followed the large one. This too, was intended for the use of pastors and heads of families. Luther's desire was, that the children should commit to memory the explanations of the catechism, and be able to repeat them, in answer to the questions ; for, in this way they would be helped to a correct understanding of the chief points of Christian doc- trine. When they had advanced thus far, it became the duty of their teachers to make use of the large cate- chism, so as to furnish the children with more extended instruction. In the Preface, he informs the pastors and preachers, that it was the miserable, deplorable condition of the church which he had discovered, during his visita- tion, that had driven him to the preparation of this book. He was deeply distressed to find, that the common people, especially in the country, had no knowledge, at all, of Christian doctrine, and that there were so many pastors incompetent to teach them ; the people knowing nothing about the Lord's Prayer, the Creed, and the Ten Com- mandments, and living on only like their own cattle. To the five chief parts, Luther added morning and evening 224 prayers, with grace before, and after meal : " In learning, let each do his best, then, on the house, God's peace shall rest." He also appended a " Form for the marriage ceremony, — for the use of earnest pastors." Three of the chief parts were illustrated with cuts; — a picture of the worship of the golden calf accompanied the first com- mandment; the first Article of the Creed had a picture representing the wdrk of Creation; and under the Lord's Prayer there was a picture of the preaching of the Gospel, because it is by this preaching that God teaches us to be- lieve that He is our Father indeed. In the opinion of the author of the Small Catechism, and indeed, in that of all believing Lutherans, the five chief parts of the catechism exhibit clearly, and in a brief form, the whole substance of the Christian Religion, as it has been revealed by the Lord Himself. Luther called the little book a real lay-bible. The Decalogue is a doc- trine beyond all doctrines; for it teaches us what God de- mands of us, and it shows us wherein we fail. The Creed is^a history beyond all histories; for it tells us about the immeasurable, marvellous works of the Divine Majesty, from the beginning, on to the eternity which is yet to be. The Lord's Prayer is a prayer beyond all prayers, in which the greatest of all teachers has given expression to all of our spiritual and bodily needs. The Sacraments are the highest of all actions; for God Himself has instituted them, and, in them, gives us the assurance of His own love. This Small Catechism was the second extraordinary service which Luther rendered to his fellow countrymen, the Germans. The first was the translation of the Holy 225 Scriptures into the German language; and after this, the preparation of the two Catechisms was the most impor- tant, and in its results, the most useful work that Luther, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, was able to achieve. It soon became plain, that the hearts of the people had been taken captive by the Small Catechism; and that the pastors and the heads of families were not the only people who had the little book, and were in love with it. Every body, in the renovated church, who was able to read, was determined to own the catechism ; and whoever once got a copy of it was thankful that he had it. In company with the Bible, sometimes, a little in advance, sometimes alongside of it, the Small Catechism moved on, like a hearty, virtuous, joyous youth, the noble favorite of Ger- man Christendom. Von Ranke, the most distinguished German Historian of the present day, has said with strik- ing propriety : " The catechism is as childlike as it is pro- found, as comprehensible as it is unfathomable ; it is sim- ple, and yet, sublime. Happy the man whose heart feasts upon it, and who continues to relish its refreshment! He has comfort in every time of need, consolation that will never pass away. There you find, within a delicate shell, the precious kernel of Truth, Truth, that must satisfy the wisest of the wise." The Elector John once spoke despondingly of the pro- gress of the interests of the Gospel, w T hereupon Luther addressed him in a letter, in which we may observe what, by the blessing of God, was accomplished through the catechism. He says to his princely friend : " The mercy of God has been more graciously displayed in the fact that He has caused His word to be so mighty and so 15 226 fruitful in the dominions of your Electoral Grace, where the very best pastors and preachers are laboring, and where there are more of such men than in any other country in the world. Also, the tender youth, the boys and the girls are growing up under the influence of the Bible and the catechism in such a good and orderly spirit that it does my heart good to see that, at this time, little boys and girls know more about praying and about believing, and can tell more about God and about Christ than all the establishments of monasteries and schools ever could in former times, or can even at the present day. Indeed, such young people are a real paradise in your dominions, the like of which is not to be found elsewhere, as if God should say: Well, my dear Duke John I have placed my richest treasure in your keeping, my favorite paradise. Do a father's part by them ! " 20. THE COLLOQUY AT MARBURG. A few weeks after the birth of Luther, Ulrich Zwingli first saw the light of this world at Wildhaus, a mountain village of Switzerland. Endowed with fine talents he diligently employed the years devoted to study, and after a thorough training he entered the pastoral office at an early age. At the time Martin Luther had begun to strike upon the doors of the Popish Church with the hammer of the word, Zwingli was employed as preacher at Einsiedeln. There was then at Einsiedeln, and it re- mains to this day, a dark brown, wooden image of the Virgin Mary, which, it was said, could work miracles. The pilgrims, who beyond number flocked to it, were 227 admonished by the preacher Zwingli to trust more in Christ than in the wonder-working image, and as a preacher of indulgence came along there too, Zwingli withstood him and made it too hot for him. Yet, not- withstanding this he continued to be in good credit with Ulkich Zwixgli. the Pope, holding an honorable office and receiving a salary. Indeed, it is a remarkable fact that he retained both the office and the salary for years even after he had become the Reformer of Zurich. He was called as pastor of the principal church in the old city of Zurich, in the 228 year 1519. Here he preached the word of God free and unreserved, and the inhabitants of the city readily ac- quiesced in his doctrine, whilst the Council of Two Hun- dred began the work of reform both in the church and in civil affairs. Unlike Luther, Zwingli did not confine himself to the office of the word, but took an active part in political matters, although he was deeply in earnest in preaching the Gospel and in striving to improve the do- mestic and public life of his fellow citizens. He was a strict churchman; he believed that the new arrangements which he had introduced were the only ones that were proper and in harmony with the Holy Scriptures, besides he was averse to all sectarianism. When the Anabaptists had worked their way into Zurich he had them arrested, and one of them even was drowned. He did not fail to meet with strong opposition and charges of heresy, but his experience in these respects fell far below that of Luther in its severity. There was, upon the whole, a wide difference between Luther and Zwingli. The latter had no experience of such agonizing, spiritual conflicts as the former had to encounter. The life he lived was calm and quiet until he began to preach and to practice the word of God, and as to his earning heaven by mo- nastic sanctity, the thought of it had never entered into his mind. Zwingli's experience of the evil of sin and of the justification of the sinner fell far short of what Luther had struggled through, whilst his views of original sin and of its criminality were not the same as those of Luther. He did not hold in the positive sense in which Luther did, that the means of grace, the word and sacra- ments were absolutely necessary to secure salvation, and 229 at the same time an assurance of salvation. From the beginning, Zwingli differed from Luther in his views of the Holy Supper, indeed not only from Luther, but from the inspired word itself. He was not willing to permit his reason to be taken captive and brought into obedi- ence to faith, the province of which is to confess that Christ the Lord Himself really imparts His true body in the Holy Supper. Zwingli taught that the bread and the wine are only memorial signs of the death of Christ, and that they only signify the body and the blood of Jesus. Luther, however, rejected the sophisms of reason- ing, and confessed with the Holy Scripture that the body and blood of Christ are really present under the bread and wine and are truly received. Immediately connected with this is the true teaching concerning the human and divine natures in the Person of Christ, and other doc- trines of the greatest importance as well. Indeed, Luther has said in vain: "It is the rancor and malignity of natural reasoning that withstands this article, the real presence in the Lord's Supper. After a while other peo- ple will begin to teach that upon the whole Christ is nothing at all, neither human nor divine. All the arti- cles of the Christian faith are connected and linked in with each other like a golden chain, and if you detach one link the whole chain is broken and goes to pieces." In the year 1524, Carlstadt, who had become com- pletely swamped in fanaticism, published a direct attack upon Luther's doctrine of the Lord's Supper. Zwingli approved of the views of Carlstadt and wrote a book against the Catholic doctrine, intending at the same time that it should bear also against the doctrine of Luther. 230 Though otherwise a man of such sober judgment he nevertheless relied for the force of his arguments upon a dream in which his own favorite expression, "it signifies" was made to have the force of truth as against Luther's " it is." (Ecolampadius acquiesced in the views of Zwingli, at which Luther was grieved, for he knew (Ecolampadius and had a high opinion of him. Zwingli and (Ecolam- padius were not content with the publishing of their writings, but sought by epistolary correspondence to draw friends of Luther over to their party. (Ecolampadius, himself a Swabian by birth, addressed a communication to the Swabian clergy, which, however, called forth a very keen response written by John Brenz and signed by fourteen Evangelical preachers. Capito and Bucer, of Strasburg, joined the party of Zwingli, as did also Caspar Schwenkfeld, of Silesia. Luther delayed nearly a whole year before he replied to the Swiss theologians. In the spring of 1526, he wrote a sermon upon "The Sacrament of the Body and the Blood of Jesus Christ against the Fanatics," and the next year he wrote the book: "The words, 'This is my body,' yet stand." In this book he maintains the Evangelical doctrines of the Holy Sacrament, and the union of the Divine and human natures in Christ with words that burn. Zwingli replied in a " Friendly Exposition," which, however was armed with quite unfriendly claws and horns, and spoke in terms of considerable loftiness. He, did not hesitate to describe Luther's teaching as ungodly and as a plague that would utterly ruin the Gospel. He also expressed his assurance that " my doctrine will triumph without a doubt." In another writing Zwingli addressed himself 231 even to the Elector of Saxony with the assertion that the views of Luther were the same as those of the Pope, but that his, that is Zwingli's doctrine, was the word of God. He was very diligent and earnest in his efforts to attract people of influence and to attach them to his party. It was not his object to come to a fair understanding with Luther, for he reveled in the prospect of victory. " Before three years," he boasted : " Before three years shall have passed, Italy, France, Spain, Germany, all will be on our side." Luther did not return to this controversy at once, for his bodily health demanded serious care. It was March, 1528, before he published his book, "Martin Luther's Con- fession concerning the Holy Supper," and he intended that this should be his final refutation of the false doctrine of Zwingli. At the same time he sought " to make an open declaration of all the articles of my faith against this and all other new heresies, so that the heretics may never be able to say hereafter, or when I am dead, that Luther would have been of their opinion, as they have already said concerning several heresies." Further, he repeated solemnly, and in the most impressive language, the doc- trines he had already proclaimed, and in which it was his purpose, with the help of God, both to live and to die. On behalf of his opponents he prayed that God would convert them and set them free from the snares of the very devil, but that he for his part was not able to do anything more with them. His adversaries were determined to have the last word, and after a low, base fashion they made sport of him, representing him as a liar and a fool. In the heat of the controversy Luther had, now and then, 232 employed severe and rugged expressions, but to the mean derision that smells of the ale-house, he never allowed himself to resort. The suggestion of a colloquium between Luther and Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse. Zwingli, that had been proposed by Philip, Landgrave of Hesse, was not at all in the spirit of the theologians of Saxony. Melanchthon had serious doubts of its pro- 233 priety, and Luther could not see any good in it, but Zwingli was eager for its accomplishment. The Land- grave ceased not to urge the Elector to favor it, because political circumstances had led him to think that every- thing depended upon the establishment of perfect har- mony between the friends of the Gospel. As the Elector did not wish to be disobliging to his allies, he finally gave his consent. Luther resolved to attend the confer- ence, and in view of it, expressed the wish that "the Father of mercies, the Author of peace may bestow the gift of the Holy Spirit that we may not come together in vain, but that our conference may result in good and do no damage to the cause of the truth." Zwingli promptly arrived at Marburg, September 29th, 1529, at the castle of which city the conference was to be held. He was ac- companied by (Ecolampadius, Bucer, Hedio and certain counselors of the cities of Zurich, Basle and Strasburg. The next day Luther arrived in company with Melanch- thon, Jonas, Cruciger and Myconius. Within the same week Brenz, Osiander and Stephen Agricola, of South Germany, also reached Marburg; whilst many people from countries on the Rhine and from Switzerland crowded together to attend the disputation. The transactions began with private interviews between Luther and (Ecolampadius, and between Melanchthon and Zwingli, on October 1st. Early on the next day a conference was held in the presence of witnesses; the Landgrave of Hesse, Ulrich, the exiled Duke of Wurtem- berg, with a number of theologians and of the nobility being in attendance. Luther, Melanchthon, Zwingli and (Ecolampadius, occupied seats at the same table; and 234 Luther opened the discussion. He solemnly declared his conviction, that what he had written about the Lord's Supper was the truth; that if (Ecolampadius and Zwingli had anything to offer against the truth, he would attend to what they had to say and would refute it ; that he, for Luthers Colloquy with Zwingli about the Holy Supper. his part, would stand upon the words, "this is my body," because, here we are bound to maintain the letter. He had already chalked these words upon the table where he sat. 235 These transactions were continued throughout the whole of the first and second days. There were no new points of doctrine introduced, but the old questions were thoroughly discussed, the disputants not being, as pre- viously, widely separated, but meeting face to face. It was Zwingli's desire to conduct the conference in the Latin language, but Luther wished to use the German alone; and this was agreed upon. Zwingli resorted to every argument that could be devised, so as to twist around the meaning of the words of institution. To all his arguments however, Luther returned only one answer, to-wit. : that those words are, of themselves, sufficient, and that we are bound to be satisfied with them as they stand, pointing at the same time with his finger, to the words which he had chalked upon the table. At last, (Ecolampadius and Zwingli were asked whether they had anything more to say, to which they replied, that it would be in vain for them to say anything more. Lu- ther rejoined that they had not proved anything, and that their own consciences must witness that such was the fact. The Hessian counselor, Feige, then called upon both parties to devise and agree upon ways and means for their common union; but Luther replied that he knew of no other way than that the other party should give glory to the word of God, and agree in the faith that was maintained by himself and his friends. Zwingli protested against Luther's imputations, because their doctrine was much more firmly based upon the word of God, and because they had explained to Luther that his doctrine was false. The conference ended with expres- sions of good friendship. Afterwards, the Landgrave 236 brought about several private interviews between the op- posite parties, in connection with which, the Strasbur- ger, Bucer, acted like a knave; for which reason Jonas and Brenz had to handle him with severity. Neverthe- less, Luther complied with the wishes of Zwingli, to write an article in explanation of the several points in which both parties were agreed. He drew up the Marburg Arti- cles, a confession containing fifteen propositions relating to the Trinity, the Person of Christ, Original Sin, Faith and Justification, The Word of God, Baptism, Good Works, Confession, Civil Authority, Church Order, Infant Baptism, The Lord's Supper. Zwingli and his friends adopted fourteen of the propositions; but they wanted to change the 15th, which referred to the Lord's Supper. Zwingli urged Luther to recognize them as brethren, and to agree that each party should admit the other to the table of the Lord. In Luther's estimation, the one propo- sition which they refused to adopt was of such import- ance as to justify his refusing to give them the fraternal hand; and he was constrained to say to them: "You have a different spirit ;" and he was astonished to find, that although they had charged him with gross error in doctrine, they were nevertheless willing to own him as a brother. From all this he inferred that they did not themselves attach much importance to their own doc- trine. In the end, the following addition was made to the 15th proposition: "Although for the present time, we have not come to a perfect agreement as to the real pres- ence of the body and blood of Christ in the bread and wine, nevertheless, each party, under the dictates of con- science, will cherish and treat the other party in Christ- 237 ian love; and both parties will importunately implore Almighty God to grant us His Holy Spirit, and to con- firm us in the right understanding of His truth. Amen." These propositions or articles were subscribed on Octo- ber 4th, 1529; and on the following day the theologians left Marburg. Zwingli had hardly reached his home before he began to trumpet abroad his "victory" over the "shameless and stiff-necked " Luther. That fraternal hand, which he had so willingly offered to Luther, bent the cross-bow again at once. A civil war broke out in Switzerland in 1531, between the Reformed in Zurich, and the old Popish Cantons. Zwingli went forth upon the field of battle and lost his life. The more gentle QEcolampadius died at Zurich in the same year. Luther could not act other- wise than as he did towards Zwingli, the Divine text was too mighty. 21. COBURG CASTLE. In the Spring of 1526 the Emperor Charles V had brought his war with Francis I, King of France, to a suc- cessful termination. Francis and Charles made a contract, binding them to unite their arms, in common opposition, against the enemies of Christianity, the Turks and the Lutherans. Charles summoned a Diet to convene at Spire, in the Rhein Palatinate, for the purpose of thor- oughly exterminating " the wicked affair of Lutheranism." But the plans of Charles amounted to nothing. The Pope absolved the King of France from his oath, and the Turks overwhelmed Hungary. Charles could not come to Spire 238 himself; and his representative was compelled to admit John of Saxony, and Philip of Hesse, as Evangelical Princes, members of the Diet. Neither could he prevent the Diet from taking such action as had a favorable bear- ing upon the Evangelical cause. The Emperor was again engaged in warlike operations, and he summoned a Diet to convene again at Spire, in the spring of 1529. The orders of the Emperor, issued to the several imperial Es- tates, sounded altogether harshly; and an unreserved bowing down under the old papal yoke was absolutely demanded. So, on April 19th, John of Saxony, Philip of Hesse, George of Brandenburg, Ernst of Luneburg, "Wolf- gang of Anhalt and fourteen imperial cities united in lay- ing a Protest before the Diet. They declared that, in matters concerning the glory of God and the salvation of souls, their consciences required them to reverence God the Lord, above all, and that, therefore, they could not yield obedience to the demands that had been made upon them. From this day, and out of this heroic protestation it was, that the name Protestants originated. The vice- regent representing the Emperor, did not accept the pro- testation, and threatened its authors with punishment. The Evangelical Princes and cities then, formed a league for their own defence; Luther however, admonished them not to take up arms against the imperial majesty, and not to rely upon their own strength. His heroic hymn "Ein' feste Burg ist unser Gott !" (A Mighty Fortress is our God) written at the time, reveals what his feelings and his po- sition were in the presence of the threatening peril. Zwingli, on the other hand, sought to fire up the Protest- ant Estates to make war against the Emperor. He com- 239 plained that Luther had hindered the operations of the League; he offered his far-reaching support to the King of France, and in his teaching concerning the civil au- thority, he had a different spirit from that of Luther. Far other were the views that Luther entertained respect- ing the Emperor, although the Emperor had condemned and outlawed him. The Turks had forced their way- through as far as Vienna, and bore hard upon the forces of the Emperor; and at once, Luther's heroic sermon against the Turks, and his admonition to the Evangelical Princes to sustain the Emperor, who had sought to do him harm, was sent flying, all through the land. Again, Charles V became reconciled with the Pope, who placed the crown upon his head, at Bologna, Febru- ary 24, 1530; having previously obtained the promise of Charles, to root out the heretics. In April 1530 the Em- peror summoned a Diet to convene at Augsburg, and an- nounced his intention to come to Germany. The lan- guage of his proclamation was quite friendly and pacific, saying: "that with the view of taking such counsel as might heal the existing dissensions, the Estates should lay off the mutual aversion that had hitherto separated them, should give up their former errors, in obedience to the will of the heavenly Saviour, and giving diligent attention, should hear and thoughtfully consider their several views and opinions, all in love and in kindness ; in order that harmony and Christian truth might be established, and that whatever had been improperly set forth or trans- acted by either party might be corrected or removed." These Christian utterances awakened nothing but anxiety in the hearts of the friends of the Gospel; for they were 240 quite familiar with the Emperor's skill in the art of dis- simulation. It had been the fond hope of the Elector that a free expression of opinion would be allowed ; he thought that the Diet might even amount to a German Council. So, he instructed his theologians to arrange all the articles bearing upon the controversy, and state them in such a manner, that whatever he and his brethren in the faith might be able to admit, before God and with a good conscience, should be settled and determined prior to the opening of the Diet. The theologians addressed them- selves to their work without delay, taking the Schwabach Articles, that had been carefully prepared in October, 1529, as its foundation. These 17 articles of Schwabach were an elaborate revision and expansion, by Luther, of the 15 Marburg Articles, to which an important article concern- ing the Church was added, as follows: " There is no doubt, that there is and ever remains, upon earth, until the end of the world, a holy Christian Church, as Christ says, Matthew 28 : 20 ; this Church is no other than believers in Christ, who believe and teach the foregoing articles and doctrines, and who, for that reason suffer persecution and martyrdom in the world ; for, wherever the Gospel is preached and the Sacraments are rightly used, there is the Christian Church, and it is not bound by laws or by outward pomp, to any place or to any time, or to the per- son and rank of any man." The Emperor delayed his arrival, and so the Elector was in no haste to reach Augsburg. He spent Easter at Coburg, where Luther preached twice in his presence, upon the text appointed for the festival, and having no reference to the Diet. It was here in Coburg that Me- 241 lanchthon, with Luther at his side, began once more, to draw up the document which the Elector had desired to have, as a confession and justification of himself and his brethren in the faith, the object of this revision being to present the whole in perfect harmony. On April 22d, the Elector received a letter from the Emperor requiring him to hasten his departure for Augs- burg; so he set out upon his journey without delay. He was attended by George Spalatin, Justus Jonas, John Coburg Castle. Agricola and Philip Melanchthon. Luther, who had been outlawed, remained behind in Coburg. He was taken to the castle before the break of day, where he was 16 242 to remain and write to the Elector. He was, also, to allow his beard to grow and play the part of a knight. Luther was delighted with the Coburg. On the day of his arrival at the castle he wrote to Melanchthon: " We have reached our Sinai, but we propose to make a Zion out of this Sinai; and here we shall erect three tabernacles, one for the Psalter, one for the Prophets and one for iEsop." He found that the location of the castle was beautiful, and that it was favorable to study. Spa- cious apartments were prepared for his accommodation ; and a young magister from Niirnberg, Veit Dietrich, and his nephew, Cyriacus Kaufmann, from Mansfeld, were his companions. The noise of the city did not reach the level of his lofty apartments ; but there was a chirping and a revelling ever kept up in all the bird-life of the forests around. This he enjoyed hugely; and he wrote a sportive letter to his familiar friends in Wittenberg, which we give in full, because it affords us a view of Lu- ther's natural humor. " There is a thicket right in front of us, under our win- dow, like a little forest. Here the jack-daws and the rooks are holding a Diet; and there is such a coming and going, such a screeching day and night, without ceasing, that you would think that they were all drunk, and frantic in their intoxication. The old birds and the young ones are all mixed up together; and I wonder to hear how long their voices and their breath can hold out. I would be glad to be informed whether you have any nobility and any troopers of this stripe still left in your parts, for it seems to me that they have gathered together here from all the rest of the world. I have not 243 seen their emperor as yet, but the nobles and the great lords are always floating and lounging about before our eyes. Their attire is not exactly costly, rather plain, and they wear only one color. They are all alike black, and all have gray eyes alike; they all sing the same song, too, yet with an agreeable difference between the older and younger ones, the larger and smaller. They do not show much respect for imposing palaces and spacious halls ; for the hall in which they assemble is over-arched by the beautiful expanse of heaven ; its floor is the natu- ral soil, tessellated with pretty sprigs ; and its walls reach to the end of the world. Neither are they much con- cerned about steeds, or about armor; for they move about on feathered wheels, and so they can escape the danger of the rifle and the wrath of man. They are great and mighty lords ; but what they have resolved to do I have not, as yet, discovered. I have, however, learned this much from an interpreter, that they contemplate making a determined raid and war upon wheat, barley, oats, malt, and all kinds of corn and grain; and there will be many a noble knight among them who will achieve great things. So, here we are, listening and looking on with deep interest, as the princes and lords and high estates of the empire sing their songs and en- joy themselves before us. 'Tis especially amusing to see after what a lordly fashion they wag their tails and wipe their beaks, and burnish their armor, so that they may triumph and acquire fame in their assault upon corn and malt. AVe wish them the good luck of being im- paled, all together, upon a hedge stake. I, for my part, hold, that it is nothing else than the Sophists and the 244 Papists, with their preaching and their writing, who are gathered together before me in this manner, all in one crowd, so that I may be able to hear their fine voices and their excellent sermons, and understand what a very use- ful sort of people they are, and how they swell them- selves up with courage by way of pastime." Personally, indeed, he had to keep far away from the Diet; yet he wished that his voice should be heard in that august assembly. During the first weeks of his so- journ at the Coburg, he wrote his "Admonition to the Clergy," as also his "Confession for the Present Diet, Again Revised," in which confession the Schwabach arti- cles were included. Yet, he had other engagements in which he took more interest. He built a tabernacle for the prophets, having finished the translation of Jere- miah into the German language, and begun the transla- tion of Ezekiel. He made a new translation of Psalm 118, and accompanied it with explanatory notes. He wrote verse 17, "I shall not die but live, and declare the works of the Lord," with notes for the appropriate music upon the walls of his apartment. The third tabernacle he had proposed to build was intended for iEsop. The fables of this Greek, whom people commonly suppose to have been deformed, he translated at the Coburg, adding a preface in which he said : " With regard to the exter- nal life of the world, in addition to the Holy Scriptures, there are, as far as I know, not many books that are superior to this one, if the value of books is to be meas- ured, not by their loud and extravagant boasting, but by their utility, and the skill and wisdom they contain. In this book, under the cover of its plain speech and its 245 simple fables, you may find the very best doctrine and admonition and instruction, if you only know how to make use of it, as to all the relations of the household, and as to the obligations which civil rulers and their sub- jects owe to each other, so that in the midst of the wicked generations of this evil world, you may be able to lead a quiet and peaceable life." He expressed the spirit of the fables in German proverbs, the rich treasures of which he always had at his command. The change in his mode of living, which he had to adopt during his sojourn at the castle, was followed by many inconveniences, even its loneliness affected him unfavorably, and under these circumstances the visits of Pastor Koch, of Coburg, who became, for the time, his confessor, and administered the Hol} r Supper to him, were altogether refreshing. He wrote to Melanchthon, often, and advised him to be more careful of his health, so as not to commit suicide and then plead that it was done in obedience to the will of God. Melanchthon was not satisfied with the work he had done at Coburg, and now was engaged for w T eeks in improving and polishing it. On May 11th, he sent to Coburg a draught of the Apology, as the Augsburg Con- fession was most generally called at that time. On the 15th, Luther returned this draught, and added : " I am well pleased with it. I cannot see that I could improve it or change it in anything. Indeed, it would not be proper for me to attempt it, for I cannot tread so gently and tenderly. Christ our Lord grant that it may bring forth a rich abundance of precious fruit, as we hope and pray." Many letters passed to and fro, between the Elector 246 and Luther. The Elector refused to comply with the in- sinuation of the Emperor, to the effect, that he should forbid his clergy to preach in Augsburg; for, as he said: " It is a dangerous thing to give up the word of God and His truth;" and besides, he could not dispense with the preaching, for his own part. For several weeks no courier had passed from Augs- burg to Coburg. Then the first letter that Luther re- ceived informed him of the death of his venerable father, Hans Luther, of Mansfeld. "Now my father is dead," said he to Veit Dietrich, then, taking his psalter in his hand, he retired straightway to his chamber, seeking re- lief in tears. He wrote to Philip: "The death of my father has brought me into profound sorrow, for I have been attached to him, not only by the ties of nature, but also by the bonds of the sweetest love. It was through this, my father, that my Creator made me what I am and gave me what I have; and although I find much com- fort in the assurance that he fell asleep in peace and that he was strong in the faith in Christ, my grief and sor- row, as I call to mind what most precious intercourse I used to enjoy with him, has so disturbed my spirit that I think that I never had -such a contempt of death as I have now. Yet, the righteous is taken away from the evil to come, and he enters into his rest. We die often before we die the once." ***** The citizens of Wittenberg were not so stupid as were the Augsburgers. Hieronynms and Peter Weller, two brothers, took up their abode in Luther's house for the protection of his wife. The former was the tutor of Lu- ther's son, little Hans, and regularly reported to the Doc- 247 tor the progress of affairs in his family, receiving the re- freshing, playful letters of the venerated Doctor in return. Once, there arrived, among others at "Wittenberg, a short letter addressed to young Hans himself. Though this letter is already so well known, yet we cannot omit it in this present work, for it belongs directly to the portrait- ure of Luther, and unfolds a very attractive feature of his character. "Grace and peace in Christ, my dear little son. I am always glad to hear that you are learning well, and that you keep on faithfully in your prayers. That is right, and now continue on in the same way ; and when I come home I will bring you something pretty from the fair. I know about a pretty pleasure garden, where many chil- dren are allowed to enter; and they wear little coats adorned with gold, and they gather beautiful apples un- der the trees, and pears, and cherries, and plums; and they sing for delight, and jump about and are so glad ; and besides, they have beautiful little ponies with golden bridles and silver saddles. I asked the man who owns this garden whose children these were, and he told me that these were children that like to pray, and to learn, and to be good. Then I said, dear sir, I have a son too, his name is Hans Luther, may he come into this garden too, and be allowed to eat these fine apples, and pears, and ride such nice ponies, and play with these children? Then he answered, if he is willing to pray, and to learn, and to be good, then he may come into my garden, and Lippus, (Melanchthon's son) and Jost (Jonas' son), may come too; and when they all come they shall have fifes, and kettle-drums, and lutes, and all kinds of stringed in- 248 struments of music, and they may dance about and shoot with little cross-bows. But it was early and the children had not yet had their breakfast; so, as I could not wait for their dancing, I said to the man : My dear sir, I will go right away and write all this to my dear little son, Hans, so that he may pray faithfully, and get his lessons well, and be good, that he may come into this garden too. But he has an aunt, Lena; he must bring her along with him; and then the man said, yes, of course, go and tell him so. Now then, my dear son, Hans, learn your les- sons, and pray with good spirit, and tell Lippus and Jost to do the same; and then you can all come together into the garden. So, I commend you to Almighty God. Give my respects to Lena and also a kiss for me. Anno 1530. Your loving father, Martin Luther." At last the "silent gentlemen at Augsburg" began to say something. Melanchthon strongly urged Luther to write to Philip of Hesse, who was giving too much atten- tion to the suggestions of the Zwinglians. He tossed the anxieties of his own quaking heart off upon the breast of his mighty and heroic friend. Luther wrote in return, not in the language of delicate consolation, but in keen terms, reproving Melanchthon's pusillanimity: " I heartily abhor the anxieties that are consuming you ; if they have the control of your heart, it is not because of the magni- tude of the work that we have undertaken, but because of the greatness of your unbelief. * * * * and if our work were even twice as great, great is He who carries it on, and who even began it, for it is not our work. If it is wrong then we will recant, but if it is right why do we make Him a liar in His promises? for it is His will that 249 we should be of good courage, yes, that we should even take our rest, for thus saith He : Cast all your cares upon the Lord. Does He say this to the wind, or to the wild beasts? I, too, tremble oftentimes, but it does not last long. It is your philosophy, not your theology that troubles you." ****** Melanchthon stood in need of such encouragement. A season portentous of danger to the friends of the Gos- pel, opened with the arrival of the Emperor in Augsburg. The entrance of his majesty into the ancient, wealthy, imperial city of Augsburg occurred on June 15th. The Emperor, at once, summoned the Evangelical Princes into his presence, and demanded of them to forbid the preach- ing of their pastors. He also invited them to join in the procession on Corpus Christi day, a ceremony in which the idolatry of popery was very distinctly exhibited. The Princes, following the dictates of conscience, declined to yield to the Emperor in this matter. Kind words and sharp speeches were alike employed to make them pliant, nevertheless, they remained steadfast in the maintenance of the truth, and among them, first of all, the Elector. The Emperor required the friends of the Gospel to sub- mit their articles in writing. They understood very well what were his reasons for making this demand, and they insisted upon having their articles read publicly before the Diet. This the Romanists sought, by all means, to prevent. After great efforts the Evangelical Party at last induced the Emperor to consent that it should be read. The Diet convened in a small hall in the bishop's palace, in the afternoon of June 25th, 1530. Within the hall there was scarcely standing room for two hundred 250 persons, but the windows were thrown open, and in the spacious court there was gathered together a dense crowd of anxious and interested hearers. Copies of the Evan- gelical Articles were at hand, both in the Latin and in the German languages. The Emperor wished the Latin copy to be read, but the Elector objected, adding: "We are now on German soil, and therefore we beg that his imperial majesty will permit the German language to be used." Then the Saxon Chancellor, Dr. Christian Beier, read the twenty-eight articles of the Augsburg Confession with a voice so clear and distinct that every word uttered during the two hours occupied with the reading, was' understood even through the court-yard. This confession of the Evangelical Party, setting forth their faith in Christ as the sole ground of righteousness, produced a powerful impression upon the feelings of all honest men, even among the Catholic party. However, the Emperor re- mained unmoved, and the Papists hardened themselves still more against the truth. They poured out their rage against the confession and against its author in such un- measured terms, that Melanchthon gave himself up to the most distressing anxieties, and seemed to forget what a glorious act had been achieved by the public reading of the confession. Luther recognized the grand importance of the confes- sion at once. It was with jo}^ and thanksgiving that he was informed that it had been publicly and solemnly read and proclaimed in the presence of the Emperor and of the Diet. In a letter to a friend he says : " Our ene- mies had made astonishing efforts to prevent the Emperor from accepting our confession, but now, by the Emperor's 251 252 orders, it has been read before the whole empire in the presence of the Princes and the Estates. I am filled with gladness for being alive to this hour in which Christ has been publicly preached by such men, before such a con- gregation and by this most admirable confession. The word is fulfilled: 'I will speak of Thy testimonies also before kings/ and the other part shall also be fulfilled: 'And I will not be ashamed' (Proverbs 119 : 46). He who cannot lie has said: ' Whosoever will confess me before men, him will I also confess before my Father who is in heaven.' I can indeed see here and I can seize it with my hands, that God is in truth the hearer of prayer." He could not understand how or why Melanchthon should talk about giving up. He wrote letters upon letters to his friends at Augsburg, comforting, exhorting and strengthening them in the best manner possible. He gave the Emperor credit for a good heart, and held him to be worthy of all honor, hoping that his decision would be a righteous one. These sentiments he expressed in a letter to the Elector of Mayence. This letter was after- wards read in an assembly of Princes, and they were greatly surprised in learning how high a regard Luther felt for the Emperor, and what an honest and hearty German he was himself. Several days after June 25th, Veit Dietrich wrote from Coburg to Melanchthon: "I cannot sufficiently admire the extraordinary perseverance, the cheerfulness, the faith and the hopefulness of this man in so trying a time. He cultivates all these graces without ceasing by his diligent study of the Divine word. No day passes in which he does not spend at least three hours in prayer, and these 253 are hours that are most appropriate to study. Ouce it was my good fortune to hear him pray. Good God! what a faith there was in his words! "With such rever- ence did he plead with God, and with such faith and with such hope that I thought he was speaking to his father or to a friend. I know, he said, that Thou art our God and Father, and so I am certain that Thou wilt bring to shame them that persecute Thy children. If Thou dost not do it, the danger will threaten Thee and us especially. The whole work is Thine, and we have undertaken it because we knew that Thou would st main- tain it as Thine own. * * * * This is about what I heard him say in his prayer as I stood somewhat re- moved from him. So confidently, so earnestly, so rever- ently did he speak with God, pressing and pleading the promises in the Psalms, as though he were sure of obtain- ing all that he was asking for, that I felt the glow myself, and my own heart began to burn within me." Luther dictated to Veit Dietrich an Exposition of the First Twenty-five Psalms, but at the same time his thoughts reverted often to his friends in Augsburg. Once he re- marked: "Our Philip would be glad to have the definition of faith in Hebrews 11 : 1, to run in this way : ' Faith is not doubting about anything that we can see," but it has to be defined in such manner as to show, that of ourselves, we know not how to begin or how to end." He continued to study the Catechism every day as he states to Jonas: "Here I have begun anew to study the ten command- ments; I am learning them word for word like a little boy, and I find out how true it is that the wisdom they contain can neither be measured nor numbered." 254 The Elector John Frederick had, through the agency of Lazarus Spengler, a signet-ring prepared for Luther at Niirnberg. Luther in expressing his thanks to Spengler said that the seal should be a symbol of his theology. " Let the first thing be a cross, black, upon a heart of natural color, so that I may bear in mind that we are saved by faith in the Crucified. Now, although the cross is black, tends to mortification and excites pain, yet since it allows the heart to retain its natural color, that shows that it does not destroy our nature, that is it does not put it to death, but keeps it alive, for the just shall live by faith, and that is faith in the Crucified. Then the heart should rest right upon a rose so as to indicate that faith brings joy, comfort and peace. However, as faith gives peace and joy not like the world does, therefore in short it should be a white rose, a cheerful rose, for white is the color of the spirits and the color of all the angels. This rose must rest upon a field of cerulean blue, so as to show that this joy in spirit and in faith is the beginning of the heavenly joy that is yet to come, which indeed, though already conceived and embraced, is still not yet revealed. This field should be encircled by a golden ring, to show that the bliss of heaven is eternal without ending, and that it is more precious than all other joys and advantages even as gold is the most costly and pre- cious of all metals." Three productions of Luther's pen passed through the press in July, viz., his Revocation of the Doctrine of Purga- tory; Forty Theses concerning the Church and Ecclesiastical Power, and The Keys which Christ has given to His Church. These three little books were written with a reference to 255 what was going on at Augsburg, but in writing the other small volume, That tlie Children should be sent to School, his mind dwelt intently upon the circumstances of his own people at home. He found much delight as he thought of the many flourishing schools that had been estab- lished in the Evangelical Churches, but on the other hand he sadly bewailed the great indifference and the disgraceful niggardliness of the people who thought of nothing but their own bellies. At Augsburg, after all, the final decision was long de- layed. The Emperor commanded the Catholic theolo- gians, Eck, Cochlaus and Faber to draw up a confutation of the Evangelical Confession. Their success, however, was so poor that he sent them back to their work a second time. His repeated demands upon the Evangelical Party were always followed by the same answer. True, Me- lanchthon was disposed to yield a point here and there, yet in every case he took counsel with Luther, who invar- iably maintained the same opinion, viz., "we must hold on faithfully to the word of God." On August 5th, he addressed the following important letter to Chancellor Briick : " My dear Friend and Brother : I have written to my most gracious lord and to our friends so often, that I be- gin to fear that I have been making too much of them, especially of my most gracious master, as if I suspected that his Electoral Grace enjoyed a larger measure of the consolations and help of God than has been granted to me. But I have been doing this at the instigation of our friends, some of whom have been very down-hearted, as if God had forgotten us; and yet He cannot forget us, 256 He would have first to forget himself. ***** I have lately been a witness of two wonders. The first one happened as I was looking out of the window. I saw the stars in the firmament and the glorious vault of God ; and yet I coul d not see any pillars upon which the Chancellor Brueck. Master builder had made this vault to rest; still, the heavens did not fall down, and the vault yet stands, firm as ever. Now there are some people who are hunting for the pillars, and are very anxious to be able to touch 257 them, and to feel them ; and as they are not able to do that, they grow nervous and begin to tremble, and are sure that the heavens are coming down, and all because they can neither handle the pillars nor see them. If they could only touch them once then the heavens would be firm. The other wonder is this : I saw the great, dense clouds floating over us, in such masses that they might be com- pared to a mighty sea; and yet I could not see that they had any bottom to rest upon, nor any shores to confine them. However, they did not fall down on us, but they saluted us with a serious look and then floated away. When they had passed over our heads, what proved to be a bottom for them and also a roof for us, the rainbow, shone out. Now, whether as a bottom or as a roof, it was so weak, so vapory and insignificant a thing, that it van- ished at last into the clouds itself; so that we might re- gard it rather as a shadow seen through painted glass, than as such a solid support as it was, of the falling of which we might have as much apprehension as we could have of the coming down of the mighty weight of waters. And yet, in fact, it was this fleeting shadow that did up- hold the weight of waters and protected us. Now, there are some people who have more concern and more dread about the water, and about the size and weight of the clouds, than of this delicate, vapory shadow. They want to feel the strength and stability of this shadow; and as they cannot do that, they are afraid that the clouds will pour down an everlasting deluge upon us. " Now, although I have been led to address Your Ex- cellency in this style of familiar jesting, yet I speak in 17 258 4 all sincerity; for it is a special joy to me to have been informed that Your Excellency is, above all others, of good courage and of stout heart, in these times of severe trial. I had certainly been very hopeful that political peace, at least, would be maintained. But God's thoughts are higher than our thoughts ; and it is well for us that they are, for St. Paul says that? He hears and does more for us than we can ask or think, for we know not what we should pray for as we ought. Rom. 8: 26. Now, should He hear us just as we pray, that the Emperor may grant us peace; then, possibly, that might be less and not more than we can think, and in that case the glory might be given to the Emperor and not to God. But now, His pur- pose is to grant us peace Himself, so that He alone may have the glory. He will, through His Spirit, bless the work He has graciously given us to do, and determine the best mode, and time, and place for giving us His assistance. These blood-thirsty creatures have not yet got half through with their incendiary schemes; they are not yet disposed to cease their operations, neither have they reached the point they have been anxious to arrive at. The rainbow is weak and the clouds are mighty; but in the end it will prove to be as I have stated above. I hope that Your Excellency will pardon my prating, and seek to comfort Magister Philip and the others. My prayer is, that Christ may comfort and sustain our most gracious master. To Christ be praise and thanksgiving forever and ever. Amen. To the grace of the same Lord do I sincerely commend Your Excellency." When this letter reached Augsburg, the Emperor had already announced his decision concerning the confes- 259 sion of the Evangelical Party. He had had the revised or rather the devised confutation publicly read, had given it his entire approbation, and declared that the Estates which had departed from the holy Roman church should be required to return, for he would not tolerate any schism in Germany. He refused to give the Evan- gelical Party a copy of the confutation. Luther received the report of this with indifference ; he looked upon this refusal as a proof that the other party were afraid of the light; and now his only desire was, that his friends should go home. Yet, they tarried for a considerable time in Augsburg. A kind of intermediate party, the head of which was the Elector of Mayence, made further proposals of peace, which Melanchthon was somewhat too much inclined to accept. He would certainly have fallen into the snares that had been set for him, if the powerful support of his friend had not held him upright. Urbanus Rhegius, a pastor at Augsburg, who was called to Celle, in the vicinity of Hamburg, visited Co- burg in the beginning of September; and the impression which Luther made upon him was very decided. He afterwards said, that if you admit the force of Luther's spirit as it lives in the books he has written, still when y^ou come to see and hear him personally, you must un- hesitatingly acknowledge that he is yet far greater than his reputation; he will remain the theologian of the whole world, the theologian whose equal the coming cen- turies will not be able to produce. A week later, the Doctor was startled by a sudden visit of the Elector, John Frederick, who found the "Knight of Coburg" healthy, hearty and in good humor, and so far disguised by his long beard that he hardly recognized him. 260 On September 22d, the Emperor dismissed the Elector, threatening at the same time, the total wiping out of the Lutheran sect, in which operation the Pope and other "Christian" potentates would aid him. On October 4th, the Elector entered Coburg and took the bearded German prophet along with him to Altenburg, where Spalatin was pastor at the time. Whilst the friends were sitting at the table, on Sunday, eating, Melanchthon was busy in writing the Apology or Defence of the Augsburg Con- fession. Luther, however, took the pen out of his hand, reminding him that we could serve God also by abstain- ing from labor and resting. On September 7th, Luther returned to Wittenberg; and the final action of the Diet was publicly announced, first in 1531. Luther wrote a Comment upon the Supposed Imperial Edict, in which he took the sycophants of the Emperor, and especially the ring-leader, Clement, of Rome, sharply to task. At the Diet, certain bishops had intimated that they knew very well there was much that was wrong in the papacy, but that they would not accept a reformation that proceeded from such an obscure corner as Wittenberg. Upon this, Luther expressed himself thus: "I, Doctor Martin, have been called and compelled to be a doctor, out of the pure principle of obedience. I have sworn and vowed upon the Holy Scriptures, my most precious treasure, that I would preach and teach the word of God in truth and in sincerity. Now, whilst I was engaged in doing this, the papacy came in my way and undertook to stop me; and the consequence was that the papacy fared as you may see with your own eyes ; and it will have to keep on learning harder lessons yet, and it shall not get rid 261 of me, for in the name of God and at His command, I am going to fall upon the lions and the adders ; and the work shall be begun whilst I live, and it shall be com- pleted after I am dead and gone." The Emperor and the Dukes of Bavaria had already '/'j^'i John the Steadfast. come to an understanding to visit chastisement upon the Evangelical Princes, when the Turks made an incursion into the dominions of the house of Hapsburg. The Pope and the crafty King of France declined to join in oppos- ing the hereditary enemy of Christendom; and so the 262 Emperor was forced, by dire necessity, to show a more friendly disposition to the Evangelical Party. A Religious Peace was concluded at Niirnburg, July 23d, 1532 ; and as the result of this, the Evangelical Party was left un- disturbed, not only for one year until the meeting of the Council, but even until the year 1547. True to the hon- esty of the German, they rendered the Emperor their prompt support in his wars against the Turks and against the French. The Elector John the Steadfast, died August 16th, 1532; and Luther, deeply affected by the event, preached the sermon on the occasion of his funeral. In this discourse he expressed the wish that John Frederick, the son and successor of the deceased prince, might have the piety of his father and the wisdom of his uncle Frederick ; a fer- vent wish that fell upon a fruitful soil. Among the three Electors who reigned during Luther's time, the last was not the least. 22. THE PASTOR AND PROFESSOR. The Plague broke out in Wittenberg in the summer of 1527, and the labors of the University were at once trans- ferred to Jena, from which they were not restored to Wit- tenberg until New Year, 1528. The Elector ordered Lu- ther also to repair to Jena, because the University could not dispense with his services. Luther, however, clung to Bugenhagen, the pastor of Wittenberg, and rendered him faithful support. He wrote to a friend : " I and Bu- genhagen stay here alone, and yet we are not alone, for Christ is with us, who, as we believe and hope, is sure to 263 triumph, and will Himself protect us against the devil." He had no fear about ministering to persons dying with the plague; the wife of the mayor of Wittenberg expired in his arms. He held it to be his duty to minister to the spiritual and bodily relief of the sick, even in the face of the dangerous contagion. The plague came into his own house; but it was not followed by any fatal result. About this time he had many trying spiritual conflicts, so severe, that at times he could hardly find relief. Yet, he obtained comfort and support in the confession and absolution which he enjoyed in the faithful ministry of Bugenhagen, with whom, in his turn, he co-operated most vigorously in the pastoral work. As Bugenhagen had extraordinary talents for organizing the affairs of the church upon the principles of the Gospel, his aid was solicited in divers quarters in such undertakings, in which cases Luther would take his place. He once re- marked: "I am Bugenhagen, Moses, Jethro, and what not?" Bugenhagen was in the habit of preaching three times a week, which Luther also did, attending at the same time to the care of souls with the greatest fidelity. John Frederick often invited him to go to Torgau and to preach there, or he came himself to Wittenberg to hear Luther. Meanwhile, the congregation of which Luther was the chief pastor, resided outside of the unattractive city on the Elbe. It was easy to find it, for all Germany was his congregation, and its members were the many cities and territories that longed to be supplied through Luther's ministry with the Gospel and with an order of service based upon the word of God. In fact, Luther was a chief bishop, to whom was committed the administra- 264 tion of an immense territory. His activity was wonder- ful, not less wonderful his sagacity; and the extraordi- nary modesty with which he was wont to speak about himself, whilst he could not sufficiently applaud the merits of his friends, was not the least of the features that marked his character. During his sojourn at Coburg he wrote to the Swabian theologian John Brenz as follows: "My opinion of your writings, my dearest Brenz, is such that in comparison with them my own writings seem to me to be quite con- temptible. I do not natter you; I am not praising Brenz, but I am giving glory to the Spirit who is more loving, more peaceable, more tranquil in you than in me. Your language, adorned with rhetorical art, flows further, it passes on and on purer, clearer, brighter and so capti- vates and charms the readers the more. But mine, not formed nor controlled by the rules of rhetoric, presents nothing but a forest or a chaos of words, and besides it is like a restless and boisterous swordsman who is forever fighting with monsters. Therefore to compare small things with great the portion of the fourfold spirit re- vealed to Elijah, 1 Kings 19: 11, 12, that has fallen upon me, is the wind and the earthquake and the fire by which mountains are overthrown and rocks are split to pieces, but the portion that has fallen upon you and upon others like you is the still, small voice that is so refreshing and reviving. This is the reason why your writings and your style are so delightful to me, to say nothing about how precious they are in the estimation of other people. But, after all, I comfort myself with the thought, indeed with the assurance, that in His great administration of affairs 265 our Heavenly Father has use for this and that servant who will deal sharply with the obdurate, be froward with the froward and go into the gnarled logs like a rough wedge. When God sends forth a thunder storm there is not only the rain that waters the earth, but you hear the fearful thunder and see the terrific lightning that purifies the air, and all in order that the earth may be the better and bring forth a richer abundance of fruit." A visitation throughout the dominions of Saxony pre- ceded the introduction of the Evangelical order of wor- ship. Luther had to complain continually "that the pas- tors in many places were held in less consideration than even the swineherds." "Amongst us," he added, "the Gospel has advanced so far as to be preached in its purity and heard willingly, for everywhere there are many pious souls who delight in the joyful sound of the word of God. But even alongside of this there is great ingratitude and a horrible contempt of the Divine word; yes, even a secret persecution of it that is personally endured by many." In the year 1533, new statutes were adopted for the University of Wittenberg. The interpretations of the scholastics were abrogated, and the exposition of the Holy Scriptures was made the chief branch of study. The first statute provided that the pure doctrine of the Gospel in harmony with the Augsburg Confession should be taught, maintained and propagated. Bugenhagen, Cru- ciger and Weller became doctors of theology, Luther himself being their chairman. The lectures of the uni- versity were largely attended, and among the students were sons of princes and noblemen, all of whom regarded Luther with most profound reverence. 266 As we are aware, the translation of the whole Bible into the German language was first finished in the year 1534. At this point Luther might well have taken his rest, but the thought of so doing never entered into his mind as long as he lived. For the benefit of "laymen" he published an Exposition of Psalm 101, which production, for its substantial contents and vigorous style, is reckoned among his best. As a service to a somewhat inquisitive tonsorial artist, "Master Peter, the barber," he wrote Simple Instructions how to Pray, in which he explains his own method in his devotions. He relates how he would stir up the spirit of prayer by taking his Psalter and going into his closet, or going to church at the hour of public worship, and meditating the ten commandments, the creed, the words of the Lord, or of St. Paul, etc., until his heart would grow warm and bring him to himself; how he still continued, like a nursling, to suck nourish- ment from the Lord's Prayer, and yet ate and drank like a full grown man and had not enough after all. His expositions of divers Psalms passed through the press from time to time. He began his lectures on the book of Genesis in the winter of 1534, 1535, and con- tinued the course for several years afterwards. The work, however, which engaged his chief attention at this time was his commentary of the Epistle to the Galatians, In the preface to this work he says: "This one article, faith in Christ, bears the sovereign sway over my heart. All my meditations in theology, both day and night, flow from Him and through Him and to Him. Yet I find that so far I have acquired only a little of the first fruits, only fragments of a wisdom that is in itself so high, so 267 broad, so profound. I am ashamed to publish these my expositions of such an apostle, such a chosen instrument of God, and yet the abominable fury that is forever raging against the one firm rock of our justification, compels me to get over my shame and to assume the boldness of a hero." It was not Luther's lot to spend his strength in the quiet labors of a learned professor; he had to act as com- mander and leader in the strife as long as he lived. His old enemy, Duke George, of Saxony, gave him much trouble. He had to exterminate the disorder of private masses, radically of course, employing no other means than the testimony of the Divine word. Erasmus at- tacked him again, and former friends like Crotus and Scheurl made war upon him. At Frankfort-on-the-Main an offence had been given by attempting to administer the Lord's Supper in an Evangelical and a Zwinglian way at one and the same time. This called forth an Address to the Citizens of Frankfort, which did not fail to accomplish its purpose. When emissaries of the Ana- baptists began their operations in Saxony, there appeared a little book under the title, Concerning the Sneaks and the Sly Harangners. He "had been told that these sneaks would get in amongst the laborers in the harvest field and declaim to them whilst they were at work that they would go to the coal-burners, and to lonely workmen in the retirement of the forests, sowing their evil seed and ejecting their venom everywhere, and so leading the peo- ple off from the true Christian fellowship, in all which we may see the genuine work of the devil, and how he hates the light and prowls about in the darkness." The 268 Anabaptist faction had erected a "Kingdom of Christ " in Soest and in Miinster, in Westphalia, yet they soon met with a terrible overthrow. Luther did not rejoice in their fall, but from the bottom of his heart he be- wailed the sad experience of those persons whom they had deceived and misled. The Papists laid the charge of all this misery upon the head of Luther. In the month of May, 1536, there were several guests sojourning at the University, who were supposed to be far removed from Wittenberg. Several cities of North Ger- many with Strasburg at their head, had presented their own special confession at the Diet of Augsburg, because they could not accept the Lutheran doctrine of the Lord's Supper. They did not, however, feel comfortable in the position they occupied between Luther and Zwingli. Bucer, who was then at Augsburg, had an interview with Melanchthon in the hope of bringing about a union. Melanchthon then conferred with Luther, who did not discourage him. Accordingly, a meeting of theologians of both parties was agreed upon. On account of the deli- cate state of Luther's health, the delegates from North Germany came to Wittenberg. There were eleven of them, men of learning and distinction, and Luther re- ceived them cordially, indeed more cordially than was altogether pleasing to many of his own friends. He de- clared that he was prepared to become one with them as soon as they would be willing to accept the scripture doctrine of the Lord's Supper. He cherished the hope that they would do so, yet he was grieved to learn that just at that time an epistolary correspondence between Zwingli . and Bucer made its appearance, in which the 269 former not only repeated his old errors, but spoke also of a salvation of the heathen without Christ. During the progress of the conference, Bucer went so far as to declare in the name of his colleagues that they did not approve of what Luther taught, to wit, that the institution of the Lord and the presence of the body, according to the words of institution, was not affected by any man's faith or lack of faith, but depended upon the institution itself as the word and the ordinance of God. They earnestly en- treated to be received into the fellowship of faith and brotherly love by the confederates of the Augsburg Con- fession and Apology, because they accepted these docu- ments as true in all points. After Luther had conferred with his friends he announced their agreement with the North Germans cheerfully in these terms : " Worthy Sirs and Brethren : We have heard the response and the con- fession of all of you, that you believe and teach that in the Lord's Supper the true body and the true blood are given and received, and not bread and wine alone; also that this giving and receiving is an actual transaction, and not a mere fanciful ceremony. Though you hesitate about the ungodly only, yet you admit that as St. Paul teaches, the unworthy receive the body of the Lord, by which no violence is done to the institution and word of Christ, therefore we will not dispute about that point. So then, since this is your doctrine, we are all of one mind; we recognize you and receive you as our brethren beloved in the Lord as far as this Article is concerned." Hereupon, all folded their hands devoutly and united in offering thanks to God, after which Melanchthon was authorized to record the Articles of the Wittenberg Concord 270 in writing. A harmonious adjustment of other matters that had been in dispute was then the more easily ac- complished. On Ascension Day, Luther preached from a full heart. A hearer remarked that his speaking sounded like a , voice thundering from heaven in the name of Christ. On the following Sunday the assembled guests approached the Lord's table, on which occasion Bucer preached. Af- terwards, Bucer spent the evening with Luther, when the latter referring to the sermon, said that he was much pleased with Bucer's preaching, "and yet," he added, "I am a better preacher than you are;" to which Bucer promptly assented. But Luther continued; he did not mean it in that way; he would not indulge in boasting; he knew his infirmity, and that he could not preach with such keen penetration and such learning as Bucer could, but when he entered the pulpit he always observed that his hearers were chiefly poor people, and he preached to them somewhat like a mother who feeds her infant deli- cately on milk, and does not drench it with rich syrup; whereas, Bucer was quite too high in his discourse, mov- ing about in the regions too lofty for his hearers. The North Germans appended their signatures to the " Concord," and then took their departure. It is a pity that they were not all true to their engagements; for afterwards, when the conflict between Lutheranism and Calvanism prevailed, there were Reformed churches or- ganized in the regions they had represented. The Land- grave of Hesse, who, until this time, had been a patron of Zwingli's, readily acquiesced in the "Concord." Luther then, himself, took the first steps towards effect- ?-. ■ ; - ; : -. ..•>^ j< \\\.v Luther's Sermon. 272 ing a union with the Swiss. Though enduring much bodily suffering, he, nevertheless, wrote repeatedly to Meyer, the Mayor of Basel. Meyer informed him that the city council of Basel had directed the pastors to main- tain the principles of the Concord in their sermons, and that they were honestly disposed to do so of their own accord. However, he was constrained to add, that the other theologians of Switzerland, although they rejoiced on account of Luther's pacific spirit, were not inclined to unite in adopting the " Concord." Luther's correspond- ence with Bullinger, the successor of Zwingli, had no further effect than to secure an armistice between the parties. The Bohemian Brethren made another advance towards Luther. Under the influence of his writings they had cast out one unevangelical element after the other. When their pastor, Augusta, came to Wittenberg in 1540, Luther received him with a friendly welcome. A perfect union with them could not, indeed, be expected, because the brethren were not willing to give up their singular doctrines. Nevertheless, Luther spoke with much warmth, of their patience and their works of Christian love. In the vear 1542, he sent his salutations to them, and as "a dying man," exhorted the brethren to stand fast, with him, in the fellowship of the Spirit and of the truth un- til death. Luther always sought, in the sincerity of his heart, to establish and maintain fellowship with all who had re- ceived the Gospel. His honest and fervent soul was grieved that all could not be of one mind with him, be- cause the speculations of reason prevented it. Yet never, 273 never once, did he think of making a compromise with the papacy ; for the papacy had thrown even the Gospel away. During the years that followed the great day of Augsburg, peaceable as his disposition was towards Prot- estants w T ho differed from him, he was quite as com- pletely armed and as resolute to fight against all the power of Rome. In October, 1534, Paul III became Pope, in place of Clement, and summoned a council for the purpose of healing the dissensions of heresy, hoping to be sustained by the strong arm of the Emperor. In the summer of 1535, the Emperor attacked the piratical city of Tunis; captured it, and effected the deliverance of 20,000 Christ- ians from slavery. Upon his return he became involved again, with the King of France, who, bearing the title of "Most Christian Majesty," had formed an alliance with the Turks against Charles. He endeavored to draw over the German Protestants to his side, and spoke much about reforming the church. Melanchthon was invited to go to France, but the Elector refused his consent. The rabid King, Henry VIII, fell out with the Pope about this time; and through Robert Barnes, who was then studying at Wittenberg, he sought to obtain the friend- ship of Luther, for he was anxious to be on good terms with the Protestants, and even solicited a visit from Me- lanchthon. This however, the Elector forbade. Here- upon, English theologians came to Wittenberg seeking counsel. Henry promised to accept the Augsburg Con- fession if it should be modified, but this could not be granted. After the death of Luther, Bucer went to Eng- land, and was very active there in the work of reform. 18 274 In the year 1535, Pope Paul sent Bishop Vergerius as his legate to Germany, to invite the Germans to a coun- cil in the Italian city of Mantua. Vergerius was well known in Germany, and thought himself to be both prudent and wise. He arrived at Wittenberg on No- vember 6th, and invited the professor, Luther, and the pastor of the city, Bugenhagen, to take breakfast with him on the following morning. This invitation put Lu- ther in a good humor. He put on his best clothing and hung a gold chain around his neck, and had himself carefully shaved and his hair frizzed ; and then he told the astonished barber that he had to present himself be- fore the Pope's legate, and that he wanted to look like a young man, so that the legate might be led to think that he could undertake and do a good deal of work yet. The barber wished that God might be with him, and that he might succeed in converting these Roman gen- tlemen. To this, Luther replied: "I shall not be able to do that; but it may happen that I shall give them a good lesson, and so dismiss them." As he was approach- ing the castle with Bugenhagen, he said, laughing: " Here we go, the German Pope and Cardinal Pomeranus, servants of God." As soon as they had announced their arrival at the castle, they were conducted into the pres- ence of the legate. Vergerius received them with grace- ful compliments- He spoke of Luther's talents, and of the respect which he commanded at Rome ; he regretted the harshness of Leo's proceedings, and offered to the consideration of Luther the prize of the red hat of a car- dinal. Luther, purposely took no notice of this Roman politeness, made no answer, but was free and easy in his 275 bearing. They then began to talk about the council, when Luther promptly expressed his willingness to at- tend it wherever it might be held ; he even invited the Pope to come to Wittenberg. When Vergerius inquired whether priests were ever ordained at Wittenberg? Lu- ther pointed to Bugenhagen, saying, "there sits an or- dained bishop." The two doctors continued their inter- view until Vergerius left the castle to travel further. After he had mounted his horse, he said to Luther, "take good care to be ready for the council," to which Luther replied, "yes, sir, with my head and my neck." This lofty legate afterwards wrote to a friend in Rome, that it was an agony to him to have to listen to what this Dutch beast said. In opposition to the wishes of the Evangelical Estates of the Empire, the Emperor approved of the calling of the council, to convene at Mantua instead of a German city. It was to be opened in May, 1537, and the "pestilential Lutheran heresy" was to be exterminated at last. The question arose, ought the Evangelical Party to plunge themselves into the deadly ditch? The men at Witten- berg were of opinion that they ought to attend the council even though they were in danger of being handled as offenders. But the Elector was more familiar with the spirit of the men who ruled at Pome, and said that as they would not at all give any hearing to the truth, there could be no good for the cause of the Gospel derived from the council. He then directed his theologians to request Luther to draw up an exhibition of all the doctrines he had taught in a document which should be laid before the council, and Luther began the work at once. The 276 chief article, concerning justification, he was resolved to lift up and extol in the face of the Pope and of the coun- cil and of the whole world. " Of this article nothing can be yielded or surrendered, even though the heavens and the earth should go to ruin, for upon this article rests everything that we teach and pray for, in opposition to the Pope, the devil and the world." He then goes on to show the idolatry of the mass and of the worship of the saints, the fraud of monkery, and finally the violent work of the Pope in putting himself above everything. He calls the Pope a wild fanatic: "Popery is nothing but crazy fanaticism, for the Pope boasts that all rights are enshrined in his heart, and that whatever he, with his church, decides and commands that must be accepted as the Spirit and Truth, even though it be beyond, and con- trary to, the word of God." Luther regarded these Schmal- cald Articles as his last will and testament to the church, for he thought that his days were numbered and his end was nigh. They were named for the Thuringian town of Schmalcald, because they were proposed to the meeting of Protestant Estates in that town in February, 1537, as the declaration they would make before the council at Mantua. They did not obtain the approbation of all parties as was natural, least of all were they approved of by the Papal Legates, the Bishop of Acqui and the Im- perial Vice-Chancellor Held. When Luther arrived at Schmalcald he was a very sick man. His disease, stone in the bladder, attacked him with such severity that he wished himself dead, and even took leave of his sorrowing friends. During one of his distressing paroxysms he said: "Father receive my 277 poor soul, take it into Thy hands, and I will thank and praise Thee. Go my soul, depart in the Name of God! What miserable creatures we are! I have scarcely any strength in me, and with the little that I have left, how am I tormented by the devil! my Father, make me strong in faith and patient to endure, so that I may over- come at last." He remembered his wife and children most tenderl}\ He wasted very few thoughts upon the council, but he was much concerned about the church, and lamented that men were so ungrateful and so heedless of the word of God. He said, with tears : " I am afraid that the good cause of the Gospel will suffer defeat; O my God, I am Thy creature, Thou art my Creator; I am the clay, Thou art the potter. Willing am I to meet my dying hour, if Thou wilt only uphold Thy word ! " Dr. Sturz, a physician of Erfurt, who had been promptly brought to his relief, attended him to Gotha. During the journey the pain was excruciating, and yet the shaking he had endured did him good, for on the following night he found relief. Upon leaving Schmalcald he made the sign of the cross to his friends, saying: "The Lord fill you with His favor and with hatred of the Pope ! " Dur- ing the night Luther wrote to Melanchthon, and as his messenger was passing the house of the Papal Legate, he cried out in Latin: "Luther lives! Luther lives!" In Gotha he had another attack of his pains, when with the help of Bugenhagen he prepared his will, made confession and received absolution. The next day he was surprised to find himself better, and finally he reached Witten- berg, where under the tender care of his wife he improved so rapidly that during Passion Week and on Easter he preached every day. 278 The Estates convened at Schmalcald, rejected all the proposals of the Pope, for they would have nothing to do with a council, the head of which was their arch-enemy. After Melanchthon had completed the work of Luther by the addition of another article about the supremacy of the anti-Christian Pope, written in Luther's spirit, the entire document was subscribed by the assembled friends of the Gospel, who thereby proclaimed their absolute and complete abjuration of popery. Pope Paul changed the place of the meeting of the council from Mantua to Vicenza, and the Emperor having his hands full with the troublesome Turkish war, wished that the meeting might be indefinitely postponed. To this the Pope willingly gave his consent. Luther had anticipated these knavish tricks, and was not slow in bearing testimony against the lying Pope and the cardi- nals who "with their fox-tails kept themselves busy in sweeping about the papal seat." At this time he pub- lished a book Concerning the Councils and the Churches, which was followed by a rush of smaller, fiery produc- tions, serving, as was intended, to produce no ordinary amount of agitation. 23. CHURCH HYMNS. As a good old German proverb has it, " All good things are threefold" (Aller guten Dinge sind Drei). For a thoughtful mind this proverb contains a profound and sublime significance. In fact it refers even to the Most Holy Trinity. It is therefore no play of wit, and should be uttered always with sincerity and reverence. We may 279 apply it to Luther with the utmost propriety. Three good things there are which make his name and memory so precious to his people for all time: his Bible, his Cate- chism and his Hymns. When the new Evangelical Order of Worship was being arranged and carefully prepared at Wittenberg, Luther gave his earnest attention to the matter of the language of the service. Accordingly, he believed that the Roman, the Latin language, should be dropped at the same time with the Romish mass. The Apostle had called upon the whole congregation to edify itself with psalms and songs of praise, and the singing should there- fore no longer be confined to the choirs alone. So the question arose: what shall the congregation sing? The people were acquainted only with the few hymns which were sung on the occasion of the great festivals, and these were chiefly imitations of old Latin hymns. The hymn for Christmas was, "Ein Kindelein so lobelich ist uns geboren heute ; " for Easter, " Christ ist erstanden von der Marter alle;" for Whitsunday, "Nun bitten wir den Hei- ligen Geist." The sacramental hymn, " Gott sei gelobet und gebenedeiet" also was sung occasionally, but at other times it was only the music of the choir in an unintelligi- ble, foreign tongue that sounded in the congregation. In the new Order of Worship Luther recommended that the four hymns specified above should be occasion- ally sung, and he began to inquire after poets whose talents might be useful in the service of the people. He did not think that he himself was qualified for such a work, although he had often written Latin verses whilst yet a boy. He tried to urge George Spalatin and John 280 Dobzig to write versifications of the psalms, but he did not succeed. Justus Jonas who had the reputation of an excellent Latin poet, cheered him with a hymn upon Psalm 124: "Wo Gott der Herr nicht bei uns halt." Paul Speratus contributed three hymns, one of which, "Es ist das Heil uns kommen her," proved to be a mighty preacher. After all, it turned out in this case, as it had previously done with the Bible and the catechism, that the best work was the work of Luther's own heart and hand. In the summer of 1523, he commemorated the martyr- dom of the young men Voes and Esch in the Netherlands in a hymn, the fresh, joyous tone of which commanded the ear and the heart of the people at once. Then the living fountain was opened, and then the stream of sacred song began to flow, by which thousands of thirsty souls have been refreshed. His first hymn written for the church was: "Nun freut euch, lieben Christen gmein." The first Evangelical hymn book appeared in the begin- ning of 1524, under the title, "Several Christian Hymns, songs of praise and psalms according to the pure word of God, taken from the Holy Scriptures, composed by several learned men, to be sung in the churches, as is done already in part, at Wittenberg." This book was a quarto, containing only twelve leaves and eight hymns, four of them written by Lather, three by Paul Speratus, and one, " In Jesus Namen heben wir an," by an unknown author. Five of these eight hymns are accompanied with appro- priate notes of music. There are as yet only three copies of this little book known to exist. During the same year there appeared at Erfurt, "Enchiridion or Manual, very use- 281 ful as a companion for every Christian, for diligent prac- tice in spiritual songs and psalms, all in true and pure German. With these and other songs like them it is right and proper to train up the children and the youth." Only one copy of this Enchiridion is known to exist. It is in the library at Strasburg. It has a preface and twenty-five hymns, eighteen of them being Luther's, three from Paul Speratus, the hymn, " In Jesus Namen," above noted, one from E. Cruciger, "Herr Christ, der einig Gottes Sohn," one from Justus Jonas, "Wo Gott der Herr nicht bei uns halt," and one from E. Hegenwalt, " Erbarm dich mein, O Herre Gott." It is most probable that Justus Jonas was the editor of this Enchiridion, and that he wrote the preface. A third hymn book appeared in the prolific year 1524; it was supplied with music for five voices, arranged by John Walther, and bore the title, "Book of Spiritual Songs." It contains a neatly printed "preface by Martin Luther," with thirty-two German hymns and five in Latin for the use of the school children. Twenty-four of these hymns are Luther's. It contains also Spengler's " Durch Adams Fall ist ganz verderbt," and Stiefel's " Dein armer Hauf, Herr, thut klagen." We give the preface of Luther un- abridged as worthy of hearty consideration: " That the singing of spiritual songs is good and pleas- ing in the sight of God must, in my opinion, be clear to every Christian, as everybody may see not only in the example of the prophets and the kings in the Old Testa- ment, who praised God in their songs, rendered with poetical and musical excellence, but also in the usages and especially in the hymns and psalms that have pre- 282 vailed all through Christendom from the very beginning. St. Paul also gives instructions concerning such things in 1 Cor. 14, and he exhorts the Colossians to sing in their hearts to the Lord with psalms and spiritual songs, so that the word of God and Christian doctrine may thus be cherished and cultivated in every appropriate way. " For this reason I, with several other persons, in the hope of thereby encouraging those who may be able to do it better, have tried to make a good beginning by col- lecting sundry spiritual songs in furtherance of the Gos- pel, which by the grace of God has now been restored to us, and in order that, as Moses does in his song, Exodus 15, we too may make our boast that Christ is our glory and our song, and that we will neither know, nor sing, nor say anything but the praise of Jesus Christ our Saviour as St. Paul says, 1 Cor. 2: 2. " Besides, the hymns of this book are arranged for four voices, and that only for the reason that it is most ear- nestly desired that the young people who ought to be and must be trained up in the knowledge of music and of other useful arts, may have some protection against the foolish carnal songs that prevail, and be supplied with something wholesome to learn instead of them, and enter into it and study it with heartiness as it becomes young people to do. Further, because I am not of the opinion that the fine arts are to be overthrown and extermi- nated by the Gospel as certain fanatical spiritualists have presumed to say. My fond hope is to see all the arts and especially the art of music devoted to the service of Him who has given them and created them. I beg therefore that every sincere Christian may regard this work with 283 favor, and if God has given him more ability or the like ability, let him use his talent so as to help on in the good work. Alas ! the whole world is far too careless and in- different about the proper training of the young, and the reasons of such indifference are very easily understood. God grant us His grace. Amen." By the year 1545, there had appeared eleven hymn books all printed under the superintendence of Luther. A number of hymns had been printed and circulated separately, as for example, " Aus tiefer Noth," " Ein feste Burg," "Herr Gott, Dich loben wir," "Vater unser im Himmelreich," " Erhalt uns Herr, bei Deinem Wort," etc. Most of Luther's hymns were based upon a passage of the Scriptures, and so he preached in verse. Yet, he was not a mere versifier, not a forger of rhymes, but a poet by the grace of God, who since his own day in true conception and happy expression of the sentiment and heart of his people has never been equaled by any other, not even by Paul Gerhardt himself. His own personal feelings never appeared in his hymns. He was the mouth-piece of the church, and he faithfully repeated that only which had previously stirred her mighty spirit. For this reason his hymns are living, glorious Church Hymns, always ahead; the torch-bearers of the mighty hosts who in the Evangelical Zion have kept on singing her hundred thousand songs. He was able to remodel and to expand the four or five ancient hymns that lodged in the memories of the people in such a manner that they seemed to have been cast in the same mould. The few hymns that had previously been known consisted of only a few lines, but now the supply offered in the hymn 284 had come to be abundant and plentiful. Luther trans- lated three hymns from the Latin, and he adapted the sacramental hymn of the martyr John Hus to the use of the church. The crown of Luther's hymns is "Em feste Burg ist unser Gott," an imitation of David's Psalm 46. Luther was personally absent from the Diet of Speier, but in spirit he was there, and lifted up his voice in protesting against the violence attempted against conscience. All his prayers, all his faith, all his hopes concerning the transactions at Speier towered aloft in " Ein feste Burg," resting upon the everlasting rock of confidence and strength. That hymn was written and printed in 1529, during the sessions of the Diet of Speier. Luther often sang it whilst he was at the castle of Coburg, but he did not write it there. For his own children in the first place and then after- wards for the pure delight of many other children, he wrote "the children's song for Christmas about the Infant Jesus," Luke 2 : " Vom Himmel hoch da komm ich her." About the same time he wrote that majestic "Song of the Holy Christian Church," that rings and sounds like a revela- tion, "Sie ist mir lieb die werthe Magd und kann ihr nicht vergessen." In the year 1541, when the borders of the empire were in great danger of an invasion by the Turks, Luther exhorted the pastors to bear the peril in mind in their prayers, and to prepare their petitions in the form of hymns. It was for this purpose that he wrote his own hymn, " Erhalt uns, Herr, bei deinem Wort, und steur des Papsts und Tiirken Mord." He called this a "children's hymn," which the children ought to learn 285 and repeat at home, "for it does not concern us old people so very much, because we shall soon have to pass away, but this hymn is intended to serve those who come after us, that they may remain steadfast in the faith of Christ, and be sure of eternal life in defiance of the devil of Mohammed." Six of his hymns were accompanied with appropriate music, the composition of Luther him- self. The music of "Ein feste Burg," harmonizes per- fectly and is undissolubly wedded with the words and the sublime defiance of the hymn itself. Even as Emser had presumed to undertake to improve Luther's Bible, so there were some who tried to polish up Luther's hymns. Others, however, rejected them alto- gether as being " unspiritual." The Schwenkfielders, a sect of extravagant spiritualists, wrote all kinds of hymns which contained incongruous stuff in jingling rhymes, and Luther appended the following warning to later edi- tions of his hymn book : " Many false teachers are spin- ning their rhymes; be on your guard, judge them wisely betimes. Wherever God sets up his church and His word, there the devil will fight both with fire and with sword." We close our account of Luther's hymns with a short extract from what he wrote as a Preface for all good Hymn-Books. Madam Music speaks: Of all the joys on earth None is of greater worth Than what my art affords ; Sweet sounds and pleasant words. 286 111 humor flies the ring Of friends who join to sing. Wrath, envy soon depart, And every thing that wounds the heart, Anger, sorrow and, in brief, Whatever can occasion grief. Besides, we all may certain be That such delight from sin is free ; That in God's sight, 'tis better far Than all this world's vain pleasures are. To Satan it gives grave offence, And hinders murderous violence. The acts of David make this plain, Who helped King Saul, once and again; With cheerful harp, as you may find, Restored the King's sad wandering mind. It helps the heart, with sweet accord, To learn the teachings of the Lord; As in the prophet's breast, the fire Of faith was waked by the sounding lyre. Mine is the best time of the year, When birds with music charm the ear. Heaven and earth they fill with song; Both morn and eve their joys prolong. And most of all the nightingale, Whose thrilling notes fill all the vale. We give it thanks for its music clear; But first of all we thank our God, Who formed the nightingale, so rare Of voice, to publish all abroad, Like a very Master of Art, the praise Of Him who taught it its wonderous lays. To Him it sings, both day and night; In ceaseless song it finds delight, Him, I too, with my song would praise, And give Him thanks for endless days." VI JL{ Jhmitmj Wxtnz H JUpH b Jntfy 24. THE HOUSE-FATHER. N finding that his end was approach- ing, the Elector John bequeathed to Luther, his wife and his legal heirs, the Augustine Monastery at Wittenberg, with its courtyard, its garden and its vested rights, Feb- ruary 2d, 1532. This was the home of Luther and of his household for more than twenty years. He always regarded his wife as the light of his house, and according to the word of God, held her high in honor. Upon the same principle he believed himself to be the head of the house, and dis- charged his duties as such, with sincerity and firmness. Luther's wife was a faithful helpmate .to him. Her spirit was not weakly strung; on the contrary, she had rather the strong, sturdy spirit of a man, and she had (287) 288 need of it; for, with their very limited resources, it was no slight task to keep affairs in order, under the ever in- creasing demands made upon her family. Besides, it was very necessary that she should he patient and of good heart, on account of the severe bodily sufferings and the spiritual trials that afflicted her husband. This she did in a most admirable manner, bearing her heavy yoke with cheerfulness. Luther's friends soon made the agreeable discovery that his wife had been made for him. She was the friend of her husband's friends, and these, in their letters to Luther, rarely forgot to include their compliments to his wife. In the earlier years of their married life, she was always happy to sit down at the writing desk of her hus- band, sometimes interrupting him with questions, sug- gested rather by curiosity than by intelligence. Some playful hints of Luther seem to indicate, that at first, she had a desire to be the head of the house herself; and in consequence of this she had to put up with it when her husband would address her as "My lord Katie." It was with a transport of joy that he saluted his first child, born June 7th, 1526. He then wrote to a friend that, "through the extraordinary grace of God his be- loved wife had given him a Hans Luther." The child was named John, for his grandfather. It is pleasant to read his letter to Spalatin, in which he tells how the lit- tle child is thriving, and presents a variety of very natu- ral incidents. . His daughter Elizabeth, was born December 12th, 1527, when the plague was raging at Wittenberg; and in the 289 following summer her body was laid in the grave. Lu- ther then wrote to his friend Hausmann: "Her death has made me very sick at heart; indeed, my heart is almost as tender as a woman's, so deeply do I grieve for her. I would never have believed that the heart of a father could be so tenderly affected for his children. * * Elizabeth has bidden us farewell, and gone to be with Christ, through death to life. Magdalena, Luther's " dearly beloved Lena," was born May 4th, 1529. Upon requesting certain friends to be her sponsors at her baptism, he says : " For the purpose of making a Christian out of this poor little heathen, I wish you to be her spiritual father and mother, so that she may be brought out of the old birth in Adam into the new birth in Christ by holy baptism." Martin was born November 7th, 1531; Paul, January 28th, 1533, and Margaret, December 17th, 1534. Then he found special delight in Psalm 128, which treats " of the duties and the blessings of godly parents," and w T as much interested in writing an exposition of the psalm. After the birth of his youngest child he said, that parental love always descends meekly rather than ascends; for it settles upon the child that is latest born, because it has the greatest need of the parents' loving care. His children were his teachers. They live, he said, in such simplicity and sincerity; their faith does not stum- ble. Of faith, they have a better understanding than we have, old fools as we are. They believe that God is rich in grace, and that after this life they will enter into life eternal; and they do not dispute nor doubt about it. They are not troubled with anxious cares, for God gives 19 290 them such grace that they would rather be eating cher- ries than counting money, and they think more of a good apple than of a round dollar. They never trouble themselves about the price of grain; for in their hearts Luther's Residence. they are well satisfied that they will get enough to eat. That God who has given them their life, and formed their shapely, graceful limbs, will certainly support and provide for them. Yes, even before a child is born, its 291 place is prepared and provision is made for it, "as the Scripture says and as the familiar saying runs, " the more children, the more blessings" (Je mehr Kinder, desto mehr Gluck). On a certain occasion, he saw his little son Martin fixing up a doll and carrying it around as his lady-love, when he remarked: "So upright and so perfectly innocent would we have been in paradise. Such pleasantries are the most interesting features of children ; the dear little buffoons, the most consummate actors, they do everything without affectation, naturally and with the whole heart." His boys once had a squab- ble, but soon made it up, when he said : " 0, my God ! how pleasing must the life and the amusements of such children be to Thee; for in truth all their offences amount to nothing but the forgiveness of offences, in the end." The behavior of the children, in this case, reminded him of the command of the Lord, that we should be converted, and must be like the little children if we would enter into the kingdom of heaven. "We might indeed sup- pose," he added, "that God would deal most tenderly with them, and take them to heaven as they are. But God's thoughts are higher than ours. As the fanatics are wont to say, He must first smooth down our roughness, and hew many a knotty branch and chip off from us, so as to make us like the little children." Once, when his wife brought one of his children to him in his study, he said, with deep emotion : " I wish that I had died when I was of the age of this child ; for that I would be willing to give up all the reputation I now have and all I may yet acquire in the world." He was not like many other fathers, who are not will- 292 ing to share with the mothers in bearing the burdens and the toils that belong to the care of the children; for he never denied the call of any parental duty, and was always ready to bear his part. He often considered how much our Father in heaven has to endure from the children of men. At Christmas time, in 1535, his young- est child, Margaret, lay in the cradle, and the mother was so busy in her preparations for the great festival, that she could not give much attention to the infant. The child then becoming restless, she asked the Doctor to bring his book into the nursery and rock the cradle, which he willingly did, as an act of obedience to his "lord Katie," and of love for his child. As he looked awhile at his book and awhile at the child, his thoughts carried him off to Bethlehem, and to the shepherds watch- ing their flocks, and to the infant Christ; and he began, for the first time, to sing his famous hymn, " Vom Him- mel hoch da komm ich her." It was altogether because he was such an affectionate father that he was unwilling to humor his children when they proved to be self-willed and disobedient. He kept a strict account with his boys. Once, when his eldest son, Hans, had displeased him, he refused to see him and to grant him the solicited pardon for a period of three days. He would rather have had a dead son than a disobedient one. He applied to himself the words of St. Paul, I Tim. 3 : 4, a bishop should rule well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity. Luther had also to exercise his care, now and then, in moulding the character of his wife ; for her own lofty and domineering spirit was, at times, a source of trouble to 293 herself. This, however, Luther did not take much to heart, because he knew that she meant it kindly. She was not slow of speech; and, on one occasion, when she could not stop, he asked her, with a smile, if she had offered prayer before she began so long a sermon? His opinion was, that women are eloquent by nature, and that rhetoric is an instinct in them, whilst men have to take such great pains to acquire it. He once introduced a visitor, an Englishman, to his wife, and added, by way of joke, that she was professor of German eloquence; for "she has such mastery of it as to leave me far behind." Yet he added, seriously, it is more becoming for women to speak softly and deliberately. In his family domestic peace flowed on without disturbance; and his friends often heard him heartily extolling the praises of his wife. He was always ready to admit that in domestic affairs the women are much more handy than the men. He once said, "if a wife is faithful and true, as a pious and virtuous woman ought to be, that is reason enough for always cherishing her highly in love and honor. Infir- mities and failures are encountered everywhere in the married life." For Luther and his wife the source of domestic happi- ness was their daily converse with the Holy Scriptures. He often encouraged her diligently to study the word of God, and especially the Psalms. Once, in reply to such an exhortation, she said: that she heard and read, and knew enough about it already ; she only wished that she could practice it. Then he cautioned her against becoming weary of the Scriptures, which weariness starts with the conceit that we already understand everything; whereas 294 in fact our experience teaches us the very reverse; yes, "that we know as much as a goose." "Madame Katie" had abundant opportunity for the ex- ercise of her skill in the management of domestic affairs. The amount of Luther's income increased considerably as the years passed on. It consisted not only of money, but also of natural products, the storing and preservation of which required judicious management. The monas- tery indeed had been bestowed upon him, but the struc- ture had never been finished, and the repairs that were required occasioned much expense. Once he had to con- struct a vault; after it was finished he entered it in com- pany with his wife for the purpose of examining it, when it suddenly caved in and nearly buried them. In the fall of 1539, he had an arch of sandstone prepared for his front door. A seat of stone stood at the right side and one at the left side of the door. Above the one seat was Lu- ther's bust with the inscription : " In his fifty-ninth year," and above the other his coat of arms with the rose. His study extended out above the moat. Madame Katie availed herself of the privileges of the monastery and brewed beer; but it was only of that kind which the Doctor relished. Flowers and vegetables were cultivated in the garden where the pear tree still stood, under which Staupitz had prevailed upon Luther to become a Doctor of the Holy Scriptures. Luther purchased also three lots of ground and a cottage adjoining the monastery, and in 1540, he bought from his brother-in-law, von Bora, whose circum- stances had been much reduced, the farm "Zulsdorf" not far from the city of Leipsic. "Madame Katie" gave much attention to the management of this farm, and 295 gloried not a little in the success of her husbandry. Lu- ther had to scribble a good deal for "lady of the Zulsdorf domain," often appending agricultural demands to theo- logical questions. For the benefit of his wife he wrote in the almanac that was in daily use the following familiar rhymes : "The best manure for all farming ground In the diligent feet of the farmer is found. The horses are kept in best condition When eyed by the owner without intermission, And the eyes of the women, careful souls ! Are far better cooks than girls, fire or coals." Luther never desired to become rich. Once, when one of his children came to him to say "good night," he added, "Go, be a good child; I will not leave you any money, but I will leave you a rich God." "Madame Katie" indeed was of opinion that if her husband had been minded like certain other people he might easily have been a rich man, but Luther believed that economy was the best capital, yet he was not willing to be inter- fered with in his benefactions to those who were in need. His beneficence was very great, and it was often heavily taxed, sometimes indeed immoderately. Among the many domestic cares that concerned his faithful wife there was only one that he considered worthy of his attention, to wit, the training of their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. His House- postils, edited by Veit Dietrich, is a collection of sermons which he delivered to the members of his own household. He drilled them diligently in the Catechism, for he always believed that such instruction and study would do more good to young people than the ordinary preaching in the 296 church. The church festivals, and Christmas especially, were celebrated in his house with solemnity and rejoicing. The church in his house was not confined to the pa- rents and the children. "Auntie Lena" was an aunt of Madam Luther, and had been with her in the cloister. Luther held her in high esteem, was always grateful to her for the love she had for his children, and thanked her with his whole heart, when in 1537, she bade them good-bye, and returned to her own home. Three grown up nieces also belonged to the family, and four nephews during the time of the prosecution of their studies at the university. Besides, there was always a number of boarders who held it to be a very high honor to sit at the table of the most distinguished and eloquent man of his times. Former students who had not as yet obtained an appointment were very anxious to be employed as assist- ants of the Doctor, even to render him personal service, or to relieve his wife in some of her many cares. Such a famulus or household servant was Wolf Sieberger who spent many years in the Augustine monastery, and who gave his master many a fine opportunity to practice the virtue of patience. Luther was always friendly in his bearing towards his dependents, and easy and open in his intercourse with them. Free and friendly association with others proved to be his best protection against de- pression of spirit. He once said : " Rather than stay all alone, I prefer to go to my swineherd John and see him taking care of his swine." A bishop must be sober, as we find it repeated in the table of duties in the Small Catechism, and Luther faith- fully obeyed this Evangelical precept. His moderation 297 was very decided, and Melanchthon often expressed sur- prise that a man of such portly presence should eat and drink so little. He had no desire for the luxuries of the table that prevail among the rich; relishing a plain, genuine, domestic meal more than the most costly viands. He ate moderately of what pleased his taste, and was ab- stemious when the festive cup was allowed. He zealously opposed the drinking habits of his fellow countrymen. He attached much importance to the regular amount of sleep, and never retired to rest at a later hour than nine o'clock. In his attire he was very plain, and so was fully entitled to reprove the Germans for their luxurious habits. Especially did he censure the matrons and the young ladies for sprucing themselves up in so grand a style when going to church as if the church was a theatre. He understood the use of the needle, having learned it during his monkish life. Sometimes he would practice the art, and once when suddenly detected by his wife he excused himself by saying that the Electors Frederick and John had done the same thing. Luther was not a book-worm, neither did he shut him- self up in his study like a recluse, consuming the mid- night oil. With all his extraordinary labors he still found time to refresh himself in the contemplations of nature, and when in his garden or in the open country, he quaffed the fresh air in copious draughts. In all the operations of nature he saw the hand of God, and so he discovered wonders and impressive lessons in everything. Like a very husbandman he rejoiced when the rain came to nourish the growing crops: "Now God is giving us hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth; now it is raining 298 wheat, and oats and barley, and wine, and onions, and grass, and milk." Upon seeing the herds on the pasture, he remarked : " There go our preachers, the producers of milk and butter, and cheese and wool, who are preaching to us every day and exhorting us to depend upon God as our father." He regarded the sun as a wonderful crea- tion of glory, upon which we might have gazed in Para- dise with open eyes, with perfect delight, but alas, now everything in us has become infirm. He was especially interested in birds, and among quadrupeds he had a fondness for dogs. He kept a dog and commended it by saying: "The dog is the most faithful animal we have, and it would be highly valued if it were not so common; the most useful gifts of God are the most common." He was fond of standing and looking at the bee hives; he admired their industrious ways and said: "The bee is such a delicate little creature, it cannot endure any un- savory smell, it is so cleanl} r in its work, so complete in its police, so loyal and devoted to its king." He was apt to regard what he saw upon the earth as a reflection of things in heaven. " If God has made this fleeting world so beautiful, how much more beautiful will He make that world that shall endure forever. 0, that we could con- fide in Him with the whole heart. As God has given us so much to delight in, in this state of our pilgrimage, what may we expect in the life that is to come?" Next to theology Luther loved music, because music had such power to lift up the heart and spirit and to quicken them so wonderfully in the worship of God. For this reason it was that he maintained that music ought to be regarded as an important branch of the edu- 299 cation of the school, and that neither cost nor pains should be spared in teaching the children to sing well. His children and the students that sojourned in his house formed a choir, and he often spent an hour with them, uniting his own full voice with theirs in their musical exercises. John Walther furnished the hymns and the musical accompaniment. The Bavarian choir-master, Senfel, sent him several of his motets, for Luther had written to him during his stay at Coburg, and spoken of his own undertakings in the composition of music. In this letter he expresses himself thus : " But why should I now speak in praise of music, and attempt to depict so grand a subject, or rather to dishonor it within the nar- row limits allotted to me? My heart overflows, and is in transport at the thought of music, for it has so often refreshed me and delivered me out of great straits." We have given the song that he sang for Madame Music in the foregoing chapter. The art of poetry, the twin sister of music, was a cher- ished denizen in Luther's house. We have, in addition to his church hymns, a variety of smaller poems referring both to spiritual and temporal things, all of which bear the unmistakable impress of Luther himself. Wherever they are met they are greeted with gladness. * Not only did Luther attach extraordinary importance to music and poetry as a means of mental and • spiritual refreshment, but he attributed like value to physical and bodily exercise as the means for preserving health. He watched the running and the jumping of his boys with pleasure, and was very willing himself to join in a game of ball, or of nine-pins. Occasionally he played chess, 300 and generally understood how to check-mate his adver- sary. Now and then he would attend academical festivi- ties, observed by the learned fraternities, when more or less noise and clashing would result from the meeting of ancient usages and new fashions. Luther's Table-Talk is famous throughout the world. It fills large volumes. The collection was started by Wel- ler and Lauterbach, fellow-boarders, who committed to writing what they had heard and retained in memory. The many-sidedness and wealth of the table-talk is aston- ishing; and there is hardly any department either of the spiritual or the external life which it does not handle. His personal experience in his youth, the guidings of Di- vine Providence, the characters he had had to deal with, the blessings he had enjoyed in the love of his wife, in the affectionate attachment of Philip and of other friends, his opinion of Pope and Emperor, of prince and chancel- lor, of citizen and peasant, of men and women and chil- dren, his views of the works of nature, all this and much more occurs in the course of his Table-Talk. But after all, when thus surrounded by a faithful company of con- fiding friends, his chief delight was to discourse upon such subjects as were directly connected with the king- dom of God. Often, indeed, did the cheerful, animated conversation, lead to a profound discussion of theologi- cal subjects; and we cannot wonder that the professors of Wittenberg and many other learned friends, seldom failed to present themselves, on certain evenings of the week, at the Augustinian monastery. He was very ready to give suggestions upon the subject of preaching to the students and the young clergymen who might happen to 301 be in the company about bis table. His opinion was, that the preacher should announce his subject straight- way, avoiding long circumlocutions; that he should keep it in view firmly and distinctly; that he should not lug in everything that might happen to come into his mind; that he should bring his sermon to an end in good time; in fact, that the very best time to end was when the peo- ple seemed to be the most attentive. He was most de- cided in his admonitions against the pompous display of pretensions to learning, and the bold parade of lofty tal- ents in the presence of the congregation. The grace of God often made those very sermons the most successful in doing good, in the preparation of which the preacher had been most discouraged, and of which he might even be ashamed. " For, so it often happened even to himself. Though an old preacher and having much experience, nevertheless, he trembled whenever he had to preach; for preaching is not a work to be done by the power of man." Luther was always indignant when people would ven- ture to pour out upon him their utterances of praise. He raised up a barrier against all unnecessary testimonials of honor, and always gave his heart to prayer whenever he was approached by the fascinations of a vain ambi- tion. His estimate of his own writings was not very ex- alted. He advised his friends and his pupils to pass them by and to study the writings of Melanchthon; and in his opinion the "Loci of Philip" deserved to stand next to the Holy Scriptures, for "no better book than that has been written since the times of the Apostles." Luther lived a life of constant communion with God. 302 He was accustomed to pray aloud in his closet ; and in the evening he usually prayed, standing erect at the open window. Melanchthon has related how he him- self often dropped in whilst Luther, in tears, was offering his prayers on behalf of the church. He believed that there was mighty efficacy in the prayer of faith. " Let happen what will, we can accomplish everything by prayer; for prayer itself is a kind of omnipotence. By prayer we are able to bring into order whatever has been appointed ; we can make crooked things straight, we can endure what cannot be healed, we can overcome in all adversities, and we can secure the possession of every- thing that is good." When he would speak about the Saviour, his language was often so tender and loving, that it might appear as if he himself had seen the Lord both in Bethlehem and Nazareth. Yet he was decidedly opposed to all fanatical notions and fancies; and his prayer was, that no extraordinary signs should be given to him, lest he might be exalted above measure, and tempted by the devil to depart from the testimony of the Divine word. The word of God alone was enough to satisfy all his desires. Luther was not a stranger to the pain of domestic afflic- tion. His favorite daughter, Magdalena, died September 20th, 1542. " Lena " was truly a pious child, and through- out her life never once displeased her father. When he began to despair of her life he said, that he loved her so much that he would most gladly keep her; but indeed, nothing better could happen to her than that the will of God should be done. To the child herself he said, " you would be willing to stay with your father here, and 303 willing also to go to your Father there/' to which she re- plied, "yes, dear father, as God wills." As her last mo- LUTHEB AT THE COFFIN OF HIS DAUGHTER MAGDALENA. ment was approaching, he fell upon his knees at her bed- side and wept, and prayed that she might depart in 304 peace, whereupon she breathed her life away and fell asleep in his arms. He then addressed those who were present, saying: "I have sent a saint to heaven. If I could die such a death, I would willingly so die this very hour." He continued to feel the pain of his bereavement for a long time, and could not think of his favorite child without sighing and sobbing. The other children survived their father. Hans, the first born, studied law at Wittenberg and Konigsberg; and afterwards became counsellor of chancery at Weimar. Martin studied theology; yet on account of his infirm health, he never occupied any official position. He died at the age of thirty-three years. It was through Paul, the youngest son, that the family name was transmitted. He was an able man; and as a skillful physician, stood high at the courts of princes. His grandson, John Mar- tin, was a distinguished counsellor of the Elector's. Mar- garet was the wife of the Prussian nobleman, von Kun- heim. Luther's children all lead an upright life. None of them sullied the reputation of their illustrious father. 25. IN CONFLICT AND IN PEACE. In the month of April, 1539, at Frankfort-on-the-Main, an agreement was made between the imperial commission, on the one side, and the Protestant Estates, on the other, for the convening, within two years, of a free church council, to be composed of clergy and laity, for the pur- pose of opening a way to effect a union of the two par- ties. The Protestants succeeded in stipulating that no representative of the Pope should be admitted to the 505 council. This, however, enraged the Pope, who, conse- sequently threatened the Emperor with his displeasure, and so the Emperor refused to approve of the agreement. Hereupon, the Evangelical Princes agreed to hold a con- vention at Spire, which, however, on account of the prevalence of the plague, was subsequently held at Ha- genau, in Alsace, in June, 1540. The Elector, leaving Luther at home, took Melanchthon along with him. Melanchthon having taken sick at Weimar, the Elector sent a courier to Wittenberg to bring Luther and Cruci- ger. Upon Luther's arrival at Weimar, he found his be- loved friend apparently in the last extremity. The phy- sician had given him up, and all the symptoms indicated an early dissolution. Consciousness, speech, sight, hear- ing, all were already gone. As Luther approached the bed he was deeply shocked. " God help us," said he to his companions, "how fearfully has the devil abused this instrument!" Then turning to the window he offered up a fervent prayer. Referring to this scene afterwards, he said : " Then, our Lord God had to listen to me, for I tpok all His promises to hear prayer that I could possibly gather together out of the Holy Scriptures, and poured them into His ears and plead, that if I was to believe that His promises were true, He would have to hear me now." Then returning to Philip, he took him by the hand and bade him be of good cheer, for he was not going to die yet; that although God had reason to deliver men over to death, yet He had no delight in the death of a sinner, but rather that he should be converted and live ; that Philip should not give himself up to despondency, and so end his days; but rather trust in the Lord, who can 20 306 slay and make alive, who can wound and heal the wounded. Upon this, Melanchthon began to breathe more freely, but was for some time yet unable to speak. When at length he recovered his power of utterance, he looked intently upon Luther and begged him not to detain him here any longer, but to allow him to depart, for he was on a happy journey and nothing better could befall him. Luther replied, "by no means, you will have yet to ren- der further service to our Lord God." He then had some nourishment prepared quickly, which, however, Melanch- thon refused to take. Then, with an air of authority, Luther said: "Do you hear, Philip? not another word, you must eat this, or I shall excommunicate you." Then the sick man began to eat a little, and from that hour he gradually recovered his wonted strength. Luther wrote to Lange, in Erfurt : " We found Melanchthon dead, but by a wonderful act of God's power he lives again." At a later period, Melanchthon himself related, that he could not describe the terrible sufferings he had endured ; that he had observed how Luther too was agonized in spirit, but tried to conceal it all so as not to increase the dis- tress of the patient; that Luther's resolute spirit had done him much good, not only by the consolations which he gave, but also by the air of authority with which he spoke to him; that he would have died if Luther had not come to him. As soon as Melanchthon was able to travel, the friends set off for Eisenach. The Elector having no confidence in the promises of peace, sent his representatives to Ha- genau. Whilst tarrying at Eisenach, Luther wrote to his wife: "Magister Philip has been rescued from the grave 307 and restored to life. He has a feeble look, yet is not pale. He is cheerful and laughs with the rest of us, and he joins us at the table, eating and drinking as he has been wont to do. Thanks be to God! and I hope that you will unite your thanksgivings with ours." There was nothing accomplished at Hagenau, and another meeting was appointed to be held at Worms in the month of October. On July 26th, Luther wrote to his wife: " To-morrow, God willing, we shall move on towards Wittenberg. The meeting at Hagenau was of no account; toil and labor were lost, and all the expense was useless. Yet, if we accomplished nothing else, we have, at least, brought Magister Philip back again from death and the grave, and now we can take him home with us, with gladness, if the Lord will." The delegates to the meeting at Worms met, but ad- journed soon without having reached any results. Gran- vella, the representative of the Emperor, acted very cau- tiously. Melanchthon represented the Evangelical and Eck the Catholic Party. A proclamation of the Em- peror's suddenly dissolved the session, and at the same time announced a meeting of the Diet in Regensburg, which he himself expected to attend. This Diet was opened in the spring of 1541, and the Elector, John Fred- erick, ordered Melanchthon and Cruciger to attend it. Upon his journey Melanchthon met with an accident by which some of the bones of his right hand were broken. During Melanchthon's absence Luther continued to be sick; yet this did not prevent him from writing to Me- lanchthon who needed such counsel as well in Regens- burg as he had previously required it in Augsburg. In 108 one of these letters he says : " Although I am very sorry on account of your injured hand, yet I do not believe either in your forebodings or in my own. Our business is not directed by chance, but by sure counsels, not ours indeed, but God's only. The word runs, prayer is fervent, hope is patient, faith overcomes, so that we might seize it with our very hands, and if we were not flesh and blood we might be able to take our ease, only remember- ing the words spoken by Moses, ' stand still and see the salvation of the Lord.'" Luther did not expect much from the conference at Regensburg. Yet, its tendency was pacific. The repre- sentatives of the Evangelical side were Melanchthon, Bucer and Pistorius; those of the Catholic Party were Eck, Pflug and Gropper. The legate of the Pope was Cardinal Contarini, a man of moderate opinions. The transactions throughout were calm and courteous, and it looked as if the Catholic Party were ready to adopt the Evangelical doctrine concerning justification, and to ap- prove of even the strong expression, "by faith alone." Upon this point Melanchthon showed extraordinary firm- ness, not having the least disposition to yield. Yet, it turned out at last that the Catholics, fearing the dis- pleasure of the Pope, were more concerned about main- taining the false doctrine than they were about doing honor to the truth. When they saw that even the gentle Melanchthon could be firm and steadfast, a committee was sent off to Luther. By command of the Emperor, the Princes John and George, of Anhalt, Lord von Schu- lenburg and Alesius, a professor of Frankfort, were dis- patched to Wittenberg with instructions " to prevail upon 309 Doctor Martin to accord and approve of certain articles concerning religion, which could not be obtained from Philip and his colleagues at the conference. These four commissioners all were friends of Luther, and they laid their business before him. His interview with them was most cordial and friendly, whilst he declared that he was prepared to come to an agreement, if the Emperor would allow the word of God to be preached everywhere in its purity. This, however, the Emperor could not promise, for he was compelled to keep on good terms with the Pope. No other agreement was reached than that which had been already effected at the Diet of Niirenberg in the year 1532. After tarrying about a month in Regensburg, Melanch- thon went home, and Luther remarked to the Elector: " Thank God, the Papists are more afraid of Melanchthon than of any other among all the scholars of the day." The city of Halle joined the Evangelical cause during the sessions of the Diet of Kegensburg. Halle was the resi- dence of the Cardinal Archbishop and Elector Albrecht, of Mayence, who was compelled at last to yield to the force of the Evangelical movement, and left the city in a rage. Justus Jonas was then called as pastor of the city church. The Bishop of Naumburg died in January, 1541, and the Elector, John Frederick, contrary to the wishes of the cathedral chapter, appointed the Wittenberg Pro- fessor, Nicholas Amsdorf, a bishop. The cathedral chapter rejected Amsdorf's appointment and elected Julius Pflug a man of learning as the bishop. But as the Estates of the Cathedral were in favor of the Evangelical cause they confirmed the appointment of Amsdorf, and on January 310 20th, 1542, Dr. Martin Luther solemnly ordained Ams- dorf a bishop in the old Cathedral of Naumburg. The next year was marked by events of extraordinary import- ance. Two bishops, acting of their own accord, undertook the renovation of the church in their respective territories. The noble old Archbishop of Cologne, the Elector, Her- mann, secured the advice and cooperation of Melanch- thon in the work of reforming the church in his wealthy diocese. The Bishop of Minister called Pastor Bonnius, of Liibeck, to Osnabriick where the cause of the Gospel was permanently established. In the year 1544, George, of Anhalt, became the Evangelical Bishop of Merseburg. Subsequent to 1537, there were Evangelical bishops in Denmark, in the reformation of which kingdom Bugen- hagen had been participating for two years. The two brothers Olaus and Lawrence Peterson who had studied at Wittenberg, had already preached the Gospel in the adjoining kingdom of Sweden, which country was in ad- vance of Denmark in adopting the principles of the Re- formation, and the King, Gustavus Yasa, maintained for years an epistolary correspondence with Luther and Me- lanchthon. To the great joy of Luther, Joachim II, Elector of Brandenburg, turned his attention to the refor- mation of the church in his dominions in the year 1539, an undertaking which had for a long time been acknowl- edged as good and wholesome. About the same time the Gospel triumphed also in the dukedom of Saxony, the sovereign of which, Duke George, opposed the word of God with the same bitter hostility with which he had opposed Luther. The hatred which his eldest son John had towards Luther was even more malignant, but death 311 snatched him suddenly away. Frederick the next son was an imbecile, but his father made him the hereditary prince and appointed twenty-four counselors to aid him in his administration. However, Frederick also died suddenly. Henry the brother of George had embraced the Gospel, and it was the intention of George to bequeath the duke- dom to the Emperor so as to make sure of keeping the re- formation off. Yet with these plans in his mind he died unexpectedly and with his spirit unmollified. Henry then took control of the dukedom to the great joy of the people. When the cath of allegiance to him was taken at Leipsic, Luther was present and preached the Gospel in the pres- ence of large crowds. Yet it is sad to think what bad seed had been spread abroad through the hostility of Duke George. Many of the nobility and of the priest- hood continued to be the enemies of the Gospel. In the year 1544 there was another Diet at Spire, which was attended by the Elector, John Frederick, whom the Emperor Charles V received with extraordi- nary favor, admitting at the same time, that the Pro- testants were entitled to all kinds of rights. The Em- peror himself was in straits; for, the King of France, in violation of his oath, had taken up arms again, and the Pope was helping him with funds that ought to have been spent in warring against the Turks. The high officials of the State and the jurists did much mischief at that time, and for all subsequent times, by the encroachments which they ventured to make upon the rights and the official work of the clergy. Luther discovered, in the arrogance of the jurists, a counterpart of the oppressions of popery, and predicted heavy calami- 312 ties for the church that was sinking under the weight of a new bondage. In the sermons and the writings of his later years, he speaks strongly concerning the jurists, and laments the conduct of men like the chancellors of the Elector, whom he had once held in high honor, as ardent friends of the Evangelical cause. The state of morals in Wittenberg, also, was an occasion of much anxiety to him. Dissolute habits had begun to show themselves among the students ; and the civil au- thorities were inclined to be too indulgent. However, unbridled as the behavior of the reckless young men sometimes was, it could be favorably compared to the con- dition of morals in popish regions. Under the rule of Duke George, Leipsic was a Sodom and Gomorrah. As Luther had expected, the Wittenberg Concord did not continue long. The theologians of Zurich were very sensitive about the reputation of Zwingli, and took every intimation that was in the least unfavorable to him very much to heart. It was not possible for Luther to abstain from handling the anomalous doctrine of the Swiss Re- former. Though he had not offered a challenge to the men of Zurich, yet, about 1543, they openly attacked him and compelled him, weary and sick as he was, to stand upon his defence once more. This he did in a writing that appeared in 1544 under the title: "Short Confession of D. Mart. Luther, Concerning the Holy Sacrament." In this writing he breaks off from Carlstadt, Zwingli, Schwenk- feld and others altogether; and the tie between Witten- berg and Zurich, the result of so much labor, was sun- dered forever. Luther prosecuted the work no further, but his opponents held a strict account with all of their 313 own party who could be charged with leaning towards the Lutheran side. The clergy of Basel, acting as medi- ators, especially complained of the unfairness of the theologians of Zurich. Between 1539 and 1545, Luther was busy with the re- vision of his German translation of the Bible. He felt himself bound to keep on polishing this wonderful work until it should shine out all over, revealing the highest degree of perfection. Mattliesius, an inmate of Luther's house, describes what he calls "the Sanhedrim" that usually convened on an evening of the week, before supper time, in the Augus- tinian monastery. There was Melanchthon, a master of the Greek text, and there was Cruciger, thoroughly versed in Hebrew and in Greek, who brought the old Chaldee paraphrases along with him. There, too, was Bugen- hagen, especially familiar with the Latin version, and Justus Jonas and Aurogallus, Professor of Hebrew at Wittenberg, as also George Borer, who served as corrector, and besides, foreign scholars who came now and then as visitors. Every man had prepared himself beforehand on the portion allotted to him, and Luther took great pains to secure in every case the right German word. As an illustration of his carefulness, he would visit the houses of the butchers, witness the operations of slaughter- ing, and ascertain the names of the different parts of the animals. The German text was settled by a regular vote. AVhen the evening's work was done, the friends all joined in a repast, and Luther instructed them with his table- talk. The exercises of the evening were often closed with the voice of song. 314 A new edition of the Church Postils was published in 1544, edited by Cruciger; and Lectures upon Genesis ap- peared at the same time. Luther was interested also in the position of the Jews. Upon this subject four produc- tions of his pen were printed in 1543 : 1, Of the Jews and their Lives ; 2, Of Schem Hamphoras ; 3, Of the Genealogy of Christ; 4, Of the last words of David, II Samuel 23 : 1-7. A complete edition of the very many productions of Luther's pen was begun in the year 1539, under the supervision of Cruciger and Korer. Luther had long opposed this undertaking ; but, at last, gave his consent. Lie was sincere in saying that he would willingly see every one of his books pass into obscurity and be for- gotten. He implored the readers of his books, by their lives, not to allow such reading to hinder them in the study of the Holy Scriptures. The right way to study theology, he said, was that that is pointed out in Psalm 119, with the three rules, Oratio, Meditatio and Tentatio, that is, devout prayer to God in the closet for the illu- mination of His Holy Spirit ; then meditation with con- tinual knocking and pondering, reading and re-reading of the Divine word, with diligent study of the meaning of the Holy Spirit ; and then, finally, trial, temptation, by which we come to learn, through experience, how faith- ful and true, how sweet and how mighty the word of God is. The Preface of the complete edition ends thus : " In one word, let us seek for honor, and be lifted up wherever it is right for us so to do. In this book the glory belongs to God alone ; for it is written : ' God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble. To Him be glory for- ever more, Amen.' " 315 In the space of thirty-four years 294 German writings and 74 Latin writings, the productions of Luther, were published, and his letters are counted by the thousands. His last controversial productions appeared in the year 1545, bearing the titles : Against the Popery of Rome, insti- tuted by the Devil ; The Popery of Hadrian, and Italian Lies about the Death of Dr. Martin Luther. His very last work was dedicated to the welfare of his German countrymen : The new Preface for the Instruction of those Visiting the Churches. Luther did not enjoy good health in the later years of his life. A disease of the bladder gave him much trouble, and his suffering was sometimes agonizing, though at other times it did not interrupt his cheerfulness. The Elector was ever ready to send his own physician in ordinary, Ratzeberger, to minister to his relief; and the wife of the Elector sometimes kindly sent to inquire con- cerning his condition. Once he returned answer to her inquiries thus : " Thank God, we are well and better off than we deserve to be. It is no wonder that I feel at times good for nothing. I have reached an age which, in itself, is old, and cold, and decrepit, and sick, and infirm. The pitcher goes to the fountain until it is broken. I have lived long enough. God grant me a happy death, after which my poor body shall rest in the grave and become food for worms." In the summer of 1545 Luther, all at once, left Witten- berg, thoroughly indignant at the outrageous behavior of the citizens and the students. He went to Leipsic and Zeis, and then sent Cruciger back to Wittenberg to an- nounce his determination, not to return any more ; also, 316 that Madam Katie should sell out and move the family to Zulsdorf. Luther himself then went to Naumburg, where he ordained George of Anhalt, a bishop. Witten- berg was thoroughly perplexed; both the city and the University dispatched messengers, with instructions to urge him to return. Even the Elector entreated him to have patience with Wittenberg, and he himself would give more attention to the proper administration of affairs. At length, Luther yielded, and returned to Wit- tenberg, and as the result, better order prevailed. On November 10th, 1545, surrounded by a circle of his friends, he celebrated his birthday. Upon their with- drawing, he earnestly exhorted them to hold fast to the Gospel. On November 20th, he completed his exposition of the book of Genesis; and this was his last lecture at the University. He closed it with these words : " Here then we have the book of Genesis. God grant that some one may come after me who shall do better than I have done. I can do no more, I am failing — pray for me, that God may grant me a happy death." 26. DEATH AND BURIAL. Luther always cherished a fondness for Mansfield, the home of his youth, and had found great satisfaction in the circumstance, that the Reformation had been accepted there. Yet he was so much the more grieved by the fact, that the head of the house of Mansfield, Count Albert, had become deeply involved in conflict with his own re- lations, and in his displeasure had oppressed his subjects severely. After a long and useless litigation, Albert was 317 prevailed upon to request Luther to act as arbitrator in the case, for Luther had often advised the reconciliation of the parties. In October, 1545, Luther went to Mans- field, in company with Melanchthon and Jonas, yet could accomplish very little, because, on account of an invasion by the Duke of Brunswick, the Counts had to hurry off to join the Saxon Army in the field. After Christmas, Luther went thither again, notwithstanding the severity of the winter and his own bodily infirmity. To Count Albert he said : "Although I have a great deal to do, yet I am willing to devote a whole week to this business, so that I may at last die in peace, having seen my honored Lords reconciled to each other, and acting upon friendly terms and living in cordial relations." Melanchthon took sick from the cold weather in Mansfield, and for this reason Luther returned to Wittenberg, promising to be in Mansfield again, at the end of January. About the middle of January, Luther wrote to his friend, Jacob Probst, of Bremen : " Old, decrepit, sluggish, weary, chilly, and now almost blind of one eye, I write to you, my dear Jacob, as one who has been hoping for death to come and kindly transfer him to that rest and peace to which, as it strikes me, I am entitled. But, just as if I had never worked at any thing, nor written, nor spoken, nor transacted, nor done anything at all, I am now overwhelmed with business and affairs that have to be written, and spoken, and handled, and transacted. Yet Christ is All in all ; He begins and He completes." On January 23d, Luther set off upon his last journey. His three sons and their tutor, Rutfeld, accompanied him. They were detained three days at Halle, by the 318 floating ice upon the Saale, which was then running high. They were lodged at the house of Justus Jonas. During this time Luther wrote to his wife : "A powerful anabaptist woman, bearing floods of water and huge cakes of ice, met us in the road ; she covered the ground around us and threatened us with an anabaptism. We could not go back to you, on account of the Mulda, and so we had to lie quietly at Halle, between the waters Now, as everybody, the boatmen, and we ourselves were afraid, we were not willing to venture upon the waters, and so to tempt God, for the devil has a dislike to us, and lurks in the water. Besides, it is better to take care of yourself, than to be lamented; and then again, there was no reason why we should give the Pope and the rest of his scaly set a chance to play off their tom-foolery. For the present I have nothing more to say than to beg you to pray for us, and hold on in the right way. My belief is, that if you had been here, you would, yourself, have advised us to do just as we have done, and so we would have followed your advice, for once. I commend you to God!" On the same day, January 25th, the day of St. Paul's conversion, Luther preached in the church of Pastor Jonas. Whilst sitting at the dinner-table he handed his old friend a glass, accompanying the act with an impres- sive apothegm : "To Jonas a glass, gives Luther this glass, who himself but a glass is, Hoping that both may remember, they're nought but frangible glasses."* On January 28th, the travellers, being joined by Jonas, * " Dat vitrum vitro Jonae vitrum ipse Lutherus, Ut vitro fragili similem se noscat uterque." 319 set out across the swollen Saale. At the borders of the Mansfield domain they were met by an honorable escort mounted on 113 horses. Upon coming very near the town of Eisleben, Luther was overcome by faintness and a difficulty in breathing, and his companions feared that he was dying. After he had recovered somewhat, he said, "That's the way the devil always serves me, to trouble me, whenever I have any important work on hand.'' He was carefully attended at Eisleben, and on January 31st he appeared in the pulpit and preached with his usual power. With the desire of keeping his wife free from anxious cares about himself, he wrote to her often and in cheer- ful spirits. She had been troubled with the fear that some accident might happen to him, whereupon he wrote: "My Dear Katie, read what St. John says, and read the Small Catechism of which you have often said, 'that book contains everything about myself.' You want to take the responsiblity instead of letting it rest with God, just as if He were not the Almighty who could pro- duce ten Doctor Martins, if the old one were to perish in the Saale, or in the mouth of a furnace, or in Wolfs rookery. Let me be in peace, don't trouble me with your anxieties. I have One to take care of me who is better than you and all the angels are. He lies in the man- ger, He rests upon the bosom of a virgin, but at the same time, He sits at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty. Pray and let God take care of us." His efforts at pacification resulted, at first, in nothing but discord; at length, however, the proud heads of the defiant counts were humbled; and after two weeks the 320 peacemaker was able to write to his wife: "Behold how we are forced to learn that God is the answerer of prayer." Pie preached at Eisleben four times, the last sermon Church at Eisleben. being on February 15th, upon the text Matt. 11 : 25, etc. He ordained two clergymen the day before. During his stay at Eisleben, he partook of- the Lord's Supper twice. 321 In the house postil of a friend he wrote John 8:51, '"If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death," and then added, " how incredible does this sound; nevertheless it is the truth. If a man sincerely takes God's word into his heart, believes it, and falls asleep and dies in this faith, he sinks away and sets out before he is aware of death; and so he departs, assured of his salvation by that word in which he has believed." Very soon did he come to experience all this himself. At Eisleben, Luther had put up with John Albrecht, the city clerk, a friend of his youth, in the house of Dr. Drachstedt. Jonas, Rutfeld and his sons, Martin and Paul, occupied the same chamber with him ; and he re- tired to bed every evening about eight o'clock, having previously prayed aloud at the window. Generally, he rested well, although divers unfavorable symptoms be- gan to show themselves, so that his friends began to urge his going home. On February 16th, he put his busy pen to work for the last, time, writing certain observations upon the old Ro- man authors, Virgil and Cicero, to which he added: "Let no man think that he knows enough of the Holy Scriptures until he shall have spent an hundred years in studying the prophets, and learning how Elijah and Elisha, how John the Baptist, how Christ and the Apos- tles ruled the churches. ***** We are all beg- gars. That is true. February 16th, 1546." He spent the forenoon of Wednesday, February 16th, in his chamber, sometimes reclining upon a couch, some- times walking to and fro; Justus Jonas and Michael Cblius, Court Chaplain of Mansfield, remaining with him. 21 322 He often stood at the window engaged in prayer. Turn- ing to his friends he said : " Dr. Jonas and Mr. Michael I was baptized here in Eisleben ; what would you think if I should have to stay here?" At the time of the regular meals he accompanied them to the dining room. Before supper he felt an oppression upon his breast, yet he was cheerful and joined in the conversation that related to things that are in heaven. When the question arose about meeting and recognizing each other in eternity his opinion was: that as Adam just aroused from sleep instantly recognized Eve who had been just then created as flesh of his flesh, all by reason of the illumination of the Spirit being given to him so, and indeed even much more perfectly shall we who are created anew in Christ be able to recognize each other there. Then he retired to his chamber, and standing at the window offered his prayer. This was followed by a severe attack of press- ure upon the breast. Aurifaber hastened to inform the Countess Albert who had a medicine which was very highly prized at that time called Einhorn, morse-tooth. Count Albert came himself and scraped off enough for a dose. Luther did not yet desire the presence of a physi- cian. Having slept about one hour he urged the friends who were watching with him to retire to rest, and then went towards his own smaller apartments into which a door opened from the larger room. Passing through this door he said: "God be with us, I now go to bed; into Thy hands I commit my spirit, for Thou hast redeemed me, Thou God of truth." After he had got into bed he gave his hand to his friends, bidding them good night, and then said : " Dr. Jonas and Magister Colius and all the rest, pray for our Lord God and for His Gospel that 323 it may prevail, for the Council of Trent, and the mali- cious Pope are fiercely enraged against it." He rested well until one o'clock, and then called to Rutfeld to make the room warm, although the heat had been well kept up. To Jonas he exclaimed: "0, my God, how I suffer. 0, dear Dr. Jonas, I think I shall have to stay here in Eisleben where I was born and baptized." Yet without any assistance he arose and went into the main room, repeating: "Into Thy hands I commit my spirit." Here he walked up and down once or twice, and then lay down upon the couch complaining of the pressure on his breast, but adding that the heart was not yet affected. At this point, the city clerk and his wife and two physicians were introduced. Soon afterwards the Count and Countess Albert came in, and, in a few minutes later, the Count and Countess Schwarzburg. Whilst they were employing divers means to relieve him, he sighed : " my God, what pain and distress I feel, I am going." When Jonas and Colius observed that a perspi- ration had begun, they looked upon it as a hopeful sign, and tried to encourage him, but he replied that it was the cold perspiration of death. Then he began to pray : " my Father in heaven, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the God of all comfort, I thank Thee that Thou hast revealed Thy dear Son Jesus Christ unto me, in whom I believe, whom I have preached and confessed, whom I have loved and adored, whom the malicious Pope and all the ungodly dishonor, persecute and blaspheme. I beseech Thee, my Lord Jesus Christ, receive my poor soul. my heavenly Father, though I have to for- sake this body and have to be taken away from this life, yet I am assured that I shall dwell with Thee forever, and 324 that no one shall take me out of Thy hands." Then he thrice repeated the words distinctly, " God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son," etc., John 3: 16, and also, " He that is our God is the God of salvation," etc., Psalm 68: 21. Whilst Colius was giving him a dose of medicine, he said: "I am going to leave you, I am about to yield up my spirit," and then three times in quick succession, " Father, into Thy hands I commit my spirit, for Thou hast redeemed me, Thou God of truth." Then he lay quiet, when his assistants began to shake him, and rub him, and call upon him, to which he neither opened his eyes nor gave answer. The Countess of Mansfield and the physicians then bathed his pulse with a refreshing lotion that had been sent for his own use by his wife. Jonas and Colius then, one after the other, leaning over to his ear, said distinctly : " Eeverend father, are you still determined to stand fast in Christ and in the doctrine which you have preached ?" to which he replied with a clear and distinct " Yes." Then he turned himself upon his right side and began to sleep, continu- ing so for nearly a quarter of an hour ; so that, excepting the physicians, all who were present hoped that he would get better. Soon, however, his face became pale, his feet were cold ; and with a deep but gentle breathing, he gave up his spirit. About three o'clock in the morning of February 18th, 1546, the great heart ceased to beat. Jonas, Colius and Aurifaber, who wrote a joint account of the circumstances attending Luther's death, could truthfully say, that in him the word of the Lord was ful- filled : " If a man keep my saying he shall never see death." Scarcely had the honored remains become cold, before 325 the other Counts of Mansfield, the Prince of Anhalt, many persons of noble rank, and citizens of Eisleben gathered around the bed where he had died and 326 triumphed. The body was dressed in a long, white linen garment, and placed in a metallic coffin. Luke Forte- nagel, of Halle, took a picture of the countenance in death ; and in the afternoon of February 19th, the coffin was borne into the large church, St. Andrews, where Jus- tus Jonas preached upon I. Thess. 4: 13-18. Ten citizens of Eisleben watched the body through the night. It was the wish of the Counts of Mansfield that the body should be buried at Eisleben ; but the Elector or- dered its transfer to Wittenberg; and then one more re- ligious service was held at Eisleben, on February 20th, the sermon being delivered by Colius, upon Isaiah 57: 1, etc. Then, the people gathering in large crowds, the funeral procession was formed. Two young Counts of Mansfield and fifty horsemen attended the body as a guard of honor. Whenever the hearse passed through any community it was received by pastors and churches, with the solemn tolling of bells, and reverently attended until the adjoining territory was reached. At Halle, the coffin was deposited over night in ^the "Church of our Lady," the citizens having gone out, with many indica- tions of grief, to meet the approaching funeral procession. At Halle, a waxen cast of the countenance of the deceased was taken, which cast is said to be preserved in the library of the " Church of our Lady." The funeral procession arrived at Wittenberg on the 22d, where the sad intelligence had been received on the 19th. Melanchthon posted at the University a no- tice of the mournful event, ending in these terms: "Alas, the chariot of Israel and the horseman thereof has dis- appeared; he, who in this old age of the world, has guarded the interests of the church, has gone. It was 327 not human sagacity that uncovered the doctrine of the forgiveness of sins and of faith in the Son of God ; but it was God Himself who revealed it, through the instru- mentality of this man. We have seen and known how the illumination of the Holy Spirit was granted to him. Let us tenderly cherish his memory; let us sincerely love the doctrine he preached ; let us be wise and hold ourselves in readiness for the severe trials and the great changes which may be expected to follow from his death. And Thou, Son of God! crucified for us; but now Im- manuel, exalted forevermore. I beseech Thee, rule Thou throughout Thy church, uphold it and defend it. Amen." The body was received by the widow,* the University, the town-council, and the citizens, near the Elster gate, about 9 o'clock on the morning of February 22d. The procession moved slowly, towards the Castle Church; the clergy, the professors and students being in advance, and singing a funeral dirge, as they went along. The coffin was immediately preceded by the representatives of the Elector, by the Counts of Mansfield and their retinue. After the coffin came the widow, attended by some female friends, in a plain coach. Then Luther's sons with their uncle Jacob, of Mohra, followed ; then, the professors and teachers of the University, the town-council, the body of students, others, citizens of Wittenberg and of the vicinity. The sobbing and lamentations of the people were to be heard often, mingling with the solemn music of the * Luther's wife had a sad widowhood. She suffered, from straitened circumstances, during the time of the war that followed her husband's death. She was also misrepresented to the Elector. Her death occurred in the year 1552. She retained possession of the farm at Zulsdorf; but the support which it yielded her was meagre. 328 Services at the Castle Church. choir; and neither were the grey-headed men nor the studious youths ashamed of their tears. Bugenhagen preached in the Castle Church, upon the same text that Jonas had used at Eisleben. He was fol- lowed by Melanchthon, as the orator of the University, in an address in the Latin language. Kostlin, whose large work has been freely used in the preparation of this vol- ume, informs us, that Melanchthon's chief aim was, to remind his hearers, how lofty and how influential was the position in which God, in governing His Church, had placed the deceased ; how worthily Luther stood, in these latter days, in the noble line of witnesses for God, and teachers of Divine truth, that has come down to us, even from the times of the Old Testament ; how he had again brought to light the grand articles of Christianity; how, as a man taught of God, and experienced in mighty strug- gles of the soul, he had built up with one hand, and wielded the sword with the other, full of courage and of keen sagacity, with a gift of utterance so powerful and so commanding as to place him amongst the most eloquent of men. He referred also, to his human weaknesses, mak- ing special mention of the vehemency of the great man; quoting at the same time, the declaration of Erasmus, that the diseases of the present day demanded a bold physician, indeed. He asserted, that, with all his grandeur of char- acter, he was gentle, affable, and affectionate ; not boister- ous nor quarrelsome , especially, that he was without guile, and in general that, as St. Paul requires, Phil. 4: 8, he followed after "whatsoever things are true, and just, and pure, and lovely, and of good report." His vehemency grew out of his zeal for the truth ; and in all his fightings he retained a conscience void of offence. Then, referring 330 to his death, he added: "We are like poor orphan chil- dren who have had a loving father and have been be- reaved of him." He then continued, expressing his ap- preciation of the fellowship which the departed now has with God, and with the Lord Jesus, and with the Holy Fathers, and with the prophets and apostles. There, in that great school of learning, is Luther, where with open eyes he can contemplate the unfathomable mysteries of the Divine Majesty, of the Incarnation, of the Divine Coun- sels, etc., and with glowing heart, ascribe praise to God. There, he is the companion of the prophets, of whose works and whose ministry among the people of God he so much delighted to speak. He converses personally with them now, and is greeted as one of their own fellowship. The address of Melanchthon concluded with appropriate admonitions and exhortations, reminding his hearers of the promise of the Lord : " If a man love me, he will keep my words; and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him and make our abode with him." Then, the body was deposited in the grave, near the pulpit; and a plain metallic tablet marks the spot where the earthly remains of the great German await the resur- rection of the dead. In the summer of the following year, the Emperor, Charles V, having taken the Elector of Saxony captive, and so prevailed over him, stood at the grave of Luther, in the Church at Wittenberg. The atrocious Duke of Alba, standing by his side, said, that the Emperor ought to order the bones of the arch-heretic to be taken up and burned. To this ferocious advice the Emperor replied : " I make war upon the living, not upon the dead. Let this man 331 rest, undisturbed, until the day of resurrection and of judgment." Melanchthon himself now lies by the side of Luther — two friends, as were David and Jonathan. They are dead ; but they still live. In Luther, especially, was the word of the Lord fulfilled: "He that believeth on me, as the Scrip- ture hath said, out of his body shall flow rivers of living water." When the great day of the Lord, the day of the resurrection shall come, then shall the prophecy of Daniel be clearly realized and accomplished in Martin Luther : " They that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and they that turn many to righteousness, as the stars forever and ever." Let it be ours, in these later and obscurer times, to honor the admonition : " Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God ; whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversa- tion Jesus Christ the same yesterday, to-day, and forever." Ax Chris ttmdxlvjxii mm ^MMT II EIS£EBIIIN TM ^TRIA: §m -IC-V-ANN L XIlP VII. EOPLE have not failed to erect monu- ments in honor of Luther. A bra- zen statue of Luther stands on the market-place of Wittenberg; and the place of the old wooden doors of the Castle Church is now occupied by brazen doors with the indel- ible 95 Theses cast upon them. In the vil- lage of Mohra, under the old lindens, there is a bronze image of the Reformer; and in the town of Eisleben, that has been enriched by his fame, it is intended to erect a costly statue, on the 400th anniversary of his birth. Since June 24th, 1868, there stands, in the city of Worms, that magnificent monument in which the mighty man, surrounded by the glorious men of his age, stands up the highest and the noblest of them all. Here and there all through middle Germany may be seen trees, the oak, and the beech, that are historic as connected with some event in the life of Luther, and every year, the Wartburg is a place of pilgrimage for thousands. No period of German history has furnished 'subjects for the canvass, so numerous and so rich as has the period of the Reformation. One of the artists, Koenig, whose works have given him the name of Luther-Koenig (the King of Luther-painters) has lavishly employed his admirable talent to the honor of Doctor Martin. A long line of poets has sung the praises of his heroic life. This present volume, small in size, though it follows, as the later fruit, after the great productions that have gone before, is certainly, not the last. Luther's hymns maintain (332) 333 their influence even over the opponents of the pure doc- trine and the true Church ; and among people not of Ger- man origin this most German of Germans is a personality before whom men bow with respectful veneration. In the history of the German people, the German lan- guage, and German manners, Luther stands up a lofty tower, commanding the attention both of friend and foe. From among the innumerable expressions of opinion, con- cerning Martin Luther, that have been uttered within 400 years we select a few wdiich may serve as crowns of honor to his memory. 1544. Calvin, the Reformer, of Geneva, writes to Bullinger, of Zurich : " I beg that you may consider what a great man Luther is; with w r hat gifts he has been endowed; with what power, with what steadfastness, with wdiat address, with what learning, he has been fighting against the king- ' dom of Antichrist, and for the propagation of the true doctrine of our salvation." 1697. Spener, who had such a clear personal experience of the grace of God, court-chaplain at Dresden, and at Berlin, in his Lutherus redivivus, says: "In the days of our fathers, God was pleased again, to have pity on his church, and to give it a new token of His favor, in the blessed work of the Reformation. At that time then, did he send forth preachers of the Gospel, in goodly numbers and endowed with precious gifts; amongst whom was one, a star of the first magnitude, who surpassed all the rest, that venerable man of God, Doctor Martin Luther. Gladly do we em- brace the opportunities that are often given to us to speak of him; and, by so doing, to record our gratitude to God, for the many talents that were committed to him, and for the blessings conferred upon the church, through his ministry We can say, with perfect truth, that seven genuine gifts of the Holy Ghost were imparted to this man, in full measure : erudition, eloquence, diligence, fer- 334 vent love for God and man, an exemplary life above re- proach, faith of extraordinary strength, and patience that was always rejoicing." 1740. Bengel, the profound and able Swabian commentator, says : " Luther was truly, a great man. All his colleagues together could not have made a Luther. They had all to stand in wholesome respect of him ; and he knew well how to use each of them in the very way in which he could be the most useful. If any of them ever conceived any other or different notions, he prudently kept them quiet until Luther was dead. The death of Luther is an important boundary line, in history. After the death of Luther there was nothing new added to the work of the Reformation." 1840. Ernst Maurice Arndt, one of the liberators of Germany, says: " Luther was a man of God, a German, who thought more of hearty sincerity than of nonsense, who attached a higher value to truth than to lying, who believed in God and worshipped Him, but fought and despised the devil. Shy and timid he is when first entering upon the course; but the further he advances the stronger, the grandeur he grows. His body seems to grow; his heart, his courage, his whole bearing is improved and developed, so that they who had previously known him, were amazed to see into what manliness of presence, and what stateli- ness of mien the poor little retiring monk had grown. It was possible only for such a stern, fiery, unconquerable spirit as was his, possible only for a man in whom courage, sagacity, eloquence, classical and scientific culture were combined as they were in him, to lay hold of such a gi- gantic work, and to carry it through. But what could he have done if he had not had the faith that was in him ? By means of the most delicate and most ethereal of instruments, fervid with a fire that was sometimes over- flowing, by the omnipotent word, for the exposition and 335 diffusion of which his soul was clothed with strength and light, and his lips enriched with the power of faith and of Divine assurance, Luther wrought and perfected a work which was, in the highest degree, immense." 1861. Dollinger, Catholic Professor at Munich, says : " Luther is the grandest man of the people, the most popular char- acter that Germany could ever claim. The protestant doctrine was developed in the spirit of this German, the greatest German of his age. In the presence of the supe- riority and creative energy of this genius, the rising and enterprising part of the nation bowed down, in meek rev- erence and in full confidence. Recognizing in him, this union between force and guiding spirit, they acknowl- edged him as their master ; they lived upon his thoughts ; and for them, he was the hero in whom the nation itself was embodied, with all its peculiar traits. They gazed upon him with admiration; they surrendered themselves to his control ; because they saw that it was nothing but their own most profound experience which was expressed in his writings, more clearly, more eloquently, more pow- erfully than they could ever have expressed it themselves. Accordingly, for Germany, the name of Luther is not sim- ply the name of a distinguished man ; it is the living germ of a period in the national life, it is the centre of a new circle of ideas, the most direct and apt expression of the religious and moral views that controlled the attention of the German spirit, from the mighty influence of wdiich even they who opposed them could not entirely escape." 1880. Carlyle, the great English critic, says : " I will call this Luther a true great man ; great in intellect, in courage, affection and integrity, one of our most lovable and pre- cious of men. Great, not as a hewn obelisk ; but as an Alpine mountain, — so simple, honest, spontaneous, not set- ting up to be great at all ; there for quite another purpose than being great. Ah yes, unsubduable granite, piercing 336 far and wide into the heavens ; yet in the clefts of it foun- tains, green beautiful valleys with flowers. A right spirit- ual hero and prophet, for whom this century and many centuries yet to come will be thankful to heaven." In conclusion, we offer a chaplet composed of fragrant American blossoms, that are never likely to wither. " We have no reason to be ashamed of the person Lu- ther. On the contrary, we have the strongest reasons to glory in him, in defiance of the slanders of the Papists. His unfeigned piety, his invincible trust in God, his daunt- less heroism in the presence of danger, his unremitting diligence in prayer and supplication, his genuine meekness and simplicity, his transparent disinterestedness far re- moved from avarice and the love of money, his tender sympathy for all the sorrowing, his beneficence ever flow- ing freely for all who were in need, his sincerity utterly averse to the ways of the flatterer and of the hypocrite, his candor that marked his intercourse with the lofty and the lowly, his sobriety, his abstinence, his purity, his self- consuming diligence, his faithfulness as son, as husband, as father, as preacher, as professor, as friend, as counselor, as citizen, in a word, his full exemplary piety, altogether, present a model of true Christianity that may command the admiration, and is worthy of the imitation of all sub- sequent times. Further, we have abundant reason to boast of Luther's exalted gifts, and of the use he made of them, of his pro- found wisdom, his extraordinary learning, his penetrating judgment, his commanding eloquence, his fine poetic in- spiration, his incomparable services to the church, the state and society at large, to art, to science, to our German name and our glorious German speech, and above all to the gigantic work of the Reformation, the triumph of which , under God, the church owes to the faithfulness of Luther. (Extract from sermon by Dr. C. F. W. Walther.) * Qod's Word and Luther's doctrine pure £hall tlirougli eternity endure. Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process. Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide Treatment Date: April 2005 PreservationTechnologles A WORLD LEADER IN PAPER PRESERVATION 1 1 1 Thomson Park Drive Cranberry Township. PA 16066 ■dH LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 014 089 883 1 IB iwm ■-■>:.; y^jLu ; I