LUTHER.

BY JAMES ANTHONY FROUDE,

Part 11.

The Reformation had arisen out of the peo ple, and it is the nature of popular move ments, when tho bonds of authority are once broken, to burst into anarchy. Luther no longor believed in an apostolically ordained priesthood ; but he retained a pious awo for the sacraments, which he regarded really and truly as mysterious sources of grace. Zwingle in Switzerland, Carlstadt and Others in Saxony, looked on the sacraments as remnants of idolatrous superstition. Carlstadt himself, "Archdeacon of Orla- Hiund," as he was called, had sprung before his age into notions of universal equality and brotherhood. Luther found him one day metamorphosed into " Neighbour Andrew," on a dung-heap loading a cart. A more dangerous fanatic was Mtlnzor, the parson of Allsladt, near Weimar. It was not tho Church only which needed reform. Tho nobles had taken to luxury and amuse ment. Toll and tax lay heavy on their peasant tenants ; as the life in the castle had grown splendid, the life in tho cabin had become hard and bitter. Luther had confined himself to spiritual matters, but the spiritual and tho secular were too closely bound together to bo soparated. Tho Allstadt parson, after much "conversing with God," discovored that he had a mission to establish the Kingdom of the Saints, whore tyrants wore to be killed, and all men wero to livo as brothers, and all property was to be in common. Property, like all else which man may possess, is a trust which he holds not for his own indulgence, but for tho general good. This is a uni versal principle. Nature is satisfied with a very imperfect recognition of it, but if there is1 no recognition,, if tho upper classes, as they aro called, livo only for pleasure, and only for themselves, the conditions are broken under which human beings can livo together, and socioty rushes into chaos. The rising spread, 1524—25. The demands actually set forward fell short of the Anabaptist ideal, and were not in them selves unreasonable. Tho people required to bo allowed to chooso their own pastors, an equitable adjustment of tithes, emanci pation from serfdom, and lastly, liberty to kill game—a right for a poor man to feed his starving children with a stray baro or rabbit, Luther himself saw nothing In this position which might not bo wisely con ceded. But Miinzor himself made conces sion impossible Ho raised an " Army of tho Lord." lib marched through tho country, burning castles and convents, towns and villages, and executing savago vengoaneo on the persons of tho "Lord's enemies." It WOS ttio heaviest blow which Luthor had received. His enemies could say, and say with a certain truth, " Hero was tho visible fruit of his own action." Ho knew that ho was partly responsible, and that without him those hcoiios would not havo boon. Tho Elector, unfortunately, was ill— mortally so. Ho died while tho insurrec tion was still blazing. His brother John succeeded, very liko him in purpose and character, and proceeded instantly to deal with tho emergency. Luther hurried up and down tho country, preaching to tho pooploi rebuking tho tyrannous Counts and Barons, and urging tho Protestant Princca ti) oxort thonuolroi to keep the peace. Philip of Rosso, tho Duko of Brunswick, and Count Mausfotdt collected a force. Tho peasants were defeated and scattered. Milnzor was taken and hanged, and tho fire was extinguished. It was well fcn-Lutherthut tho troops which had boon em ployed wero exclusively Protestant. The Catholics said scornfully of him, "Ho kindled the flame, and ho washes his hands liko Pilate." Had the army raised to quell the peasants belonged to Ferdinand, tho Edict of Worms would havo boon made a reality. The Landgrave and the new Elector, John, allowed no severe retaliation when armed resistance was over. They sot them selves to euro, as far as possible, the causes of discontent. They trusted, as Luthor did, to the return of a better order things from "a revival of religion." The peasant war had been tho first scandal to the Reformation. Tho second, which created scarcely less disturbance, was Luther's own immediate work. As a priest ho had taken a vow of celibacy. As a monk lie had again bound himself by a vow of chastity. In priesthood and monkery ho had ceased to believe. If the orders themselves wero unreal, tho vows to respect the rules of tho.io orders might fairly be held to be nugatory. Luthor not only held that the clergy, as :i rule, might bo married, but he thought it far better that they should bo married ; and the poor men and women, who wore turned adrift on tho breaking up of tho religious houses, ho had freely advised to marry without fear or scruple. But still around a vow a certain imagined sanctity persisted in adhering, and when ho was recommended to sot an example to others who were hesitating, ho considered, and his friend Molancthon considered, that, in his position, and with so many indignant eyej turned upon him, ho ought not to givo occasion to the enemy. Onco, indeed, im patiently, ho said that marry ho would, to spite the Dovil. But ho had scarcoly a homo to offer to any woman, and no leisure and no certainty of companionship. Ho was for somo years after tho Edict of Worms in constant expectation of boing oxeeuted as a herotic. lie still lived in tho Augustiniau convent at Wittenberg ; but the monks had gone, and thero were no revenues. He had no income of his own : one suit of clothes served him for two years ; tho Elector at tho end of thorn gavo him a piece of cloth for another. Tho pub lishers made fortunes out of his writings, but ho never received a llorin for them. So ill attended ho was that for a whole year his bed was never made, and was mildewed with perspiration. " I was tired out with each day's work," ho said, "and lay down and know no more."

But things wore getting into order again in tho Electorate. Tho parishes woro pro vided with pastors, and the pastors with modest wages. Luther was professor at tho University, and tho Elector allowed him a salary of 200 gulden a year. Presents came from other quarters, and he began to think that it was not well for him to bo alone. In Wittenberg thoro was a certain Catherine yon Bora, sixteen years younger thau he, who had been a nun in a distant convent. Her family were noble, but poor; they had provided for their daughter by placing her in the cloister when she was a child of nine; at sixteen she had taken tho vows ; but she detested tho life into •which she had boon forced, and when the movement began she had applied to her friends to tako her out of it. Tho friends would do nothing; but in April, 1523, she and 0 others were released by the people. As they were starving, Luther collected money to provide for them, and Catherine yon Bora, being then twenty-four yeai-s old, came to Wittenberg to reside with the burgomaster, Philip Roiehenbaoh. Luther did not at first like her; she was not beau tiful, and ho thought that she was proud of her birth and blood ; but she was a simple, sensible, ahrewd, active woman ; she, in the

sense in which Luther was, might consider herself dedicated to God, and a fit wito toi a religious reformer. Luther's own fathei was most anxious that he should many, and in a short time they came to understand each other. So, on the 13th of June 1525 a month after Miinzcr had been stamped out at Frankenhausen, a little party was collected in the Wittenberg Cloister- Bucenhagen, the town pastor, Pro fessor jSnni Lucas Cranach (the pain ter), with his wife and Professor Apel, of Bamborg, who had himself married a nun ; and in this presence Martin Luther and Catherine yon Bora became man and wife. It was a mno clays wonder. Philip Melancthon thought his friend was undone; Luther himself was uneasy for a day or two. But the wonder passed off; in the town thero washearty satisfaction and congratulation, lne now Elector, John, was not displeased, me conversion of Germany was not arrested. Prussia and Denmark broke with Koine and accepted Luther's catechism. In LWH, at Torgau, the Elector, John, the Landgrave, tho Dukes of Brunswick, Liineberg, Anhalt, Mecklenburg, and Magdeburg formed themselves into an Evangelical Con federacy. It was a measure of self defence, for it had appeared for_ the moment as if the Emperor might again bo free for a Papal crusade. Tho I< rencli had been defeated at Pa via; Francis was a prisoner, and Christendom was at Charles s feet. But Francis was soon loose again. In the cross purposes of politics, France and tho Pope became allies, and tho Popo was the Emperor's enemy. Home was stormed by a German-Spanish army, and the Emperor, in spite of himself, was doing Luther's work in breaking tho power of tho great enemy. Then England came into the fray with tho divorce of Catherine and tho assertion of spiritual independence; and the Protestant States were left in peace till caJmor times and tho meeting of tho promised Council. In tho midst of tho con fusion, Luther was able to work calmly on, ordering tho churches, appointing visitors, or crossing swords with Erasmus, who looked on Luthor much as the Pope did—as a wild boar who had broken into the vine yard. Luther, however violent in his pole mics, was leading meanwhile tho quietest of lives Ho had taken his garden in hand ; he had built a fountain ; planted fruit trees and roots and seeds. He had a little farm ; ho bought threshing instruments, and learned fo use tho flftil. If tho worst came to tho worst he found that lie could suppjrt his family with his hands. Again, in lf>.'iO, it seemed as if the lan peror would find leisure to interfere. In the year before, ho had made a peaco with tho Pope and tho French, which, for tho eako of Christendom and tho faith, ho hoped might be observed. Tho Turks had been under tho walls of Vienna, but they had retreated with enormous loss, and seemed inclined at least to a truce. Tho Evangelicals began to consider seriously how far they might go in resistance should Charles attempt to coereo them into obedience. Luther, fiery as ho was in tho defenco of tho faith, refused to sanction civil war. A Christian must sull'or all oxtromities rather than dony his God ; but ho might not tight in tho field against his lawful sovereign. In worldly tilings tho ruler was supremo, and the Emperor was tho ruler of Germany. Tho Emperor, ho said, had been chosen by the doctors, and by thoir unani mous vote might bo deposed ; but he would not encourage oither the Land grave or his own Elector to meet foreo to force in separate action. Tho question never rose in Luther's lifetime, but tho escape was a near one. A Diet at Spoyer, in lii'2o, had decided that ouch princo should rule his own dominions in his own way, pending tho expected Council. Charles's conscience would not allow him to tolerate a Lutheran communion if he could prevent it ; but he, too, dreaded a war of religion, of which no ono could fore see any issue save the ruin of Germany. Ho know and respected Luther's modera tion, and summoned tho Diet to moot him again at Augsburg, in tho spring of 1530, to discover, if possible, some terms of recon ciliation. The religious order which had been established in Saxony was recognised even at Komo with agreeable surprise, and the Legato who attended was said to bo prepared with certain concessions. Tho Elector John had intended to have taken Luthor to the Diet with him, but atCoburg a letter met him from the Emperor inti mating that Luthor being under tho ban of tho Empire, could not bo admitted into his presence. The Elector wont forward with Molancthon and Jonas ; Ltither stayed bo hind in CoburgCastlo, to work at his trans lation of tho Biblo, and to compare the rooks and jackdaws, when they woko him in tho morning, to gatherings of learned doctors wrangling over thoir sophistries. Wo have seen him hitherto as a spiritual athlete. Wo hero catcli a glimpse of him in a softer character. His eldest boy, Hans, had been born four years before From Coburg ho wrote him porhnps tho prottiest lottor over addressed by.a father to a child :—"Grace and peneo in Christ, my dear little boy. I am pleasod to sco that thou learnost thy lessons woll, and prayest well. Go on thus, my doar boy, and when I como homo I will bring you a flno 'fairing.' I know of a protty gardon, where are merry children that have gold frocks, and gather nico apples and plums and cherries undor tho trees, and sing and danco, and ride on pretty horses with gold bridles and silver saddles. I asked tho man of tho placo whoso tho gardon was, and who tho children woro. Ho said, 'These nro tho children who pray and learn and aro good.' Then I answered, ' I also liavo a son,1 who is called Hans Luther. May ho como to this gardon and eat poars and apples and rido a little horse and play with tho others ?' Tho man said, ' If ho says his prayers, and learns, and is good, ho may como; and Lippus and Jost may coiiio (Mclancthon's son PhiKp, and Jonas's son Jodocus), and they shall havo pipes and drums and flutes and fiddles, and they shall danco and sho»t with little crossbows.' Then ho showed me a smooth lawn in tho garden laid out for danoing, and' thero the pipes and drums and crossbows hung. But it was still early, and tho children hadnotdiuod ; and 1 could not wait for tho dance. So I said, ' Dear sir, I will go straight homo and write all this to my littlo boy ; but ho has an aunt, Lene (groat aunt, Magdalon), that ho must bring with him,' and the man an swered, ' So it shall be ; go and write as you say.' Therefore, dear little boy, learn and pray with a good heart, and tell Lip pus and Jost to do tho samo, and then you will all Gome to tho gardon together. Almighty God guard you. Give my lovo to aunt Lone, and give her a kiss for me.— Your loving father, Martin Luther."

The Emperor mennwhilo arrived at Augs burg on the 15th of Juno. Melancthon, who was eager for peace, had prepared a Confession of Faith, softening as far as pos sible the points of difference between the Evangelicals and the Catholics. It was laid before tho Diet, and was received with more favour than Melancthon looked for oven by Charles himself. Melancthon believed that spiritual agreement might be possible; Luther knew that it was impossible ; but ho did think that a political agreement might be arrived at—that the two creeds, winch in so many essentials were the same, might bo allowed to liTe side by side.

"Do not let is fall out," he wrote to Cardinal Albort. |" Do not let us ruin Ger many. Let ther< be liberty of conscience, and let us save oui fatherland." Melancthon was frightened, md would have yielded much. Luthor ivould not yield an inch. When no progress was made, he advised his friends to lave the Diet and come away. "Threats do not kill," ho said. " There will be nj war."

Luther understiod tho signs of tho times. With the Turks in Hungary, and Henry VIII. and Franks in alliance, it was in vain that tho Poto urged violent measures. The Evangelica Confession was not accepted, and the Emperor demanded sub mission. The Laidgravo replied that if this was to bo tho wan he would go home and take measures to defend himself. Charles, taking leave of the Elector, said sadly ha had expected better of him ; tho Elector's eyes filled with tears; but he answered nothing. Thoeid, however, was as Luther expected. Ferdimndof AuetriaandtheDuko of Bavaria agreed to prohibit tho advance of the new doctrinei in their own dominions. It was decided, on tho other hand, among tho Protestant Princes, that the Emperor's authority was limited, that resistance to un constitutional interference was not unlaw ful, an opinion to which Luther himself un willingly assented. The famous league of Schmalkald was formed for the general do fence of spiritual liberty. Denmark ield out a hand from a distance, and France and England courted an alliance, which would hold Charlas ill check at home. Tho Emperor and even Feidinand, who was the moro bigoted of tho two brothers, admitted the necessity to which they wero compelled to yield. The united strength of Germany was barely sufficient to bear back tho Turkish invasion, and the political peace which Luther anticipated was aHowed to stand for an indefinite period. Luther was present at Schmalkald, where ho preached to tho assotiblod representa tives. On the day of the sermon he be came suddenly and dangerously ill. His health had been for somo time uncertain. Ho was subject to violent headaches and giddiness; ho was i now prostrated by an attack of " tho stone" •so severe that ho tlought ho was dying. Ho had finished his translation of tho Biblo. It was iow printed: a com plete possession whicl: ho was able to bequeath to his countrymen. Ho con ceivod that his work wis done, and lifo for its own sako had long ceased to havo much interest for him. "At his age," ho said, " with strength failing, he felt so weary that ho had no will to jirotract his days any longer in such an accursed world." At Schmalkald tho end seemed to havo come. Such remedies as then wore known for the disease undor which ho was suffering wero tried. Luther hated doctors ; but he sub mitted to all their prescriptions. His body swelled. "They mada mo drink water," he said, "as if I ivas a great ox." Mechanical contrivances wore employed equally ineffectual and ho prepared to die. "I depart," ho cried to his Maker, "afooof Thy foes, cursed and banned by Thy enemy, the Pope. May he, too, die under Thy ban, and wo both stand at Thy judgment bar on that day." The Elector, tho young John •Frederick—the Elector John, his father, was by this time gone stood by his bed, and promised to care for his wife and children. Molancthon was weep ing. Even at that supreme moment Luther could not resist his humour. "Havo wo not received good at tho hand of the Lord ?" ho said, "and shall we not receive evil? Tho Jews stoned Stephen; my stone, the villain, is stoning me." But ho had some years of precious life yet waiting for him. He became restless, and insisted on being carried home. He took leave of his friends. "Tho Lord fill you with his blessing," he said, "and with hatred of the Pope." Tho first day ho reached Tamback. Tho movement of tho cart tortured him ; but it effected for him what the doctors could not.' Ho had been forbidden to touch wine. He drank a goblet notwithstanding. He was relieved, and recovered.

We need not specially concern ourselves with tho events of the next few years. They were spent in correcting and giving final form to tho translation of tho Bible, in organising tho churches, in correspondence with tho princes, and in discussing tho con ditions of tho long-talkod-of Council, and of tho terms on which tho Evangelicals would oonsont to take part in. Tho poace of Nuremburg seemed an admission that no further efforts would bo made to crush tho Reformation by violence, and Luther was left to a peaceful, industrious life at Witten berg. A very beautiful home it was. If Luther's marriage was a scandal, it was a scandal that was singularly happy in ita consequences. The house in which he lived, as has already been said, was tho old cloister to which ho had first been brought from Erfurt. It was a pleasant, roomy building on tho banks of tho Elbe, and close to the town wall. His wife and he when they married wore both penniless, but his salary as professor was raised to 300 gulden, and somo small payments in kind were addod from tho University. Tho Elector sent him presents. Denmark, tho Freo Towns, groiit mon from all parts of Europe, paid honour to tho deliverer of Germany with olferings of plate or money. The monoy, oven the plate, too, he gave away, for ho was profusely generous; and any fugitivo nun or brother suffering for tho faith never appealed in vain while Luthor had a kroutzor. But in his later years his own modest wants wero more than amply supplied. Ho bought a farm, with a houso upon it, where his family lived after his death. Katie, as ho called his wifo, managed everything; she attended to tho farm, she kept many pigs, and doubtless poultry also. She had a tish pond. Sho brewed beer. She had a strong ruling, administering talent. She was as groat in hor way as her husband was in his.

"Next to God's Word," he said, "the world has no moro precious treasure than holy matrimony. God's host "ift is a pious, cheerful, God-fearing, home-keeping wife, to whom you can trust your goods, and body, and life. There nro couples who neither caro for their families nor love each other. People liko these are not human beings. They make their homes a hell."

The household was considerable Five children wore born in all. Hans, the eldest, to whom tho letter from Erfurt was written,' died early. Elizabeth, the next daughter, died also very young. There were three others: Magdalen, Martin, and Paul. Magdalen yon Bora, Katie's aunt, the "Lene" o£ the letter from Coburg, lived with the family. She had been a nun in tho same convent with her niece. For her Luther had a most affectionate regard. When she was dying, he said to her, " You will not die; you will sleep away as in a cradle, and morning will dawn, and you will riso and live for ever."

Two nieces seemed to have formed part of tho establishment, and two nephews also. There was a tutor for the boys, and a secretary. A certain number of University students boarded in the house—lads perhaps of promise, in whom Luther had a special interest. To his children he was passion atoly devoted. He had no sentimental weakness ; but the simple lighthearted ness, the unquestioning confidence and trustfulness ot children, was in itself peculiarly charming to him. Life when they came to maturity would bring its own

sorrows with it. A few bright and happy years to look back upon would be some thing which could not afterward be taken away. He refused boys and girls no kind of innocent enjoyment, and in all the anecdotes of his relations with them, there is an exquisite tenderness and playfulness. His Katie he was not above teasing and oc casionally mocking. She was a " Martha " more than a " Mary," always busy, always managing and directing with an eye to business. He was very fond of_ her. He never seriously found fault with those worldly ways of hers, for he knew her sterling worth ; but ho told her once he would give her fifty gulden if she would read the Bible through. He called her his Herr Katie, and his Gnsidige Frau. The farm which he had bought for her was called Zulsdorf. One of his last letters is ad dressed to "my heartily beloved housewife, Katherin Lady Luther, Lady Doctor; Lady Zulsdorf, Lady of the Pigmarket, and whatever else she may be." The religious education of the children he conducted himself. His daughter Magdalen was an unusually interesting girl. A pic ture of her remains, by Cranach, with large imaginative eyes. Luther saw in her the promise of a beautiful character; she died when she was fourteen, and he was almost heartbroken. When she was carried to her grave he said to the bearers :—" I have sent a saint to heaven ; could mine be such a death as hers, I would die at this moment." To his friend Jonas he wrote:—"You will have heard that my dearest child is born again in the eternal kingdom of God. We ought to be glad at her departure, for she is taken away from the world, the flesh and the dovil; but so strong is natural love that we cannot bear it without anguish of heart, without the sense of death in ourselves. When I think of her words, her gestures, when she was. with us and in her departing, even Christ's death cannot relieve my agony." On her tomb he wrote these lines:—

" Hior schlaf Ich, Lonchen, Luther's Tochterlein Ruh' mit all'n Hciligen in meine Bettlein. Die Ich in Stinden war geborn Hatt' owis; musscn eeyn verlorn, Abor Ich leb nu und habs gut Hcrr Christc eriost mit deinem Blut"

"Here do I Lena, Luther's daughter, rest. Sleep in my little bed with all tho Blest. In sin and trespass was I bom, For ever was I thus forlorn ;(3) But yet I live, and all is good— Thou Christ redeem'st mo with thy blood.

There is yet another side to Luthur, and it is the most wonderful of all. We have seen him as a theologian ; we have seen him standing up alone before principalities and powers to protest against spiritual lies; we have seen him at home in the quiet circla of his household. But there is nothing in any of this to show that his thoughts had travelled beyond the limits of a special set of subjects. But Luther's mind was literally world-wide; his eyes where for ever observant of what was around him ; at a time when science was scarcely out of its shell, Luther had_ ob served Nature with the liveliest curiosity ; he had anticipated by mere genius the generative functions of flowers. Human nature he had studied like a dramatist. His memory was a museum of historical information, of anecdotes of great men, of German literature and songs and proverbs. Scarce a subject could be spoken of on which he had not thought, and on which he had not something remarkable to say. His table was always open, and amply furnished. Melancthon, Jonas, Lucas, Cranach, and other Wittenberg friends, were constant guests. Great people, great lords, great ladies, great learned men, came from all parts of Europe. He received them freely at di.inor, and being one of the most copious of talkers, he enabled his friends to pre serve the moat extraordinary monument of his acquirements and of his intellectual vigour. On reading the Tlschreden, or Table-talk of Luther, one ceases to wonder how this single man could change the face of Europe. Where the language is itself beautiful, it necessarily loses in translation ; 1 will en deavour, however, to convey_ some notion of Luther's mind as it appears in these conver sations.

First, for his thoughts about Nature. A tree in his garden was covered with ripe fruit. "Ah," he said, "If Adam had not fallen, we should have seen ths beauty of these things—every bush and shrub would have seemed more lovely tHan if it was mado of gold and silver. It is really more lovely ; but since Adam's fall men see nothing, and are stupider than beasts. God's power and wisdom are shown in the smallest flowers. Painters cannot rival their colour, nor perfumersthoirsweetness; green and yellow, crimson, blue, and purple, all growing out of the earth. And we do not know how to use them to God's honour. We only misuse them ; and we trample on lilies as if we wero so many cows." i Katie had provided some fish out of her pond. Luthur spoke of the breeding of fish, and what an extraordinary thing it was; ho then turned to the breeding of other creatures. '' Look at a pair of birds," he said. "They build a neat little nest, and drop their eggs in it, and sit on them. Then come the chicks. There is the creature rolled up inside the shell. If we had never seen such a thing before, and an egg was brought from Calicut, we should be all wondering and crying out. Philosophers cannot explain how the chick is made. Ged spake, and it was done : He commanded, and so it was. But He acts in all His works rather comically. If He had consulted me, I should have advised Him to make His men out of lumps of clay, and to have set the sun like a lamp, on the earth's surface, that it might be always day." Looking at a rose, he said, " Could a man make a single rose, we should {jive him an empire; but these beautiful gifts of God come freely to .us, and we think nothing of them. We admire what is worthless if it be only rare. The most precious of things is nothing if it be common." . In the spring, ■ when the buds were swelling and the flowers opening, he exclaimed: "Praise be to God the Creator, that now in this time of Lent out of dead wood makes aH alive again. Look at that bough, as if it was with child and full of young things coming to the birth. It is a figure of our faith—winter is death, summer is the resurrection." He was sitting one night late out of doors. A bird flew into a tree to roost. " That bird," he said, " has had its supper, and will now sleep safe as the bough, and leave God to care for him. If Adam's fall had not spoilt us, we should have had no care either. We should have lived without pain, in possession of all kinds of knowledge, and have passed from time into eternity without feeling of death." The old question was asked why God made man at all if He knew that he would fell ? Luther answorcd that a great Lord must have vessels of dishonour in his house as well as vessels of honour. There were fellows who thought that when they had heard a sermon or two they knew everything, and had swallowed the Holy Ghost, feathers and all. Such wretches had no right to criticise the actions of God. Man cannot measure structures of God's building ;he sees only the scaffolding. In the next life he will see it all; and then happy those who have resisted temptation. Little Martin had been busy dressing a doll.

"In Paradise," Luther said, "we shall be as simple as this child who

the best food for childl, m a »e nt b themselves the best of pftflS^V* spsak and act from the heart Kh v y EsSSSSaf than old fools Ike u 8 \° e f^ time when he was told to killYsaac Tf^ had given me such an order, I should h a *« disputed the point with him " aV ° Luther answered: "God hart „„«.• dearer to Him than His own Son yftf gave Him to bo hanged on the croi. h man's judgment he was more lik"a father chri*^ 3 a ate than He *«S The religious houses were falling all around Germany. Bishops losing their functions were losing their lands; and the nobles and burghers who had profaned the Gospel were otatohfaj at the spoils. Luther could see that ood C°me the °hange as weU »

Look, ho said sadly, "at the time when the truth was unknown, and men were lost in idolatry, and trusted in their own works. Then was charity without end or measure. Then it snowed with rifts Cloisters were founded, and there were en' dowments lor Mass priests. Churches were splendidly decorated: how blind ia the world become." Drunkenness, too seemed to spread, and usury anda thousand other vices. It tried his faith. Yet he said, "Never do we act better than when we know not what we are doing, or than when we think we are foolish andimprudent for strength is perfected in weakness, and the best we do is what comes straight from the heart."

The Protestants werenottheonlyspoilers of the Church lands. Some one told a story of a dog at Lintz, which used to co every day with a basket to the market to fetch meat. One day some other dogs set upon him. He fought for his basket as long as he could; but when h« could fight no longer he snatched a piece of meat for himself and ran away with it. " There is Kaiser Karl," said Luther. "Hedefended the estates of the Church whle it was possible. But when the princes all began to plunder, he seized a few bishoprics ashis own share," Hehad a high respect generally forprinces and nobles, and had many curious anecdotes of such great persons. He did not think them much to be envied.

Sovereigns and magistrates, he said, have weighty things to handle, and have a sore time with them. The peasant is happy, he has no cares. He never troubles himself as to how the world is going. If a peasant knew what the prince had to bear, he would thank God that made him as he was. But he sees only the outside splendour, the fine clothes, the gold chains, the castles and palaces. He never dreams of the perils and anxieties that beset the great while he is stewing his pears at his stove. The Elector Frederick used to say that the peasant's life was the best of all; and that happiness grew lesa at each step of the scale. The emperor had most to trouble him, the princes next; the nobles had endless vexations, and the burghers, though better off than the nobles, had their trade losses and other worries. The peasant could watch his crops grow by the grace of God; he sold what was needed to pay his tithes and taxes, and lived in peace and quiet. The servants in a family are easier than their masters. They do their work and eat and drink and sing. My people, Wolf and Dorothy (the cook), are better off than I and Katie. The higher you stand, the more your danger.' Yet no one is con tent with his'position. When the ass is well off, he begins tq caper, and breaks his leg.

He loved and honoured his own Electors, but he thought they were over gentlei "The Elector-Frederick," he said, "was unwilling to punish evil-doers. 'Yes,' he would say, ' it is easy to take a man's life; but can you give it him back?' The Elector John would say, ' Ah! he will be a good fellow yot.' God is merciful, but He is also just. Yet Dr. Schurf, one of our best judges, and a Christian man, cannot hang a felon. The proverb says-. 'A thief for the gallows, a monk for the cloister, and a fish '. for the water.'"

He1 had a respect for Pilate, and said some curious things about him. Pilate, he de clared, was a better man than many Popish princes ; he stood by the law, and would not have a prisoner condemned unheard. He tried many ways to release Christ; te I yielded at last when he wais threatened with I Cresar's angel. " After all," thought Pilate, " it is but one poor wretch who has no one . to tako his part; better He should die than ' 'J the whole people become his enemies." j " Why," it was asked, " did Pilate scourge ', Christ?" "Pilate," Luther said, "was a I man of the world ; he scourged Him in the i hope that the Jews would then be satisfied:" i When he asked Christ what truth was, I he meant, "what is the use of speaking i truth in such a scene as this? Truth won't |. help you ; look for some trick of law, and :s so you may escape." It was asked again | what object the devil could have had in j moving Pilate's wife to interfere. Luther I seemed to admit that it was the devil. ■ "The devil," he answered, "said to himself, I I have strangled ever so many prophets and I have gained nothing by it; Christ is not m afraid of death ; better He should live, and. % I shall perhaps be able to tempt him to do | something wrong. _ The devil Has fine ~,-J notions in him ; he is no fool." He had a high of the Landgrave of Hesse, I whom he called another Arminius; He has . :j a wild country, he said, but he keeps fine fg .order in it, and his subjects can go about | 'their business in peace. He listeDS to J advice, and when he has made up his mind | he acts promptly, arid has taught his | enemies to fear him. If he would give up | the Gospel he might ask the Emperor for | what he pleased, and have it. ,At Augs- | burg he said to the bishops, "Wedesire _J peace. If you will not hare peace and I ■ must fall, be it so ; I shall not fall alone. The Bishop of Saltzburg asked Archbishop 4. Albert why he was so afraid of the Land- | grave, who* was but a poor prince. My J Sear friend," the Archbishop replied, "if ■ you lived as near him * I do, you would ,| feel as I do." -.'; . ; Singular things were spoken_ at Augs- ■ bure A member of the Diet—his name is ■ notpreserved-said, "HI was the Emperor I would gather together the best of the J Popish and Lutheran divines, Bh«t them up ■ in alhouse, and keep them there till they . : >. had agreed. I would then ask them if they.;, believed what they had concluded, uponffld would die for it; if they said yes, I would ■ set the house on fire, and burn them there . and then to prove their sincerity. Tnffigji should be satisfied that they were right , . ; Luther also spoke well of Charles, inepite of the Edict of Worms. u.LL,v 1 « Strange," he said, "to see two wotM«: I like him and Ferdinand so unlike w^..1.:. fortunes. Ferdinand always fails. CharlM; generally succeeds. Ferdinand ealcutaWs , every detail, and will manage eveoJMOfrvv his own way. The Emperor does pSMU > |

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STAR SATURDAY SUPPLEMENT, NOVEMBER 17, 1883