"A young man had made himself distinguished in this way in one of the convents of Germany. His name was John Staupitz, a descendant of a noble family in Misnia. From his tenderest years he had displayed a taste for knowledge and a love for virtue. He felt a need of retirement to devote himself to letters: but he soon found that philosophy and the study of nature could effect little towards eternal salvation. He therefore applied himself to the study of theology, but with a special view to the combination of practice with theory. For, says one of his biographers, it is in vain to assume the honourable name of theologian, if one's life does not justify the title. The study of the Bible and of St. Augustin's theology, knowledge of himself, the struggles that, like Luther, he had to sustain with the devices and desires of his own heart, led him to the Redeemer. In faith in Christ did he find rest for his soul. The doctrine of election by grace seized especial hold of his mind. A just life, profound knowledge, as well as a distinguished exterior, and manners full of dignity, commended him to his contemporaries. Frederick the Wise, elector of Saxony, made him his friend; he employed him on several embassies, and founded the university of Wittemberg under his directions. This disciple of St. Paul and St. Augustin was the first dean of the faculty of theology in that university, whence the light was one day to issue that should enlighten the schools and churches of so many nations. He assisted in the council of Lateran, in the name of the archbishop of Salzburg, became provincial of his order in Thuringen and Saxony, and, subsequently, vicargeneral of the Augustinians for all Germany.

66

Staupitz mourned over the corruption of morals, and the doctrinal errors that desolated the Church. His writings on the love of God, on Christian faith, on assimilation to the death of Christ, and Luther's testimony, confirm this. But he regarded the former of those evils as much greater than the latter. Moreover, the mildness and indecision of his character, and his desire not to outstep the circle of action assigned him, made him more fit to be the renovator of a convent than the reformer of the Church. He would have wished to appoint to places of some importance none but distinguished men; but, finding none, he contented himself with the necessity of employing others. 'We must till with such horses as we have,' he would say, and, if we have no horses, we must till with oxen.'

"We have seen the inward strife and anguish of Luther's spirit in the convent of Erfurth. At this period the approaching visit of the vicar-general was announced, and presently Staupitz arrived on his tour of ordinary inspection. Frederick's friend, the founder of the university of Wittemberg, and the head of the Augustinians, treated the monks subjected to his authority with kindness. One of the brethren very soon attracted his attention. This was a young man of the middle height, worn with study, abstinence, and watchings, till you might count his bones. His eyes, which at a later period were compared to those of the hawk, were sunk and dim; his gait was melancholy, and his look betrayed a soul harassed by a thousand conflicts, but strong and resolute to resist. His whole being bespoke something grave, melancholy, and solemn. Staupitz, whose penetration had been sharpened by long experience, easily disco

vered what was passing in that soul, and distinguished the young brother from amongst all those around him. He felt himself drawn towards him with a presentiment of his great destinies, and felt a truly fatherly interest. for his subordinate. He too, like Luther, had had his struggles: he could, therefore, understand him he could, above all, point out to him the way of peace which he himself had found. What he learned of the circumstances attending young Augustin's entrance into the convent, increased his sympathy for him. He requested the prior to treat him with more indulgence, and he availed himself of the opportunities afforded him by his position, to win the young brother's confidence. Accosting him affectionately, he strove to overcome his timidity, augmented as it was by the respect and awe with which a man of so elevated a rank as Staupitz necessarily inspired him.

"Luther's heart, hitherto shut close from the effects of harsh treatment, now opened at last to the genial rays of charity: As in water face answereth to face, so the heart of man to man. The heart of Staupitz answered to the heart of Luther."

The conversations which the young monk held with Staupitz in the convent of Erfurth, the present of a Bible which he could now study at will, and in its entire shape, together with constantly recurring circumstances which stirred and carried forward Luther's vehement soul, prepared him for being called to Wittemberg, where he was at first appointed to fill a philosophical chair. Ere long he proceeded to deliver biblical lectures, his study of the Scriptures and of the ancient languages in which they were first delivered being the grand themes of his most ardent labours. Preaching too became his office; and so remarkable was his style, his energy, and his views, that his fame spread more and more every day. One consequence was that he was sent to Rome in 1510 or the year following, in order to have differences set at rest that had taken place between certain convents of his order and the vicar-general. Every one is acquainted with the results of this journey upon the feelings and the life of the young envoy. He was still, and for a considerable period afterwards, a most zealous Catholic; but Rome, and indeed the Romish Church, had so wofully degenerated that he returned to Wittemberg "with a heart filled with sorrow and indignation. Turning," continues our author, "his looks away in disgust from the pontifical city, he bent them with hope on the Holy Scriptures, and on that new life which the Word of God seemed then to promise to the world. That word gained in his heart all that the church lost there. He withdrew himself from the one to turn to the other. The whole Reformation was involved in that movement." At the same time the views which he afterwards so strenuously maintained relative to salvation by faith alone were strengthening and becoming developed; and being, at the suggestions of the elector and his friend Staupitz, admitted a doctor in

theology, he took this oath,-" I swear manfully to defend the gospel of truth;" and the first adversaries he attacked were those "famous schoolmen whom he had himself studied so much, and who then reigned sovereign in all academies. He accused them of Pelagianism; and rising up vehemently against Aristotle, the father of the schools, and against Thomas Aquinas, he set himself to hurl them both from the throne from which they gave laws, the one to philosophy, the other to theology." "Faith in Jesus Christ, whether from his professor's chair or in the temple," was what he taught with characteristic power and zeal. "But no one knew better than Luther the intimate union between God's free salvation and the free works of man: no one better than he demonstrated, that it is in receiving all from Christ, that man can give much to his brethren."

It would require a minute attention to every passage in Luther's early life ere the reader's mind could perceive the wonderful dramatic interest and progress of that man's history. Whatever may have been his errors,-whether they arose from vehemence of temper, doctrinal errors, or uncharitableness towards those who were not in all things of the same mind with himself,-everyone must feel that his was a grand as well as a marvellous career. Every thing helped to hurry him onward; there was no halting, no inactivity; nay, nothing small or paltry about him. His manner of handling lent magnitude even to what would have been common-place according to other men's modes of dealing. We repeat that his life, its beginning, middle, and end,-presented the true elements of a mighty drama. The subject is amazing, although we should stop short with it at the close of his life-without going away or beyond the man, or knowing that the Reformation was a word or a thing that concerned the nations after he was gathered to his fathers. Yes, nothing was trifling or ordinary in his manner or purposes. He was one day seated in the confessional at Wittemberg; several of the citizens presented themselves in succession, and confessed themselves guilty of great transgressions. "He reproves, corrects, enlightens them: but what is his astonishment to hear these people declare that they do not choose to abandon their sins! Horror-struck, the pious monk announces to them, that since they will not promise to amend, he cannot give them absolution. The wretched creatures then appeal to their letters of indulgence, which they exhibit, boasting of their virtue: but Luther replies, that he cares nothing for the piece of paper they show him, and adds,' Unless you be converted you will all perish.' Hereupon they beset him with objections and arguments, but the doctor is immovable: they must cease to do evil, learn to do well, otherwise there is no absolution for them. 'Beware,' he adds, ' of lending an ear to the declarations of the sellers of indulgences: you have better

things to do than to purchase these licences to sin, which they sell you at the meanest price.'

We have now arrived at the period of the indulgences, and, of course, at that when Rome and Luther's struggle was to assume its historical might and consequences. We shall not trench

upon it,

but present another specimen of considerable length from the volume before us.

This is the manner in which Book the Fourth opens, and which is devoted to the history of the reformer's citation, appearance, and bearing before the Legate:

"Truth had at last raised her head in the midst of Christendom, and now, victorious over the lower organs of popery, she was to grapple with its chief himself. We are about to see Luther in direct conflict with Rome.

"It was on his return from Heidelberg that he took the bold step. His first theses on indulgences had been ill understood, and he now resolved to set forth their meaning more clearly. The yells of blind hatred uttered by his enemies had taught him how essential it was to conciliate the more enlightened part of the nation in favour of truth, and he resolved to appeal to its judgment, by laying before it the bases on which his new convictions rested. It was very necessary that Rome should be once called on to pronounce her decision; he therefore did not hesitate to send his explanations thither. Presenting them with one hand to the impartial and enlightened men of his nation, with the other he laid them before the throne of the sovereign pontiff.

"These explanations of his theses, which he called Resolutions, were written with much moderation. Luther tried to soften the passages that had given most offence, and he gave proof of genuine modesty, while, at the same time, he showed himself immovable in his convictions, and boldly defended all the propositions that truth demanded he should sustain. He again repeated, that every Christian who truly repents has his sins remitted without any indulgence; that the pope, like the humblest priest, can only declare that God has already pardoned; that the treasure of the saints' merits administered by the pope was a chimæra; and that the Scriptures were the sole rule of faith. But let us hear himself on many of these points.

"He begins by establishing the nature of true penitence, and contrasts. that act of God, which renews the man, with the mummeries of the Romish Church. The Greek word μeтavoɛtтe,' he says, 'signifies, put on a new mind, a new feeling, a new nature, so that ceasing to be earthly you may become heavenly . . . Christ is a doctor (teacher) of the spirit, and not of the letter, and his words are spirit and life. He teaches, therefore, a repentance in spirit and in truth, and not those outward penances which the proudest sinners can discharge without humbling themselves; he demands a repentance which can be accomplished in all situations of life, under the purple of kings, under the priest's gown, under the bonnet of princes, amidst those pomps of Babylon among which a Daniel was found, as well as under the monk's frock or the mendicant's rags.'

"Farther on we meet with these bold words: 'I do not concern myself about what may or may not please the pope he is a man like other men. There have been several popes who have loved not only errors and vices, but the most extraordinary things besides. I hearken to the pope as pope, that is to say, when he speaks in the canons, after the canons, or when he decrees any article with a council, but not when he speaks of himself alone. If I did otherwise, ought I not to say with those who do not know Jesus Christ, that the horrible massacres of Christians, with which Julius sullied himself, were good deeds of a pious shepherd towards the Lord's sheep?'

"I cannot help wondering,' he continues, at their simplicity, who maintain that the two swords in the Gospel represented, one the spiritual power, the other the material power. Yes, the pope holds a sword of steel, and thus he presents himself to Christians, not as a tender father, but as a formidable tyrant. God in his anger has given us the sword we desired, and has withdrawn from us that which we disdained: nowhere in the world have there been more terrible wars than among Christians... Why did not the subtle wit that hit upon this fine commentary interpret with equal shrewdness the history of the two keys presented to St. Peter, and lay it down as a dogma of the Church, that the one serves to unlock the treasury of heaven, and the other the treasures of this world?'

"It is impossible,' he says again, that a man should be a Christian without having Christ, and if he has Christ he has at the same time all that belongs to Christ. What gives peace to our conscience is, that our sins are no longer ours, but Christ's, on whom God has cast them all; and that, on the other hand, all Christ's righteousness is ours, to whom God hath given it. Christ lays his hand on us, and we are healed; he casts his mantle over us, and we are covered; for he is the Saviour of glory, blessed for evermore.'

"With such views of the richness of Jesus Christ's salvation, there was no longer any need of indulgences.

"Luther, whilst he attacks the papacy, yet speaks of Leo X. 'The times in which we live are so bad,' he says, ' that even the greatest personages cannot afford aid to the Church. We have now a very good pope in Leo X.; his sincerity, his learning, fill us with joy: but what can this so amiable and agreeable man do singlehanded? He is certainly worthy to have been pope in better days; in ours we deserve a Julius II. or an Alexander VI.'

"He then comes directly to the point: 'I wish to say the sum of the matter in a few words and roundly: the Church has need of a Reformation. And this cannot be the work of a single man, such as the pope, nor of many men, such as the cardinals and the fathers of the councils, but it must be that of the whole world; or, rather, it is a work which pertains to God alone. As for the time when such a work ought to begin, He alone knows that who has created time. . . . . The dyke is thrown down, and it is no longer possible to restrain the impetuous rushing of the floods.'

....

"Such are a few of the declarations and thoughts addressed by Luther to the enlightened men of his country. The feast of Pentecost was approaching, and it was at that same epoch, in which the apostles offered the first testimony of their faith to Jesus Christ after his resurrection, that