The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1856-06-11
A Sketch of Luther.

IuoSi"u anu e"c'ey anu appctlte' Dut IN
his eyes were foods of sorrow end deep.
est melancholy, sweetness and mystery
all were there. Often did there seem to
meet in Luther the very opposite poles
in mans character. He for example. of
whom Richter had said. his words were
half battles and when he first begun to
preach, sufferd unheardof agony.
40, DR.. Stauptz" said he to the Vicar
General of his order, {" cannot do it |
shall die in three months. Indeed, can
not do it,"
DR.. Staubitz, a wise and consideIate
man, said upon this, well Martin. if
you must die, You must-but remember
that they need good heads up yonder too
So preach. man, preach, and then live or
die as it happens"
So Luther preached and lived, and he
became indeed one great whirlwind of
energy TO work without resting in this
world and also before he died he wrote
four hundred boolis-books in which the
true man was-for in tho midst of all
they denounced aud cursed, what touches
of tenderness lay Look at the Table
Talk. for example. We see in it little
bird, having alichtcd on the bough of a
pear tree. that grow in. Luther.s gar.
den. Lnther looked M to it; and said
" The little bird how it covers down
its little wings, and will sleep there, so
still aud fearless, though over it are the
infinite starry spaces and the great blue
depths of immensity yet it fears not
it is at home. The God that made it,
too is there"
The same gentle spirit of lyric admira-
tion. is in other passages Of his hooks
Coming homo from Leipsic in the sum
mer season he breaks forth in living won.
der at the fields He SAYS:
Erect on its bountiful taper stem. and
bending its beautiful golden hcn6-with
in it the bread Of man sent to HIM anoth-
er year"
Such thoughts as these are as little win
dows through which we gaze into the in.
! terror of the serene depths of Martin
! Luther's soul and see yisibly across its
tempcsts and clouds, whole heaven Of
light and love. lie might have painted
he might have sung could have been
beautiful like Raphel-grea, like Mich
acl Angelo.
As it was, the streams Of modcsty and
energy met in the active spirit Per.
haps indeed, in all men Of genius, the
great quality strongly developed might
force out other qualities. Here was
Luther, . savage kiud cf man. as reo-
i ple thought Of him--a Wild Orson of a
mana man whose speech was ordinarily
,,;lJ ,,,lk H.,
down rocks and trees. aud behold him
Z speaking like woman or a child A
tolerant man. hut with nothing Of srnii-
mental tolerance. He went to the real
heart Of the matter. When his reform
associates made vast fuss nhou, sur
ricc somebody or other wanted to wear,
lie ended the matter with,
What i'll can snrplicc do uS2 Let
him have three snrplicos if he will That
is not our religion. nor irtorfcrrs with it
at all. Domino miscyeJc mc This i.
what we have to thiuk-this is what we
must think the especial Christianity"
Nothing Of what is commonly called
cant, or rride,or ambition was in Luther
1t was this that made him no higher
than the lowest man with soul, nor vet
however less than the highest Thus
when lie was threatened with :ho anger
Of Duke George, if he went to Leipsic.
yet said nothing on earth could prevent
him II il raincd Duke Georges for
nine days running. there he would 90
Well. and this man who thought and act
cd in this way. lassed whole life of snf
fering. He was deeply melancholy
man. More labor had fallen on him
than he could rightly bear; it was in
7ain TO be releasod;he toiled aud sorrowcd
on Even with Satan himself. the evil
principle of the world. he was destined
to usc high argument Men would laugh
at that, and cheap game indeed. was
ridicule but be it rec He'd that in Lu-
theirs day, God and the devil were equal
y real. ard that lie thought he was from
the first, rs when that vision Of tho
crowded hous9.tites If tho old city of
Worms, a man specially selected to fight
with devils Well. then. he sat alone
ono night he was translating the 3 list
Psalm. and pon1rrinG its deep signif-
cance he dad tasted for two days, when
the devil rose before him and opened the
famous dialogue. accusing Luther with
crimes, threatening him with hell and
terrifying him to rccant All which the
Christian put an end to at last by taking
up the ink bottle and finging it at the
devil. The mark made by the ink on
the wall is shown to this dav; the me.
moratle spot, a-spot that may mark at
once the greatness and poverty Of man
The terrors of delusion which any doc
tors or apothecary's apprentice could ex
plain now a.days; but also courage that
could rise against what seemed to be the
bodily presentations of darkness and de-
spair, and of ermIty to good. No hraver
man than Luther ever lived iu Europe
- Carlyle
A WORD TO YOUNG MGN Prof
Siliman closed a recent Smithsonian lee.
ture in Washington by giving the follow
ing sensible advice to young men:
IF, therefore, You wish for strong
muscles, aud quiet nerves, for long life
and power prolonged into old age, permit
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