The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1867-11-04
CITY INTELLIGEN
ToR ADDITIONAL LOCAL ITEMS SEE OUTSIDE PAeEs.I
LUTHER AT WITTEN BERG.


In COmmomOratiON OF the Seventh Ju-
bileO of the Reformation, at the Church,
Corner OF Tenth and Clinton Streets, on
Sunday Evening, November 3.
IsPBCIAL REPORT FOR THE EVENING TEIRGRAPH.1
"If this work be Of man. It VIII come to naught; but
In the market place, In the centre of the old
town OF WittenbeIg, beneath a Gothic canopy Of
graceful proportions, standing upon solid pc
de tai Ot sixty tons weight, ie a colossal
statue OF Martin Luther. The canopy is of iron,
the statue is OF brass, the pedestal IS of stone.
On one side of the pedestal, cut deep in the solid
planite, are the words of this text, slightly
varied in the rugged and deep-s0undng Ian
puage which once thundered from the lips of
the great refoTmer in the pulpit OF the parish
church adjoining the squares
lists Gottes werk, so VIRUS bestenen.
lst meDschenwelE, Wlrd's untergehen."
lit be Gods work, itwll stand. Ifit be mans
work. it Will fau
ON another side of the pedestal, inscribed in
letters equally large and Deep is the Grst line OF
Lutners famous Psalm, which he composed and
sung when about TO appear, at the peril of his
life, before the Diet OF the Germanic empire at
WORMS
E"Eln feste Burg ist unsor Gott,"
strong tower is our God.
The stone, the iron, and the brass Of the
monument, aud the sublime faith of the two
inscriptions, dtly commemorate the uncOnquer-
able hrmness OF the man who stood forth as the
champion of Gods word, and by whom Gods
work was nObly done, in the days Of darkness,
and in defiance OF the mighdest powers Of the
earth.
Last Thursday, at noon, counts three hundred
and fifty years since the brave and stout-bearted
RefoTmer nailed his ninety-ive theses against
the Popes indu gences to the door of the Castle
Church in that same little town OF Wittenberg.
By that act he first declared open aud perpetual
war against the claims and perYeTsOns OF the
Church OF Rome. By that act, done of his own
free accord, without consultation with any
human being, done in the light OF the broad day,
a
ished spectators, Luther stood FORTH solitary
and alone, as the first and foremost champion
of the great Protestant Reformation. He sum-
mOned the works and creeds of darkness to
appear for trial before the bar of Gods word,
and in subsection to the laws OF reason and
truth.
Luther himself had little conception of the
tar-reaching consequences that would dow from
the defiance which he flung in the face of the
great Romish 1alsehoOd that day. But tie blows
OF hls hammer upon the door OF the church IN
Wiuenberg, three hundred aud fifty years ago,
echoed through all the European world. They
shook the thrones of the mightiest empires
and shattered the fabric of the most gigantic
and crushing superstition that eyer tyTannized
over the human mind or fastened letters upon
the human soul. While speak, the blows Of
that hammer are telt and feared m royal cabi-
nets and ancient cathedrais, in councils OF state
and in silent sleeping chambers, at Rome aud
Paris, at Madrid and Vienna. And they are
destined still to be heard, waxing louder and
louder, in the thunders of battle and in the
earthquake of revolution, until the giant false
nOOu W0lCn Lutner Qeuod, is QlSarmed of its
power aud PROSTATE in the dust.
1t becomes us to keep alive the remembrance
OF deed 10 which we are all much indebted for
the freedom OF speech and of faith which we
enjoy this day. The world cannot afford to
forget one great act of sacred bCroism, done in
the love OF God and for the good of man. And il
we search through all human history for the
last thousand years, we cannot find another
event which was so simple in Itself, and
which is, nevertheless, worthy to be COM
memOrated by all branches of the Christian
Q11I Inv nj toaf ont Nrig
tendon.
1t is not my present purpose to dis.
cuss the principles Of the Reformation,
on to estimate the work which 1t has done
for the world in three hundred ana
fifty years. / would Only refresh your own
recollections Of Luthers time and work, by
setting before you some of the scenes aud me-
mentUs OF his struggling and stormy lite. In the
endeavor to bring this brave and strong.sOuled
man nearer to your hearts, let me ask you to
look at the situation and surroundings OF the
little city TO which his name has given celeb
rity throughout the world, and Tor All time.
The nan e WittenbeTg signifies "White hills,n
and il is derived from the hiilock5, or drifts of
white sand that stretch away in the distant aud
desolate prospect, on tue north OF the city. Tue
river Elbe flows sluggishlY by, half mile south
of the walls. Beyond the river q melancholy
heath extends for many a mile, Lhiuy Gov
cred with clunps Of coarse grass and star7e-
ling oaks and pines. Here aud there at
long intervals, are little clusters OF
low, redroofed houses, half hidden by trees
of larger growth. The Inhabitants seen in the
unfenced fields by the passing traveller look
starved and stunted, like the miserable vegeta-
tion which strives to i've in the sandy soil The
women 90 out long distances over the Wild heath
to gather sticks for 6rewood, and they bring
them home in heavy bundles upon their shoul-
ders. So Luthers mother cut wood in the
Thuringian forest around Esleben and carried
it home TOR the winters Ere. The men of the
heath strive in a rude way, 10 make the earth
yield them something to live upon, But they
spend much of the little which they get IN beer
drinking at the miserable public houses. In
Luthers time Wittenburg itself had bre very
for every two houses in the whole city
and nineteen to spare for STRANGERS. Three
huE dTed years have wrought a great
Improvement in the drinking habits OF the
German people. But the reformation in this
respect, as well as in religion, is not yet COM
plele.
Seven years AGO came into Witteuberg from
Lepsic aud Halle, passing over the same level
tract which Luther crossed, when Going tbiiher
for the first time from Erturt, thee hundred
and hfty years before. The country, as saW il,
was not all desoate, like the heath AMI sand
drifts around Wlttenberg, but IT was the same
UNMARRIED level. II dld not seem as II such O
mOuotonous landscape could inspire great
thoughts or give birth to great genius. And
yet it had been the bone OF the greatest nTen
and The scene OF the grea'esteyeu IN European
history.
1t was mild day in the month of August
The air was still, and in every
direction giant wIdmlils We're reaching
forth their idle aims in vain suppiiraton TO the
wind, struggling hOcks of ravens kept Tapping
over ne all day from east to west, a7 If they haC
scented the carnage of some grel' battlefield
aiar. Double rows ofLombardy pOplars stretched
in melancholy procession along the puDll