The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1880-02-28
Or. Lords Third Lecture.


Dr. i.,rl Delivered III" t>lisd i."iure IN
Elktru. ~ FRIDAY &. gnin4 aust, la :, .ar%rr
auditi.r. than hi> heretofore been III Attend
ancc. The lecture, as announced, was upon
the life and times Of Martin iuti:cI, aud is
sud il he one OF the best that its tistln-
guiShel author has written. Owing To the
enthusiasm inspired by the subject, or to
so,ne other cause, the lecture was delivered
in Il more animated manner than those that
have preceded it, and occasionally was re-
ceived with hearty applause.
The speaker commenced hy saying that
the greatest event that has ever happened
in This world was tie advent Of Jesus Christ,
and the greatest power in this world is the
religion He came to establish. Martin Luther
headed the great reformation of the 10th cen
tury It was Il grand protest against the
accumulated superstition and idolltry OF the
Homish Church. His way was meaSurahiy
prepared 10y the efforts Of others prominent
among whom We're ERASMUS ana W!cIlitfs
Germany was freer from the more fragrant
vices and Superstitiuns oi, the times than
Italy and SOME other countries. Luther
spr.mg from the people. and being studiouS
and thoughtful, believed in God Almighty
He was not modest, but largely endowed
with that arrogance that is generallya pronil- .
nent trait in the characters OF Sel-nade men.
lie was kind hearted. but bold: defiant, but
eloquent. Had he been more modest, he
would have Shrunk from the task before
him. He commenced as a quiet, modest
monk in his CELL trying to save his soul
according to the formula of ROmaniSm,
which had c'!ristenrd repentance pcn"ncc. +
Luther was always religious, and the great
question OF the ages, What shall Il man give
in exchange for his soul, obtrndea itself
upon his attention He conformed 10 the
customs of people seeking their own saliva .
ton i'll that age, and prarticed all the aus
trrtie:> demanded, hy til" church without
satisfying himself Still he felt the a%onieS
OF an untorgven soul He had no taste for
philosophy but he thirstad for the relief
that philosophy offered. In this state of
mind L friend recommended him to read
the Bible, and in it he discovered the priu-
ciplc of all experimental gion-iaith.-
which is the source of earthly JOY and eter- +
nal life. Luther then became cheerful, and
began to comprehend the doctrine of the
early fathers of the Christian Church, which
to him had been IN incomprehenSible myS-
terry He soon became y professor Of the
ology: still he was Il good Catholic Leo /
the \. was, at this time in Luther history,
in great need of money, and So he began to
sell indulgen"eS throughout chriStendoin.
His agent in Saxony, by his perSiSfency and
success in the abomiuabc traffic, aroused
Luther's wrath, but everybody believed in I
indul genccS, and it was of no use to inveigh
against them, and so he attacked the sys-
TEN, of which they were the outgrowth. +.
This led him TO prepare lis celebrated theses,
which excited the religious world, ana Won
for Il time the admiration Of his enemies
The art of printing, then recently diScoV-
cred caused his theses to be scattered
throughout the Catholic world, and kintiled
Germany into Il vivid flame
Tie lecturer ut this point referred to the
intidel idea and assertion, that Luther was
actuatel by his desire to marry, and paid Il
his soul and cautioned his audience against
installing the cattse for the effect. From
Germany the reformation pervaded christcn-
dom. 1t started from Luther's great idea
of justification by faith. 1t soon reached
England and pervaded Cromwell's army,
ana was elaborated and augmented by Cal
vim 1t was governed by none of the or'li-
nary laws OF progress, but came like the
spirit on the day of rentecost. 1t did away
with the idea of salvation by works, and
made the Saxons ready to accept what they
could not buy.
This change in the religious condition Of
Europe led to changes in its politics, and
Pope Leo seat Eel, to dispute with Luther;
but, though he nearly overwhelmed him |
with sophiStry and criticism, the latter
won Il victory by appealing to the Scrip /.
lures, for the church was hot prepared To
deny the authority and inspiration of St. I
Paul Thus was laid the foundation of the .
second great idea of the retorlnation-name- |.
ly, the authority of the Holy Scriptures.
The Catholics rallied and said they accepted
the Scriptures, but contended that the church
alone had the right to interpret them, thus
striving TO place The doemas of the church
above human reason. Whereupon Luther
arose more powerful and eloquent than ever
before, and denounced this effort of the
clergy to throttle the intelligence of the peo-
pie, and contended that inaSmuch as every
man has a soul to save, all should have the
right TO interpret the Scriptures for them
selves. Thus was born the third great idea
of the reormation-the right of private .iudg-
ment.
The picture which the lecturer then drew
OF the CONSERVATION and anaZement of .
Leo. was one OF the grandest pieces Of word
painting to which we ever listened. But
Luther was greater than Leo, and eventu- !
ally triumphed: and though he conquered
he became arrogant a.d dictatorial. He
married and soone became ut ISSUE with the
whole Catholic world and the age became
prolific i'll strong epithets and anathemas
which he and the church hurled at each
other. The Pope tried to annihlate him, by
means of the papal bull, but he burned it
before the eyes of an assembled multitude,
denominations. He substituted new ritual
for that of the medieval ages and abolished
the mon0tonous chants of the monks, sub
shutting hymns for the whole congregation
to sing In the midst of this work Luther
was Summoned before The emperor TO answer
ion the co,nmoticn he had caused. The
lecturer closed by Il brief reference to the
whose name will live while time shall last,
and of whom the lecturer said the whole
race should be proud that he ever lived.
( The lecture last night was upon Napoleon
Bonaparte, and will be more fully noticed
next week
The Telephone in Elkton.