New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1883-12-07
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
KosTLIN'S LUTHER.


tha German. Crown ov0 PIP SoZ' Sh"iieS 0o'i'
1ntber from the very nature OF the case Mus
.,,g,red many things at the hands oil MS oios'
H. Protestant Evangelieas on the one n"n" an"
panisfs and Puseyites on the other' haNo so'io "
tbc onposite extremes of culOgy ana Oh Ni'"Poi"'
,rh;e writer's of the humanstic type have geneia"S
sonc1 IN annreciate the man. through their huineI
So % the principles with which he Is loehtlhea
W. have thc wordy panegyric of DAuDighe' inc
hitter diatribas of Bossuet and sir imam i"'"i
ton the partisan history of Audn, enc acrio 'neo.
rna;oo1 structures of John Henry Newman ana OF
Canon Motley. aud the compend OF Mlchelet' con-
sstjnq of fragments strung nonchalahtiy .oge'n1i'
from Luther's tabletalk and personal wri''hsS no
regards Iuther's English critics. Archoeacon mar
has no little reason for saying that III lea""s 'no
remarks of English censuTers OF Luther one 10
tempted at times to fancy that the history OIL Ger
-, ,,,st have been omitted from their studies
and that they supposed they might pass II ny "s
tbe, would that of Cochin China or KamschatKa'
We may observe in passing. that most happy OK
centon TO this statement is furnished ny 'h0
brilliant HILBERT Lectures of Mr.. George bear"
professor K5stln writes avOwedy trom Tue
Protestant standpoint. He regards Lu'hei N
fleeing beyond any other German IN MS PeIaC m
character and conduct, the peculiar lealu'oS VI c'
man life and history; and as entltieo 70 'n0 "1,'
nlace i'm the love and veneratlon Oh 1Io'esV''''
has notwithstanding produced slngularLS CAM
.'1;aiaI ond ir,nartial biography which must long
con+ipue to rank as the highest authority Oh the
character and work of the Retolmer'
Uis biopraphv pure and simple. The anthor re-
siets +bronphout the innumerable temptations 10
DEPRESSION and disquiston presented by so vast anu
oon,rlootod \ movement as the Reformation. Theo-
logical and political issues are described rather IMAM
discussed and are treated no further than may seNe
to explain iuther's relation To them. Inc oooA 10
NOT history of this Reformation, but history OIL
Luther The author is not an advocate but VIII
ness. His business is with facts; verdicts he leaves
TO his readers. He does not like some writer's hhu
II necessary TO take preliminary run OF seVeI'i
centuries in order to carry him over the specIdl
character and period which form his subject. he
has no historical introduction and no final chapter
of summaries and deductions His first paragraph
treats of his heros birth, and he stops with his rune
raj concluding with these words, which furnish the
kew to his hook: The portrait of his life, plain and
unadorued rs il is presented TO the present age
will at any rate testify to the worth OF tins great
man. and thus do something toward that eternal
end for which he was ready to sacrifice his me- anu
in tbe ewes of the world his honor and his lame
The work is in no sense gosspy, ike Micheiel ; :
il not indeed fertile in personal c'ueh as we
shoud naturally expect. II is, moreover unmarked
nv the slightest attempt al rhetorical or dramallc
effect and is thus in marked eontrasI win
D'Aubigne's history. The saying about tue deVl'S
and the tiles the ir steke Ich the posting OF the
theses are introduced without comment, italics or
exclamation points The ink-spot i'll the Castle OF
Wartburg is snminarly sponged out, and the dra-
matte prayer ascribed to Luther on the eve OF the
Diet at Worms and given at length by DAubigne
is omitted.
With this simplicity, the narrative is full of move
ment and of sustained interest. The authors mas
terry of his vast historic material is complete and
easy. without any controversial quality, the I'M
vanished narrative disposeS quite as effectively as
Hare's admirable "VindicatiOn,' OF some OF the
charges against Luther. One can easily satisfy
himself by reading these pages and comparing dates
whether. as John Henry Newman asserted, Luther
renowned the distinctive features of his doctrine OF
Justification; or whether Sir William Hamilton had
grounds for charging the Reformer with preaching
adultery incOntnence and incest. AT the same
time we discover no evidence of blindness to
Iuther's faults. Professor Kostlin recognizes the
occasional coarseness illhumor and abusiveness OF
his speech; but he has the wisdom to distinguish
between the impulsve words of a frank, rugged ma
ture which cherished no secret impurity, and the
deep moral corruptness which was too often yelled
nv the elegant dction of the humanst. He is large
enough himself to perceive that Luther is more and
greater than his fobles. He dcos not shrk the un-
happy episode of Philip of Hessc's marriage to
which Canon Motley dcvotes ten pages. and of
49, which Hare's defence is as weak as Luthers and
II MelanchthOns letter KGstln formulates the verdict
of Christian common sense in these frank and manly
. words: Friends of the Evangelical and Lutheran
belief can only lament the decision he pronounced in
this matter Instead of drawing his conclusion
from the moral aspect of marriage, amply at
tested by the spirit of the New Testament, though
not indeed, exactly expressed, Luther, on this &C.
cason. chung to the letter and failed, of course to
find any written declaration Oh the point" SINH
lar fairness appears i'll the treatment OF Luther at
titude and language with reference to the Peasant
Wars On the other hand. the author finds the plain
statement of facts quite sufficient to relieve him OF
the task of violent denunciation of Romanism
While he sets forth the gross ecclesiastical abuses
which Luther asSailed he does not find it necessary
to dilate upon the scandals Of the monasteres anC
of the Papal Court He disposed to give the
Church credit for all the good which belonged to it
and cites Lutbers own testimony that the Church
of his time under all the corruption he denounced
still preserved the groundwork of Christian life
the charter of salvation, the fundamental truths o
Christianity and the of redemption ant
blessing vouchsafed by the grace of Cod
In its broader aspects Professor K6stlins work il
especially valuable for its clear recognition Of th
real elements of Luther's personal greatness and o.
his service to the Of Professionalism. He doe
not attempt to exhibit him great organizer, bu
as great awakener and instructor. His real hole
upon the German nation was gained before the in
auguraton of the Church visitation in 1927 as thu
man of the people, the preacher 10 the masses tEt
friend of the children, the maker of the Catechisn
and Hymn Book and the translator of the Scrip
lures into the language of the household and of Tx
market-place. 1t was clenched by his marriage
aHis personal relations with his cOuntrymen be
came all the more close and intimate in consequence
of this change of life; and that which bv many o