St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1883-11-16

be continually on his guard. 1t is an
act for every Christian as we'll as every
nation to honor a man whom God
hOnOrs. Thus we resist the prompt
ings of the Holy Spirit if we do not
honor the days upon which are born
such men as Martin Luther. Raphael
is an inspiration to the world of art, as
Luther is to the Christian world.
Luther's parents were poor. He was
sent away to school at ten years of
age. He learned to repeat the ten COM
mandments, Child's creed and Lords
prayer in Latin. 1t all fitted him to
cope with the great scholars of his
time. His training was not amiss to
the life he was to lead. He was dill
gent at school and at eighteen surpass-
ed his fellows in Learning. At this
period his mind took deeper religious
turn. He began all his lessons with
prayer. At twenty years he had never
seen a Bible. Much to his joy he
found Bible which he studied faith
fully. While a student solemn
thoughts of eternity came to him,
hopes that the Virgin Mary would in
tercede for him at the judgment.
He was ever sincere and studious from
his childhood up. He entered as a
monk at Erfurt and was soon among
the foremost. Although he studied his
Bible continually no monk was more
faithful in his duties than Luther.
While here he composed the hymn of
which we have Il translation by Geo.
Mcdonald hymn which was the
means of conversion to many. 1t was
in this convent that the words,
believe in the forgiveness of SINS" re-
peated by brother monk, came to him
and gave peace to his soul and showed
him the gospel way of relief. At
twenty-five years he was a professor at
the university at Wittenburg where he
preached. Business called him to
Rome where he was troubled by the
corruption he saw. He made note of
this visit for his own edifcation. At
st. John Lateran, while climbing the
Scala Sancta, on his knees, the words
"The just shall live by faith" sounded
in his ear. He returned to his work
and gospel lectures, never expecting
to do much good, and thus labOred for
eight years. In long succession of
pOpes no name shines like that of Leo
y. He sent men forth to peddle indul-
gences and said that no man can be
pardOned except with my paper.
Luther stands firm and says, "Only
God can pardon SINS
This is the story in brief of the birth
and development of the great Re
former. April II, 1921 the crisis came.
At the Diet Worms-the greatest
scene in ancient and modern history
stands out one man. His friends adj
vised him not to go. AS Il true man
/ nav CllSil vi SollS WI COull llt
do but he faithful 2 He stands up as
one man firm and steadfast even
against his friends. Here he preache d
his great sermon, partly in his own
words and partly the word of God
He said, at is neither safe nor prudent
to do anything against conscience
What if the word of God had been
chOked and kept away from men
what dark story these four hundred
years would have told for us. Faith
in the right and in God stood by him
and from his firmness and courage
came forth fruit. With his courage
came marvellous tenderness and gentle
ness and fondness for music, all to help
on this great work. He was prudent
reformer and not a destroyer. He per
formed his duty faithfully and was
Obedient to the law.