The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1886-07-31

Oome1OW ne is always ctllIu vi ndtufe,
gifted and resolved upon doing his
best. When Luther came from Erfurt,
where he had studied and taught, to
Wittenberg, to teach in the University,
who then even dreamed that he was to
become the great reformerG He was
not fluent in speech, nor freed from
great diffidence, but he was moved by a
mighty sense of duty. He had come
into the world in troublesome times.
Savonarola and Hess had dared to think
and speak and write just what they felt
to be right, in spite of pope and priest,
and this had enraged the church of
Rome from top to bottom. Luther,
though in the church, came to feel that
God is more than hope, and conscience
more than priest, and he could but ex-
press his opinions, as he leetured before
his students and preached ON the Sab
bath. He struck live Goals from the
altar Of God, which soon kindled a fire
that famed out over all Europe. He
proclaimed for freedom of conscience
and the right of private Judgment.
The young Luther in few years be-
came the mighty Luther, swaying the
whole of Germany, and moving the CIV
ilized world. He made the pope trem-
BILE, and the Roman church to stand
aghast. This was all done in the little
town of Wittenberg. All it is no
longer little, but grand What, if the
outward is somewhat wasting, there is
glory emanating from it, and halo
hanging over it that render it most at
tractive. It's very air and streets inspire
enthusiasm and admiration. There is
blessing experienced in walking where
he walked, in basking in the sunlight
where he did, and being overarched by.
the same skies that he was. AS en-
tered the house where he lived, the very
walls seemed to sayf"We hold the Sc
crets of great manu- The building
itself is odd and ugly in shape. 1t was
first part of monastery which was
afterward converted into Wittenberg
University. Here it was Luther taught,
surprising the highest expectations of
friends, and sending out form which
drew students from Prague, Leipsic,
and the farthest points of Europe. If
the University is no longer crowded
with scholars, it is with the richest
memories We aseenaeds the stairs
from the court and entered the low
SFoofed chanbsf Whsfe IL was won't TO
think and study. Itremains very much
as he left it. The earthen stove after
his own model, the oaken table, the
professors chair, the needle work of his
beloved Catherine de Bora, his beer
cup, psalter and other relics remain
much the same as he left them. From
this apartment we passed to his bed
room and sitting room, ON whose walls
hang portraits of Luther and his family;
thence we went into the dining-room
and kitchen, and on into balls where
many objects of interest connected with
the life of Luther and Melancth0n are
exhibited. Here we saw Luther's will,
his seal, his Bible, as he corrected the
proof, and several pictures of himself
and friends, by different artists. We
then passed into the lecture room where
he used to give instruction, and after
ward descended into the chapel where
he was wont to preach, and stood in
the pulpit that he occupied. Having
seen all these things, the house which
at first looked rather fOreboding, had
become transformed, rejecting the light
of the great reformer and scholar. AS
kindly received piece of the flooring
ON which he walked, and a chip from
the table on which he wrote, ] could
but be doubly glad that it had been my
fortune to feel anew the domestic and
public life of Luther.
Half mile away to the east we
came to the Palace church where we
saw the tablets in the auditorium.
marking the graves of Luther and
Melancthon. On the walls hang their
life-size pictures. The oak door of this
church is we'll preserved, ON which
Luther nailed his ninety-five Latin
theses, which were like bombs hurled
into the Roman camp, blowing priestly
creeds and superstitions into filters.
To the east of the University, just out
side the Elster gate, stands thrifty |
oak, marking the spot where Luther in
the presence of his students burned the
Papal bull which infuriated the Romish |
church.
In the main platz of Wittenberg
stand bronze statues of Luther and |
Melancthon. 1t is we'll for the town to |
cherish the lives of those who have !
wreathed the place with highest honors.
Christianity emanated from an OBJ |
scure town; thus with the reformation.
So it is, the mightiest forces of this
world originate in obscurity, and cry
not aloud as they begin to act and |
move souls. When Luther was trans
lating the Bible in his study, who then
even suspected he was remodeling his
own language, and developing an edu-
catiOnal power that was to blossom into |
free schools throughout his land, and |