The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1891-11-19

mlnders OF the great German. The castle
70 - low the property Of the reigning Duke
VI oaxe-W Weimer, and Is open to the public
s,s ~ y not very difficult to imagine as one
ssanus on the top of one Of the castles
sguaIe towers that Luther himself must
sve lave ioOked out on a scene hardly different
arom tnat pow spread before the eye. The
,mooued nils OF Thuringia rolling away TO
tne south and east cannot be greatly
cnanged since bis time-or for that matter
s,nce tnose long distant days when they
sneitered the Thuringian tribes from the
sroWlng power OF the Franks. They have
ssen Cnarlemagne insisting on the cOnver-
sion SION OF the heather Saxons, they have
tbo boI untmy aIter army hurry to battle with
snS hungarians on the Elbe.
from the castle in Schwarzburg, hidden
pMenind the hills, came an Emperor Of the
nMoiy homan Empire, and In neighb0ring
6nrIurt Napoleon held his COURT OF Kings.
put Dot one OF all these companies fills so
large space In our minds as the little com
pany that one day In 1921 was making its
way through the valley to the east from
Worms to Wittenburg. It was Luther and
ms companions returning from the Diet.
suddenly they are surrounded by men-at-
arms and their leader was taken captive and
Ied Into the forest. For months the cham
pion of the new religious temple was con
cealed the Monk Martin became the
young Squire George. Aud In the castle
Delow, as he lay In safety, out OF reach of
the Emperor and Pope. The sudden cap
ture had been the work Of the Reformer's
NY
In this castle Luther translated much of
the Bible that he gave the German nation.
Ihey still show his room. with Its strong
wooden chair and table, its vertebra Of a
mammoth, which Luther used as a
footstool acd, most interesting Of all, to
the curious. the spot on the wall where his
ink bottle struck as he hurled 1t at Satan.
who, in this room honored him with a visit.
As l stood In the twilight looking down
over the battlements on the town six hun
dred feet below me, there came one of
those rare moments when the past becomes
reality. The valleys with their ghostly
towns Of mist were LuEHer's valleys: the
castle, still bearing heavenward Its eight
hundred years was Luther's castle; the
faint noises that came through the eve
ning'5 quiet were echoes OF the sounds
that rose as dreamingly to his ears; and
the place and sweetness OF the hill and
valley. woods and brooks, had brought
rest TO hts troubled spirit in the birthday
OF cur modern world. Even the noises OF
the neighboring inn could not quite rend
the spell.
Wittenberg Is In quite another world.
Instead Of castles and hidden monks, you
nnQ there the n0meS OF Luther and Me-
lancthon. That of the latter Is now private
property, and the university where Luther
was professor Is now barracks. But the
old house which was occupied by Luther Is
shown to anyone. Few important memen-
toes Of its occupant are left, and these few
are chiefly books in glass cases. But you
can still see the window with Its broad
seat where he and his Catharina sat to-
gether. The old stories are still In their
places, and the pulpit from which he used
TO deliver his lectures. But these different
articles are unnecessary. 1t Is enough to
walk through the old rooms, look through
the old windows, and climb the old stairs.
or even to ramble through the streets Of the
town. The past becomes again something
like reality. To him who has been In
Ersenach and Wlttenberg. Luther can
never again be simply name, far less that
darling of the philosopher, the incarnation
OF bis Zeitgeist. He will ever be man,
like ourselves, though called OF God to a
work greater than any that may be ours.
The church upon whose doors Luther
nailed the 90 Theses Is part of castle.
and 1t Is impossible to tell just where the
one begins and the other ends. AS recall
those massive towers, so close to the
historic doorway. the building seems
symbolic Of the man and of his cause. Lofty
as the spring Of the sacred arches was his
mission; impregnable as those towers,
his faith.