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guided the consciences, but disposed of the property and the lives of men. So enslaved, indeed, was the condition of every order of the people, that the menace of His Holiness frightened the most powerful monarchs into compliance with his will; and the mandates which he issued, dissolved the alle giance of subjects, and dispossessed princes of their crowns. On the unchristian foundation of pride and ambition, a structure of religious worship and government was reared, externally splendid and attractive, but within, dark and deformed. There the throne of superstition was erected, and he who sat on it, was the Man of Sin.

At times a few rays of Christian truth were beheld; but they were so scattered and momen

tary, that they only showed the greatness of the abounding iniquities more clearly; but neither dispelled the gloom, nor prevented its increase. In the 12th century, indeed, the Waldenses appeared, and driven by the persecution of Romish See, they took shelter in the vallies of Piedmont, and from that sequestered retreat sent forth many champions for the truth; but though individuals in different regions embraced the doctrine of the scripture, no general reformation ensued. In the two succeeding centuries, Wickliffe in England, and Huss and Jerome of Prague in Bohemia, contended earnestly for the faith delivered to the saints, and sowed the seeds of Christian knowledge in their respective countries. These revivals, though only partial, were, like the first faint rays of the morning, which tremble on the tops of the mountains, the presages of a new and auspicious day; a day when the kingdom of antichrist was shaken to its centre; when the doctrine of the cross, and not a golden standard, became the signal of destruction to the enemies of Christ; and when the nations, who had for full ten ages slumbered in their chains, were restored to liberty, by the energy of the Word and Spirit of God. The man who was honoured by Providence, to be the instrument of beginning, directing, and superintending this astonishing dispensation of grace, was Luther; whose life is in fact a history of the Reformation. Were it possible to select particular facts, they could not be placed in a just or an interesting light, without attending to his

general character and employments; it is therefore absolutely necessary, that in the life of this illustrious Reformer, we enter into a concise detail of the connect ed events.

MARTIN LUTHER, Son of John Luther, a worker of metals at Mansfeld in Germany, and of Margaret Lindeman, a native of Neustadt in Franconia, was born at Eisleben, a town in the circle of Upper Saxony, on the 10th of November, 1483, and was named Martin, because he was baptized the day following the feast of St. Martin. The poverty of his parents prevented them from sending him to a public school till he was fourteen years of age; but they instructed him in private, and early seasoned his mind with those religious tenets, which they themselves had imbibed. He commenced his literary studies at Magdeburg, and continued them at Eisenach, where he remained four years; during which he exhibited the beginnings of that acuteness and ardour, and that copiousness of language, and power of eloquence, which afterwards were the means of enlightening and reforming the world. In 1591, he entered the university of Erfurt, in Thuringia, and applying to the dry unprofitable subtleties of scholastic philosophy, soon made himself acquainted with its principles, as explained by Occam, Scotus, Thomas Aqui nas, and other learned triflers of the dark ages. He was admitted master of arts in 1503, and soon after was chosen professor of natural and moral philosophy; but he attended chiefly to the studies connected with civil law, as his parents proposed that his

rising talents should be devoted to the service of the state.

But, contrary to the wishes of his parents, Luther suddenly left the university, and embraced a monastic life. The circumstances which immediately produced this change of views, have been variously related by different writers. The following seems to be the most probable account: That under deep impressions made on his mind by the unexpected death of an intimate companion, and by an unusually violent storm of thunder, he solemnly vowed to devote himself wholly to the service of God, by withdrawing from the intercourse of the world, and spending his life in religious duties; that afterwards he considered this vow to be binding on his conscience; and that in order to fulfil it, in compliance with the erroneous spirit of the times, he entered the monastery of the Augustine friars at Erfurt.* Though he plead the reality of what he regarded as the certain call of Providence, his father opposed his resolution, and earnestly besought him to take care, that he did not deceive himself, or was not deluded by the suggestions of an evil spirit, rather than called by the voice of God. Luther was unmoved by these remonstrances, and, in pursuance of his vow, entered the monastery, and submitted. with cheerfulness to all its sever ities.

He was at first subject to fre, quent fits of melancholy, occasioned, most probably, by medi, tating on the awful consequences

of exposure to divine vengeance, which the recollection of the events that led to his vow, brought home to his conscience, and by those deep convictions, which the consciousness of his character, as a sinner in the sight of God, produced on his mind. He sought comfort in the friendship and conversation of John Staupitz, vicar of the order, to whom he unbosomed himself; and who endeavoured to relieve his mind of its fears, by leading him to view them as part of the trials which God had appointed to prepare him for eminent usefulness in the church. In the mean time, he prosecuted his theological studies with diligence; gave himself to reading and disputation; frequently fasted for several days together; and accompanied all these exercises with habitual and earnest prayer. He was known, once to have passed nearly five weeks without sleep; and, in general, he took only a very few hours repose. He sometimes, however, relaxed the severity of his studies, with innocent amusements, particularly with music, of which he was extremely fond, and from which' he experienced the happiest effects; for, when seized with depression of spirits, he frequently succeeded in removing, or at least in lessening it, by singing psalms and hymns.*

It was therefore not poverty,' but the love of a pious life, as Melancthon observes, that induced Luther to become a monk.'

* Beausobres' Hist. of the Refor. mation, translated by Macauley, Vol. I. p. 46. Lond. 1801.

He is said to be the Author of the tune called Old Hundred.

But the common sources of religious instruction, to which his brethren of the order resorted, did not satisfy him. He soon became tired of scholastic learning, the field in which, at that time, all who wished for eminence in theological attainments, were doomed to labour: it produced no fruits of piety, and was barren of every thing that could gratify the desires of a mind like, his, which thirsted after religious truth, and spiritual consolation. He was anxious to know the will of God; but he sought for it in vain, amid the rubbish of perplexed and superstitious volumes, formed not on the doctrines of scripture, but on the obscure traditions of a corrupt church, rendered, if possible, still more obscure, by attempting to explain their meaning, and enforce their authority, on the principles of the Aristotelian philosophy. At length he was conducted by the Spirit of truth to the fountain of sacred and heavenly learning. In the library of the monastery, he discovered a copy of the Bible, which had long lain unnoticed, and perused it with an avidity, not merely excited by his natural desire of knowledge, but proportioned to the excellence, which he perceived in its doctrines, and their suitableness to his own condition. He was not contented with one perusal; the oftener he read it, the higher was the delight, which he felt; till at last he abandoned all other pursuits, and to the astonishment of the monks, who had not been accustomed to such reading, devoted himself to a serious examination of its precious

contents.

From a good old monk, who

attended him when sick, he received much advantage in his search after truth. By him he was led to attend to the nature of faith, and the meaning of the ex pression in the creed, "I believe in the remission of sins." This the priest interpreted as imply. ing more than a general beliefwhich even devils possess-and as intimating that it is the express command of God, that every man should apply it to his own particular case; an interpretation, which Luther found confirmed by a passage of St. Bernard's, which commended itself at once to his understanding and his conscience, and which furnished him with a key to the true sense of other doctrines of revelation. He embraced the fundamental doctrine of justification by faith, as explicitly stat ed in the inspired writings; and by comparing the sentiments of the Prophets with those of the Apostles, was delighted with their connexion and harmony. He afterwards read the works of the fathers; and Augustine in par ticular, whose opinions, both on doctrinal and practical points, coincided with his own, and strengthened his persuasion of their truth, became his favourite author.

Frederic the Wise, elector of Saxony, having heard Luther preach, was charmed with his manly convincing eloquence, and on the establishment of a university at Wittemberg, under the superintendance of his friend Staupitz, in 1508, appointed him to the chair of Philosophy. This was a theatre on which his superior talents, both as a philosophic teacher and a pulpit orator, were displayed; and he commanded