From this extract it plainly appears that Luther's statesman-like acumen Avas no more to be deceived in his later years than in middle life.
Still he wearied and grew sick of the petty chicaneries and of the wicked manoeuvres of this earthly kingdom of palpable imposture, and he was often heard to exclaim,
" I have lived long enough ; God grant that I may soon lay quietly aside this burdensome worm-bag in earth.
I have undoubtedlv seen the best that man can see in this world ; all things will now, I fear, grow worse for me here."*
He was driven by the constantly increasing force of these feelings to ally himself more closely with all the followers of the reformed theology.
His charity grew with his years, and he was won more and more to sink non-essential differences iu a grand brotherhood of essential uniformity of belief.
Thus the fierce controversy which had raged so long and so discreditably between the Saxon theologians and the followers of Zwingle, had been happily accommodated some years previous to this time by the mutual signature at Wittemberg of certain articles of agreement, whereby both parties agreed to differ amicably, and the Swiss were received as brothers,t
Luther also in this, the twilight of his life, made more of his home than ever, though he had never been remiss in his domestic relations.
His^own statement of his family, made in the Tisclireden, is as follows " I married on the 14th June, 1525 THE LIFE AND TIMES the 5tli June, 1526, was born my eldest son, John
; in 1527, my second child, my daughter Elizabeth, who shortly after died ; in 1529, poor Magdalen, who died in 28th January, 1534, Paul
; and lastly, in 1536, little Notwithstanding this large and expensive family and his scanty income, his generosity was very great.
He would even give away to the poor, in default of any thing else, the presents which his children had received from their baptismal sponsors.
A. poor stvident asking him for relief one day, he desired his wife to give him some money ; on her replying that there was none in the house, he took a valuable silver cup that had been presented to him, and handing this to the needy scholar told him to sell it at the goldsmith's and keep the proceeds.!
"When expostulated with, he was wont to say, " Nay, friends, it is better to give than to receive."
Luther was surrounded at his table not only by his children, but by a number of intimate friends.
Melancthon, Jonas, Amsdorff, and others of his coadjutors found a frequent and ever welcome place there, becoming thus companions of his leisure as well as of his labor,
A seat at Luther's board was a coveted distinction.
"I would willingly," he nTote Gaspard Muller, a valued friend, "have received Kegel into my family circle, for various reasons; but as 3'Oung Pense of Jena is upon the eve of returning to me, my table will be full, and I cannot send away old and faithful companions to make room for new friends.
However, after Easter, wo may have room, and in that case I will do as you desire, that is, if my lady Catherine Avill grant her permission, of which I make no doubt."But Luther's bodily infirmities increased apace.
He was wrapt in them as closely as Laocobn was in the serpent's folds.
" I am old, weary, and useless," he wrote drearily to his old friend Spalatin, in December, 1545 ; " I have finished my journey, and naught remains but for the Lord to gather me to my fathers, and give the worms and rottenness their due.
Pray for me, that the hour of my departure may be pleasing to God, and salutarj^ to myself.
I think no more, dear Spalatin, about the emperor and the empire, except to refer one and the other to God in my prayers.
Grown old and worn like a garment, I long to be folded and laid aside."i'
About the same time, in a letter to Amsdorff, he said, "I write this to thee after supper, for when fasting I cannot, without great danger, even look at a book or at paper.
I take it that my malady is made up, first of the ordinary weakness of advanced age, secondly of the results of my long labors and habitual tension of thought.":]:
A strange feeling, not of confidence in his unaided powers, but of trust in the means whereby he had been made the instrument of much good, led him
* Tischreden, p. 258.
THE LIFE AND TIMES to believe that liis departure would be the signal for a general onset, by the enemies of truth and holiness, upon the newly erected fortress of the Keformation.
"As long as I live," he said one day prophetically to the friends gathered round his board, "no danger will arise, and Gernnany will, I trust in God, enjoy the blessings of peace.
But when I die, then begin to pray, for you will have need of prayer ; our children must grasp the spear, and the land will be called to bleed.""'"
But though he lived with the death-angel hovering above his head, and in the daily expectation of feeling the stroke that should lay him low, he was still anxious to emploj^ his remaining hours to the best advantage.
He therefore continued to preach, to lecture, and to WTite at intervals ; he also busied himself in collecting, revising, and rei:)rinting the various editions of his works.
He seemed determined that when death did strike him, he would fall in the harness, actively engaged in promoting the amelioration of society, and the knowledge of Christ
It was appointed that Luther's should be a life of active beneficence and of excitement to the very last; his latest days were occupied in the delicate and difficult task of reconciling the two estranged counts of Mansfeldt, whose subject he was by bu'th, and Avho had fallen into a quarrel of great bitterness.
1545, Count Albert had Avritten to Wittemberg earnestly sohciting Luther to hasten to Eisleben to act as arbiter.
" A week more or less, dear count, will not stop me from coming, though truly I am very much occupied with other affairs.
But I feel that I shall lie down on my death-bed with joy, when I have seen my dear lords reconqiled and once more friends."*
On the 23d of January, 1546, Luther set out for He was almost sick when he started, and the inclement season of the year added not a little to the fatigue of the journey.
Three of his sons and Justus Jonas accompanied him.
The party were detained at Halle several days by the impassable state of the swollen rivers.
But impatient of further delay, Luther at length determined to make the passage under his own auspices.
When the raging stream was safely passed, he turned to his frienrU * Luther's Leben, Pfitcr.
THE LIFE AND TIMES and said laughingl}^ " What a joy it would liave been to Satan if lie could only have managed to plunge us all into this fierce river."Upon his arrival at Eisleben he was received most cordially, and with every demonstration of respect.
These greetings over, he at once sat down and wrote thus to his wife " To the very learned and deeply profound dame Catherine Luther, my most gi'acious spouse
Catherine, we are terribly annoyed here in one way and another by this sad quarrel, but I think we shall have to stay a week longer.
Maitre Philip from me, that he would do well to revise his notes on the gospel ; for he does not seem in w^riting them to have clearly understood why our
Lord, in the parable, calls riches thorns.
This is the school in which we learn these things.
The Scripture throughout menaces thorns with the eternal fire ; this at once alarms me, and gives me patience with life, for I must exercise my utmost powers in settling this unhappy matter, by God's aid."t
So fine was Jju.ih.ex' ^ finesse, and so great was his authority, that on the 14th of February, about a week after his arrival at the Mansfeldt castle, he could Avrite his wife, " We hope, dear Catherine, to be with you again this week, please
Almighty has manifested the power of his grace in this affair.
Counts Gebhard and Albert are reconciled.
I send you some trout that Countess Albert has given me.
This lady is full of joy at seeing peace reestablished in lier family ; I commend thee to God's protection.""
Avas destined never again to look upon his Catherine's face on earth.
He had been very ill on his arrival at Eisleben, though he had still been kept afoot by his indomitable will.
He also preached four times, and revised the ecclesiastical regulations for the territory of Mansfeldt.
But on the 17th of Februarv, he fell so ill that the counts entreated him not to quit the house.
At supper on the evening of this same day, he spoke fi'equently of his approaching death; and some one asking him whether he thought we should recognize each other in heaven, he gave it as his oj)inion that we should.
On retiring to his chamber, accompanied by Coelius and his two sons, he went to the window, and remained there for some time engaged in silent prayer.
Shurifaber then entered the room, to whom he said, "I feel very weak, good master, and these pains rack me worse than ever before."
He w^as thereupon given a soothing draught; and upon discovering that his circulation was sluggish and his body cold, efforts were made to restore it by fiiction.
Luther was somewhat revived by this treatment, and he remarked to Count Albert, wdio had been summoned to his chamber upon his complaint to Shurifaber,
"If I could sleep for half an hour, I think it would do me good."
He did fall asleep, and remained in a gentle slumber for an hour and a half.
Upon awaldng at about eleven o'clockj he said to the anxious company gathered about his bedside, " What, are you still here ?
Will you not go, dear friends, and rest yourselves?"
On their replying that they would remain with him, he began to pray with fervor in the Latin tongue, saying, " In maniis tuas commendo spiritum meum ;
I'edemisti me, Domine, Dens veritathr^ He then said to those present, Pra}^ all of you, dear friends, for the gospel of our Lord
; pray that its reign may extend, for the Council of Trent and the pope menace it round about."
He then fell asleep again for half an hour.
When he again awoke, Dr. Jonas asked him how he felt.
" Yery ill, very ill," he feebly murmured.
" My dear Jonas, I think I shall die here at Eisleben, here where I was born,"
His pain now became so intense that he could not He down ; he therefore arose with some difficulty, and walked slowly once or twice across the room, supported by his friends; after which he again lay down, and had a number of clothes and cushions j)laced upon him to produce perspiration.
Two physicians, accompanied by Count Albert and his wife, noAV entered the apartment.
Luther said to them feebly, "Friends, I am dying; I shall remain with you at Eisleben."
When Dr. Jonas expressed a hope that perspiration would supervene and reheve him, he rejoin- « Into thy hands I commit my spirit
; thou hast redeemed me, ed, " No, dear Jonas, I feel no wholesome perspiration, but a cold, dry sweat; I grow worse every instant."
He then commenced to pray: "Oh my Father, thou, the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, thou, the source of all consolation, I thank thee for having revealed unto me thy well-beloved Son, in whom I believe, whom I have acknowledged, preached, and made known
; whom I have loved and celebrated, and whom the pope and the impious persecute.
I commend my soul to thee, my Jesus : I am about to quit this terrestrial body, I am about to be removed from this hfe, but I know that I shall abide eternally with thee,"
He then repeated three times slowly and solemnly, " Into thy hands, I commend my spirit; thou hast redeemed me, O Lord God of truth."
Suddenly his eyes closed, and he fell back in a swoon.
Count xVlbert, his wife, the phj'sicians, all made every effort to restore him to life, but for some time altogether in vain.
When he was somewhat revived, Dr. Jonas said to him, "Reverend father, do you die firm in the faith you have taught?"
Luther opened his eyes, -which had been half closed, looked fixedly at Jonas, and summoning, as it seemed, all the remaining strength of his shattered faculties, he replied firmly and distinctly, "Yes."
After which he fell asleep : soon those nearest his side saw that he grew paler and paler; he now became cold, his breathing was more and more-faint, and at length the tender cord of life snapped, and at midnight on the 17tli of February, 1546, in the THE LIFE AND TIMES keep of the Mausfeldt castle at A few days after, the body was conveyed, in a leaden coffin to Wittemberg, where it was interred on the 22d day of February, with the greatest honors.! He sleeps in the castle church, at the foot of that pulpit from which the thunders of his eloquence had so often shaken Christendom.:}:
Derived from the personal narrative drawn up by Jouas and Coslius of Luther's death. t Hornii, Hist. Eccles., p. 328.
X The following is Luther's wall : it bears date January 6, 1542 "I the undersigned, Martin Luther, doctor of divinity, do hereby give and grant unto mjdear and faithful wife Catherine, as dower to be enjoyed by her during her life at her own will and pleasure, the farm of Zeilsdorf, with all the improvements and additions I have made thereto
; the house called Brun, which I piirchased under the name of Wolflf, and all my silver goblets and other valuables, such as rings, chains, gold and silver medals, etc., to the amount of aboiit a thousand florins.
"I make this disposition of my means, in the first place, because my Catherine has always been a gentle, pious, and faithful wife to me, has loved me tenderly, and has, by the blessing of God, given me, and brought up for me five childi-en still, I thank
God, living, besides others now dead.
Secondly, that out of the said means she may discharge my debts, amounting to about four hundred and fifty florins, in the event of my not pajTng them myself during my life.
In the thu'd place, and more especially, because I would not have her dependent on her childi-en, but would rather prefer that her childi-en should be dependent on her, honoring her, and submissive to her, according to God's command, and that they should not act as I have seen some childi-en act, whom the devil has excited to disobey the law of God in this resiDCct, more particidarly in cases where their mother has become a widow, and they themselves have married.
I consider moreover, that the mother will be the best guardian of these means in behalf of her children, and I foel that she vrAl not abuse this confidence that I place in her, to the detriment of those who are her own flesh and blood, wliom she has borne in her bo.som.
Thus in liis sixty-fourth year ended the career of the most remarkable man known in Christendom since apostohc days.
And even if compared with the primitive teachers, he is equal to the noblest of them in courage, self-devotion, purity of conduct, and fiery zeal.
Perhaps the most singular point of his character was the wonderful equality to all occasions which he so frequently demonstrated.
He was mentally equipped to be the very ideal of a rehgious reformer.
Comprehensive and grand in his views, he sav/ every thing, understood every thing.
Had he been a statesman, he would have surpassed contemporaneous politicians by his penetration, his knowledge "Whatever may happen to her after my death,
(for I cannot foresee the designs of God,) I have, I say, full confidence that she will ever conduct herself as a good mother towards her children, and will conscientiously share with them whatever she possesses.
" And here I beg all my friends to testify the truth, and to defend my dear Catherine, should it ever happen, as is very possible, that evil tongues should charge her with retaining for her private use, separate from the children, any money they may say that I have left concealed.
I hereby certify that we have no ready money^ no treasure or coin of any description.
Nor will it ai>pear surprising to any who shall consider that I have no income beyond my salary, and a few presents now and then, and that yet with this limited revenue we have built a great deal, and maintained a large establishment.
I consider it indeed a special favor of God, . and I thank him daily therefor, that we have been able to manage as we have done, and that our debts are not greater than they are.
"I pray my gracious lord, duke John Frederick, elector, to confirm and maintain the present deed, even though it should not be exactly in the form required by law.
"Witnesses, Melancthon, Cruciger, Bugenhagen."* * Michelct, pp. 352, 353.
THE LIFE AND TIMES of character, and his marvellous ability to mould circumstances to suit his necessities.
In the ranks of philosophy he might have rivalled Plato, and many of his philosophical disquisitions are as interesting for their profound originality as his theological writings are for their terse force and scriptural tendency.
But no promptings of ambition could lure him from his chosen path.
He dedicated his brilliant versatility of intellect to God's service, and verily he had his reward.
Luther was great too in every sphere in which he acted.
His writings are so voluminous that, did we not know his history, it might be imagined that he devoted his life to the elaboration of his rhetorical thunderbolts—that in the seclusion of the cloister he spent his years in balancing his dainty periods, in shaping his sarcastic arrows, and in letting,the plummet down into the lowest deeps of religious philosophy.
What then shall we say of the genius of this monk, learned beyond his age, and able to compose such sublime, erudite, and unrivalled works in the midst of the dangers and distractions of a reformation which he long bore, like
Atlas, upon his unaided shoulders ?
He was, besides, as diligent in exercising the office of a preacher as he could have been as a simple parish priest.
His sermons were usually such as would have been preached by a man who had no other business but the instruction of his congregation.
Added to this, he was an able, tireOF MAKTIN LUTHEK.
5^17 less professor in tlie "Wittemberg university ; in his later years he was constantly called upon to arbitrate in quarrels which had arisen among his adlierents; he was forced by his poverty to earn his bread by manual labor; he was obliged to act to the last as the polemical gladiator of the Reformation ; and he was forced by his popularity to keep open house, and to entertain a constant crowd of guests, who plied him with questions, and thus even in his hours of leisure kept his mind in the severest tension.
" Whoever was familiarly acquainted with Luther," says Melancthon, "and knew his habits, must admit that he Avas the most excellent of men, agreeable and soft in his social moments, and in no respect dogmatic, or a lover of disj)utes.
To these characteristics he added the gravity which became his position.
If he displayed any obduracy or harshness in his struggles with his opponents, it did not arise from the malignity of his nature, but sprang from his ardor and passion for the truth."
Although Luther was neither small in stature nor naturally of a weak constitution, he was yet singularly temperate in eating and dieting.
Melancthon assures us that he had known him, at a period when his health was excellent, pass four entire days without taking any nourishment, and that he frequently took nothing during the day save a herring and a morsel of bread.
Luther's faults are soon numbered.
They were impetuosity of temper, and a consequent want of THE LIFE AND TIMES patience and charity towards opponents ; a strong tendency towards lianglitiness
; and an occasional indulgence of wrath, cherished from a principle of zeal, but which, when given loose reign to, could not but be evil in its results.
These, it has been fittingly said, were the remains of the natural man ; they were the humbling evidences that faith and wisdom may have wrought wonders, while charity had still to plead for full admission into his heart.
We have seen how Luther was pushed step by step into reluctant ojoposition to the Roman see.
Nor with all his boldness can we wonder at his hesitation.
He knew full well what conflict with Eome meant—success, or annihilation.
He was aware that if he fought Leo, he must also overcome the potent influences of his splendid court, the literature, the poetry, the science, and the fine arts of the epoch.
He was well acquainted with the unscrupulous and tremendous strength of the papal hierarchy ; he knew that that flagitious court had never hesitated to adopt any, the most infamous means, for the destruction of those who presumed to rebuke its wickedness, or to menace its safety.
He had himself seen pontifis mutter prayers with equal readiness over the merciless harries of fierce crusaders, over the blackest intrigues of tortuous statesmanship, over the bowl of the poisoner, and the accursed steel of the bravo.
What wonder then, if the prospect of a battle with this formidable and death-dealing hierarchy gave Luther, reared in the most credulous belief in its unerring wisdom, great pause and doubt ?
Was lie not familiar with the minutest incidents connected witli the fate of his predecessors ? How was he, a fi-iendless and obscure monk, to win credence against the haughty ipse dixit of the Roman pontiff?
How was he, unassisted and alone, to storm the walls of that religious Bastille which had repelled with fatal effect so many dangerous assaults?
Could he, a feeble monk, reasonably hope to breast the fierce onset of the Eoman see, when Huss had failed so miserably, and jDerished in the lurid fires of Constance
; when the learned, civilized, and gallant Yaudois had been routed and dragooned on the rich Languedocian plains, and oa. the banks of the dreamy Rhone
; when the German Caesars, upon venturing, with the empire and the feudal system at their back, to oppose the pope, had been hurled, balked and bloody, from their thrones ?
To dream of success seemed madness.
Luther go carefully over the whole gTound of his dissent, in the earnest hope that he might detect some flaw in the chain of his argument
; but it might not be, every link was iron.
Reexamination only strengthened his conviction.
Then he threw fear and doubt to the winds.
God had given unto him a great truth to proclaim—salvation by the atoning blood of Christ, through the power of the Holy Spirit, and repealed in the word of God, unerring and all-sufiicient—and saying,
" God help me, I can do nothing else," he went singly and serenely in its behalf into the conflict, alone with God and his brave heart—
"The star that looked on tempests, and was still unshaken."
As Grattan said of Fox, " You are to measure the magijitude of such a mind by jaarallels of latitude."
And God gave him for this faithfulness the happiest reward ever before vouchsafed to man.
Luther lived to see the triumph of that Reformation which he was commissioned to commence—lived to see the rotten foundations of the papacy in Germany crack, tojiple, and fall—lived to be crowned teacher and benefactor.
Then God called him to his own. side, and the saying of Pericles was again fulfilled, and "the whole earth was the sepulchre of the illustrious man."
The angels sang peeans, and God pronounced his gracious benediction upon that earthly course which Martin Luther had run so well.