Taborites, sometimes Hussites, until a portion of them took the name of Bohemian brethren, they successfully opposed the Emperor Sigismund, and gained national rights for themselves, which produced the double effect of disseminating greatly the truth, and preparing the way for the times of Luther.

Two hundred congregations of such men, who had borne all the persecutions and resisted all the encroachments of Romanism, existed in the beginning of the sixteenth century, only a few years before Luther raised his voice against the indulgences of Tetzel.

CHAPTER III.

LUTHER A BOY-A MONK- -A PREACHER.

THE Bohemian brethren thus prepared the way for Luther and the principles which he advocated.

More than three hundred years ago a poor boy, fourteen years of age, was seen begging for food in Germany. From house to house he went, sometimes repulsed, and sometimes receiving the coarse fare he sought, until at last he returned to his home. This was the school of Magdeburg, where he was seeking an education, and in the intervals intended for recreation employed in obtaining bread.

A year afterward the same boy, scantily clad, might be recognized at the distinguished seminary of Eisenach. Perhaps a stranger might not notice him at first, but on looking closer he would be struck by the deep seriousness and earnestness which marked his features. Decision is on his lip, and notwithstanding its calm gaze the fires of impetuous feeling sleep in

his eye.

Sometimes now he goes

out and sings for the food which nature demands; and sometimes, weary, discouraged, faint, and hungry, is ready to give up the knowledge for which he so earnestly pants.

This was Martin Luther, born in the year 1483 in the town of Eisleben, of the Electorate of Saxony. Consecrated to God by a truly pious father and a devoted mother, whose earnest prayer had often been that he might become a useful man, and contribute to the spreading of the Gospel, Luther was perhaps unconsciously preparing himself to fulfill their anticipations.

We behold him again, when eighteen years of age, at the University of Erfurth, distinguished for his talents and genius, applying himself to a course of preparation for the study of the law.

Two years passed, and the young man was looking forward to a career of honor and earthly greatness. These aspirations were interrupted by an event which altered the whole course of his future life. Reading in the library of the university one day, he met with a Bible.* He took it up and looked at it, and read some passages. The more he read the more he wished to read, until he saw that he was not a Christian as he thought he was. He became alarmed at his spiritual condition. An intimate friend about the same time was suddenly assassinated,† which, with a

*Some authors think he found the Bible first in the monastery he afterward entered; but the best authorities favor the text. See Merle D'Aubigné's His. Ref., vol i, p. 156. Also Mathesius's Life of Luther, p. 3.

+ Michelet, in his Memoirs of Luther, published in Paris in 1835, says that his friend was killed by lightning at his side. Audin, also a French author, makes the same statement in his Life of Luther, published in 1845. Many other authors, both before and after them, give us a similar relation. The encyclopedias have fallen into the same error. See Rees's Enc.; Edin. Enc.; Biog. Univ., Paris, 1821; Biog. Univ., Bruxelles, 1843; Cyc. of Biog., N. Y., 1856. See also Enc. Britan., down to seventh edition,

wound he accidentally received from his own sword, and a violent thunder-storm, served to deepen his impressions.

Believing, according to the custom of the times, that true religion was to be found in the cells of the monasteries and nunneries, he determined to renounce the study of law, and secure his salvation by becoming a monk. Accordingly, when he was nearly twenty-two years of age, he entered the convent of the hermits of St. Augustine. Here he renounced all the worldly honor and fame which he had hoped to enjoy as a lawyer. But how truly did God give him a hundred fold! for what would his fame have been as a lawyer compared with what it has been as a reformer? So certain is it that even as regards the things of this life men do not generally lose but gain by renouncing them for God. But it was no doubt a struggle for Luther, as it is for every one. He wrote to his friends, bidding them farewell. It must have been a sorrowful day to him, as he sat in his lonely cell, with the solitary life of a monk before him, penning words of adieu to his mother, father, and other relatives. The next day he sent these letters to them, with the clothes he had worn until then.

1852. The eighth edition, however, of the Encyclopedia Britannica, published in 1857, corrects the statement, and says that Luther's friend was killed by assassination. This is evidently correct. Mathesius, who was a cotemporary of Luther, says: "A good comrade of his was assassinated, and a tremendous thunder-storm, with lightning, frightened him.” Pp. 3, 4. Moritz Meurer, in his Life of Luther, published at Dresden in 1852, follows Mathesius, and adds, in a note: "What is here related is based on the testimony of three intimate friends of Luther, Melancthon, Mathesius, and Ratzenberger (his family physician toward the close of his life ;) all other accounts are less authenticated, and in part probably embellished. "This apocryphal account [that a friend called Alexius was struck dead by lightning] is repeated by most of the moderns without examination." Merle D'Aubigné also, in his History of the Reformation, follows Mathesius, vol. i, p. 159.

Did he succeed in obtaining what he sought? No. He was as greatly disappointed after he had been a short time in the convent as many have been who have entered such places since his time. Luther neither found the employments he expected, nor did he find the peace of mind which he was seeking. If he attempted to study as he had done at the university, he was constantly interrupted by the monks. They did not believe in so much learning. They were gratified that a young man of his ability and knowledge should abandon the university for their order; but they thought it would be well to humble him, so they gave him the lowest employments. The former master of arts performed the offices of porter, gate-opener, sweeper, and chambermaid in general for the convent. And when he got through the friars would say: "Away with your wallet through the town;" and he would then start with his bread bag, and wander from street to street, and from door to door, begging for the monks, until returning weary with his work he would shut himself up in his narrow cell, and seek to gain a few moments for reading and study. The monks would soon find him in his solitude, and take him away from his books, saying: "Come, come! It is not by studying, but by begging bread, corn, eggs, fish, meat, and money that a monk renders himself useful to the cloister." Perhaps Luther, having early learned the trade, was an adept in the art. He would submit, lay aside his books, and take up his bag again. He persevered in such occupations, believing them to be acceptable to God, until the university to which he had belonged interceded for his relief from them, and he was freed from his tasks.

Now he gave himself up with new zeal to study.

A Bible which was fastened by a chain in the convent was his favorite book. In it he constantly sought the comfort which he had hoped to find by becoming a monk. Shut up as in a prison, he struggled constantly against the evil inclinations of his nature. Penances and mortifications were resorted to in vain. Fasting and prayer seemed to bring no relief. A little bread and a herring were often his only food. O how earnestly he wished to have in his heart the assurance of his salvation! This was the great want of his soul. Without it there was no happiness for him. He says of his own spiritual state at this time:

"I tortured myself almost to death in order to procure peace with God for my troubled heart and agitated conscience; but surrounded with thick darkness, I found peace nowhere. I went every day to confession, but that was of no use to me. Then, bowed down with sorrow, I tortured myself by the multitude of my thoughts. 'Look,' I exclaimed, 'thou art still envious, impatient, passionate. It profiteth thee nothing. O wretched man, to have entered this sacred order!""

John Staupitz was at this time vicar-general of the Augustine monks throughout Germany. Though a Roman Catholic priest, he was a good man. Amid all the corruptions and darkness of his age, he had sought light from the Scriptures, and had at last found peace with God. He became acquainted with Luther, and pitied his condition, for it resembled what his own had been.

"Why are you so sad, brother Martin ?" said he one day.

"Ah," replied Luther, with a deep sigh, "I do not know what will become of me. It is in vain that I make promises to God; sin is always the strongest."