THE CHRISTIAN MISCELLANY. ITTENBERG, by its associations, is a place of surpassing interest. In itself it is not attractive. It is situated in a flat part of Prussian Saxony; bears upon its shattered fortifications marks of severe sieges; contains only some ten thousand inhabitants, and is dirty and ill-paved but, as the home of Martin Luther during his daring struggles with the Papacy, and as the cradle of the Protestant Reformation, there rests upon it a halo of renown exceeding the lustre shed upon towns and cities of celebrity by the names and deeds of monarchs and warriors. Entering it by the road from the railway-station, we pass through a low, heavy gateway, when, immediately on the left, we perceive a massive stone building, which, in England, would be taken for an old wayside inn, or a dilapidated hospital, but which is used for the townschool. Stepping through the central entrance of this building into the quadrangular courtyard, we see directly opposite the picturesque structure represented in the coloured illustration given in our present VOL. XIII.-Second Series.-JANUARY, 1867. A 2 4 THE HOME OF LUTHER. number. This is the building, preserved from the Augustine monastery, in which Martin Luther served in the office of Professor of Theology and Philosophy; and where, after he had cast off the cowl, he lived with his wife and family, the firm and resolute defender of the truth as it is in Jesus. The building has been much repaired and altered, especially in the upper part; but the rooms occupied by the hero of the Reformation have been sacredly preserved, with their furniture; so that within they are mostly what they were three hundred years ago. These apartments are on the middle floor, over the two pointed doorways; and are entered by a winding staircase, which commences at the foot of the octagonal turret in front. At the top of the first flight of the turret-stairs is the anteroom, containing portraits of Electors of Saxony in their robes. This leads to Luther's day-room, which is some twenty feet square; and is wainscoted and ceiled with oak panels, as shown in the wood-engraving. The windows are of plain Tudor form, glazed with round leaded panes. In one corner of this room stands his German STOVE, made after his own directions, with the four Evangelists in its compartments, for relief and ornament. Here, too, are his TABLE, with his black-lettered Psalter; his Professor's CHAIR; and the DRINKING-CUP given to him by Frederick the Wise, made of oak, and silver-rimmed at the top and bottom. Only a fragment of his drinking-glass remains; tradition reporting that Frederick the Great, on being denied the relic, broke it, saying, "If he could not have it, no one else should." Over the door leading from this room into the chamber adjoining, is the autograph in chalk by the hand of Peter the Great, covered with glass, to preserve it. On visiting these apartments, it is impossible not to reflect upon the mingled feelings there experienced by the brave-hearted man who occupied them, and with whose name they are lastingly associated. What struggles with the Tempter, and with the flesh! What resolves; and what wrestling with God in prayer! What searching of the Scriptures! What faith! What determinations of purpose to declare the whole counsel of the Lord! And what scenes of social and domestic enjoyment were witnessed there! for Martin Luther was not a cold ascetic, but a warm-hearted, sociable man, "given to hospitality," and rejoicing in the companionship of his family and friends. He had no thought of marriage, as he relates, but rather of martyrdom; yet, when God gave him CATHERINE BORA for his wife, he loved and cherished her with the strongest affection, and declared he would not exchange her for the kingdom of France, nor the treasures of Venetia. "His dear and amiable Kate," as he called her, sat by his side in his studies, embroidering his portrait in colours; read and sang with him in his leisure hours; sported with him in conversation; and cheered him by remarks of wit and pleasantry when he was depressed. He played and gambolled with his children as they grew up from smiling infancy, wept and prayed over them when they were sick, mourned THE HOME OF LUTHER. 5 for such of them as were removed from him by death, and left to those who survived him a rich heritage of fatherly counsel and benediction. He was exceedingly hospitable; was fond of being surrounded with intelligent companions; and, while strictly temperate in eating and drinking, had evident gratification in supplying for others a well-furnished table. Nor was his hospitality limited to his own personal friends and associates. The passing traveller, or the inquiring visiter, was his welcome guest; and, not unfrequently, he filled the rooms of the spacious monastery in which he dwelt with poor from the town and neighbourhood, fed them at his board, and cheered them by his discourse. MUSIC he ranked next to theology. He employed it in hours of relaxation to soothe and rejoice his heart; and, if he had done nothing more for the Church than supply to it his noble hymn, commencing "Great God! what do I see and hear? and his grand "Old Hundredth" tune, by which successive generations have sent up their praises to the Divine Author of all blessings, he would not have lived in vain. He exercised himself, also, at the bench with the lathe; cultivated the garden-beds with his own hands; and said, in his rough humorous style,-" When Satan and his servants storm and rage, I laugh at him, and contemplate the garden where I can enjoy the blessings of my Creator, and sing His praises." So that in this old monastery Martin Luther, with all his burden of anxiety and service, had a home of social and domestic enjoyment. Descending into the courtyard, and leaving on the right the garden in which Martin Luther worked and sang, and the spring of everflowing water of which he drank, we reach the main street, which leads to the heart of the town. A few paces onwards, on the left, stands the house of MELANCTHON. It is a structure with parapetted gables, resembling some of the buildings in Holland; and on the front is a tablet inserted, bearing the inscription, (6 HERE LIVED, TAUGHT, AND DIED, PHILIP MELANCTHON." Proceeding further, we find ourselves in a square, with the Townhall and parish-church on the right; and, in front of them, bronze statues of Luther and Melancthon, the size of life, by SCHADOW, under iron Gothic canopies. On the side of the pedestal for that of Luther are inscribed his memorable words: "If it be the work of God, it will endure; if of man, it will perish." The Town-hall, or Rathhaus, as it is termed, contains some relics of Luther, and some portraits by his friend, the celebrated painter, LUCAS CRANACH, who was Burgomaster of the town; and in the church adjoining is shown the font at which Luther baptized, as, also, the pulpit which occupies the place of the one from which he sometimes preached. 6 THE HOME OF LUTHER. But the main object to the Protestant visiter is still further on, at the extreme end of the town, where, next to what was the palace of the Electors of Saxony, stands the old SCHLOSS KIRCHE; a huge Gothic structure, in the form of an oblong chapel, with tall double windows in each compartment between the buttresses, and covered with a highpitched roof. At the side was the famous DOOR to which Luther affixed his theses against Papal indulgences, and which is thus associated with the first public act of the Reformation. The doorway is surrounded with deep, bold mouldings; and within the pointed head, on a gilded ground, Luther and Melancthon are represented as kneeling before the cross, each holding the Gospels in his hands. The original wooden doors were burnt at the time of war with France; but they have been replaced with doors of more durable material, bronze, divided into compartments by small columns, between which are embossed, in German characters, the ninety-five theses of the Reformer. Within the church, at opposite sides of the middle pavement, are the graves of Luther and Melancthon; which, amidst successive wars and revolutions, have remained undisturbed. They have plain oak trapdoor-coverings, with iron locks and hinges, securing the vaults in which the coffins are deposited. In this church, also, are the quaint and elaborate tombs of Frederick the Wise, and John the Stedfast, Electors of Saxony, friends of Luther and the Reformation. As we return to the railway-station through the entrance-gate of the town, immediately on the left, protected by wooden palings, is an OAK-TREE, growing in the place of the one under which Luther burnt the Papal Bull, on |