Melancthon. It was inscribed with these concise and expressive words: "Here lived, taught, and died, Philip Melancthon." Melancthon was appointed professor of ancient languages at the university of Wittenberg in the year 1518. "Neither Luther, whose acquaintance he made the first, nor his colleagues, conceived great hopes, in seeing his youth, his embarrassment, and his manners.' But four days afterwards he made his speech of inauguration, and the young boy, as Luther called him, spoke in such elegant Latin, and showed so much learning, so sound a judgment and cultivated a mind, that all his auditors were filled with admiration. Afterwards, when the commotion which the monk of Wittenberg had raised agitated all Christendom, we find Melancthon at Wittenberg, more quietly engaged.

"Whilst the inhabitants of the eternal city were thus agitated, more tranquil scenes passed at Wittenberg; Melancthon spread there a mild but brilliant light. Fifteen hundred or two thousand hearers came from Germany, England, the Low Countries, France, Italy, Hungary, and Greece, to attend his teaching; he was then twenty-four years old, and was not an ecclesiastic."

It was from Wittenberg that Luther set out on his journey to Rome. Seven Augustine convents differed on points of opinion from their vicar-general, and he was chosen as their agent to represent these differences to the pope. This visit to Rome had doubtless a powerful influence on the future course of the reformer.

"It was necessary that he should know Rome. Full of the prejudices of his cloister, he had always represented it to himself as the seat of holiness. He set out; he crossed the Alps; but hardly had he descended into the plains of rich and voluptuous Italy, than he found on every side subjects of astonishment and scandal.

Finally, after a painful journey under the burning sun of Italy, at the beginning of the summer, he approached the city of the seven hills. His heart was moved; his eyes sought for the queen of the world and of the church. As soon as he discovered the eternal city, the city of St. Peter and St. Paul, the metropolis of Christianity, he fell on his face to the ground, and cried out, Holy Rome, I salute thee!'"*

*These extracts are translated from the French of D'Aubigne.

Luther is in Rome; the professor of Wittenberg is in the midst of the eloquent ruins of the Rome of the emperors and consuls, of the Rome of the confessors of Jesus Christ and of the martyrs, where formerly were to be found the Virgil whose works he had carried into his cloister, and all the other great men, at whose memory his heart had often beat. He finds their statues, the remains of monuments which still attest their glory. But all that glory, all that power has passed away! He recalls at each step the sad presentiment of Scipio shedding tears over the ruins of Carthage, its burned palaces and prostrate walls, and exclaiming, "Thus it will be with Rome!" "And, in fact," said Luther, "the Rome of Scipio and of the Cæsars has been changed into a corpse. There are so many ruins, that the foundations of houses rest on what were formerly the roofs." All these ruins said to Luther, that all that is strongest in the eyes of men can perish by the breath of the Lord.

But with these profane ashes are blended those of the saints. He remembers this; the sepulchre of the martyrs is not far from those of the Roman generals, and from their conquerors. Christian Rome, with all her griefs, has more power over the soul of the Saxon monk, than pagan Rome, with all her glory. It was here arrived that letter, in which Paul had written, "The just shall live by faith." He is not far from the Appian Way and the Three Taverns. There was the house of Narcissus; here the palace of the Cæsars, where the Lord delivered the apostle from the mouth of the lion. Oh, how these remembrances fortify the heart of the monk of Wittenberg! Rome presented to the pious monk a spectacle so unlike that which his devout imagination had drawn within his cell at Wittenberg, that I can scarcely forbear continuing a condensed account of it. The warlike Julius 11. then filled the pontifical chair,— Leo x., as has sometimes been stated. Luther often related an anecdote of that pope. He was at prayers when he received intelligence that his army had been beaten by the French at Ravenna; he flung the book on the ground, and, addressing St. Peter, "Well!" he cried, "thou art become a Frenchman! is it thus thou protectest thy church?" Then, turning to the Swiss, from whom he hoped for assistance, he added, "Holy Swiss, pray for us!

Ignorance, levity, the contempt of all that was sacred, a shameful traffic in spiritual things-such was the spectacle that unhappy city presented. Yet the pious monk remained still in his delusions. "Oh, how I regret that my father and mother still live," said the pious German often to himself. "How happy should I have been to deliver them from the fire of purgatory now, by masses, prayers, and many other admirable works." He had found light, but darkness was yet far from being chased away by it. His heart was converted, but his mind was not enlightened; he had faith and love, but he wanted knowledge. It was not easy to break forth from that profound night which for so many ages had covered the world. Luther several times said mass at Rome; he performed that action with all the dignity and unction which it seemed to him to require. But what affliction seized the heart of the Saxon monk, in beholding the profane mechanism of Roman priests in celebrating the mass! Those priests, on their side, smiled at his simplicity. day that he officiated, he found that at an adjoining altar, a priest had already said seven masses while he had been saying one. "Go on, go on," cried another, "send back to our holy Lady her Son!" making an impious allusion to the transubstantiation of the bread into the body of our Lord.

One

At that period it was the fashion at the papal court to attack Christianity; and no one could pass for a man of the world who did not entertain some erroneous or heretical opinion concerning the dogmas of the church. They wished to prove to Erasmus, from passages of Pliny, that there was no difference between the souls of men and those of beasts, and the young courtiers of the pope asserted that the orthodox faith was the stupid invention of certain saints. The title of envoy of the German Augustines, caused Luther to be invited by several distinguished ecclesiastics. One day in particular he dined with several prelates, who showed themselves before him in their natural colours. Their impious conversation and jesting manners were not concealed, as they believed that he was of one mind with themselves. Among other jests, they related before the monk, how, while saying mass at the altar, instead of the sacramental words which should transform the bread and wine into the body and blood of the Saviour, they pronounced

Luther mixed often with the monks, and with the citizens of Rome. If some of these praised the pope and his retinue, others gave a free vent to their complaints and sarcasms. "One would not believe," said Luther afterwards, "that sins and infamous actions were committed at Rome; it was necessary to see it to believe it; thus there is a saying, that if there is a hell, Rome is built upon it. It is an abyss from whence issues all sin." This spectacle made a great impression on Luther's mind; and this impression was afterwards increased. "The nearer one approaches to Rome," said he, several years after, "the worse Christians one finds. They say commonly that one goes to Rome the first time to seek for a rogue; the second time, one finds him; and the third time, one carries him away at the moment of leaving. But at present the world is become so clever, that these three journeys are made in one."

One of the most celebrated and profound geniuses of Italy-Machiavel, who lived at Florence when Luther passed through it to go to Rome, made the same remark. "The greatest symptom," said he, "of the approaching ruin of Christianity," (by which he meant Roman Catholicism,) "is, that the more people approach the capital of Christianity, the less they find of the Christian spirit. The scandalous examples, and the crimes of the court of Rome, are the cause of Italy losing all principles of piety, and all religious feeling. We Italians owe it principally to the church and to the priests that we have become unbelieving reprobates."

Luther, in later years, felt the value of this journey. "I would not," said he, "for a hundred thousand florins, but have seen Rome." It was at Rome that the monk of Wittenberg was to be indeed enlightened; not only as to the state of the professing church as it then was, but as to a point of still greater moment--his own way of finding peace with God. This portion of his history is singularly interesting, and one who has seen the steps,

or ladder, he mounted, may be excused quoting it. It may be well to premise, that it is firmly believed that the steps of Pontius Pilate's house, which our blessed Lord descended, and traced with his blood, are preserved at Rome. No one must ascend these sacred stairs but on their knees.

The pope, while Luther was at Rome, had promised an indulgence to those who ascended the sacred stairs. Wishing to merit this indulgence, "the poor Saxon monk climbed these steps, which they told him had been miraculously transported from Jerusalem to Rome. But while he performed this meritorious act, he thought he heard a voice at the bottom of his heart, crying, as he had heard it at Wittenberg and Bologna,* The just shall live by faith.' He arose affrighted; he was ashamed to see how low superstition had abased him; he fled from the scene of his folly. That powerful word had a mysterious influence on the life of Luther. It was a word which created the Reformer and the Reformation. It was by it that God said then, ‘Let there be light, and there was light.' Thus it was in Rome that God gave to Luther that clear view of the fundamental doctrine of Christianity. He had come to seek in the city of the pontiffs the solution of some difficulties concerning a monastic order; he brought from it in his heart the salvation of the church. Luther quitted Rome, and returned to Wittenberg, his soul filled with sorrow and indignation."

We will return there with him. The man who conducted us through the town, (for all such places are beset with guides and persons who live really on the memories of the past,) spoke a barbarous sort of German-French, which rendered both languages almost unintelligible. He told us about "Luther's Oak," and though not quite clear as to his meaning, the idea of seeing an oak that was contemporary with Luther stimulated us, tired and heated though we were, to walk quite through the long rough-paved town, and beyond its gate, under the noon-tide ray of a fervent sun, to visit the memorable oak.

When we came out upon the road, and had walked a short way, we approached a very pretty fresh-looking tree, set round with a paling, inside which sundry pleasant flowers were planted, quite in German taste, recalling to one's mind the

* On his road to Rome.

graves we see thus carefully planted over and adorned in the cemeteries of Germany.

"There,” said our guide, “is Luther's oak."

"How!" we exclaimed. "Luther's oak? It looks very young."

"It is six years old," said the German, gravely.

"Six years! and we understood that it had lived in Luther's time!"

"Oh! there have been ten oaks since then," he answered. "The French cut down the first, and the one that was planted instead died; the next that they planted the French cut down also in the last war. This one was planted six years ago, and it grows well."

We turned precipitately back, murmuring in English, "What nonsense!" But further inquiry rendered us more satisfied with the young oak, though it was not the contemporary of Luther. It marks the spot where Luther burned the pope's bull; and German gratitude, or pride, perpetuates the memory of the deed in perpetuating the existence of an oak, which, whatever accidents befall it, is renewed or cherished on that memorable soil.

I must finish this brief account of my short visit to Wittenberg with the description of Luther's departure from that town, when summoned by the emperor Charles v. to appear at the Diet of Worms, to give account of the doctrine and of the books which he had published:

"The 2nd of April had arrived, (1521.) Luther was to take leave of his friends. Having said adieu to his colleagues, he turned to Melancthon :-' If I do not return,' said he to him with emotion,' and if my enemies put me to death, oh! my brother, do not cease to teach; and stand fast in the truth. Labour in my place, since I can no longer labour in the world if you live, what matters it if I perish.' Thus remitting the care of his soul to Him who is faithful and true, Luther mounted his car, and quitted Wittenberg. The town council had supplied him with a very humble carriage, covered with a stuff curtain which might be put on or removed at pleasure. The imperial herald, (sent to convey him to Worms,) covered with decorations, and bearing the eagle of the empire, was on horseback going before, followed by his attendant. The friends of the gospel, the citizens of Wittenberg, invoking God with emotion, melted into tears. Thus Luther set out."

As long as Wittenberg shall retain one | stone upon another, Luther shall have there a monument; and one at least of the pilgrims who have visited that place, recalls with pleasure the sensations that were experienced, when sitting for a few minutes in the chair of the monk of Wittenberg.

"The just shall live by faith." That sentence, directed to the heart and understanding of the reformer, was an emanation from the Fountain of Light, which not only set his own struggling soul free from the darkness and bondage which had enthralled it, but left to the newborn church a test, whereby in all ages of its existence to test its verity.*

THE MANHOOD OF CHRIST.

S. B.

Few of us think enough of the real and complete manhood of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are told that he "was made

man," and we believe the amazing fact; but then we generally confine our view of his manhood to the mere form he took on him, to the body in which he suffered and died. But the Scripture goes much farther. It speaks of him as man within as well as without: as possessing a human soul as well as a human frame;

as being as truly and experimentally acquainted with human feelings, sin only excepted, as any one of ourselves.

It tells us, too, why this human soul and these human feelings were given him. It was for a most wonderful and gracious purpose-that he might carry them up with him to his lofty throne, and feel, like a brother, in heaven, for

those whom he has left in tribulation on earth. This is St. Paul's account of the "It behoved him to be made in matter;

all things like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful highpriest:" "For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted.'

We lose nothing, then, by the high exaltation of the Son of man. Our misery can reach him at the right hand of his Father, just as quickly as the widow's reached him when he was by her side at Nain; it can move his heart as deeply. It cannot indeed disquiet his soul, as the sight of misery disquieted him in the days of his flesh; he no longer weeps and is

*The doctrine of justification by faith, revived and promulgated by Luther, has been said to be the test of a standing or a fallen church.

troubled; but it affects him as much. Nay, it possibly affects him more. His human soul is now "made perfect;" its powers are enlarged. Its compassion may consequently be increased. Nothing assuredly is gone from it but its pain and weakness. It is a father's pity, without its imperfection; it is a mother's love, softened and heightened by the love of heaven.-Bradley.

MYSTICAL INTERPRETATION.

How ingenious soever the detection of the mystical under the simply historical sociated with the ingenuity, I cannot may be, and whatever piety may be asbut regard the ingenuity as perverse, and the piety, though ever so well-meaning, as mistaken. I may admire the wish to find Christ everywhere, and I may have much more allowance for the man who finds him where he is not, than for the man who obstinately fails to find him far keener severity, the interpreter who where he is. I may censure, with a carnalizes the spiritual, than the interpreter who spiritualizes the carnal: but still, the one legitimate object of all investigation of the Scriptures should be to find, and of all exposition of the Scriptures to unfold, what the Holy Spirit of God intended, in every portion of them, God of salvation; it is true, that this is to convey. It is true, that God is the the most interesting relation in which he stands to our fallen and guilty world; and it is true, that to reveal him in this relation is the primary object of his inspired word. But God is the God of providence, as well as the God of salvation; and his administration in the one relation is so closely connected and interwoven with his administration in the

other, that, in regard to our world, they can hardly be contemplated apart. Lessons relative to his providence are thus enhanced in value and interest by their connexion with the system and the purposes of his grace. And in few parts of the sacred oracles are more important and striking lessons to be found on the subject of providence, than those contained in the narrative which we have now closed.*

Here are the "wheels

within wheels." Here are the various and conflicting passions of men working out Divine ends, while they

66 mean not so, neither do their hearts think so." Here is "the wrath of man" praising *The History of Joseph.