MARTIN LUTHER AND CHARLES V. AT

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THE DIET OF WORMS.

ECESSITY and opportunity make heroes. The strong influence that Martin Luther felt to expose and redress the evils existing in the Church of Rome, brought him prominently before the world; so that now, no name in connection with the reform of religious abuses is so universally known. What those abuses were, prior to his coming upon the scene, history declares to be of so monstrous a character, that, if they were not well attested, they would certainly be incredible. The Emperor Maximilian, who was a true son of the Church, said, "The Pope has used me like a rogue. I can fairly say that I have never found sincerity or good faith in any Pope I have met with; but, please God, I hope this will be the last of them.” Erasmus, the most learned scholar of his time, said, "Convents were places of impiety, where everything was done to which a depraved imagination could lead, under the sanction and mask of religion. In churches," he further wrote, "hardly any room is found for comments on the gospel. The holy doctrine of Christ must be suppressed, or interpreted contrary to its meaning, for the profit of those who trade in indulgences." The incidents in the history of Inno

cent VIII. may be taken as an illustration of the sanctity which attached to the chair of St. Peter. When elected, he purchased the votes of the cardinals by castles and benefices. His nephews-for he had nephews—were the recipients of ecclesiastical dignities and revenues. His seven bastard sons-for he had seven by as many mistresses-he owned publicly, and had them endowed like princes. One of these had a brother-in-law, whom Innocent made a cardinal at thirteen years of age. And then, with some show of interest in spiritual concerns, he instituted a crusade against the infidels; the treasure collected for this object, however, he consumed in pomp and state. At his death, Roderic Borgia, whose scandalous immoralities were the talk of Rome, was elected to the vacant chair. His children, which were numerous, were placed on a level with the nobles. His daughter was married in the Vatican; his son, the famous Cæsar Borgia, killed, plundered, and ran riot in crime, having the silent or public sanction of his father. Julius II. was a pope of another character. headed his own armies, delighted in the pomp and glory of war, and mixed in the fight at the siege of Mirandola, with all the enthusiasm of a military chieftain. This was indeed mockery. He professed to stand in the place of the meek and lowly Jesus, who came to bring peace on the earth; to use the weapons of warfare, and to delight in their use, was to reverse all. the teaching which he professed it his business to con

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serve and expound. Leo X. succeeded the soldier. pope. His tastes were quite of a different order. He was a patron of the arts, a learned scholar, and a companion of those who lived to enjoy and embellish life. He only desired to live a life of ease, to please the ear and charm the fancy. From his dreams of taste, his conversation with wits, his admiration of pictures and statues, he was, however, disturbed by the sounds of the Reformation.

Luther, who originated the Reformation, was born at Eisleben, in Saxony, in 1483. When he attained his fourteenth year, he was sent to school at Magdeburg. His youth was distinguished for diligence, and, as a result, proficiency. He was devoted to the classics, poetry, and rhetoric; music being studied as a relaxation. In 1501 he went to the University of Erfurt, when he immediately entered upon a course of logic and philosophy. He then studied the works of Cicero, Virgil, and Livy. His industry and proficiency were rewarded in his twentieth year by the degree of M.A. Afterwards he read lectures upon Aristotle's physics, on ethics, and other branches of philosophy, by which he attained to considerable celebrity. This, no doubt, induced his relations to advise him to devote himself to the practice of the law, in which they did not doubt but that he would rise to eminence. From the contemplation of this profession, however, he was diverted by an accident, and his pursuits in life irrevocably fixed.

While out one day in the fields with his companion, they were overtaken by a thunder-storm, and a bolt from the surcharged clouds laid his friend dead on the field. The reflection arose in Luther's mind, "What if such a fate were mine? How could I meet my God, if the summons were thus sudden ?" In that spirit he vowed that the world should be forsaken, and that henceforth his life should be an offering to God. His friends were not able to move him from his resolution. He therefore entered a convent of Augustinian friars. Here he applied himself closely to the study of divinity. In the course of his search in the library, he met with a copy of the Bible in Latin, which had lain neglected by the occupants of the monastery, and which he had not seen before. His curiosity was so highly raised,, that he abandoned all other pursuits so that he might have leisure for its study. This much astonished the monks, who were not accustomed to derive their knowledge from that source. After he had been a year in the monastery, he took the vows, and was admitted to priests' orders in 1507.

The Elector of Saxony having founded a university at Wittenberg, selected Luther to fill the chair of Philosophy, and afterwards that of Divinity, his fame having now become widely diffused. He entered upon his new vocation with great zeal, discarding the usual mechanical methods of teaching; so that his classes were crowded with pupils, and he himself considered the chief ornament of the university. He had also at