The young reader will find no difficulty in comprehending the manner in which the events just referred to exerted a beneficial influence on the religious state of the world, and gave strength and weapons to those who were anxious to throw off the papal yoke. The vast power of the Romish Church was owing to the ignorance of her subjects, and especially to their ignorance of the Holy Scriptures. She was able to impose upon them her absurdities and corruptions, as the religion of Jesus, because they had no means by which to ascertain the true character of that religion. Her priesthood were upheld by superstition. The glory of her fabrics depended upon the obscure medium, through which they were seen by her half-blind admirers; when light was thrown upon them, and the eyes of beholders began to open, their deformity and rottenness were at once discovered. Men saw how much they had been deceived, and felt how much they were oppressed. A fit occasion was only needed for the commencement of a struggle between liberty and despotism, truth and error. That occasion was soon furnished, and a conflict began -a conflict not yet finished, and to which we may attribute much of the civil and religious freedom now enjoyed by the world.

The commencement of this struggle in the sixteenth century, by which the pretensions of

popery were resisted, and a large portion of Christendom separated from the Romish Church, is called THE REFORMATION. The history of this

event is justly regarded as among the most important and instructive in the annals of mankind; and should the humble sketch, which follows, induce the young reader to give to it a more thorough and attentive study, and increase his devotion to the great principles of Protestantism, the design of its preparation will be accomplished.

CHAPTER I.

THE BIRTH, EARLY LIFE, AND PERSONAL APPEAR

ANCE OF LUTHER - INDULGENCES - TETZEL-1483

- 1517.

THE simplest and most entertaining way in which to give a sketch of the Reformation, will be to follow, for the most part, the career of the principal actors in that great event. We begin, therefore, in Germany, and with Martin Luther.

This celebrated man, the son of John Luther and Margaret Luideman, was born November 10th, 1483, at Eisleben, a town of the county of Mansfeldt in Upper Saxony, where his father resided, and pursued the humble occupation of a miner. He learned the rudiments of grammar and received his first religious instruction at home. At the age of ten, he attended school at Magdeburg; but receiving there no pecuniary assistance, he removed to Eisnach, in the hope of being aided by the relations of his mother, who was descended from a respectable family in that city. This expectation was for a time disappointed, and he was compelled, like other poor students, to gain the means of living by singing before the doors of houses; this he called his "bread music." He once, however, attracted

the attention of a kind kinswoman, who generously provided for his maintenance. His progress in his studies was rapid, and in 1501 he entered the University of Erfurt, where he attended the regular lectures on logic and philosophy. The mode in which these branches were taught, did not satisfy the clear and curious mind of the young student, and he devoted much of his time to the classics. At the early age of twenty he took his degree, and after devoting himself to the business of teaching for a little while, began the study of civil law.

But an incident occurred about this time which entirely changed his purposes. One of his intimate friends, a young man by the name of Alexis, suddenly died. Historians have not ascertained with certainty the manner of his death. Some say that he was killed by a stroke of lightning, whilst others suppose that he was assassinated. Something there was mysterious or remarkable about the event, for it made a deep impression upon the mind of Luther, and determined him in the choice of a monastic life. His father said a great deal to dissuade him from this purpose; but in vain. Martin declared that he had received a terrible call from heaven, and that he felt bound to give himself to the service of the Church. "Take care," answered his father, "that you are not ensnared by the delusion of

the devil." Luther adhered to his resolution: "One evening he called together his friends and fellow students, entertained them with music and a supper, and urged them to be cheerful, for it was the last time they would see him in his present situation."

Luther retired to an Augustine monastery, and submitted to all the vigils and penances imposed by the Church. During his noviciate, that is, before he became a priest, he is said to have found in the library of the house a complete copy of the Bible in Latin. He eagerly devoted himself to its perusal, and was suprised and delighted when he discovered that it contained much more than the collection of extracts from that sacred book then in use among the clergy. At the expiration of a year he was ordained. The next year he

was appointed a professor in the University of Wittemberg. He entered immediately upon the duties of his office, and soon became so popular as an instructer and preacher, that one of the most learned men of the day exclaimed, "this monk will confound all the Doctors, will exhibit new doctrine, and reform the whole Roman Church; for he is intent on reading the writings of the prophets, and he depends on the word of Jesus Christ; this neither the philosophers, nor the sophists, can subvert."