TO the south-west of Berlin, between that city and Leipzig, is the old town of Wittenberg. The rolling Elbe, which rises in the wild range of the Erz Gebirge, and crosses Germany on its long course to Hamburg and the sea, flows by the town, and spreads itself into a wide stream. Saxony, the third in importance of the kingdoms of Germany, is a fertile land, cultivated from an early date, and famed as a granary and orchard. It is noted, too, for its minerals—coal, tin, cobalt, iron, lead, and marble.

The town is still fortified, and bears a somewhat grim aspect. It was much damaged by the Austrian artillery in 1760, and has suffered the ravages of war before, and since the Electors of Saxony lived in the mediÆval castle.

Here was founded an important university, afterwards removed to Halle. It was at the University of Wittenberg that Martin Luther taught as professor of theology.

The supreme interest of these rambling streets are the associations with the great Protestant reformer. Wittenberg is a place of pious pilgrimage for those who revere the memory of Luther and Melanchthon. The Schloss Kirche contains the ashes of the two preachers of the reformed faith; and it was on the door of this church that Luther nailed his bold indictment of papal corruption. The town abounds with memories of that stupendous battle for religious liberty which spread into all parts of Christendom.

How vast were the issues in the balance when Martin Luther defied the power of Rome! Long before the theologian of Wittenberg, several reformers had uttered protests against the sale of indulgences by the Church of Rome. Huss, Jerome of Prague, John of Wessel, John of Goch, all raised their fervent voices upon the evils of the system.

The Bible was now coming into the hands of the laity; Wicliff’s versions were in use in England, and in Germany, Reuchlin and others had made Hebrew the study of the educated. Erasmus, too, had satirised the vicious lives of the monks. The way was prepared for a popular reformer, such as the ardent priest and theologian of Wittenberg.

Archbishop Albert of Mayence and Magdeburg was indebted to Pope Leo X. for his investiture, and was unable to raise the money. The Pope was in need of funds. He therefore gave permission to the archbishop to establish a wide sale of indulgences in Germany. The bulk of the people, reared in obedience to Rome, made no complaint of the practice, and were quite ready to purchase absolution for their sins. But Luther contended that indulgences only brought the remission of penalties, and refused to offer complete pardon for indulgences alone.

Tetzel, the agent of Leo X., was naturally enraged. He thundered anathemas upon the presumptuous Luther. The reformer met his denunciations by affixing his defiant propositions to the door of the Schloss Kirche.

So began the historic struggle between Catholics and Protestants. Luther merely impeached the sale of indulgences; he was still loyal to the papal authority. The Pope was, however, headstrong and tyrannous. He showed neither tact nor diplomacy, but issued a bill of excommunication against the unruly priest. The document was burned in contempt by Martin Luther.

Let us glance at the character of this doughty heretic. The birthplace of Luther was Eisleben, in Saxony, and he was born in 1483. His first school was at Magdeburg, and he was educated for the law. But the early trend of his mind was pietistic; he aspired to become a teacher of religion. He joined the Augustine Order, and observed devoutly all the canons of the Catholic creed. We read that Luther was appointed professor at the University of Wittenberg; that he taught many students, and discoursed eloquently.

Luther’s temperament was hostile to asceticism. He had a capacity for enjoying life; he delighted in music, and sang daily. He was not opposed to the custom of drinking wine with company. More than all, he impeached, by precept and example, the teaching of the virtue of celibacy. He said that true manhood finds joy in womanhood; and he married an ex-nun, Catherine de Bora, who bore him children.

This sane indictment of the unnatural practice of celibacy was accounted one of Martin Luther’s most enormous iniquities. His clerical opponents arose and denounced him. He was described as a man of immoral life; it was circulated that he drank wine to excess, and wrote hymns praising drunkenness. He was labelled an atheist, a blasphemer, and a charlatan, who did not believe in the doctrines that he taught.

But Martin Luther soon gathered about him a band of zealous followers, and his fame went forth to the farther ends of Europe.

Philip Melanchthon, a man in some respects more admirable than Luther, joined in the crusade of reform. “The gentle Melanchthon” had studied in Heidelberg and Tubingen. He was the author of many religious volumes, and it was he who composed the “Augsburg Confession.”

The effect of Luther’s teaching was not without its evils. Guided by their own reading of the Bible, zealots found authority for violence and persecution. There were risings of peasants, which Luther denounced, even urging their suppression with the extremity of force. This brave assailant of Rome was unwisely aggressive in his attitude towards those sects that differed from him in their beliefs. He was a bitter enemy of the followers of Zwingli, the reformer of Zurich. The sectaries were sundered and torn with dissensions and quarrels. Melanchthon died rejoicing that he was leaving a world made hideous by the hatreds of the pious disputants.

For the Jews Luther had no toleration. He detested the spirit of science, which was spreading even among the Catholics; and declared that the study of Aristotle was “useless.” He described the great Athenian as “a devil, a horrid calumniator, a wicked sycophant, a prince of darkness, a real Apollyon, a beast, a most horrid impostor on mankind, and a professed liar.” This contempt for the discoveries of science was a mark of the ignorance that led Luther to prescribe that a “possessed” child should be thrown into the water to sink or be restored to sanity.

The extortionate demands of the popes were no doubt the chief cause of that enthusiasm that burst like a flame when Luther withstood the exactions of Rome. Germany had long been bled to fill the coffers. The country was prepared for revolt. Leo X. was one of the most extravagant of the sovereign pontiffs, and it was said that he wasted as much as the revenue of three popes. He created thousands of new livings, which he sold. The office of cardinal was purchasable. But none of the wealth of the Curia found its way to Germany; on the contrary, that nation was constantly called upon to contribute heavily to the funds of the church.

In Wittenberg, the flame of revolt burst forth, and all Germany soon rallied to the support of Luther, who showed himself a born leader of men. The propaganda spread even to Spain, that ancient stronghold of Catholicism. In 1519 a number of tracts by Luther were sent into that country from Basle, where they were printed in Latin. These disquisitions fell into the hands of the learned. Valdes, secretary to Charles V., sent to Spain an account of Luther’s proclamation against indulgences, together with an acknowledgment that reform was needed in the Church.

As soon as the discovery was made that Lutheran literature was entering Spain, the inquisitors diligently sought for those who had copies of the proscribed tracts. Valdes, the emperor’s secretary, though then a staunch Catholic, was brought before the holy office because he had discoursed with Melanchthon.

It was well for Luther that he was defended by Frederick, the Elector of Saxony. We wonder that the rebellious monk, who raised such venomous hatred, escaped with his life. But even the tribunal of the Diet of Worms could not daunt Luther. He flatly refused to retract. Nothing was left but to banish him from the town; and under the protection of the Elector of Saxony, he was kept in the Wartburg.

In England the Lutheran heresy had been checked by Henry VIII., who wrote against it, and won the esteem of the Pope for his defence of the faith. Cardinal Wolsey’s efforts were of no avail in stemming the tide of reformation; and the King, enraged with the Pope for refusing a divorce from Catherine, suppressed his anti-Lutheran scruples of conscience without difficulty. The flame kindled in Wittenberg spread over England. Monasteries were suppressed; the new creed, first the religion of the poorer educated classes, was soon adopted by all classes.

The story of the Reformation is of strangely absorbing interest. In Wittenberg, the annals of the historic conflict are recalled as we stand before the church door upon which Luther nailed his ninety-five theses, and read the inscriptions on bronze that his Protestant successors have set there. Martin Luther was the man for his age, and whatever were his faults, he served humanity. Little did he anticipate the terrible wars and the fierce religious persecution that followed upon his challenge to Leo X., and the burning of the bull of excommunication outside the walls of Wittenberg.

The memorials of the vast struggle arising from the resistance of Luther to be seen in the town are first the Schloss Kirche, and then the house of the reformer in the old buildings of the University. In the house, which has been little altered since the death of Luther in 1546, are a few relics, a chair and table, some utensils, and the portraits by Kranach.

A tree marks the spot where Luther burned the bull of excommunication in 1520. In the market place is the statue in bronze of the founder of Protestantism.

The house of Melanchthon is also to be seen. His statue was set up about forty years ago.

The tombs of Luther and Melanchthon in the Schloss Kirche are marked by tablets. In this church is the grave of the Elector Frederick, the trusty friend of Luther, adorned with a magnificent monument by Peter Vischer. This is one of the notable works of that artist. There is also a relief by Vischer in the church.

In the Stadt Kirche Luther preached. There are some pictures here ascribed to Kranach. One of them represents Melanchthon performing baptism, and another, Martin Luther preaching to his converts.

Kranach’s works will interest students of painting. Some more of his portraits of Luther and Melanchthon will be found in the Rathaus. This artist was court painter to the Elector Frederick. He was one of the most gifted of Bavarian painters, and his son inherited his talent. The elder Kranach was born in Kranach, the town after which he is named. He was a friend of Luther and Melanchthon. His death occurred in 1553.

Such are the chief mementoes of Luther and his colleague in Wittenberg, “The Protestant Mecca.”