A celebrated reformer, born 16th February, 1497, at Bretten, in the Palatinate of the Rhine. His father's name was Schwartserdt, which signifies black earth; but the word was changed, according to the affectation of the times, by his friend Reuchlin, into Melancthon, which, in Greek, expresses the same meaning. He studied at Bretten, Pfortsheim, and Heidelberg, and with such success that, at thirteen, he wrote a comedy of some merit. He left Heidelberg in 1512, because he was refused a degree on account of his youth, and then passed to Tubingen, where he resided for six years, and gave public lectures on Virgil, Terence, and other classics. In 1518, by the recommendation of his friend Reuchlin, he was appointed, by the elector of Saxony, Greek professor at Wittemberg; and here began that intimacy with Luther, which contributed so much to the progress of the reformation. He was, in 1527, appointed by his patron, the duke, to visit the churches of the electorate, and afterwards he was employed in the arduous labors of preparing those articles of faith which have received the name of the Augsburg Confession, because presented to the emperor at the diet of that city. In the disputes which he maintained in those days of controversial enmity, he displayed great candor and mildness, which his friend Luther attributed more to a spirit of timidity, than to the meekness of the Christian character. His moderation, as well as his learning, was so universally acknowledged, that he received a liberal invitation from Francis I. to [pg 362] come to France, to settle the disputes of the Protestants; but through the interference of the duke of Saxony, the offer was declined, as likewise a similar invitation from the king of England. He was engaged in the various conferences which took place on religious subjects at Frankfort, Reinspurg, Worms, Spires, and Ratisbon, and every where evinced the deepest learning, the most peaceable temper, and the strongest moderation. The character of the times, and not inclination, rendered him a controversialist, and his answer to his mother displayed the great and the good man. When asked by the aged woman, who repeated before him her prayers in a simple but pious manner, what she must believe in this great confusion of creeds; he replied, “Go on, mother, to believe and pray as you have done, and never trouble yourself about controversies.” He died at Wittemberg, 19th April, 1560, and was buried by the side of his friend Luther, in the church of the castle. Among the reasons which, on his death-bed, he assigned for considering dissolution as happiness, he said that it delivered him from theological persecutions. His works were very numerous, and, as they were written in the midst of controversy and ecclesiastical avocations, they were not always so correct in language, as they proved useful in advancing the reformation. A chronological catalogue of these was published in 1582, and they appeared altogether in four volumes, folio, at Wittemberg, 1601.