was the conflagration he had kindled, and none could get at him through this blazing barricade.

Let us be just towards Luther; he was a man of genius and imagination, a writer, a poet, a musician, and, moreover, a very worthy man. He has fixed the German prose upon a solid basis; his translation of the Bible, incorrect from his imperfect knowledge of the Hebrew, has stood the test of time: his psalms, composed after the Holy Scriptures, are still sung in the Lutheran churches. He was a disinterested man; a good husband, a tender father; setting aside the marriage between a monk and a nun. We discover in him that candid and genuine German nature, replete with the purest feelings of humanity, and inspiring confidence at first sight; but we also find in Luther that German coarseness, those virtues and talents, which are still inspired at the present day by that false Bacchus, accursed by another reformer, Julian the Apostate.

Luther was sincere; he only fell into schism after long struggles; after expressing his doubts, almost his remorse, he retains the temptations of the cloister. A susceptible man, who turns monk because a friend of his was struck dead by lightning in his presence, may well throw off the cowl upon witnessing the sale of indulgences;

this is not to be ascribed to profound views or lofty ideas. Luther seriously fancied himself assaulted by the devil; he struggled against him during the night, till the sweat covered his brow; multas noctes mihi satis amarentulas et acerbas reddere ille novit. When he was over tormented by the evil spirit, he put him to flight by uttering three words, which I cannot venture to repeat, but which may be read in the curious extracts in Mr. Michelet's work.* Christ had spoken to Satan a different language; he had merely said to him: "Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God." Occasionally, in his exaltation of mind, Luther fancied himself possessed by the Divinity, shook off his own individuality, and exclaimed, "I don't know Luther. The devil take Luther."

Luther's eloquence was not of the choicest kind; and, when speaking of the pope, the Lama is too present to his mind. His doctrine in favour of the great is as relaxed as his eloquence is at times of a foul character; he almost admits polygamy, and allowed the landgrave of Hesse to have two wives. If he had not rejected the papal authority, he might have supported himself by a decretal of Pope Gregory II. in 762.

* Mémoires de Luther, vol. iii. p. 186.

PORTRAIT OF LUTHER BY MAIMBOURG, BOSSUET, AND

VOLTAIRE.

THE justice done to Luther by catholic writers and priests, in the portraits they have drawn of him, must be recorded to their honour.

"He was a man of lively and subtle mind," says Father Maimbourg in his rather antiquated style, "eloquent by nature, copious and polished in his language, very laborious, and so addicted to study, that it occasionally engaged his whole day, without his even affording himself leisure to take nourishment; by this means he acquired tolerable proficiency in languages and in the writings of the fathers, to the perusal of which, and especially of St. Augustine, whom he turned to so bad an account, he was much addicted, contrary to the practice of the theologians of his day. His strong and robust constitution was calculated to bear him through his studies, without impairing his health; he was of a bilious

and sanguine habit of body; his eye was penetrating and full of fire; the sound of his voice was agreeable, and very loud when he was once excited; he was of a proud, bold, and haughty deportment, which he could soften down at command, in order to personate an humble, modest, and subdued spirit, which was, however, of rare occurrence. Such is the true character of Martin Luther, who may be said to have combined in his person a remarkable admixture of some good and many bad qualities, and who was far more debauched in mind than in morals and in his private life, which was generally free from reproach."

Bossuet has drawn so impartial a portrait of Luther, that it might almost be deemed too flattering.

"The two parties who share the reformation between them, have alike acknowledged him as their author. The highest praises have been bestowed upon him by others, besides the Lutherans, his immediate sectaries; Calvin often admires his virtues, his magnanimity, his constancy, the rare ingenuity he displayed in his attacks against the pope; he is the trumpet, or rather the thunderbolt; a thunderbolt which has

awakened the world from its lethargy it was not Luther who spoke; it was God who dealt his blows through Luther's mouth. He possessed, no doubt, great strength of genius, great powers of speech, a vivid and impetuous eloquence, which engaged and delighted his hearers; extraordinary boldness, when he found himself backed and applauded, and an air of authority which made his disciples tremble in his presence, so that they dared not contradict him in trifles any more than in important matters. It was not the people alone who considered Luther as a prophet; he was represented as such by the initiated of his party. Melanchton, who placed himself under his guidance at the commencement of these altercations, allowed himself at first to be so persuaded that there was something extraordinary and prophetic in this man, that he could not for a long time recover from his astonishment. In spite of the many defects which he daily discovered in his master; he wrote to Erasmus, in reference to Luther: Prophets, you are aware, should be brought to the test, and not despised. Nevertheless, this new prophet gave way to the most violent excesses of passion. He overstrained every thing; because prophets, at the bidding of God, uttered awful invectives, he became the most violent of men, the most