HOME-LIFE OF MARTIN LUTHER.

WHEN

HEN Martin Luther had completed his great work of translating the Bible, in the secure asylum of the Wartburg, and had thus firmly laid the foundation of a new Church, he decided upon removing the last remnant of Popish folly with which the freedom of his actions was still hampered-he determined to transform the cold, celibate monk into the ardent and affectionate husband and father; the dreary cell into a home of quiet joys and domestic happiness. Long ago the great Reformer had demonstrated that priestly vows of celibacy were contrary to the teachings of Christ, and in direct conflict with the whole tenor and spirit of Christianity. For the clergy of the new Church the holy institution of matrimony had become a duty, as well as a moral necessity, and yet Luther himself hesitated to take the final and irrevocable step. To the request of his friends, that he should place the sacred seal of the Church upon the bonds of matrimony by his individual action, he returned an evasive answer; he wished some clergyman of higher rank than himself to take the solemn initiatory step, and for this end he had fixed his eyes upon the Elector Archbishop of Mentz. To this august individual he wrote in his usual fearless style:

"I can not see how a man can remain in a condition of celibacy without incurring the displeasure and wrath of God; and, surely, it must be dreadful should he be thus found when death approaches; for what can he answer when the Creator shall say: 'I created thee a man, whom I desired not to be alone-where is thy wife?" At a later period he wrote, probably after the Archbishop had declined Luther's request:

"If my own marriage should be the means of strengthening your purpose and determining

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your action, I shall not hesitate in preceding your Royal Highness in this matter."

Luther remained true to his resolve. Catharine von Bora, a former nun, became his wife; a noble, high-spirited, and devoted woman, every way worthy to be the companion and counselor of such a man.

The step he had reluctantly taken proved to be a most fortunate one to himself, and of great importance to the holy cause in which Luther was then so profoundly engaged, for it had gained a calm and secluded family asylum, where its exalted friends and champions could assemble and rest from the toils of their perilous warfare; where they could gather renewed strength for coming trials in the wholesome atmosphere of love and piety: in a home around whose fireside the influence of a loving woman was ever found brightening the furrowed brows of care worn men; cheering the faint-hearted and inspiring the mighty spirits there engaged in molding the destiny of nations.

Luther's friends visited frequently at his house; none more so than Melancthon, who delighted to hear Luther sing and play when surrounded by his children. Luther used to call such occasions his "Home Cantorium," and it is well known how dearly Luther loved music, and how devotedly he worshiped at its shrine during his hours of leisure, at school, in the university, and even in the dreary cells of the cloister, during all the years of his life.

He was not only a poet-to whom we owe some of the most majestic hymns ever written-but a composer of much merit, having composed the music which accompanies many of his grandest songs. His well-known hymns are characterized by truth, soul-stirring power, and profound pathos, and his melodies, though simple, are in harmony with the lofty words. This