2. He was probably, during the whole time, suffering excruciating bodily pain. Though he said but little about it, it is evident from what he did say that his sufferings were extreme. And it must have been so, for he had a mighty, muscular frame to be shaken down, and such a frame could not, in so short a time, have been brought to dissolution without terrible torture.

On the morning of the 19th of February the body of Luther was enclosed in a leaden coffin, and carried to St. Andrew's church in Eisleben, where Dr. Jonas preached from 1 Thess. 4: 13-18. Ten of the principal citizens watched with the corpse during the night, and early in the morning of the 20th Mr. Coelius preached from Isaiah 57: 1. The body was to be taken to Wittenberg for burial; and as the mournful procession began to move, the whole city and all the surrounding country was emptied of its inhabitants, who crowded after the hearse, and by their tears and sobs and loud weeping testified how deeply they felt their loss. At five in the evening the train arrived before the walls of Halle, and here the crowd became so dense, that they were two hours in forcing the hearse along from the gate to St. Mary's church, a distance of about fifteen or twenty rods. As the hearse was slowly making its way along through the mass of human beings, a voice in the crowd began to sing the first hymn which Luther published:

Aus tiefer Noth schrei ich zu dir,
Mein Gott, erhör mein Rufen.

From deep distress I call to thee,
My God, regard my crying;

and the whole multitude joined in the singing, but could scarcely complete a single line before their voices were choked by their sobs, and they all wept aloud. Then they began to sing again; and thus alternately singing and weeping, they at length deposited the body in St. Mary's church; and even then they could not be persuaded to disperse, but stood around the church the whole night.

At six o'clock in the morning of the 21st, the hearse started again, followed by the same weeping throng, and meeting every where on the way the same demonstrations of grief; and at mid-day on the 22d it arrived before the outer gate at Wittenberg, where it was met with all the honors which could be conferred on a sovereign prince. The mayor's carriage stood just outside of the gate, and in it was the bereaved wife and her younger children, awaiting the arrival of her elder sons with the dead body of their father. There were many affecting scenes connected with Luther's death, but none more thrilling, more heart-rending than the meeting of that mother and her sons.

After some interruption, the procession went on to the Castle church, which was immediately crowded in every part, every door and window was filled, and every street and ave nue leading to it was thronged with mourners intently weeping. Bugenhagen and Melanchthon were in the pulpit. The first arose and with tolerable composure pronounced his text 1 Thess. 4: 13, 15; but the moment he attempted to commence his sermon, he broke out into an uncontrollable fit of weeping, in which all the congregation joined, and the infection spreading to the streets and avenues without, the whole city resounded with one loud and bitter wail.

At length they were hushed to silence, and the sermon was resumed. After the sermon by Bugenhagen, Melanchthon addressed the members of the University in Latin, and the coffin was lowered into the vault under the broad aisle not far from the pulpit. The vast assembly broke up, and each man returned to his home, pondering within himself and intently wondering whether it could be really so, that they should never again see Luther's noble form in their streets, and never again hear his thrilling voice in their churches. He had lived and taught and preached in Wittenberg thirty-eight years, and, from the time of his first arrival, had been the central point of interest to all who inhabited or visited the city, and is so to this day.

After the lapse of three centuries, the city of Wittenberg,

though one of the strongest fortresses and most important military stations in Europe, and though it has been the scene of battles and sieges which might have immortalized any other town, is seldom thought of or visited except as the place where Luther labored and where his bones are buried. Even Wallenstein, and Peter of Russia, and the great Frederic, and Napoleon, whose names may now be seen written with their own hands on the walls of Luther's study, were always small men at Wittenberg and objects of subordinate interest; and feeling it to be so, though some of their most important movements were made in and around the city, they seldom staid there long at a time, and generally hastened away as soon as they could.

The grave of Luther is secured by an iron grating and covered with a thick, heavy plate of bronze, on which is the following simple inscription: Martini Lutheri S. Theologia doctoris corpus h. l. s. e. qui anno Christi MDLVI, XII. Cal. Martii Eyslebii in patria S. M. O. C. V. ann. LXIII. MIIDX.

The emperor Charles V., in his wars with the Protestants, some years after Luther's death, besieged and took Wittenberg. The first place he inquired for was the grave of Luther. He read the inscription, folded his arms across his bosom, and stood looking down, absorbed in thought. An officer stepped up to him and said, "Let me break open the grave and scatter the ashes of the heretic to the winds." Charles's fine eyes and noble features flashed with indignation at the mean proposal. "I have not come to war upon the dead (said he); I have enough to do with the living,”—and he hurried from the spot. Ever after the famous diet at Worms, Charles and Luther had uniformly manifested the most profound respect for each other.

NOTE. The foregoing account of the last days and death of Luther has been collected from a great variety of sources. Some of the most accurate and copious are the following, namely: Seckendorf de Lutheranismo-Marheinecke, Geschichte des teutschen Reformation-Lomler, Dr. Martin LuTHIRD SERIES, VOL. I. NO. II.

13

ther's Deutsche Schriften-Andin, Histoire de la Vie, des Ecrits, et de la Doctrine de Mt. Luther-Mathesius, Leben Dr. Martin Luther in siebzehn Predigten.

ARTICLE II.

BUSH ON THE RESURRECTION REVIEWED,

By SAMUEL T. SPEAR, Pastor of the South Presbyterian Church of Brooklyn, N. Y.

Anastasis or the Doctrine of the Resurrection of the Body, rationally and scripturally considered. By GEORGE BUSH. New-York and London: Wiley & Putnam. 1845. pp. 396, 12mo.

It is a duty acccordant not less with the spirit of religion than of philosophy, to hail with gratitude whatever shall be adapted to increase the sum, either of human knowledge, or human happiness. Truth and virtue should be the ends of all rational inquiry. These are never subserved by a proscriptive treatment of him who proposes to make his intellectual faculties the organs of research, however widely he may differ from us in alleged results. The mere fact that he enunciates a new opinion, or attacks a standard doctrine, is not of itself sufficient à priori to secure his condemnation. He may be right, or he may be wrong, or he may present a combination of important truth and serious error. In either case the appropriate method is, to hear him-master his positions—consider the pertinency and weight of his arguments; and then decide upon the merits of his view, according to the evidence which he submits. It is to be regretted that, in this imperfect world, prejudice and the spirit of dogmatism should so often supersede the work of thought, and lead men to seal up their convictions so as to make their minds impervious to the

claims of reason. This is unfavorable to the dignity and prevalence of truth; paralyzes inquiry; precludes improvement; and is dishonorable alike to man and his Maker. Above all, to put down a man by popular appeals to ignorance -to faith rather than reason and the Scriptures; by the potent agency of the odium publicum vel theologicum, by mere epithets; is unfair, unworthy of a philosopher, be he Christian or Pagan. The fact is, every improved state of opinion in its inchoative stage, is a novelty; and if we adopt the doctrine of rejecting whatever comes under this title, we must stagnate intellectual progress ab origine; we must assume, that man, in the individual and collective sense, is already perfect in knowledge; or, if not perfect, we proscribe him from making any further attainments. I cannot suppose, that in this age, and especially in this country of free inquiry, it will be necessary to make a formal defence of these announcements. He who should deny them, would himself be a personified resurrection of the bigotry, prejudice and blindness of the dark ages; and would probably find himself a stranger to the spirit and glory of the age. We should all be careful, however, that we do not in practice commit ourselves to a course which in theory we are ready to condemn. This rule is never more important, never more signally honored by its observance, than when we are exposing what we deem a fundamental error. Our zeal for truth and our hatred toward error, while well in themselves, may undergo transmutations in their progress; and in proportion as they advance, lose their original spirit, till finally they shall be marked with some of the worst features of proscription and persecution. In the name of humanity and truth, which is its chiefest good, I plead for every man an exemption from this curse. This is the right of every one, commissioned to think by the edict of his Maker.

In the following review it will be the earnest effort of the writer to be governed by the views with which he has opened this discussion. The questions agitated by the author of the book placed at the head of this article, are among the