LIFE OF PHILIP MELANCTHON.

CHAPTER I.

The Reformation-Luther-Birth of Melancthon-His educationEarly proficiency-Residence at Pforzheim, Heidelberg and Tubingen-Takes his degree-Obtains an early and remarkable celebrity-Honored by Erasmus and Bishop Latimer-Edits Nauclerus-Renders assistance to Capnio in his contention with the monks His public lectures and literary zeal-His removal to a Greek Professorship in the University of Wittemberg-Commencement of his friendship with Luther. 1497 to 1518.

THE commencement of the sixteenth century was one of the most momentous periods in the annals of time. It was distinguished by the release of Christianity from those fetters of darkness in which she had been bound for ages, and her triumphant assertion of that glorious liberty in which she now walks abroad through the earth.

by which means he became fitted to act the part he did, when it is probable a more full and sudden manifestation would have disqualified him for the early part of his career as a reformer. For a long time his imperfect knowledge of the great principles of Christianity and the rights of conscience operated as a check upon the impetuous ardor of his spirit, which, though afterwards essentially beneficial to the cause, would probably have impeded, if not have wholly prevented the great work of Reformation, had it been at first unrestrained by lingering prejudices and superstitions. The schisms which had divided the church about the end of the fourteenth and at the commencement of the fifteenth centuries, materially diminished the popular veneration for the papal dignity. The proceedings of some of the councils in deposing and electing popes at their pleasure produced a similar effect. Above all the scandalous profligacy and venality of the court of Rome, the voluptuous lives of the ecclesiastics, their intolerable exactions, and the facility which the sale of indulgences afforded to the vilest offenders to obtain a ready pardon, prepared the minds of the people in general for those doctrines which the Reformers afterwards promulgated.

This great event cannot be too highly appreciated, especially as we are daily participating the blessings which result from it. But unfortunately, the admiration of mankind is commonly withheld from Christian achievements and lavished upon military heroes. We overlook the misery they inflict, and the wide spreading desolation that marks their course. But were it even possible to separate these images of horror from the consideration of their successes, surely the bloodless victories of truth are Luther possessed a vigorous and fearless mind. nobler in themselves, and accomplished by the exertion of mental and moral energies incalculably He was qualified to take the lead, and to head opmore important. On this principle the Reformation position in a servile age. His mind was incessantly from Popery merits particular attention. Whether active; his ardor in the pursuit of knowledge and we consider, on the one hand, the violent and deep in the propagation of what he knew, inextinguish rooted prejudices which were at that period univer-able. He did not "fight as one that beateth the air,' sally prevalent, artfully cherished, and powerfully (1 Cor. 9: 26,) in the holy war he undertook. Hav defended, the great and immediate danger resulting ing buckled on the armor he was impatient for the from the slightest attempt at religious innovation, conflict, and rushed forward to an anticipated vicHe was one of the greatest of Christian and the deplorable errors which reigned by long tory. usurpation and prescriptive authority over the heroes, and his faults were those of a first-rate Never scarcely did the hand of God minds of men;-or, on the other, the seemingly character. accidental causes from which the Reformation ori- form a fitter instrument to do a greater work! It was, however, happy for Luther that he did ginated, the inconsiderable source from which it Howed, the slow but irresistible progress it made, not stand alone, but was provided with an associate and the beneficial revolution it effected in the senti- in his principal labors, adapted in a remarkable dements of mankind, it is impossible not to perceive gree to supply his deficiencies, to correct his errors, reasons for astonishment and joy. No one ought to and to regulate his impetuosity of character. Inbe accused of credulity for calling it a miracle; a dependently of the interest which must necessarily moral miracle it undoubtedly was. The miracles be felt in any one who was the intimate friend and which accompanied the first propagation of Chris- coadjutor of Luther, who was with him in all his tianity and secured its establishment were, it is struggles and helped him through them, MELANÇtrue, a more direct appeal to the senses, but the THON claims a distinguished notice on his own acsame mighty power that established religion in the count. In tracing the history of his life, it will be earth, evidently interposed in this case to rescue it obvious that although inferior in courage he equalled Luther in ardent piety, and excelled him both in from perishing. personal virtues and literary attainments.

PHILIP MELANCтHON was born in Saxony, at the small but pleasant town of Bretten, in the lower Palatinate of the Rhine, on the sixteenth day of February, in the year one thousand four hundred Bluew and ninety-seven. The following inscription in his father's house records the event:

DEI PIETATE NATUS EST IN
HÁC DOMO DOCTISSIMUS DN.
D.
PHILIPPUS MELANCTHON,
XVI. FEBR. A. M.CCCC.XCVп.

Amongst the instruments of this remarkable change the name of Martin Luther stands pre-eminent. He was not indeed the first or the only advocate of this righteous cause, but he was in many respects the greatest. Others had inveighed against Popery, exposed the errors of that pernicious system with ingenuity and boldness, and even bled for the sacred cause of God and truth. Waldus, Wickliffe, Huss, and Jerome of Prague, are imperishable names; but in vain did they struggle against the torrent of corruption that deluged the earth. They could oppose, in their respective times and stations, The house which belonged to his parents, conbut a momentary resistance, and were swept away. Their efforts indeed produced some effects, but they taining this inscription and his picture, remained were evanescent, for "darkness covered the earth, standing in the market place till modern times. and gross darkness the people." Isaiah 60:2. But During the thirty years war many of the literati when Luther appeared, a variety of circumstances and inhabitants of Heidelberg took refuge within co-operated to produce a result which human skill the walls of Bretten, but in 1632 it was taken by the An attentive Imperialists. In the year 1784 it contained, exclucould neither foresee nor prevent. observer cannot fail to notice the very gradual man-sive of the public buildings, two hundred and sixtyner in which truth was discovered to his own mind, two dwelling houses, and upwards of two thousand

ately commenced a course of private tuition; but not long afterwards he became a public lecturer at Tubingen. General admiration was soon excited by the profound knowledge and elegant taste he discovered in the Latin classics. A considerable portion of time was occupied every day in delivering public lectures, which were not exclusively devoted to the learned languages, but embraced an extraordinary variety of subjects, as rhetoric, logic, ethics, mathematics, and theology. At the same time he particularly directed the attention of his scholars to the classical compositions of Virgil, Terence, Cicero, Livy and the Greek writers. He may be justly regarded as the restorer of Terence, whose poetical compositions, through the ignorance of his transcribers and publishers, had hitherto appeared only in a prosaic dress. Melancthon, having reduced them to a proper arrangement, presented them to the public in their present form. In this labor he showed his discrimination and taste; for Cicero eulogizes Terence both for the purity of his diction and the beauty of his compositions, representing them as the rule and standard of the language.

ferred the oration mentioned in a very curious pas sage of one of Hugh Latimer's sermons, which evinces the astonishing celebrity of this youthful scholar and reformer. "Here I have occasion to tell you a story which happened at Cambridge. Master Bilney, or rather Saint Bilney that suffered death for God's word's sake, the same Bilney was the instrument whereby God called me to knowledge, for I may thank him, next to God, for that knowledge that I have in the word of God. For I was as obstinate a Papist as any was in England, insomuch that when I should be made Bachelor of Divinity, my whole oration went against Phillippe Melancthon and against his opinions. Bilney hearde mee at that time and perceived that I was zealous without knowledge; and hee came to mee afterward in my study, and desired mee for God's sake to heare his confession: I did so—and to say the very truth, by his confession I learned more than before in many yeares. So from that time forward I begunne to smell the word of God, and forsooke the schoole doctors and such fooleries."— Latimer's Sermons, page 124.

come hither. I would wish him, and such as he is, two hundred pounds a year. The king should never want it in his coffers at the year's end."

Latimer afterwards said, in a sermon preached This bright star in the literary hemisphere, the before Edward VI., who expected him in England, brighter for the profound darkness which surround-"I hear say Melancthon, that great clerk, should ed it, could not fail of attracting the attention of the great men of the age. So early as the year 1515 the sagacious and learned Erasmus of Rotterdam, exclaimed in terms of rapturous admiration: "What hopes may we not conceive of Philip Melancthon, though as yet very young, and almost a boy, but equally to be admired for his proficiency in both languages! What quickness of invention! What purity of diction! What vastness of memory! What variety of reading! What a modesty and gracefulness of behavior! and what a princely mind!" A eulogium so remarkable, and bestowed by such a man, on a stripling of only eighteen, was surely no inconsiderable testimony to his wonderful

merit.

Nor was this the only occasion on which this accomplished scholar expressed his admiration. His works abound with similar encomiums: it will be sufficient to select two or three. Writing to Oecolampadius he says, "Of Melancthon I have already the highest opinion, and cherish the most magnificent hopes: so much so, that I am persuaded Christ designs this youth to excel us all; he will totally eclipse Erasmus!" Mosellanus having interceded with him upon occasion of some injurious reports that had been circulated respecting the remarks of Melancthon upon his paraphrase on the New Testament, and implored him not to suffer himself to be unfavorably impressed by them, Erasmus replied, "Philip Melancthon is in no need of my patronage or defence." In a letter which Erasmus addressed to him, he concludes thus, "Farewell, most learned Melancthon, use all thine energies that the splendid hopes which Germany conceives of thy genius and thy piety may not only be equalled, but exceeded." On another occasion, in a letter to Julius Pflug, the celebrated counsellor of George, Duke of Saxony, he gives Melancthon this character: "He not only excels in learning and eloquence, but by a certain fatality is a general favorite. Honest and candid men are fond of him, and even his adversaries cannot hate him!" 'Happy," exclaims Jortin, "is the person whom this description suits! It is not safe to attack him; the public will revenge his wrongs and take his part against you!" Seckendorf remarks, that were the various eulogies which literary men, and even religious opponents have pronounced upon Melancthon to be collected together, they would fill a very con

siderable volume.

To a much earlier period, probably, may be re

Melancthon took upon himself the laboricus task of revising the works published by Thomas Anshelmus, a noted printer at Tubingen. The greatest part of his time, not immediately devoted to his professional duties or his private studies, was bestowed in editing a ponderous folio work of Nauclerus, to which a preface was prefixed by Capnio. Originally, it was in fact, nothing but a confused heap of fables, mingled with historical facts; and Melancthon bestowed a labor upon it very disproportionate to its intrinsic merit, in arranging, correcting, purifying, and almost rewriting it. In this case we can only praise him for his industry.

During his residence at Tubingen, he had an opportunity of rendering essential service to his early friend and patron Capnio, who was involved in a disagreeable contention with certain ecclesiastics. It happened thus. The divines and monks of Cologne, instigated by a Jew of the name of Pfefferkorn, who had professed Christianity, obtained an edict from the emperor to authorize them to burn all the Jewish writings as heretical, excepting the Bible. The Jews instantly implored the emperor to suspend his order till these books had been examined by a competent committee of learned men. To this very reasonable petition he consented. Caprio, who had prosecuted the study of the Hebrew language under some learned Jews, both at Vienna and at Rome, and who had become conversant with the Cabalistic writings, was appointed by the Elector of Mentz to be an arbitrator in the controversy. Having given it as his opinion, that no other books should be destroyed but such as were found to be written expressly against Jesus Christ, the emperor approved the decision, and restored the books to the Jews. At this the monks and inquisitors of Cologne were violently exasperated and not only loaded him with invectives, but used every means to induce the court of Rome to persue him with the thunder of excommunication At this critical juncture, Melancthon was of essential use to his early patron, and frequent conferences took place between them, both at Tubingen and at Stutgard, the place where Capnio resided. Neither the advice nor the zealous efforts of a warm friend were wanting in his defence, which, co-operating with his high literary reputation, resulted in the honora

ole acquittal of Capnio. This celebrated charac- or could be collected from the different ancient ter died very poor at the age of sixty-seven. "On writers with whose works he was conversant; a account of his virtue and merit," says Melancthon, practice which at least proves the diligent attention "his memory ought to be cherished. He served he began to pay to the sacred volume. This Bible his country with great diligence and judgment, and was his constant companion. He never failed to promoted assiduously the Hebrew language, so im- carry it with him wherever he went, and during portant to scholars. His candor was remarkable, the public service at church constantly held it in and he was devoid of envy and malevolence. For his hand, to direct and enliven his devotions. This these reasons he was much esteemed by learned practice furnished an occasion to his bigotted and men." no less malignant adversaries, who perceived he made use of a volume of a different size from the prayer-book, to represent him as engaged in reading even in the public church, what was very unsuitable both to the occasion and the place! No efforts were omitted to render him odious: but Envy and Persecution waged an unequal war, and were defeated.

One of the earliest of Melancthon's productions, now extant, is an Oration on the Liberal Arts, delivered at Tubingen in the year 1517, at twenty years of age. It indicates the elegance of his mind and the variety of his reading. After a suitable introduction, he relates the classical story of the seven stringed lyre and the origin of the liberal arts. The oration proceeds with a detail of these arts and a brief recital of their origin and progress. It glows with animation as it approaches the close. "Let the example of those illustrious persons who surround me, inspire you. Be animated by the great and glorious expectations of your country, and apply the utmost vigor of your minds to what you know to be of pre-eminent importance, the attainment of sound learning and real virtue. Do not be seduced from this noble course by flattering pleasures or by evil examples. Let no dishonorable principle influence your minds: and that I call dishonorable which diverts you from the literary pursuits and from the sacred studies to which you are devoted."

The spirit manifested on this occasion by these religious barbarians perfectly harmonised with the language of one of the monkish fraternity, Conrad Heresbach, whose preposterous ignorance and bigotry have furnished a standing joke ever since the Reformation. "A new language," says he, "has been invented, which is called Greek; guard carefully against it, it is the mother of every species of heresy. I observe in the hands of a great many people, a book written in this language, which they call the New Testament; it is a book full of thorns and serpents. With respect to Hebrew, it is certain, my dear brethren, that all who learn it are instantly converted to Judaism."!!

After a residence of about six years, Melancthon removed from Tubingen to the University of Wittemberg, the metropolis of the circle of Upper Saxony. In this situation, he was immediately introduced into a scene of great labor and extensive usefulness. This university was founded in the year 1502, under the auspices of the Elector Frederic, who spared no pains to advance it to respectability and distinction. The license of the Emperor Maxi. milian, and the bull granted by the Pope, for its establishment, are still extant. The celebrity of Melancthon, seconded by the powerful recommenda tion of Capnio, induced the Elector to determine upon giving him employment in the university. Several letters were interchanged on the subject, and the result was, the formal appointment of Melancthon to the Greek Professorship. Upon this occasion, Capnio applied to him with prophetic accuracy the remarkable language of Jehovah to Abraham: "Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will show thee..... and I will bless thee, and make thy name great, and thou shalt be a blessing" adding, "this accords with the presentiment of my mind; and thus I hope it will be with thee hereafter, my Philip, my care and my comfort!" He went to Wittemberg on the twenty-fifth day of August, in the year 1518, at the age of twenty-one. His name is inserted in the documents of the university with marked distinction.

Considering the very important part Melancthon was destined to act in the Reformation, it would be pleasing, were it possible, to trace the formation of his religious principles and modes of thinking with as much exactness as we are able to detail his literary career. The history of piety is even more interesting than the history of genius. To discriminate with accuracy the different states of the mind, to ascertain the changes of feeling at successive periods of early life, to witness at once the progressive establishment of moral character and the development of intellectual capacity, is, and ever must be, highly instructive. Melancthon was endowed with a soul formed of the finest materials, cast in the gentlest mould, and ever ready to listen with attention to reason and argument; but in proportion as the original prejudices of education had entrenched themselves in a mind delicate, discerning, and full of sensibility like his, the attempt to dispossess principles so dear to him, must have been difficult and hazardous. It is long before one, so constituted, can renounce what has been held sacred; then, not without obvious and substantial reasons. Offence is easily taken at the first and most distant appearances of what is deemed error, and, under favoring circumstances, in an unenlightened age, an extraordinary degree of superstition is the natural result. Melancthon expresses, on one occasion, the pungent sorrow which the recollection of his former zeal in the idolatrous servi- The general sensation excited at Tubingen on ces of the Catholic church occasioned. It is easy this occasion may be imagined from the language to believe, therefore, that he must have endured of Simlerus. "The whole city lamented his demany secret conflicts, many heart-rending strug-parture. No one can conceive or estimate how gles, previously to his separation from that communion. The only illustrative fact transmitted to us affords some good evidence that his convictions originated in the best manner, and that his early religious views were derived from the only pure source of instruction. Capnio having presented him with a small Bible which had been recently printed at Basil by the well known John Frobenius, or Froben, Melancthon accustomed himself to write down upon the margin such explanatory hints and such useful illustrations of particular passages, as either occurred to his own reflections

much the academy lost of distinction and of emolument when he departed." His journey was performed on horseback, by way of Nuremberg and Leipsic; and he availed himself of the opportunity of contracting a friendship with Picamerus, Mosellanus, Camicianus and other eminent characters.

Upon the fourth day after his arrival at Wittemberg he commenced his public duties as a professor in the customary mode of delivering an oration, which attracted an unusual degree of applause. Luther is lavish in his commendations, and in a letter addressed to Spalatine, he says that it was in

conceivably learned and elegant, and excited such universal admiration, that every one forgot the comparative meanness of Melancthon's personal appearance. In consequence of his settlement at Wittemberg, immense numbers crowded to the university, and his audience sometimes amounted to fifteen, and even five and twenty hundred persons. He had the honor of being Luther's instructor in the Greek language.

The Papists and the coadjutors of Erasmus wouia have been equally glad of Melancthon. His influence in the university of Wittemberg, and his literary fame, now diffused to the extremities of the empire, and swiftly circulating throughout the whole civilized world, would have invigorated the hostility of the one, or promoted the temporizing policy of the other. It would have proved a mighty bulwark of defence, which, in case of the preponderance of either party, would have been strength to the weak, and power even to the strong. Methe violent Catholics; and Erasmus, in the course of a long letter addressed to him, alludes to his having exhorted him to abandon the reformers, though he declares he had not very strenuously urged him to it, knowing it would be labor lost, but still he could have wished he had applied himself entirely to literature. His purpose, he says, was to promote the good of both parties and dissuade from tumults, and he wished a reformation might be made without strife or contention.

It is amusing enough to hear the terms in which M. Baillet mentions the intimacy which, from this moment, commenced between Melancthon and Lu-lancthon was scarcely less detested than Luther by ther. "Being called to Wittemberg," says he, "in the twenty-second year of his age, Melancthon fell into the hands of Luther, who abused his easy disposition, and availed himself of all those fine talents which ought to have been devoted to the service of the Catholic church!"

In truth, this was an event of the utmost importance, not only in reference to these eminent individuals themselves, but on account of the influence of their ardent friendship upon the Reformation in general. The profound learning and cultivated The removal of Melancthon, therefore, to Wit taste of the one, the vigorous zeal, independent spi- temberg, by which he was introduced to the immerit, and dauntless heroism of the other, alike con-diate and intimate friendship of Luther, ought to duced to dissipate the delusions of the age. Both be regarded as a most memorable event. Luther adopted the same general views; and each was unbosomed his feelings to this new and invaluable equally solicitous of removing that veil of Egyptian associate, consulting him on all occasions, and anxdarkness which overspread the face of the world: iously availing himself of his superiority in literary yet they were constitutionally different. The one acquirements. verged to the extreme of boldness, the other to that of caution; but, like Moses and Aaron among the ancient Israelites, their different talents were admirably suited to promote the general object. Truth would undoubtedly have suffered had the one been less energetic and daring, or the other less moderate, and cultivated.

It would not be difficult to speculate on the ill effects likely to have resulted to the interests of true religion, if these eminent men, instead of being united in strict friendship, had cherished hostile sentiments towards each other. This would probably have been the case, had Melancthon continued a Papist, or had he promoted the views of those who appeared to "halt between two opinions." 1 Kings, 18, 21. The impetuous temper and resolute firmness of Luther could endure neither opposition nor neutrality. By the collision of two contending parties a third was in reality produced, whose leading maxim was to avoid extremes, and who were ready to make every sacrifice to obtain a delusive peace or to secure personal convenience. They would have abandoned what they even esteemed sacred, in order to terminate this religious war; and, it is to be feared, would have willingly entered into negociations with the advocates of error and superstition, upon the principle of relinquishing the conquests which truth had already acquired, and which conscience demanded of them never to cede. At the head of this party, the learned, witty, vacillating, avaricious, and artful Erasmus is unquestionably to be placed. Unwilling to relinquish his connection with the Catholics, and enlist himself under the banners of the Reformation, he was yet too penetrating to be ignorant of the abuses of Popery, or blind to its excessive absurdities; and aware that the reformers had reason and truth on their side, he was solicitous, especially while the victory was doubtful, of conciliating their esteem without unwarily pledging himself to act a conspicuous part in what he termed the Lutheran tragedy. In consequence of this indecision he dissatisfied both, and failed of acquiring the honors it was in the power of Popes to bestow, and the more valuable distinction which they could not give, but which the unbought affection of independent minds and holy reformers would have conferred.

Whoever is accustomed to observe the movements and to admire the wisdom of a superintending Providence will mark this occurrence. He will not be disposed to attribute it to a happy casualty, but consider it as the result of a superior and wise arrangement. He will connect it with all its circumstances, and trace it to all its consequences Accustomed to comprehensive views of things, he will not resemble the ignorant rustic that steps across the spring whence a Nile, an Euphrates, or a Ganges originates, without any emotion, and without the capacity to realize those images of grandeur and sublimity that present themselves in a similar situation to the enlightened philosopher; but he will pause, ponder, compare, and look around him. The Almighty Ruler of the world proceeds in the large system of his operations in a similar manner, in some respects, to every intelligent agent acting on a smaller scale. Does the skilful architect prepare his materials for the building which he is about to construct, and fit in each particular stone or ornament to its place with discriminating care? And is there any improbability in the belief that when the Universal Agent is about to produce an extraordinary work, he prepares, by a process adapted to the purpose, whatever materials are proper for its execution? Moral operations require moral instruments, and in the whole machinery of circumstances an intelligent and pious mind will see much to admire. Amidst the rubbish of error which had accumulated century after century till the Reformation, God determined to erect the temple of truth, and his providence cleared an ample space, chose a variety of workmen, and reared the admirable superstructure. And as in the erection of a building there must be different kinds of laborers, all co-operating together and all essential to complete the undertaking, so it was requisite, in rearing this great edifice, to prepare and employ persons very differently constituted, but all capable of useful co-operation. In this point of light it becomes us to contemplate the preparatory course of Melancthon's education, the important station he filled, and the celebrity he obtained at Tubingen, and particularly his removal thence to the scene of his future labors. He was selected by Providence for great purposes, and qualified by a suitable pro

cess for the part he was destined to act. His lite- | remote and proximate, of this mighty change would rary fame and his vast acquirements were not only be an interesting, though perhaps a very difficult of essential service, but were particularly needed at undertaking. It would be necessary to show not that precise period when they were ready for public only the effects produced by the various great use. Short-sighted indeed, or criminally blind must events that have occurred in the moral world upon he be, who does not perceive the same superintend- the general state and character of the particular ence here as in the guidance of Joseph to Egypt, or nations whence they originated, and where they David to the camp of Saul. If the Reformation particularly influenced, or upon human character claimed the steady efforts of true courage and inex-in general in the age in which they occurred; but tinguishable zeal, be it remembered also, that it no also the manner in which they resulted from the ess required a proportion of nice discernment and previous state of mankind and affected succeeding literary skill;-if a superstition which invested a times, as well as the intimate connection and recimortal with the prerogative of infallibility were to procal influence subsisting between them or resulting be attacked and levelled with the dust, the igno- from their operation. rance which, with its characteristic blindness, supported that superstition, was at the same time to be dethroned and demolished;-if old abuses were to be removed, and a new order of things to be introduced and sytematized, it was desirable to find not only vigor and zeal to clear away the rubbish of error, but elegance of taste to clothe unwelcome noveities with attractive beauty;-in a word, if existing circumstances called for a Martin Luther, they also demanded a Philip Melancthon!