The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1883, Page 44

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44

The Lutheran Pioneer.

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Short Notes from Luther’s Life.

—LurTHER once complained to his friend
Melanchthon about having such a low voice.
‘¢Yes’’, said his friend, ‘‘but that voice is

~ heard rather far.”’

—Some one gave an alms to a poor person
and said to Dr. Luther, who was standing near
tby, ‘‘ Who knows where God will pay me for
this in the future!’’ ‘Why in the future!”

said Luther; ‘‘has not God paid you in ad-
vance long ago?”’

—LurHeER never desired to become rich.
Once, when one of his children came to him to
say “good night’’, he added, ‘‘Go, be a good
child; I will not leave you any money, but I
will leave you a rich God.”’

—MArTuHestius, who was a frequent guest at
Luther's table, says: ‘‘I have never heard a
coarse word from his lips; and he used to say:
He is not a man of honor who speaks ill of
women, rulers, or clergy.”

—Louruer praised those preachers who knew
when to stop. ‘‘ When is that, dear Doctor?’
asked a guest. ‘When you see the people
listen and quite still,”’ said the Doctor. And
when he was told of a clergyman who was
caught by a nail in coming from the pulpit, he
would insist it must have been a punishment
because he could not stop his sermon.

—LUTHER once entered the room before
dinner and found an aged clergyman reading
one of his books. ‘‘God be praised,’’ he suid,
‘‘the Bible is ready; you need read my books
no more.” Jor he was as modest and simple
as a child.

—Do you see that bird?’’ said Luther to
a friend, as he pointed to a little bird, hiding
himself from the storm. ‘‘In the midst of this
snow the little fellow just draws his feet under
his feathers, tucks his head under his wing,
and lets God think for him.’”’

—Louruer’s wife was not slow of speech;
jand, on one occasion, when she could not stop,
‘he asked her, with a smile, if she had offered
prayer before she began so long a sermon? He
also once introduced a visitor, an Englishman,
to his wife, and added, by way of joke, that
she was professor of German eloquence; for

‘*she has such mastery of it as to leave me far
behind.””

—For the benefit of his pious and indus-
trious wife Luther wrote in the almanac that
was in daily use the following rhymes: :

The best manure for all farming ground

In the diligent feet of the farmer is found.

The horses are kept in best condition
_ When eyed by the owner without intermission,

_ And the eyes of the women, careful souls!
Are far better cooks than girls, fire, or coals.””

at th ae eel
_ Tue best name by wich we can think of God
is Father. It isa loving, deep, sweet, heart-

BE | touching name; for the name of father is, in

"its nature, full of inborne sweetnéss and com-

How Luther Comforted.

“QO, wHaT is the matter,” said Dr. Luther to
a man who was greatly troubled on account of
his sins. ‘Can you think of nothing but your
sins and damnation? Turn your eyes this way
and behold the Man you call Christ, of whom
it is written: ‘Conceived by the Holy Ghost,
born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pon-
tius Pilate, was crucified, dead and_ buried.
He descended into hell; the third day He arose
again from the dead.’ For what, do you think,
all this was done? Surely for this, that you
should therewith console yourself against sin,
death, ‘hell and the devil. Therefore believe
—why are you sorrowful? If we had no Christ,
you might well be afraid.”

Lurner was once visited by a dear friend,
Jerome Weller. ‘How do you do?” inquired
Luther. ‘‘O, Iam very sad,’ replied Weller,
“I do not know why it is so.”” ‘‘ What! Have
you not been baptized?’’ Luther asked in re-
ply. Weller says that by this unexpected
question he was comforted more than he would
have been by a whole sermon.

A SERVANT girl, who had been in Luther's
family, left out of spite and soon became so
wicked that she, according to her own confes-
sion, gave her soul over to the devil. Some
time after she had left Luther’s house, she be-
came sick unto death. Upon her request Lu-
ther went to see her and asked her what she
desired. ‘‘I would like to beg your pardon,’
said she, “but [have a greater trouble upon my
conscience, I have given my soul to the devil.’”’
“Why,” said Luther, ‘‘what other sins have
you?”? She replied: ‘I indeed have many
other sins, but that is the greatest of all, and it
can never be forgiven; for, don’t you see, I
have already thrown away my soul.’’ ‘Now,
listen,’’ said Luther, ‘‘if you, during the time
of your service in my family, had given away
all my children to some stranger, would that
be right and valid?’”’ ‘No,’ said the girl.
‘Well, then,’’ said Luther, ‘‘your soul does
not belong to you but to the Lord Jesus. Now
tell me, how can you give away what does not
belong to you at all? Go, and pray the Lord
Jesus to take hack that which belongs to Him;
but the sin which you have committed throw
back to Satan, for it is his.’’—The girl did so
and became quiet and comforted.

oo

“Ixy my heart reigns, and shall ever reign,
this one article alone—faith in my dear Lord
Jesus Christ, which is the beginning, middle

and end of all my religious thoughts, by day
But at the same time I most
painfully feel that I can have but a very faint
conception of the height, breadth and depth of
this immeasurable, incomprehensible and end-
less,wisdom and love. I can gather up but a
few small fragments and crumbs out of this in-

and by night.

exhaustible and richest of all mines.””— Jyuther.

The University of Wittenberg.

In the time of Luther the University of Wit-

tenberg enjoyed such a wide-spread reputation,
and was frequented by so large a number of
students, that in some of the public lectures
there were no less than two thousand hearers,
and these were from among all orders of society
and had often come from distant lands.
lanchthon, the earned professor and friend of
Luther, writes in one of his letters: ‘‘To-day

Me-

there were seated around my table persons of

eleven different languages: Latin, Greek, He-

brew, German, Pannonian, Henetian, Turk-
ish, Arabic, common Greek, Indian and Span-
ish.”’ For the good of the many foreigners
who did not understand the German language
a Latin service was held on Sundays, in which
the Gospel and Epistle lessons were explained.
—_—~+ oo >
“THE life of Christianity,’’ said Luther,
‘consists of possessive pronouns.’’ It is one
thing to say, ‘‘Christ is 1 Saviour;”’ it is quite
another thing to say, ‘‘ He is my Saviour and
my Lord.” The devil can say the first; the
true Christian alone can say the second.
——_s-o<— >
THERE is food for much reflection in the
Arab proverb, ‘‘All sunshine makes the desert.”’

BOOK-TABLE.

WaRUM SOLLEN WIR UNS LUTHERS, DESSEN Na-,
MEN WIR TRAGEN, NICHT SCITAEM Sermon
by Dr. C. F. W. Walther. Concordia Publi-
shing House, St. Louis, Mo. Price 5 cts.; per
dozen 40 cts.

This Sermon deserves a wide circulation espe-
cially in this Luther year. It is an earnest and elo-
quent appeal to those who bear Luther’s name not
to be ashamed of him and his testimony.

CuRISTLICHES VERGISSMEINNICHT. 3d Edition.
Brobst, Dichl & Co., Allentown, Pa. Muslin
with gilt title, 35 cts.; per dozen $3.25. Gilt
edges in case, 50 cts.; per dozen $5.00.

A charming little volume, containing an appro-
priate verse of Scripture and of some Christian
hymn for each day of the year. Each alternate page
is blank for entries.

Tne ALMANAC for 1884, issued by Concordia Pub-
lishing House, St. Louis, Mo., for German Lutherans
in America, has appeared. Its full statistics of the
Synodical Conference and its excellent reading mat-
ter will no doubt make it a welcome guest in all our
German Lutheran homes. It this year also brings
a beautiful picture of Luther and of the new Lu-
theran Seminary at St. Louis. 50,000 copies have
been printed and we hope this first edition will soon
be sold. Price 10 cts.

St. Paul’s Colored Lutheran Church,
LitTrE lock, Ark.

Chapel on corner of 12th and Rock Sts.
Sunday-school meets every Sunday at 2 o’clock.
Divine services at 3 o’clock and 7 o’clock.

TERMS:
Tue Lurneran Pronerr is published monthly,
pa able in advance at the following rates, postage
included, Hewits

(i) 9B cesssosensanccousaoceoennoo .00 5

Club rates only allowed if all copies are to be sent
to one address.

All business communications to be addressed to
»Luth. Concordia Publishing House‘, M. O. Bar-
THEL, Agt., St. Louis, Mo. *

All communications concerning the editorial de-
penanenl to be addressed to Pror. R. A. Biscyorr,

mcordia College, Fort Wayne, Ind. hs