THE MINERS' SONS: MARTIN LUTHER AND HENRY MARTYN. BY THE REV. CHARLES D. BELL, M.A. SAMPSON LOW AND SON, 47, LUDGATE HILL. 1853. MARTIN LUTHER. THE period of the world to which the name of Martin Luther carries back our thoughts is one of the most stirring and thrilling interest. It is rendered conspicuous on the historic page by some of those grand events which have exercised the greatest influence on the progress of the human race, and whose effects will continue to be felt till time shall be no-more. I may remind you of the discovery by the Spaniards of the rich and fertile islands of the West Indies; of the passage to the East laid open for the first time by the Portuguese; of the commercial spirit which was beginning to unite the most distant provinces of the globe in the ties of a strong and mutual interest. It was also an age when a passion for literature was spreading, and to its refinements the discovery of that art which has been the source of so many blessings to mankind,—the art of printing,—had imparted a fresh impulse and vigour. Now Ariosto sang in the sweet Tuscan language, and Guicciardini wrote history in the same silver tongue. Now, also, thoughts of beauty and genius were painted on the canvas, or wrought into the marble; B and in the cartoons of Raphael, and the creations of Michael Angelo, is seen a degree of perfection unapproached by any succeeding age. And to crown all, the dark midnight which had brooded for centuries over the human mind and the human heart, was dispersed at once and for ever by the noonday light and glory of the Reformation. The generation which preceded this era was stained by the worst of crimes; all ranks and orders, from the peasant in his cottage, to the prince on his throne; from the priest in his cloister to the Pope in his palace, were familiar with the corruption of the times. Not that I would be understood as saying, that even in the bosom of a church corrupt as was the Romish, there were no men of God animated by a spirit of righteousness, and who mourned with a holy lamentation over the vice and iniquity that so extensively prevailed. In the very darkest annals of a world which from the first introduction of sin has been "lying in the wicked one," there have ever been noble exceptions to the surrounding ungodliness; men who stood forth in the moral firmament as bright particular stars, shedding the light of truth on an otherwise unbroken night. But these were the exceptions. Even those appointed to minister at the Church's altars were disgraced by an immorality as gross as it was unblushing; infidelity of creed was general; purity of life was uncommon. The priests chose for their companions men the most dissolute; their usual haunt was the tavern; the dice box was oftener in their hands than the prayer-book; and their nightly orgies were wound up with scenes of violence and words of blasphemy. The mysteries of |