the anxiety about eternal salvation, and this became the life of his life, made him always throw his life into the scale, and gave him the power and the gifts which are the admiration of posterity. Others during the Reformation may have had earthly aims, but they would never have been victorious had there not been at their head a leader inspired by the eternal. That this man, who always saw that the salvation of all immortal souls was at stake, fearlessly and in all earnestness went to meet all the devils in hell, is natural and in no way a wonder. Here we have a proof of German earnestness of soul.
It was in the nature of things, as we have said, that Luther should turn to all men with this question, which concerns all men and which each man must deal with for himself. First of all he turned to the whole of his own nation. How, then, did his people respond to this proposal? Did they remain in their dull placidity, chained to the ground by the cares of the world, and going on undisturbed in the accustomed path? Or did this mighty enthusiasm, such as is not manifested every day, merely excite them to laughter? By no means! They were seized by the same concern for the salvation of their souls; like fire it spread among them; and so their eyes, too, were quickly opened to the fullness of light, and they were quick to accept what was offered to them. Was this enthusiasm merely a momentary elevation of the imagination, unable to hold its ground in daily life with its stern struggles and dangers? By no means! They renounced all, endured all tortures, and fought in bloody and indecisive wars, solely that they might not again come under the power of the accursed Papacy, but that the light of the gospel, which alone can save, might shine upon them and upon their children’s children. There were renewed among them, late in time, all the miracles that Chris-
