title="[Pg 23]"/> young persons if their wishes are not all gratified. This I experienced at Heidelberg."

In the autumn of the year 1512 we find Melanchthon upon the road to the University of Tübingen. It had not long before been founded by Duke Everard with the beard, a man who was ever anxious for the welfare of his country.

Tübingen had at that time already a good reputation. That which Melanchthon considered the most important, employed his labors also in this nursery of science. The Greeks and Romans were his favorites, yet not in a one-sided manner; for he was also attracted by mathematics and astronomy, to which he was encouraged by the distinguished Professor Stöffler. When he was therefore engaged in reading the Greek writer Hesiod, with his friend Hausschein, who became so well known and useful in the Reformation under the name of Oecolampadius, he could obtain an explanation of those passages which referred to astronomy, from Stöffler alone. He also made himself acquainted with jurisprudence and medicine. He gathered a mass of information, which in a young man of his age can really be called extraordinary. But divinity attracted him above all other things. This did not flow from the unrefreshing spirit which then pervaded this science. The old beaten track of the middle ages was still pursued in all the universities. Altogether neglecting the Bible, the only fountain of true Christianity, men were merely concerned with the teachings of the Church. These were empty, fruitless subtleties, in which a sincerely seeking soul could find no nourishment. He heard Lempus, the most distinguished Professor in this field, who, when explaining transubstantiation to his hearers, could write it down with chalk upon the board, to make it more intelligible. Melanchthon read the writings of William Occam, an old scholastic, with great zeal. But the curious structure erected by the Catholic church by its system of doctrine could not attract him any longer, when he had become the owner of a Bible. His beloved cousin Reuchlin had presented him with one. He loved the holy volume more than every thing else, as he became better acquainted with its precious contents. As Reuchlin diligently read the Holy Book, and took it with him upon his journeys, so now did Melanchthon. He carried it with him in his bosom, and could not part with it; "he read it carefully day and night." Here he found explanations, which no professor in Tübingen, and no priest in the church were able to give him. How disgusted he must have been, to hear priests upon the pulpits discourse upon a passage of the Greek Philosopher Aristotle, or to listen to another who was laboring to prove, that the wooden shoe of the Franciscans was made of the tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil in Paradise! Whenever therefore he went to church, he carried his Bible with him. During the progress of the ceremonies, and while the people were reading in the prescribed prayer-books, he was wrapt up in the reading of his Bible. Some evil-disposed persons took offence at this, and endeavored to render him suspected.

It is impossible to show in Melanchthon's case, as it can be done in that of Luther, and other great men of Christ's church, how he arrived at the knowledge of the Truth, and an experience of the Grace of God. This saving change in him seems to have been brought about gradually. Beyond doubt it was closely connected with the reading and deeper searching of the Holy Scriptures. His acquaintance with Reuchlin was also propitious. Melanchthon frequently journeyed to the not far distant city of Stuttgart, where Reuchlin then resided. The latter also came to Tübingen, and did not think it beneath him to occupy the room and eat the fare of his youthful friend. Here they conversed much of the corrupt condition of the church. But the time was near when mere conversation should be changed to open testimony.

At that time great darkness reigned in Cologne. The Theologians, as well as the Dominican Monks of that place, had demanded that all Jewish writings should be burned. When the Emperor called upon Reuchlin for his opinion in this matter, he defended most of these writings. This enraged the people of Cologne, who were led by the baptized Jew Pfefferkorn and the inquisitor Hochstraten. They appealed to the Pope. It gave Reuchlin much trouble, and caused much correspondence to and fro. Melanchthon also became involved in the matter, together with a large number of the most distinguished men, who entered the lists in Reuchlin's defence, and were obliged to bear the name of contempt, Reuchlinists. We here already meet the well-known knight, Ulrich von Hutten, who wielded a sharp pen, as well as the brave and noble Francis von Sickingen with the knightly sword.

Before this time, January 25, 1514, consequently in the 17th year of his life, Melanchthon, as the first among eleven candidates, received the degree of Master of Arts, and the privilege of delivering lectures. He lectured principally on Virgil, Terence, Cicero and Livy, and at once exhibited his great talents as a teacher. The students listened to him with pleasure, and soon many distinguished young men gathered around him. But he not only gained applause in his chair in the University; he also began to appear as an author. As early as the year 1516, Erasmus of Rotterdam, one of the most learned men of that time, gave him the warmest eulogium in the words: "My God, what promising hopes does Philip Melanchthon give us, who, yet a youth, yes almost a boy, deserves equal esteem for his knowledge of both languages! What sagacity in argument, what purity of expression, what a rare and comprehensive knowledge, what extensive reading, what a delicacy and elegance of mind does he not display!"[4]

A man of such mind and acquirements, and who, besides all this, bore a deeper knowledge within, could no longer remain in his confined position in Tübingen. The Lord of the Church had selected a different theatre for his labors and struggles. When, by the advice of Reuchlin, he had declined a call to the bigoted University of Ingolstadt, another extensive and richly blessed field of labor was thrown open to him. The Elector Frederick of Saxony, who has very properly been called the Wise, in the spring of the year 1518, wrote to Reuchlin from Augsburg, where he was attending the Diet, requesting him to propose to him a teacher of the Greek, and one of the Hebrew language, for his University at Wittenberg. Wittenberg had already acquired a great reputation, not only in Germany, but throughout Europe, on account of the mighty and bold step which an Augustinian Monk, Martin Luther, had taken about half a year before. Who has not heard of the 95 Theses, nailed by that monk on the church door at Wittenberg, on the 31st of October, 1517, against the doctrine of indulgences, and other matters connected with it, and which circulated so rapidly, that it seemed almost, in the language of a contemporary, as if the angels had served as footposts? All better disposed minds, to which class Reuchlin also belonged, joyfully welcomed the appearance of the intrepid monk of Wittenberg. When, therefore,