's S

uar

ack as he went down the street. He thought it

ds, home, that is the world! I shall never understand it. For if all my younger brothers say is true, either al

he pride and delight of us all; and to me! My heart grows so bitter when I write about it, I seem to hate and reproach every one. Every one

on from me, she might never have been stricken, and that vow might not yet, might never have been taken. If God had not caused him so innocently to bring the pestilence among us! But I must not dare to say another word of complaint, or it will become blasphemy. Doubtless it is God who has willed to bring all this misery on us; and to rebel against God is a deadly sin. As Aunt Agnes said, "The Lord is a jealous God," he will not suffer us to make idols. We must love him best, first, alone. We must make a great void in our heart by renouncin

o us is something quite different

to make us happy; they delight in our being happy, whether they make

Him, and then approach Him with the greatest caution, lest, after all, it should be in the wrong way, and He should be angry. And, instead of delighting in our happi

er. It must, I suppose, be a serious, severe, calm adoration, too sublime to give either joy or sorrow, such as had left its stamp on

iles of joy, real, simple, human joy. Thou wilt understand and have pity. Yet oh, couldst not thou, even thou, sweet mother, have reminded him o

Not a word, Elsè, not a syllable. Shall not I give my son up freely to Him who gave him to me. God might have called him away from earth altogether when he lay smitten with the plague, and shall I grudge him to the cloist

nd in church, amongst hundreds of other

cation. But I saw your father, and I neglected it. And see what troubles my children have to bear! Has there not also been a kind of fatal spell on all your father's inventions? Perhaps God will at last accept fro

our father so trou

my projects!" he said, "and I wou

e was something in Fritz's horoscope which might have prepared us for this, had he only understood it a little before. Howe

st the rumour reached us, I sought some sympathy from her, and said, "O Eva, how strange it seems,

ht of us first, I am as sure of it as if I could hear him say so. He thought

When his letter came to our mother, it gave just the r

e of that strange inward peace in her which se

dear old lumber-room, or to do anything I did with him, her great delight seems to be

ther do any household work, but insists on sharing every laborious task whi

have neither of them half the strength I have, and I enjoy stirring ab

that makes my hands stronger and my perplexities more shadowy, until even now I find myself often singing as I am wringing the clothes by the stream. It

side by side; and perhaps Eva is silent and my mother brushes tears away as they fall on her knitting; bu

h, Febr

our mother, and then she sang it through in her sweet clear voice. I

ening I s

y of any song he had cared to hear me sing! And he delighted always so much to listen to you. His

elancholy chant you think of, 'never, never more' echo from all the hymns he loved, I always seem to hear his

" I said, "that is so very f

ten think it is very near. If it were not so, how c

s so long, now

e said. "I often think it may be ve

"you surely do not p

love better there than at Eisenach, or perhaps even in the convent. And it is there we shall m

ns for Fritz, and why she does

are all the saints in heaven: an

rua

les, it was no doubt meant to do me good; but it does me none, I am sure, although of course, that is

ward, she ever heard of; and then I grow angry, and say my father is the best and wisest man in the Electoral States. Then our grandmother begins to lament over her poor, dear daughter, and the life she has led, and rejoices, in a plaintive voice, that she herself has nearly done with the world altogether; and then I try to comfort her, and say that I am sure there is not much in the world

ot she married, and was not he christened in church? Is not Friedrich a good, honest name, which hundreds of your ance

ggest. "You remember telling us of the marty

ict me, child?"

or benighted Pagans, and knew no better name to give him; but that our Fritz should adopt it instead of his own is a disgrace. My lips at l

us, and shall be always. Fri

uary

ck of the novice. I hate to think of his thick, dark, waving hair clipped in the circle of the tonsure. But

thing good and great, seem repelled from all religion

said to me t

ome a soldier called a villain, while the man who deserts

ligious perplexities, because I am so perplexed myself, I have

ay, as our grandmother h

rstand." But I added, "Of course it is quite different: o

is the worst, an

them are. Reinhardt says he has seen them drunk often, and heard them swear, and that some of them make

ouring; "and I have often told you I

nk the merchants are better. Woman cannot understand about these things," he added, loftily

is two-and-twenty; but he never talked in that

rapes, and perplexing us to get him out of them, comparing himself with Fritz, and looking down on h

han I have ever said about any woman. Only last Sunday, did not Father Boniface say ha

stove. "Eve is in the Holy Scriptures, and many of these pagans are not fit for people to speak of. Half the saints are women, you k

muttered Chris

ndmother tartly. And accepting this imprudent concession

ch

o him as "the holy and venerable priest of Christ and of Mary." So much I could understand, and also that he calls himself Brother Martin Luth

29,

's this evening, who told us strange

nces to the people; and lately, out of regard, he says, to the

n from Annaberg told us that Dr. John Tetzel solemnly assured the people, that since it was impossible for them, on account of their sins, to make satisfaction to God by their works, our Holy Father the Pope, who has the control of all the treasury

al standard, with the triple crown. Before it is the large, strong iron money chest. On one side stands the pulpit, where Dr. Tetzel preaches daily, and exhorts the people to purchase this inestimable favour while yet there is time, for themselves and their relations in purgatory,-and translates the long parchment mandate of the Lord Pope, wi

y time to make a pilgrimage to Annaberg, if this is the kind of reli

have made that miserable vow. A journey to Anna

at his disposal, why could he not always give t

he Lord God Almighty does. For He also, who gave those treasures to the Pope, is He not everywhere

Lord Pope, and had such a treasure, I think I could not help instantly leaving my palace and my beautiful Rome, and going over the mountains and over the seas, into every city and

t St. Peter's would never be built. It is on tha

be built, Uncle Cotta!" said Eva

holy Jerusalem is being built; and I suppose there are many di

nt gestures during this conversation about the in

y he promised to show the people a feather which the devil plucked out the wing of the archangel Michael. Reinhardt says he supposes the devil gave it to Dr. Tetzel. However that may be, during the night some students in jest found their way to his relic-box, stole the feather, and replaced it by some coals. The next day, when Dr. Tetzel had b

s' stories

ks' stories, at all even

and therefore this morning, when I found him alone, I said, "Pollux, you used to love Fritz so

was right in leaving us all; and I like the religion of the C

nd when he remonstrated with them about anything, they listened. But if I blame them, they think it is only a woman's ignorance, or a woman's superstition.-and boys, they say, cannot be like women. And now it is the same with Fritz. He is removed int

ri

rill of joy into Fritz's cell at Erfurt that it does

ttle happy birds-making their nests among them,

k by love. Perhaps Fritz does not like to listen to the birds now, because they remind him of home, and of our long s

ri

holiday to watch the ants roofing their nests with fir twigs, and the birds flying hither and thither with food for their

. A little quiet brook prattled near us, of which we drank, and the delicate young twigs on

n, as the children began to look fearfully around, and shiver, even at mid-day, while they listened, Christopher delighted them with quaint stories of wolves in sheeps' cl

and of Rübezahl and the misshapen dwarf gnomes, who guarded the treasures of gold and silver in th

ho cries by the streams at moonlight, and lets his tears mix with the waters, because

and sprites, who, many think, are the spirits of the old heathen gods, who linger about their haunts. One reason why people think so is, that they dare not venture within the sound of the church bells; which makes some, again, think they are worse than

could be saved in the same way. She l

o tell, and she related to us

he was more beautiful than any of the ladies of her court, and richer than any princess in the world; but she did not care for pomp, or dress, or all her precious things. God's golden stars seeme

St. Catharine saw it her heart was so filled with its holy beauty that she forgot her books, her spheres, and the stars; Plato and Socrates became tedious to her as a twice-told tale, and she kept the sacred picture always before her. Then one night she had a dream:-She met on the top of a high mountain a glorious company of angels, clothed in white, with chaplets of white lilies. She fell on her face before them, but they said, 'Stand up, dear sister Catharine, and be right welcome.' Then they led her by the hand to another company of angels more glorious still, clothed in purple with chaplets of red roses. Before these, again, she fell on her face, dazzled with their glory; but they said, 'Stand up, dear sister Catharine; thee hath the King delighted to honour.' Then they led her by the hand to an inner chamber of the palace of heaven, where sat a queen in state; and the angels said to her, 'Our most gracious sovereign Lady, Empress of heaven, a

with our faggots, it was pleasant to see the goats creeping on before the long

th everything else. I did not want to understand the words;

grain to the birds, and makes the trees their palaces,

ed faggots twice as large as ours in half the time, and then finished ours, and then performed all k

ries, and see the monks and priests in dark robes flitting silently about with downcast eyes, that I remember we are not like the birds or even the ants, for they have never sinned, and that, therefore, God c

and crossing herself with holy water, went softly up to the high altar, and there she knelt while the l

in the forest," I said to her as we w

?" she said; "and has

r sins!

Saviour?" she sai

lease him," I said. "Think of the pilgr

entence and the crucifix which tells us the Son of God died for man. That mus

h those long lashes shade, and how transparent the little hand on which she rests, a cold fear comes over me

ri

together eagerly over a book, which they had placed before them on the win

ar as I could understand made a jest of everything. There were foxes with monk's frocks, and even in cardinal's hats, and wolves in cassocks with shaven crowns. Altogether it seemed to me a very profane a

St Mark

rom a great preacher, one of the Dominican friars, who

anker." To monks no doubt it may be so; for what could they do with it? But it is not so to me. Yesterday money fill

. Lately I have been employing my leisure hours in embroidering some fine Venetian silk Aunt Ursula gave me; and not havin

, and I carried it to the merchant, who to

and has procured us ink and paper at

rised, and instead of showing it to his

if she aped the nobility by wearing anything so fine as this. I am going to the Wartburg to speak about a comm

, but I had on the new dress Fritz gave

-yard; and I thought of St. Elizabeth distributing loaves, perhaps, at that very gate, an

ssed gentlemen and ladies passed me and looked at me rather scornfully. I thought the

, what will the master be? But he smiled on me quite kindly, and said, "My good child, I like this work of thine; and this

m was that the elector is building a new church at his new university town of Wittemberg which is to have choicer relics than any church in Ge

I took home yesterday evening with a heart brimming over with joy and thankfulness, which made our father clasp

eart; but golden sunbeams, streams of blessing earned by a child's labour and comfort

il

y of Wittemberg, must, we think, have spoken to the elector for us, and our father is appoint

us. There, in his lonely cell at Erfurt, he thinks then of us! And he prays for us. He will never forget us. His new name will not alter his heart. And, perhaps, one day, when the novitiate is over, we may see him

, except Pollux, who is to remain with Cous

ins to help abo

ed to enter, proved so much more condescending and accessible than his courtiers,-oh, if it could only be possible that we are making some mistake about G