d eats and drinks like a hero."

That year of 1527 some terribly contagious disease, called, as all such
"catching" illnesses then were, "the plague," visited Wittenberg and
converted the Luther household "into a hospital." "Thy little favorite,
John"--thus he closes a letter to a friend--"does not salute thee, for
he is too ill to speak, but through me he solicits your prayers. For the
last twelve days he has not eaten a morsel. 'Tis wonderful to see how
the poor child keeps up his spirits; he would manifestly be as gay and
joyous as ever, were it not for the excess of his physical weakness." It
was in the midst of the poverty and worry that the plague and the other
crosses he endured brought about that Luther wrote his great hymn, "Ein
feste Burg ist unser Gott," one of the grand and triumphant "Hymns of
the Ages," and we can imagine that, with his powerful voice, he rang the
hymn out gladly when, in December, 1527, he could write thankfully, "Our
John is well and strong again."

Luther was a great letter-writer, and in the midst of pressing duties
and important deeds, away from his loved ones, he could always find time
to write home. Many of these "letters home" remain on record, beginning
"To the gracious dame Catherine Luther, my dear spouse, who is
tormenting herself quite unnecessarily"; or, "To my sweet wife Catherine
Luther von Bora. Grace and peace in the Lord. Dear Catherine, we hope to
be with you again this week, if it please God." But one of the most
famous of the Luther letters is that one which, when "our John" was just
four years old, his father wrote from the old castle of Coburg, in the
shadow of the Saxon mountains, and in the midst of stirring times,
sitting at the window, as we have seen, while outside the crows were
cawing and the jackdaws were chattering, and armed men guarded the great
letter-writer as the most precious of Germany's possessions.

Five boys and girls blessed that cloister-home at Wittenberg. The
Luthers were never "well-to-do"; sometimes they were so short of
money--for Luther was overgenerous in his charities--as to feel the
pinch of poverty. But Luther had friends in high places who would not
let him want, and he was therefore able to give his boys tutors at home
and good instruction later on in life.

"Son John" could scarcely be called a brilliant scholar. Indeed, he was
a bit dull, and inclined to take things easy. In this his mother seems
to have been just a trifle parti