t Tannhaeuser. But the dry stick
which the Pope had then thrust into the ground, brought forth green
foliage during the night; God himself confuted the Pope. The poor
penitent man no longer required the Bishop of Rome to enable him to
find mercy and grace from his heavenly Father; but the wicked Pope
himself would descend into the jaws of the old dragon.

The exterior of the man who was riding down from Wartburg to
Wittenberg, shall be described by a young student who was travelling
with a friend from Switzerland to Saxony. His narrative is well known,
yet we must not omit it here.

His name was John Kessler; he was born at St. Gallen, in 1502; his
parents were poor citizens; he attended the school of the monastery
there, studied theology at Basle, and went early in the spring of 1522
with a companion to Wittenberg, to continue his studies under the
Reformers. In the autumn of 1523, he returned to his native town, and
as the new doctrines had not yet taken root there, being very poor he
determined to learn a trade, and became a saddler. He soon collected a
small community round him, taught and preached, laboured in his
workshop, wrote books, and became at last schoolmaster, librarian and
member of a council of education. He had an unpretending, pure nature,
with a heart full of love and gentle warmth, but he took no active part
in the theological controversies of his time. His narrative begins as
follows:--

"When we were travelling to Wittenberg to study the Holy Scriptures, we
arrived at Jena in Thuringia, in, God knows how wild a storm; and after
many inquiries in the city for a lodging wherein we might pass the
night, we could not find any; everywhere lodging was denied us, for it
was Shrovetide,[25] when pilgrims and strangers were little cared for.
So we determined to leave the town, and endeavour to reach a village
where they would lodge us. In the mean while we met at the gate an
honest man, who spoke kindly to us, and inquired where we were going so
late, as there was neither house nor farm that we could reach before
night; besides which, it was a road that was difficult to find;
therefore he advised us to remain there.

"We answered: 'Dear father, we have tried all the inns to which we have
been directed, and having everywhere been refused a lodging, we are
obliged to proceed further.' Then he asked us whether we had made
inquiry at the Black Bear; and we replied: 'It has never been mentioned
to us; tell