ntended, against both
Reformers and Catholics, have been condemned by the free judgment of
modern times. His doctrines, vehement and high strained, wrung from a
soul full of reverence, were in some weighty points erroneous, and he
was sometimes bitter, unjust, indeed harsh to his opponents; but such
things should not lead Germans astray, for all the deficiencies of his
nature and education disappear in the fullness of blessing, which
streamed from his great heart into the life of his nation.

To few mortals has it been granted to exercise such an influence on his
cotemporaries and on after times, as has fallen to the lot of Luther:
his life may be divided into three periods. In the first, the character
of the man was formed; it was powerfully influenced by the surrounding
world, but from the depths of human nature, under the pressure of
individual character, thoughts and convictions were gradually
strengthened into resolutions which broke forth into action, and the
individual commenced a struggle with the world. Then followed another
period, one of more energetic action, of more rapid development and of
greater triumph. Ever greater became the influence of the individual on
the world; powerfully did he draw the whole nation along with him; he
became their hero and model; the inward life of millions seemed
concentrated in one man.

But a single individual, however powerful in character, however great
his aims, could not long dominate over the spirit of a nation, the
life, strength, and wants of which are manifold. The man is under the
constraint of the logical consequences of his thoughts and actions; all
the spirits of his own deeds force him into a fixed limited path; but
the soul of a people requires for its life, incessant working with the
most varied aims. Much that an individual cannot bring himself to
receive, is taken up by others in opposition to him. The reaction of
the world begins: it is first weak, and from many quarters, with
various tendencies and little authority; then it becomes stronger and
more victorious. Finally, the inward spirit of the individual life
confines itself within its own system, and becomes only a single
element in the formation of the people. The end of a great life is
always full of secret resignation, mixed with bitterness and quiet
suffering.

And thus it was with Luther. The first of these periods ended with the
day on which he affixed his Theses; the second continued till his
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