for the sake of the novelty
and excitement; that is but natural, so I scarcely blame you; but
beware, my son, this Dr Martin himself is, I hear, a wild, unstable
character, a roisterer and wine-bibber, who desires to overthrow our
holy Father, the Pope, for the sake of ruling, by his wicked
incantations and devices, in his stead."

"Others speak very differently of him, my mother," answered Eric,
humbly; "but I shall know more about him when I have been to Wittemburg
and heard what he and his friends have to say for themselves."

"Alas, it may be too late when you once get into his toils," sighed Dame
Margaret. "They say that he has a compact with the Evil One, and he it
is who gives him the wonderful power he possesses over men's minds and
makes them oppose our Father, the Pope, and our holy mother Church."

"I have not heard that Dr Martin Luther has been guilty of any deeds
such as those in which the Evil One especially takes delight, and we
must judge of people by the works they perform," answered Eric, in the
gentle tone which his affectionate respect for his mother induced him to
employ. "I know that Dr Martin is a learned man; he desires to
introduce learning and a pure literature into our fatherland, and he is
moreover an earnest seeker after the truth, and has sincerely at heart
the eternal interests of his fellow-men. He is bold and brave because
he believes his cause to be righteous and favoured by God. That is the
account I have heard of him; I shall know whether it is the true one
when I get to Wittemburg."

"They say that he preaches that the convents should be thrown open, and
the priests allowed to marry, because he himself wants to take a wife.
They say that the motives for all he does are very evident," continued
Dame Margaret, not listening to her son's remark.

"I should have thought that had he been plotting from the first to
oppose the power of the Pope for the sake of marrying he would have
taken a wife long ago. There has been nothing to hinder him. Certainly
not many `pfaffen' would have been so scrupulous. He himself has
remained single, and is a man, several of my friends who know him assure
me, singularly abstemious; often he goes a whole day or more without
food, and his usual meals are of the simplest kind. It is true that
when he mixes with his fellow-men his heart expands and he does not
refuse the wine cup or the generous food placed before him. His is no
churlish spirit to