hich he, Melancthon, and
other leaders of the Reformation had been acting. Their whole aim from
the first, was to encourage learning, to insist on the study of the
Scriptures, to do nothing violently, and to persuade and lead their
fellow-men to a knowledge of the truth.

No great movement ever advanced with more slow and dignified steps than
the Reformation. The existence of gross abuses produced it. Had the
Romish hierarchy been willing to consent to moderate reforms, they might
not humanly speaking, have lost their influence, and the whole of Europe
might still have groaned under their power. But God had not thus
ordered it. By their own blindness and obstinacy they brought about
their own discomfiture. Luther himself was eminently conservative. He
never altogether got rid of some of the notions he had imbibed in the
cloister. Step by step he advanced as the light dawned on him--not
without groans and agitations of mind--yielding up point after point in
the system to which he had once adhered.

Eric was present at one of the first of the important series of sermons
which the great Doctor preached on his return to Wittemburg. The
enthusiasts had refused to be guided by the Gospel. They had asserted
(misunderstanding the Apostle) that it mattered little how a man lived,
provided he had faith, and that they had a right to compel others by
force, if necessary, to adopt their views.

"It is with the Word we must fight," said the great Doctor, in reply to
these opinions. "By the Word we must overthrow and destroy what has
been set up by violence. Let us not make use of force against the
superstitious and unbelieving. Let him who believes approach--let him
who believes not keep away. No one must be constrained. LIBERTY IS THE
VERY ESSENCE OF FAITH."

Entering the pulpit, he addressed the congregation in language full of
strength and gentleness, simple and noble, yet like a tender father
inquiring into the conduct of his children.

"He rejoiced," he told them, "to hear of the progress they had made in
faith," and then he added, "But, dear friends, WE NEED SOMETHING MORE
THAN FAITH, WE NEED CHARITY. If a man carries a drawn sword in a crowd,
he should be careful to wound no man. Look at the Sun--two things
proceed from it--light and heat. What king so powerful as to bend aside
his rays? They come directly to us, but heat is radiated and
communicated in every direction. Thus faith, like light, should b