Druckschrift 
The Upper Rhine : Mayence to the Lake of Constance
Entstehung
Seite
37
Einzelbild herunterladen
 

WORMS.

37

:-

,

sml■it

tfkihü

?:•.:■<.,,;

Itt*::

;2B:J"

-':

iia

.-:-

1 1

pSll

sarae dense multitudc eager to see the daring Friar Martingoby.

Once on thc reverend spot, indeed, and tlie spirit (such isthe force of local association !) lives for a time in tlie past. Weno sooner stand beside tlie old red walls of the CouncilChamber, than the " mind's eye " beholds, as in a dream, thehumble covered car (which the town-Council had provided tocarry the heresiarch to the Diet at Worms) waiting outsidethe University Gates at Wittenberg, and the little band ofReformers who have begged to aecompany Doctor Martin onhis perilous journey, stealing forth one after another to mountthe steps of the vehicle.

First glides past the figure of Jerome Schurff, " the gentleyoung professor of jurisprudence,"—then the form of youngPeter Suaven, the Danish Student who resides with Me-lancthon, flits by—and after him comes the shade of "the im-petuous Amsdorff." And when these have taken their seatsthe spirit of Luther himself appears to us, emerging from thefriendly throng gathered about the College gates; and as he isseen to throw himself into the arms of the tender-heartedMelancthon—him who loved Martin "better than Alcibiadesdid Socrates"—the memory of his noble parting words ringsin the ear,—" If I do not return, dear brother, and my enemiesput me to death, continue to teach and stand fast to God'struth."

Then a hundred hands Start forth clasped in prayer, andthe air seems to resound with a solemn hymn from the crowdof weeping Gospel friends, as tho figure of the great Reformerascends the car and gives the herald the signal to advance.

" The Bishops and Cardinais at Worms will burn you andreduce your body to ashes as they did John Huss," we imaginewe can hear the people cry, while the vision of the train movesslowly along the road, with the spectral form of Gaspard