[8] A writer of the Roman Church, in a vein of somewhat mingled
sarcasm and seriousness, remarks: "The university had reason to be
proud of Luther, whose oral lectures attracted a multitude of
strangers; these pilgrims from distant quarters joined their hands and
bowed their heads at the sight of the towers of the city, like other
travelers before Jerusalem. Wittenberg was like a new Zion, whence the
light of truth expanded to neighboring kingdoms, as of old from the
Holy City to pagan nations."