Luther's Childhood.
1. LUTHER IN THE HOUSE OF HIS PARENTS. When Savonarola breathed his last
in the Market Place at Florence, God had already chosen His servant who
was to destroy the tyranny of the Pope. The swan, prophesied by Huss,
appeared. For on November 10, 1483, a son had been born to poor peasants
in Eisleben, at the foot of the Hartz Mountains. Already on the
following day he was baptized, and received the name Martin, in honor of
the saint to whom this day was sacred. His parents were Hans and
Margaret Luther. They came from the village Moehra, having emigrated to
Eisleben. When Martin was six months old they moved to the neighboring
town Mansfeld, where his father hoped to support his family by working
in the mines. Luther said of his ancestors: "I am the son of a peasant;
my father, my grandfather, and my great-grandfather were all industrious
peasants. Later on my father moved to Mansfeld, where he worked in the
mines." Again he said: "My parents, at first, were very poor. My father
was a poor miner, and my mother often carried the wood upon her back in
order to raise us children. They endured many hardships for our sake."
The child was a great joy to its parents, and they loved it dearly. The
father would often step to the cradle and pray loud and fervently that
God would grant grace to his son that, mindful of his name, he might
become a true Luther and live a pure and sincere life. From earliest
childhood both parents trained their boy to fear God and love all that
is good. Parental discipline, however, was most severe, and tended to
make Luther a very timid child. In later years he said: "My father once
chastised me so severely that I fled from him and avoided him until he
won me to himself again." And of his mother he said: "For the sake of an
insignificant nut my mother once whipped me till the blood came. But
their intentions were the best." Luther at all times gratefully
acknowledged this.
2. LUTHER AT SCHOOL. Little Martin was not yet five years of age when,
followed by the prayers of his parents, he was brought to the school at
Mansfeld. This school was situated upon a hillside, in the upper part of
the city, and quite a distance from the boy's home. In inclement
weather, when the road was bad, he was often carried there by his father
or by Nicolas Oemler. Here he zealously learned the Ten Commandments,
the Creed, and the Lord's Prayer; he was also instructed in reading,
writing, and the principles of Latin grammar. The school even surpassed
his home in the severity of its discipline. The schoolmaster was one of
those incapable men that treated his children as hangmen and bailiffs
treat their prisoners. In one forenoon Luther received fifteen
whippings. Such tyrannical treatment filled him and his fellow pupils
with fear and timidity.
The religious instruction which he received also served to intimidate
and terrify him. He scarcely learned more than popish superstition and
idolatry. True, at Christmas time the church sang: "A Child so fair is
born for us to-day," but instead of the glad tidings: "Unto you is born
this day in the city of David a Savior," hell-fire was preached in the
school. Luther says: "From youth I was trained to turn pale at the very
mention of Christ's name, for I was instructed to regard Him as a severe
and angry judge. We were all taught that we had to atone for our own
sins, and because we could not do this we were directed to the saints in
heaven and advised to invoke dear Mother Mary to pacify the wrath of
Christ and obtain mercy for us."