ciated. This was done in no impulse of recklessness. The consequences had been weighed and considered. Those consequences were not long in appearing. Rome spoke out quickly,-in easy contempt at first, as was due an insignificant monk, -then, when she saw this cloudlet grow and cover the heavens, thunderously and vindictively. To cajole the German into silence, all the resources of papal diplomacy were employed; to crush him were threatened all the terrors of excommunication and interdict, the stake and eternal damnation. "But in that season of anguish when piercing cries burst from his narrow cell, and echoed through the long corridors of the convent at Ehrfurt," Luther had received the baptism of adversity and pain, and in him the church encountered a spirit which remained undaunted before her anathemas. For a time he waited, not in doubt but in hope of reconciliation. But when he became convinced that the See was acting contrary to the express commands of Christ, without a tremor he spurned every compromise and openly defied the authority which held his life in its hands. There is something colossal about this Wittenberg monk, as he arrays himself against the powers of Rome and hurls at them his defiance. There is about him something awe-inspiring, which compels the allegiance of princes, which makes the common people his willing servants, which commands the respect of his very enemies. It is his awful earnestness. Men do not relinquish the associations and beliefs of a lifetime from

mere caprice. A catastrophe must move them. Luther had been forced from his church, and the determination to discover truth became of more importance to him than life. See him as he burns the papal bull sent out against him; see him as he engages in debate with Eck; see him withstanding the insinuating flattery of the papal ambassadors; see him as he toils day and night, forgetting hunger and weariness; see him at Worms, before a diet of spiritual and temporal princes, among whom he recognizes not one friendly face; hear him, as, concluding his defense and raising his hand toward Heaven, he cries out with all the conviction of a soul that knows the righteousness of its cause, "Here stand I, Martin Luther. I can do no otherwise. God help me; Amen."

At the Diet of Worms was won the greatest triumph for liberty in modern times. The hope of centuries there found incarnation and expression. For the first time since the establishment of its power, the church, the all-embracing absolute, failed to silence the individual voice raised against her authority,-yea, admitted her defeat, by gathering thousands from the remotest parts of Christendom, to hear the utterances of a man whose lips the Pope had sealed. Rome might strive as she would, counter-reformation might rend Europe into warring factions, revolution indulge itself in its horrid orgies! Nevertheless, there went forth from the conflict which had its

climax at Worms, a spirit which has been at the bottom of every subsequent movement in the advancement of man; a spirit which could not be strangled by the misinterpretation of a narrow sectarianism; a spirit which embraced the whole of Europe, and hastened the day of representative and constitutional government; a spirit which rent the barriers of convent and cloister, and broke forth into joyous hymns of resurrection; which sustained and cheered the Dissenter in the Scottish Highlands and kept brave and true the hearts of our own Pilgrim Fathers; a spirit which burst the cold shell of scholastic learning, making possible the philosophy of a Kant, and refining a barbaric jargon into the poetry of a Goethe; a spirit which has created a positive Protestantism; a spirit which has even stripped from the Papal See the gilded bauble of temporal power and placed in its stead the badge of spiritual stewardship. Sects may war about its doctrines, bigoted historians may demean its motives, but so long as this spirit lives, there will be possible an open Bible and a free school in every land. So long as the name of Luther endures men will think and speak and act as their free manhood dictates. For a purer faith, for a better church, for a juster government, for a truer philosophy, the followers of Christ, whatever their sect or form, must pay homage to the memory of Martin Luther,mighty reformer,-true to his manhood, his age, and his God.

THE PATRIOTISM OF STEPHEN A. DOUGLAS.

By FRANK BROWN, of Knox College.

BIOGRAPHICAL.

Frank Brown was born on a farm near Ipava, Ill. He attended a country school for a number of years, and later graduated from the Ipava High School. After spending a year at teaching he entered Knox Academy, Galesburg, Illinois, in the fall of 1895. Here he remained two years, being obliged to make his own way at manual labor. While in the academy he had begun to make himself felt as a speaker. In the annual contest between the two Academy literary societies he won first honors as the representative of his society in debate. Brown is a loyal Democrat, and alumni who were seniors during his early college course delight to tell how he was wont to cause the hall of Gnothantii, his chosen literary society, to resound with eloquent tributes to the leader of his chosen party. In 1896 he heard on the college campus the address of Chauncey M. Depew, commemorating the thirty-eighth anniversary of the Lincoln-Douglas debate. Mr. Brown felt that scant justice was done Douglas, and it was here that the foundation for his oration was laid. Possibly at this time he had not formulated the plan of writing an oration in vindication of Douglas, but as he went along, every scrap of matter relating to Douglas or the Lincoln-Douglas debates was seized with avidity by the Illinois orator. He is a thorough believer in Douglas, and with an earnestness unusally intense he never fails to hold his audience. Two more years at teaching were found necessary to relieve financial embarrassment. Upon his return to college, Mr. Brown entered the class of 1902, and has since given much attention to oratory and work in literary society. In 1900 he won the Colton prize debate. His connection with the 1902 college annual won him a splendid reputation for his command of English. For two years he was on the editorial staff of the Knox Student, where some of the clever work of his pen has given rise to much comment. In May, 1901, he won both junior oratorical contests, thereby being Knox's representative at the InterCollegiate Contest held at Carlinville, Illinois. Here he won first place, and as the representative of his State delivered his oration on "The

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