court preacher at Mansfeld, Michel Coclius, who, with others, were present at his death, immediately communicated the melancholy event to the Elector, and requested his Grace to issue orders respecting the funeral, as well as to have a letter of consolation written to his bereaved widow. The intelligence was conveyed so rapidly to Torgau, that the Elector, on the same evening of the day on which Luther died, answered the letter, and gave immediate orders in relation to his funeral. CHAPTER VI. Catharine, a Widow—Her Support—Sufferings—Journeys—Death. No one was more deeply distressed at his death than the mourning widow. For more than twenty years she had lived with him in uninterrupted harmony; had sought to alleviate his sufferings, and had shared his joys; and she was not permitted to see him die nor minister to his last wants! Even if he did die among friends, yet she was not there to smooth his pillow and to perform those tender offices which an affectionate wife alone knows how to do. When on the 22d of February the corpse was conveyed to Wittenberg and deposited in the castle church, and all the inhabitants of the city went to meet the melancholy procession, there stood Catharine weeping, and with her children looked on her deceased husband. She survived him nearly seven years, and cherished his memory most affectionately. Though his enemies assailed him most virulently when he was no longer present to defend himself, yet she never allowed her affection to cool nor her interest in his work and reputation to abate. The black velvet cloth which had covered the funeral car came into the possession of the widow, and for many years it was preserved among Luther’s posterity as a valuable memento. Neither did the Elector forget her. He wrote her a letter of condolence, in which he sought to comfort her on the grounds of the happy death of her husband, and the secret, wise councils of God. At the same time, he repeated his assurances of his protection of her and her children. Although Luther had expressed a desire that Catharine should remove from Wittenberg, fearing that after his death she might not be able to support herself there, yet induced by good reasons, she resolved to spend the remainder of her days in that place; for where could she expect to find better friends than in Wittenberg? Bugenhagen, Cruciger, Melanchthon, and others, were still living, who were her counsellors and comforters; and Wittenberg was also the place where her sons had already begun their education, and where they could most advantageously finish it.