longer be possible to discern the way of salvation; moral force would disappear, freedom would depart, modern civilization would once more sink into barbarism, and humanity, deprived of the only guide competent to lead it on, would go astray and perish hopelessly in the desert. We have narrated in our early volumes the great achievements of the Reformation in Germany, at Worms, Spire, Augsburg, and elsewhere. While these events were astonishing all Europe, the Spirit of God was gently breathing, souls were silently awakening, churches were forming, and the Christian virtues were springing up afresh in Christendom. What took place at that period was very much like what frequently happens in the world of nature. In the higher regions there are great gales, clouds charged with electricity, thunders, lightnings, and torrents of rain. Then in the lower regions, in the valleys and on the plains, the fields refreshed, reviving, grow green again, 'and the earth brings forth first the fruit, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear.' The Reformation had made great progress in Germany. The Word of God everywhere advanced with much power; and the waters which had gushed forth at Wittenberg, spreading around, quenched the thirst of many souls. Believers were found in all classes, but especially among the traders of the towns. [Sidenote: JOHN BUGENHAGEN.] In an island of the Baltic, formed by the two eastern arms of the Oder, and belonging to Pomerania, stands the small town of Wollin, formerly a nest of Danish pirates. Here was born, on June 24, 1485, a man of singular goodness, who became one of the champions of Christian civilization in the sixteenth century, John, son of the councillor Gerard Bugenhagen. He entered in 1502 the university of Greifswald, a town situated on the same sea, and applied himself to the study of languages, the humanities, and also theology. In 1505 he went to Treptow, another town on the Baltic, further eastward, and was appointed rector of the school. He was so successful as a teacher that Bodelwin, abbot of a neighboring convent, invited him to become professor of theology in a college instituted for the teaching of the sciences. Here he expounded the Scriptures, for the most part according to the views of Augustine and Jerome. Priests, monks, and townsmen came to hear him; and although he was not ordained, his friends strongly urged him to preach. This he did, to the great delight of his hearers, among whom were some of noble rank.[481] 'Alas!' said Bugenhagen, afterwards, 'I was still in the strait bonds of pharisaic piety, and I had no true understanding of the Holy Scriptures. We were all so deeply sunk in the doctrine of the pope, that we had not even a wish to know the doctrine of the Word of God.' There were however desires and longings in his heart; but what he wanted remained as a writing in cipher, of which he was unable to discover the key. It was quite suddenly at last that he found it.