[466] "Cum doctrinam in eis traditam cum sacris litteris contullisset quædam in pontificia religione suspecta habere cœpit." (Ibid.) When he had compared the doctrine delivered in them with the Sacred Scriptures, he began to have some suspicions of the pope's religion. [467] "Primam lucem purioris sententiæ de justificatione in suo pectore sensit." (Melch. Adam. Vita Buceri, p. 211.) He felt the first dawn of a purer opinion on justification rising in his breast. Not far from Bucer sat John Brentz or Brentius, then about nineteen years of age. Brentz, who was the son of a magistrate of a town in Swabia, had, at thirteen, been enrolled among the students of Heidelberg. None of them showed such application. As soon as the hour of midnight struck, Brentz rose and commenced his labours. This practice became so habitual to him, that, during the rest of his life, he could never sleep beyond that hour. At a later period he devoted these still moments to meditation on the Scriptures. Brentz was one of the first to perceive the new light which then rose on Germany, and he received it into his soul in the full love of it.[468] He read the writings of Luther with avidity, and must have been overjoyed at the prospect of hearing him personally at Heidelberg. Young Brentz was particularly struck with one of the doctor's propositions, viz., "Not he who does many works is justified before God, but he who, without works, believes much in Jesus Christ." [468] "Ingens Dei beneficium lætus Brentius agnovit, et grata mente amplexus est." (Ibid.) Brentius joyfully recognised the inestimable gift of God, and with grateful mind embraced it. A pious woman of Heilbronn, on the Necker, wife of a councillor of that town, named Snepf, had, after the example of Hannah, dedicated her first born to the Lord, earnestly desiring to see him devote himself to theology. The young man, who was born in 1495, made rapid progress in literature, but whether from taste or ambition, or compliance with his father's wishes, he devoted himself to the study of law. The pious mother was grieved when she saw her son Ehrhard following another course than that to which she had dedicated him; she warned and urged him, and always concluded by reminding him of the vow which she had made at his birth.[469] At length, overcome by his mother's perseverance, Ehrhard Snepf yielded, and soon felt such delight in his new studies, that nothing in the world could have diverted him from them. [469] "Crebris interpellationibus eum voti quod de nato ipso fecerat, admoneret; et a studio juris ad theologiam quasi conviciis avocaret." (Melch. Adami, Snepfii Vita.) She frequently interposed to remind him of the vow which she had made at his birth, and, as it were, by her reproaches drew him off from the study of law to theology.