"Given on the Day of the Epiphany, 1542."
On the same day, Luther sent for his friends, Melanchthon, Cruciger, and Bugenhagen, to affix their signatures as witnesses to the document. It was not shown to his wife, the Doctor fearing to arouse the sadness which overwhelmed her at the thought of separation.
A heavy weight was lifted from his mind, after he had thus fulfilled his duty toward his wife and children; and he was able, with greater fervor than ever, to say in his daily prayer: "I desire to depart and to be with Christ."
CHAPTER XXII.
LITTLE LENA.
It is written that "we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God," and that "whom He loveth, He chasteneth."
Martin Luther and his wife had already passed through deep waters of grief and sorrow,—he, the hero in spiritual warfare, leading the way, and she following, keenly alive to every trouble that assailed her husband. But the season of trials was not yet past,—they were still, by God's Will, to taste the bitterest pain that can afflict a parent's heart.
One day, as they sat together under the pear-tree, surrounded by their children, the conversation chanced upon the sacrifice of Isaac.
"Good God," said Luther, "what a heart-break it must have been to Abraham, when he was commanded to slay his only and well-beloved son Isaac! What a painful journey that was, to Mount Moriah,—doubtless he told his wife nothing about it. Truly, had I been in his place, I believe I should have withstood."
His wife answered with a sigh: "I cannot grasp the thought, that God should require of us to sacrifice our own child."