From the Diet of Worms to the Augsburg Confession - James Aitken Wylie

fields, and in some instances whole provinces, lay
drowned beneath their waters. Great winds tore up
ancient trees; and, as if the pillars of the world
were growing feeble and toppling, earthquakes
shook kingdoms, and engulfed castles and towns.
"Behold," said the men who witnessed these
occurrences, "Behold the prognostics of the dire
calamities which are about to overwhelm the
world." Even Luther partook of the general terror.
"Dr. Hess," says he, writes me word that in
December last the whole heavens were seen on fire
above the Church of Breslau, and another day there
were witnessed, in the same place, two circles of
fire, one within the other, and in the center of them
a blazing pinar. These signs announce, it is my firm
opinion, the approach of the Last Day.
The Roman Empire tends nearly to its ruin; the
Turk has attained the summit of his power; the
Papal splendor is fast becoming eclipsed; the world
cracks in every direction as though about to fall in
pieces."
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