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

for himself; his life he held in his hand, ready at
any moment to lay it down for the truth; it was for
his friends he feared in these intervals of silence,
lest perchance some disaster had befallen them.
Retiring into his closet, he would again send up his
cry to the throne in the heavens. Straightway the
clouds of melancholy would roll away, and the
light of coming triumphs would break in upon his
soul. He would go to the window and look forth
upon the midnight sky.
The mighty vault, studded with glorious stars,
became to him a sign that helped his faith. "How
magnificent! how lofty!" he would exclaim.
"Where are the strong pillars that support this
immense dome? I nowhere behold them. Yet the
heavens do not fall." Thus the firmament, upheld
by a Hand he could not see, preached to him peace
and prophesied of triumph. It said to him, "Why,
Luther, are you disquieted and in trouble? Be at
rest." He saw around him a work in progress as
stupendous as the fabric of the heavens. But why
should he take that work upon himself as if it were
his, and as if he must charge himself with its
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