CHAPTER x.x.x.

When the happy Clara opened her blue eyes on the first morning after her marriage, she saw that her young husband was already awake and sitting upright in bed as if in deep and earnest meditation upon some important matter. She threw her arms about his neck, kissed him tenderly and asked him what he was meditating upon so intently.

'Upon my future destiny, and the decision I must make as to what business I shall hereafter pursue, my dear wife,' answered he with seeming earnestness. 'So many offers were made to me yesterday that I hardly know which of them to embrace. The lord bishop wishes to retain me with him, either in a military capacity or as an officer of his court, as I may choose; for the latter of which I suppose I am more particularly well qualified. I can also at any moment become a captain in the service of the elector of Saxony.'

'You surely will not accept of either of them?' cried Clara, anxiously.

'Leave those high honors and dignities to others, and be satisfied with the quiet domestic happiness which awaits you, and which your unambitious disposition is best calculated to enjoy. Remain what you are, a good armorer! As such only have I joined hands with you, before G.o.d's altar, in the holy bands of matrimony. If now you wish the captaincy, or a seat in the royal council, then have you deceived me, even at the moment of marriage, and that would be very wrong in a bridegroom.'

'G.o.d be praised!' joyfully exclaimed Alf, pressing her to his bosom.

'That is precisely what I desired to hear from you, my dear Clara. I only wished to ascertain whether you agreed with me upon a most important question; and behold, our wishes and opinions are as similar as if we had been made for each other.'

'Ah, that was always clear to me from the first moment I saw you,'

stammered Clara, blushing; 'and it used to render me truly miserable to see that you had eyes only for my unfortunate sister.'

'Peace to her ashes!' said Alf with emotion; 'but I now perceive quite clearly that she would have been no wife for me. What G.o.d brings to pa.s.s is intended for our good.'

At that moment began under the windows, arranged by the wedding guests, an excellent morning serenade; and the vocalists, falling in, sang to the bridal pair, in Martin Luther's words:[3]

'Oh happy man, whose soul is fill'd With zeal and reverend awe!

His lips to G.o.d their honors yield, His life adorns the law.

'A careful Providence shall stand And ever guard thy head, Shall on the labors of thy hand, Its kindly blessings shed.'

'Shall on the labors of thy hand,'--said the young couple joyfully to each other at the same moment, and Alf smilingly remarked; 'now we shall be sure to live together at least a year, my Clara, since we both had the same thought at the same time.'

Again sang the choir:

'Thy wife shall be a fruitful vine; Thy children round thy board, Each like an olive-plant shall shine, And learn to fear the Lord.

'The Lord shall thy best hopes fulfil For months and years to come; The Lord who dwells on Zion's hill, Shall send thee blessings home.'

Reminded of the pleasures of paternity, Alf pressed his beloved wife yet closer, while she hid her blushing face in his bosom. They listened with delighted attention to the remainder of the hymn, and when the last verse came they joined in with a pious ecstasy, and in thankful remembrance of all that G.o.d had done for them:

'To Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, The G.o.d whom we adore, Be everlasting honors paid Henceforth, forevermore.'

CHAPTER x.x.xI.

Having obtained an honorable discharge from the army of the Diet, Alf settled himself with his young wife under the shadow of Fabricius's wing at Ca.s.sel, as a respectable armorer. The property which he took with him from Munster, together with the rich marriage presents which he received from the bishop and count Oberstein, rendered him a well conditioned burgher. He enjoyed the blessings of a middle station in society, in an unusual measure, and the painful remembrance of what he had experienced, performed, and suffered, was merged by degrees in the feeling of repose, and in the quiet enjoyment of well merited prosperity.

Meanwhile the timid and exasperated bishop began to bring poor Munster fully under the yoke; so that it should never again be able to raise its head in rebellion. Two castles arose towering over the city, with the aid of which he hoped easily to suppress every disturbance, and occasionally to curtail some of the ancient privileges of the people; but the amba.s.sadors of the Circle, who suddenly appeared in Munster, efficaciously remedied this fault and many others. The peaceable citizens of Munster, whom he had compelled to perform all sorts of labor, were protected; the fortifications of the anabaptists as well as the castles of the bishop were razed; and the latter was compelled to permit a decision, by a trial and sentence, upon the fate of the tailor-king and his companions, who, until then, had been, in mockery and scorn, dragged through all the neighboring parts of Germany in their cages. In February of the year 1536, the three criminals were finally led to the scaffold. However great was their guilt, the cruelty of their punishment seemed unworthy the mercy which should have been exercised by the spiritual lords, from whom alone a mitigation of their sentence could emanate; but who commanded its execution with unrelenting severity.

'Holy G.o.d!' exclaimed Alf, when he heard of their unhappy end; 'whither will not fanaticism lead its unhappy devotees! Happy is he who confines his attention to the narrow circle of his household and his business, and who does not forget that prayer and labor are the best antidotes to vain imaginings. Thrice happy is the man to whom G.o.d grants a good wife, who, with gentle power, draws him from the wild impulses of the world, and with flowery chains binds him to his own hearth. Under that hearth lies buried the true treasure of life, which so few have the desire and happiness to raise. We have disinterred it, have we not, my Clara? When the olive plants stand around us, which Dr. Luther has promised, what shall we then lack?' Saying this, he laid his hand affectionately upon his young wife, who was most a.s.siduously spinning at the opposite side of the table. At first, with a sweet smile, she clasped her beloved husband's hand, and then pa.s.sing quickly round the table, she fell upon his neck. 'Lord G.o.d, we thank thee!' cried the superlatively happy husband, glowing with love and grat.i.tude.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 1: The name of one of the imperial regiments, composed of catholics.]

[Footnote 2: Evil spirits.]

[Footnote 3: We use the version of Dr. Watts.--TR.]