DREAM OF FREDERICK, THE ELECTOR OF SAXONY.
By Elder A. Snyder
Translated from the German, by Elder A. Snyder. The following remarkable dream of the Elector of Saxony, (Frederick,) I found is Godfried Arnold's Kirchen und Ketzer Historien, (History of the church and Heresies,) printed in Schaffhausen in A. D. 1740; where it was written as having been related by the Elector himself, to his brother Duke John, and his Chancellor E. L. — Here is the dream: “As I was lying upon my bed in the evening, somewhat faint and tired; while I was praying I soon fell asleep and slept soundly, and rested comfortably for about the space of two and a half hours; after which I awoke considerably refreshed. I lay upon my bed, and had all manner of thoughts, and among other things, I reflected how I might fast to the honor of all beloved saints, as well as myself and my courtiers. I also prayed for the poor souls in purgatory, and concluded in my mind to come to their aid and assistance in their flames. I also prayed to God for grace that he might lead me and my counsellors, and my country into all truth, and save us, and that he would control, by his omnipotent power, the evil designs of those who would make our government troublesome. Being filled with such thoughts, soon after midnight, I fell asleep again, and soon commenced dreaming. I dreamed that God sent a monk, with a fine, honest countenance to me; this monk was the Apostle Paul's natural son, and had for his attendants, by God's command, all the beloved saints, who were to bear witness to the monk, that there was no deception in him, but that certainly he was sent from God; that God commanded me to allow this monk to write something upon the chapel of my castle at Wittenburg; that if I would do so, I should never be sorry for it. I told the monk through my Chancellor, that, as God had commanded me to let him write, and as I had such powerful evidence, he might write all that he was commanded to write. Immediately, the monk began to write, and made his letters so large that I could know them here in Schweinitz (at this place, about four miles from Wittenburg the Elector was at the time he had this dream), and used a pen so long that the other end of it reached to Rome, and penetrated into the ear of a lion, which lay there, so forcibly that it came out at the other ear, and then extended still further until it came in contact with the triple crown of his holiness, the Pope, and gave it such a powerful shock that it began to shake and to fall from the head of his holiness. E. L., and myself stood not far from his holiness at the time; and as his crown was falling, I stretched forth my hand to assist him in keeping it in its place. At this I awoke, holding up my arm, a good deal frightened and angry at the monk, because he did not guide his pen more carefully; but upon a little reflection I found it was a dream.” “I was still full of sleep, and soon my eyes were shut again, and I fell into a sound sleep, and before I was aware of it, the same dream appeared to me again, the second time; for I had again to do with the monk. I saw how he continued to write; and with the stump of his pen he kept on stinging the lion and the Pope. At this the lion roared most dreadfully, and the whole city of Rome, and all the ranks and orders in the holy kingdom came running to the place to see what this was. The Pope requested those ranks and orders to restrain the monk, and inform me of the violence he was doing to his holiness, because this monk was in my country. Here I awoke the second time from my dream, and marveled that I had dreamed it again.” “I did not, however, suffer this thing to trouble my mind, but prayed that God would preserve his holiness, the Pope, from all evil; and thus I fell asleep again the third time. The monk appeared to me again, and this time we endeavoured hard to break the monk's pen, and to lead the Pope out of its way; but the more we exerted ourselves to break the pen, the more inflexible it became, and the more it rattled and jarred as though it were iron; it rattled and jarred so much that it hurt my ears, and penetrated my heart. Finally I became vexed and tired of it, and we gave up, and went away, one after another and hid ourselves, fearing that the monk might be able to do more than eat bread, that he might, perhaps, do us some harm. Notwithstanding, I caused to be inquired of the monk, how he came in possession of that wonderful pen, and what was the reason that it was so tough and solid. He answered, that it was taken from an old Bohemian goose, a hundred years ago, and that an old schoolmaster of his had honored him by presenting it to him, requesting him that, because it was a good pen, he should keep it, and use it in remembrance of him, that he himself had tempered it; that the reason why it was so long and strong, was because no man could take away the spirit from it, nor drain the soul out of it, as was the case with other pens. At this he himself was greatly astonished.” “Soon after this a great cry arose, that out of this great pen of the monk, numberless other writing pens had grown in Wittenburg, and that it was amusing to see how learned men strove and contended about it; that part of them thought that, in the course of time, many of these pens would become as inflexible and strong as the one in the monk's hand; and that something remarkable would certainly follow this monk and his pen. I now concluded in my dream (the sooner the better), to have a personal conversation with the monk. I awoke from my dream and found that it was morning. Wondering at my dream, I reflected upon it, and the fact that it was repeated three times in succession, in one night, made a deep impression on my mind.” This dream the Elector dreamed on the night before Luther began to write against Tetzel. The author of the book whence it is taken, interprets it in the following manner: 1. The monk with a fine, honest countenance, is Luther, who caused the triple crown to shake upon the head of the Pope. 2. His being called the natural son of the Apostle Paul, was, because he preached the doctrine of justification by faith, through the mercy of God, with the same energy against popery, as Paul did against those who sought justification by the deeds of the law, in his day. His long pen taken from a Bohemian goose, a hundred years before, refers to John Huss, (for Huss in the Bohemian language means a goose,) who had been burned at a council, held at Constance, a hundred years before, as an arch heretic, and at which time he delivered the following prophecy: “To-day you roast a goose, but a hundred years hence there will come a swan which you will not roast.” This was accomplished one hundred years after the death of Huss, when Luther arose to sing his evangelical Swan-song. 4. That the monk's pen could not be broken, was because its spirit could not be taken away; that is, while God's spirit was with him in the work, through whom Luther not only received courage to commence the great work, but has himself carried it on, and will continue it until the end of time,—no opposition that can be brought against it will be successful.—Church Advocate.