t go to Wittenberg. The
scholar of the church was not to be endangered by the poison of heresy. So
said the friars.

Tausen went to Cologne, which was then, as now, one of the strongholds of
Romanism. Here he soon became disgusted with the mysticisms of the
schoolmen. About the same time he obtained Luther's writings. He read them
with wonder and delight, and greatly desired to enjoy the personal
instruction of the Reformer. But to do so he must risk giving offense to
his monastic superior, and forfeiting his support. His decision was soon
made, and erelong he was enrolled as a student at Wittenberg.

On returning to Denmark, he again repaired to his cloister. No one as yet
suspected him of Lutheranism; he did not reveal his secret, but
endeavored, without exciting the prejudices of his companions, to lead
them to a purer faith and a holier life. He opened the Bible, and
explained its true meaning, and at last preached Christ to them as the
sinner's righteousness and his only hope of salvation. Great was the wrath
of the prior, who had built high hopes upon him as a valiant defender of
Rome. He was at once removed from his own monastery to another, and
confined to his cell, under strict supervision.

To the terror of his new guardians, several of the monks soon declared
themselves converts to Protestantism. Through the bars of his cell, Tausen
had communicated to his companions a knowledge of the truth. Had those
Danish fathers been skilled in the church's plan of dealing with heresy,
Tausen's voice would never again have been heard; but instead of
consigning him to a tomb in some underground dungeon, they expelled him
from the monastery. Now they were powerless. A royal edict, just issued,
offered protection to the teachers of the new doctrine. Tausen began to
preach. The churches were opened to him, and the people thronged to
listen. Others also were preaching the word of God. The New Testament,
translated into the Danish tongue, was widely circulated. The efforts made
by the papists to overthrow the work resulted in extending it, and erelong
Denmark declared its acceptance of the reformed faith.

In Sweden, also, young men who had drunk from the well of Wittenberg
carried the water of life to their countrymen. Two of the leaders in the
Swedish Reformation, Olaf and Laurentius Petri, the sons of a blacksmith
of Orebro, studied under Luther and Melanchthon, and the truths which they
thus learned they were diligent t