and
union.

Melanchthon had excellent training as a boy, and early showed signs of
unusual ability. At fifteen he took his bachelor's degree at Heidelberg
University, and when only eighteen years of age Erasmus said of him,
"What hopes may we not conceive of Philipp Melanchthon, though as yet
very young, almost a boy, but equally to be admired for his proficiency
in both languages! What quickness of invention! What purity of diction!
What vastness of memory! What variety of reading! What modesty and
gracefulness of behavior! And what a princely mind!"

After completing his course at Heidelberg, he went to Tuebingen, where
his studies were directed by Reuchlin, who was his kinsman. He gave
public lectures at Tuebingen on rhetoric and on various classic authors,
attracting worldwide attention. In 1518 he was called to the Greek
professorship at Wittenberg, where he made the acquaintance of Luther.
Bishop Hurst says, "The life of Melanchthon was now so thoroughly
identified with that of Luther that it is difficult to separate the two.
They lived in the same town of Wittenberg. They were in constant
consultation, each doing what he was most able to do, and both working
with unwearied zeal for the triumph of the cause to which they gave
their life."

His success at Wittenberg was assured from the first. Though youthful in
appearance, being but twenty-one years of age, his pure logic, his
profound knowledge of philosophy, his familiarity with the Scriptures,
his perfect mastery of the classic languages, his fine diction, and his
broad knowledge awoke enthusiasm at once. Wittenberg, possessing two
such great men as Luther and Melanchthon, became the center of
humanistic studies, not less than two thousand students being attracted
to its university. Melanchthon was an inspiring teacher; among his
pupils were men who afterward became leaders of thought in Germany, and
who did much to shape the destiny of Europe.

Perhaps Melanchthon's greatest service to the schools was his
publication of text-books, which were very much needed. He wrote a Greek
grammar for boys when himself but a boy of sixteen. Grammar he defined
as "the science of speaking and writing correctly," a definition that
has been scarcely improved upon. Ten years later his Latin grammar was
published, after being tested for some years in his classes. For more
than one hundred years this was the principal Latin grammar in use, and
there were not less than fifty