Property of Philip Edwards

In a hilly part of the Kraichgau lies the city of Bretten. In former times it belonged to the Electors of the Palatinate, and in the year 1504 defended itself bravely against Duke Ulrich of Würtemberg, and also manifested a brave loyalty to its hereditary sovereign in the war of the peasants. It is now included in the Grand-Duchy of Baden. It has acquired an imperishable name, because a great man, Philip Melanchthon, was born in it. We will begin by hearing what an old account relates of his ancestors and parents, his birth and youth.

"In the days of the Count Palatine Philip, Elector on the Rhine, there lived in Heidelberg, before the mountain, a worthy, pious man, named Claus Schwartzerd. With Elizabeth, his wife, he begat two sons, Hans and George, and from their youth up trained them in the fear of God, and the practice of every virtue. The Count Palatine Philip took so great a liking to George, who was a very active and ingenious lad, and discharged every duty most diligently, that he took him to Court, and permitted him to examine a number of professions, in order by this means to satisfy himself what his inclinations were, and what might be made of him. When the boy, therefore, took delight in armor, the Elector placed him in charge of a master in Amberg. He learned the trade so rapidly that every one was astonished, and the journeymen became so hostile to him, that one of them on a certain occasion burned him with hot lead in so dangerous a manner that his life was despaired of, and he was only saved by Divine mercy, and very faithful nursing." By order of the Elector he was then sent to an armorer in Nuremberg. Here also he made rapid advances. "For the boy was so ingenious, that, as we commonly say, his hands could imitate whatever his eyes saw. He could forge as neatly as if it had been done with a file." In a few years he was able to make everything needful for the tournament. The Elector again took him to Court, and appointed him an armorer or armor-bearer. He became so celebrated, that even foreign potentates courted him. Even the German Emperor Maximilian had his armor made by him. For a very skilful suit of armor, the Emperor presented him with a family coat of arms, representing a lion sitting upon a shield and helmet, holding tongs and a hammer in his paws. George's son, our Philip, never made use of this coat of arms, his own representing the serpent upon the cross, alluding to the well-known typical event in the wilderness. When George was thirty years old, the Elector thought of having him married. A well-known citizen of Bretten, Hans Reuter, "a very fine, sensible man, who had even studied," enjoying great respect, having served as Mayor of the place for several years, had a daughter called Barbara. "She was a virtuous and well-bred maiden. By the providence of Almighty God, and the negotiations of the Elector, she was promised to him in marriage, and they were married in Spire, in the presence of many knights, who appeared to do honor to his espousals." The ancient account goes on to say: "The married couple continued to love and esteem each other, for the said George Schwartzerd was a just, pious, God-fearing man, serving God earnestly, praying diligently, and observing his hours of prayer as strictly as any priest, permitting nothing to hinder him from the discharge of this duty, so that he would arise in the night, fall upon his knees, and pray with earnestness. No one ever heard him utter a profane word, or saw him intoxicated, or even heard of anything of the kind of him to the day of his death." He did not concern himself especially with laying up this world's goods, and he was never seen in the courts to carry on lawsuits. His wife, besides her piety, and domestic, frugal spirit, exercised benevolence towards the poor and afflicted. The familiar saying was often upon her lips: "Alms do not impoverish," and the lines also-

Whoever wishes to consume more

Than his plough can support,

Will at last come to ruin,

And die upon the gallows.