726 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts, and Letters. 
Le Testament de Martin Leuter, is an attack on Luther and 
his teachings made by some orthodox writer of the middle of 
the sixteenth century. 1 In this testament Luther is made to 
expose his own wickedness very frankly. H© sees death ap¬ 
proaching and knows that he is going to hell. It is now neces¬ 
sary for him to make his testament and to ordain his habitation. 
He wishes his sepulchre to be in hell where Cain by his mur¬ 
der, .Judas by his treason, and many other sinners by their 
crimes have been brought. He foresees his own torture in pain 
unending and is glad of his approaching suffering. He prays 
for Atropos to sever the thread of his life, for he lias no rest in 
this world, which he has destroyed with his wicked doctrines. 
He confesses how he has sinned in perverting the law and in 
trying to abolish confession. He wants his sad story put into 
writing for the warning of others. He wants to go to Lucifer 
and calls on all the devils both above and below to help put his 
soul in hell. For him there is no repentance. Hell is the 
portion of heretics. Let all take warning and avoid it. 2 
This poem has little to commend it. It is undramatic and 
is very much confused. What might have been made a telling 
satire has lost i|s force by its very violence. 
Of very different character is the Testament of Hawthorne, 
a poem appearing in Lottie’s Miscellany (1557). 3 The testa¬ 
tor, seeing his death approaching, commends himself to his mis¬ 
tress and begs her to visit his tomb and “bathe the frozen stone 
with tears.” He makes the Service Tree his executor and 
gives direction for his burial under an oak entwined with ivy. 
His epitaph is to record his services “to her for whom he lieth 
in the grave.” Two lamps ever burning above his tomb shall 
signify his undying love, and instead of the ringing of bells 
1 Ibid., I, 194. 
2 Testaments of this class are closely related to the monologue of 
self-exposure of which there are many examples in English literature. 
Among these we may here note Barabbas’ confession of his villainies 
in the Jew of Malta (II, iii, 175); the Pardoner’s confession in The 
Canterbury Tales (C., 329 ff.); confessions by Shakspere’s Aaron and 
his Richard III (T. A.. Act. V., scene 1 and Richard 111, Act I, scene 1); 
and the numerous confessions of similar character in De Guilleville’s 
Pelerinage. Compare also the self-vilifying epitaph inserted for Gue- 
nais in the Testament de levrault (page 484). 
s See also Chalmers’ English Poets , II, 437, London, 1810. 
