T has been my purpose in Katharine von Bora, to picture in the peaceful quiet of his domestic happiness, the man Whose in?uence so largely shaped the course of public events. The undertaking has not been altogether an easy one; for, while history ?ows in a copious stream, regarding the Reformer himself, it gives but meager information as to the great man's wife, — the humble, modest woman, who never thrust herself forward, nor sought any personal advantage from her husband's greatness, — but remained contentedly in the back ground, glad to do him service, and to enrich her own heart from the abundance of his spiritual riches. Only occasional fragments give us glimpses of Katha; rine's life, and out of these I will endeavor to form a completer picture.