Luther and the Reformation:

Luther and the Reformation, with the line THE LIFE-SPRINGS OF OUR LIBERTIES, is by Joseph Augustus Seiss. The preface says the first part of this book presents the studies of the Author in preparing a Memorial Oration delivered in the city of New York, November 10, 1883, on the four hundredth anniversary of the birth of Martin Luther. The preface says the second part presents his studies in a like preparation for certain Discourses delivered in the city of Philadelphia at the Bi-Centennial of the founding of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Under the heading Efforts at Reform, the text says To restrain and humble this gigantic power was the desideratum of ages, and that for two hundred years had men been laboring to curb and tame it. A saying given in the text holds that The strength and glory of a town does not depend on its wealth, its walls, its great mansions, its powerful armaments, but in the number of its learned, serious, kind, and well-educated citizens.