His own grand version of the 46th psalm, composed while he was on his way to the Diet of Worms, and breathing all the spirit of his celebrated words on that most critical occasion of his life"Hier steh' ich, ich kann nicht anders!" speedily obtained a popularity which justifies its appellation of the national hymn of the German protestants. The Lutherans of Sweden have ever held it in like honour. Their martial heroes, Gustavus Adolphus and Charles II., loved to have it chaunted by their assembled armies in the field; and when the warlike chorus arrived at the lines in the second verse, "Fragst du Wer Er ist ? Er heiszt Jesus Christ!" the whole thunder of artillery would reply with the military salute, as owning the invisible leadership of the Captain of their salvation. Besides the Hebrew psalms and Latin hymns of the church, and those already in vogue among the people in the vulgar tongue, the religious songs of the Hussites afforded a valuable contribution to the German protestant hymnody. The Bohemian reformers had already preceded the Lutheran movement in this direction: the voice of their song now flowed into and mingled with that of the "Wittenberg Nightingale;" but its distinct echoes may still be traced in the utterances of the Moravian church, which boasts its unbroken descent from the sturdy confessors who marched to battle under the banners of Zisca. The popularity which the Kirchenlied acquired, is widened by its large accessions and repeated editions as time went on; and not less by the remarkable fusion of all classes in the ranks of its contributors. During the 16th century we find in juxtaposition the names of Luther himself, doctor of theology; his friend and close ally, Justus Jonas; Maria queen of Hungary, the sister of the emperor Charles V.; Albert margrave of Brandenburg; Hans Sachs, the shoemaker of Nuremberg; Nicholas Hermann, the parish clerk and schoolmaster of Joachimsthal; Zwick, the jurist and theologian of Constance; to which, as sacred versifiers of the time, if not as contributors to the Gesangbuch, may be added those of Ulrich von Hutten, the soldier-baron; and of the mild and studious Melancthon. And so it has been in all succeeding ages of German hymnody. Antony-Ulrich, duke of Brunswick, and Teerstiegen, ribbon-maker of Mülheim, were two chief ornaments of the sentimental and somewhat mystical school which arose about the middle of the 17th century, and of which Angelus or Scheffler, the physician of the emperor Ferdinand III., who became a Roman Catholic, was founder. The Baron von Canitz, author of a beautiful morning hymn and other pieces, was also their contemporary. Such was the impulse given to religious poetry after the establishment of the Lutheran church, that at the close of the 17th century, counsellor Frankenau collected no less than 33,712 hymns and sacred songs, which he presented, bound in 300 volumes, to the University Library at Copenhagen; and Wetzel, when he made his collection in 1718, could number no less than 55,000 already in print. Out of this mass chevalier Bunsen published a selection of 900, under the title "Versuch eines allgemeinen Gesang-und Gebetbuchs." Within the last year or two, translations of something less than one-fourth of this number have been put forth in two small volumes by Miss Catherine Winkworth, which have already acquired considerable popularity. We will here merely mention a few of the early German hymns (those of the 16th and 17th centuries) which appear to us to possess especial merit. Of Luther's version of the 46th Psalm, "Eine feste Burg," we have already spoken. In addition we would specify "Himmelan,” by Schmolck; "Hinunter ist der Sonne Schein," by Luther's friend, Nicholas Hermann; "So hab' ich obgesieget," by Gottfried Sacer; "O Ewigkeit," a hymn of ancient and uncertain origin, brought into its present form by Daniel Wüllfer, in the 17th century. This hymn was a favourite with Niebuhr, and also with the late Dr. Arnold, who once executed a translation of it himself. It is also remarkable as containing in the 4th stanza an image which we find employed by Addison in the Spectator (No. 575), and which, he says, originated with one of the schoolmen. It is a suggestion of the difference between eternity and the greatest conceivable measure of time, by supposing that "the whole body of the earth were a great ball or mass of the finest sand, and that a single grain or particle of this sand should be annihilated every thousand years. This sentiment is thus given by the German poet : " "Es trüge wohl ein Vögelein Weg aller Berge Sand und Stein; Du, Ewigkeit, bleibst immerdar." The great accumulation of sacred poetry, in the earlier part of the seventeenth century, was in part occasioned by a second great stirring of the religious sensibilities of the people. "The terrible times of the Thirty Years' War," says Miss Winkworth, in her preface, "were rich in sacred poetry. Rist, a clergyman in North Germany, who suffered much in his youth from mental conflicts, and in after years from plunder, pestilence, and all the horrors of war, used to say, 'The dear cross hath pressed many songs out of me; and this seems to have been equally true of many of his contemporaries." Paul Gerhardt was the great lyrist of this period, the second Luther of the Gesangbuch, and his muse was more fertile and various than that of his precursor. With him, says Miss Winkworth, culminated the elder and simpler school of German sacred poetry that of Scheffler or Angelus, already mentioned, introduced a more enervate style, which in its turn was succeeded, a hundred years later, by the calm, didactic utterances of Klopstock, Gellert, and their followers. In our own times, another school again has sprung up. The productions of Spitta, Puchta, Knapp, and others, are distinguished in general by much thoughtfulness and feeling, as well as beauty of expression, but are more calculated for the study than the congregation. Of some of these hymns we subjoin the following English versions: "Ein feste Burg." (Luther.) "A sure stronghold our God is He, From every ill can happen. That old malicious foe Intends us deadly woe: Arm'd with the strength of hell, And deepest craft as well, On earth is not his fellow. "Through our own force we nothing can, Ask ye who this may be? CHRIST JESUS named is He, Of Sabaoth the Lord, Sole God to be adored; 'Tis He must win the battle. And were the world with devils fill'd, All eager to devour us, Our souls to fear should little yield, They cannot overpower us. Doom'd is his ancient sway; A word can overthow him. Still shall they have that Word His might, And yet no thanks shall merit ; Still is he with us in the fight, * Translation by Miss C. Winkworth. "Hinunter ist der Sonne Schein.”—(N. Hermann.) Sunk is the sun's last beam of light, Thanks, Lord, that Thou throughout the day Our coming in, and going out. Whate'er of wrong we've done or said, That through Thy free forgiveness blest, Thy guardian angels round us place, "Nun lasst uns den Leib begraben."-(M. Weisz.) And so to earth again we trust What came from dust, and turns to dust, When the last trumpet fills the skies. His soul is living now in God, Whose grace his pardon hath bestowed; From bondage unto sin and fear. His trials and his griefs are past, A blessed end is his at last, He bore Christ's yoke, and did His will, * Translated by Frances Elizabeth Cox. The hymn is a very long one, but these stanzas, which belong to the ancient portion of it, will give a sufficient idea of its character. REV. MR. PERRY ON THE ADDINGTON PROCESSION, &c. To the Editor of the Christian Observer. SIR,-In an article on the "State of the Diocese of Oxford," in this month's number of your journal, the following passage occurs in reference to this parish of Addington :-" Will the Bishop of Oxford tell us [1], Whether it be true that this temporary curate,' this simple 'stranger,' Mr. Perry, had already been at Addington a year or upwards? [2] Whether, as stated by Mr. Fremantle in his letter to Mr. Bull, Mr. Perry bad not been teaching his parishioners according to the strictest rule of Purchas's Directorium, during the whole of that period, in a temporary room used for Divine worship, during the altera |