fidelity, by which is meant, that profound feeling and piety must be truly and faithfully expressed. But as the feeling of devotion individualizes itself, in various degrees, with various natures, so also must the true expression thereof partake of this variety. Luther's piety was not a soft emotion, expressing itself in gentle tones. He was a strong and powerful spirit, and his piety was always strongly and powerfully expressed. Like Jacob, who wrestled with the angel of the Lord, Luther was ever striving after the highest object; and as, according to the apostle, "the kingdom of heaven suffers violence," he violently bore it away. This labouring spirit, in which humility and strength were wonderfully mingled, is every where expressed in his spiritual songs. Full of divine love and fervour, he denounces the unbeliever, but solaces and cheers the Christian whose spirit is willing, though the flesh is weak. His poetry, like his prose, is more powerful than euphonious, his conceptions more boldly broached than elegantly expressed. He appears to us as a poetical Hercules, having cut for himself a way with unrivalled and resistless force. The psalms of Luther are still unforgotten among his countrymen, and they are thus indestructible, not on account of the reputation of their author, but because they appeal to the pious feeling of mankind, with a voice which will be heard so long as such feeling exists in the human breast. They are for the virtuous of all times, how refined soever, unless the rules of false criticism should overpower christian piety. Where is the German who could sing that beautiful and energetic psalm, "Ein' veste Burg ist unser Gott," and not feel himself thereby strengthened for the highest efforts against spiritual and temporal oppression? The psalm, with an English version, is here presented to you ;* and it will be perceived that Luther's performance has been rarely equalled for vigour and truly christian courage, whether we consider the spirit, or the irresistible power of its expression. * [In order to bring the German original and the English version opposite each other, this Psalm is transferred to the following page.-Printer's Note.] EIN' VESTE BURG IST UNSER GOTT. Ein' veste Burg ist unser Gott, Mit Ernst er's jetzt meint; Auf Erd'n ist nicht Sein's Gleichen. Und wenn die Welt voll Teufel wär, So fürchten wir uns nicht so sehr, Thut er uns doch nichts; Ein Wörtlein kann ihn fällen. Mit unsrer Macht ist nichts gethan, Es streit 't für uns der rechte Mann Fragst Du wer er ist? Er heisst Jesus Christ, Der Herr Zebaoth, Und ist kein andrer Gott; Das Feld muss er behalten. Das Wort sie sollen lassen stahn, Nehmen sie uns Leib, Gut, Ehr, Kind, und Weib, Lass fahren dahin, Sie haben kein'n Gewinn, Das Reich Gottes muss uns bleiben. A BULWARK IS OUR GOD. A bulwark is our God, and he From dangers all, he sets us free, Prepares his deadliest blow: Great might and matchless guile Are his resources vile; Herein, none like him earth can show. And what though fiends the earth should fill, And would our souls devour? This wakes in us no fear of ill: We yet shall overpower. The prince of this world may His direst force display; Yet is he judged, and thus No terrors hath for us: A word can scatter his array. By our own strength is nothing done, And we full soon must fall, But that for us God's Chosen One Is battling best of all. Seek ye to know the same? Christ Jesus is his name, The Lord of Sabaoth, The true and only God: By him victorious must the field be trod. The word they shall allow to stand; For this no thank have they : God's blessing and his bounteous hand Are with us on our way. Then let them take our life, Goods, honours, child, and wife: Yield them these treasures vain; For nothing is their gain, While still to us God's kingdom must remain ! We must now take leave of this splendid genius, and, in so doing, I should wish all such, as may intend to pursue a thorough study of modern German literature, to be assured, that they can commence with no better author than Luther. He stands at the beginning of the sixteenth century, like a beacon shedding its rays on the ocean of German literature, till the time of Lessing, when a bright and cloudless day begins to dawn. In closing my remarks on Luther, I cannot do better than corroborate them by an eminent authority-that of the most distinguished inquirer into the German and Teutonic languagesJacob Grimm; a man whose indefatigable researches will perhaps be better appreciated by posterity than by the present generation. In the preface to his German Grammar, he says: "The language of Luther, by reason of its noble and almost miraculous purity, and also on account of its powerful influence, must be considered as the kernel and the foundation of the settlement of the modern High German language; from which, down to the present time, but little deviation, and that little to the detriment of energy and expressiveness, has been made. In fact, the High German may be designated as the protestant dialect, the freedombreathing nature of which has long since insensibly overpowered the poets and authors of the catholic persuasion." He goes on to say:-"Whatever has nourished the spirit and form of language, whatever has re |