Before this, in 1851, in his Sketch of Luther, he had indeed said, concerning his patriotism, that, in his handling of the language and the use he made of the peculiarities of his countrymen, “he possessed a wonderful gift of charming his hearers, and that his power as a popular orator was based on an accurate knowledge and appreciation of the foibles of the German national character.”[272]In 1861, he wrote in another work: “Luther is the most powerful demagogue and the most popular character that Germany has ever possessed.” “From the mind of this man, the greatest German of his day, sprang the Protestant faith. Before the ascendency and creative energy of this mind, the more aspiring and vigorous portion of the nation humbly and trustfully bent the knee. In him, who so well united in himself intellect and force, they recognised their master; in his ideas they lived; to them he seemed the hero in whom the nation with all its peculiarities was embodied. They admired him, they surrendered themselves to him because they believed they had found in him their ideal, and because they found in his writings their own most intimate feelings, only expressed more clearly, more eloquently and more powerfully than they themselves were capable of doing. Thus Luther’s name is to Germany not merely that of a distinguished man, but the very embodiment of a pregnant period in national life, the centre of a new circle of ideas and the most concise expression of those religious and ethical views amidst which the German spirit moved, and the powerful influence of which not even those who were averse to them could altogether escape.”[273]Here special stress is laid on Luther’s power over “the moreaspiring Germans” who followed him, i.e. over the Protestant portion of the nation. Elsewhere, however, in 1872, Döllinger brings under Luther’s irresistible spell “his time and his people,” i.e. the whole of Germany, quite regardless of the fact that the larger portion still remained Catholic. “Luther’s overpowering mind and extraordinary versatility made him the man of his time and of his people; there never was a German who understood his people so well, or who in turn was so thoroughly understood, yea, drunk in, by the people, as this Monk of Wittenberg. The mind and spirit of the German people were in his hands like a harp in the hands of the musician. For had he not bestowed upon them more than ever one man had given to his people since the dawn of Christianity? A new language, popular handbooks, a German Bible, and his hymns. He alone impressed upon the German language and the German spirit alike his own imperishable seal, so that even those amongst us who abhor him from the bottom of our hearts as the mighty heresiarch who seduced the German nation cannot help speaking with his words and thinking with his thoughts. Yet, even more powerful than this Titan of the intellectual sphere, was the longing of the German nation for freedom from the bonds of a corrupt ecclesiasticism.”[274]The change in Döllinger’s conception of Luther which is here apparent was not simply due to his personal antagonism to the Vatican Council; it is closely connected with his then efforts, proclaimed even in the very title of the Lectures in question: “Reunion of the Christian Churches”; for this reunion Döllinger hoped to be able to pave the way without the assistance of, and even in opposition to, the Roman Catholic Church. The fact is, however, that in the above passages the domination which Luther exercised over those who had fallen away with him has been made far too much of, otherwise how can we explain Luther’s own incessant complaints regarding the small response to the preaching of his new Evangel? The production of a schism by his vehement and forceful oratory was one thing; vigorous direction and leadership in the task of religious reconstruction was quite a different matter.It is not our intention here to embark upon a controversyon such an opinion concerning Luther’s German influence as that here advanced by Döllinger. The present work will, in due course, treat of Luther’s posthumous influence on German culture and the German language, of his famous German Bible, and of his hymnological work (see vol. v., xxxiv., xxxv.), when we shall have occasion to show the true value to be accorded to such statements. As they stand, our last quotations from Döllinger merely constitute a part of the legend which grew up long since around the memory of the Wittenberg professor.It must certainly be admitted, that Luther’s powerful language is grounded on a lively and clear comprehension of German ways of thought and German modes of expression; his command of language and his power for trenchant description, which were the result of his character, of his intercourse with the common people and his talent for noting their familiar ways of speech, were rare qualities. He left in his writings much that served as a model to later Germans. Of his translation of the Bible in particular we may say, with Janssen, that, although Luther cannot be termed the actual founder of the new High-German, yet “his deserts as regards the development of the German language are great,” especially in the matter of “syntax and style. In the last respect no one of any insight will wish to dispute the service which Luther rendered.” “The force and expression of the popular speech was hit off by Luther in a masterly manner in his Bible translations.”[275]Those Germans, who had been won over to the new faith and had become Luther’s faithful followers, found in the instructions written in his own popular vein, particularly in those on the Bible, enlightenment and edification, in many cases, no doubt, much to their advantage. Writing for the benefit of this circle, the versatile author, in his ethical works—his controversial ones are not here under consideration—deals with countless other subjects outside the range of biblical teaching; here his manner owes its power to the fact that he speaks in tones caught from the lips of the people themselves. Thus, for instance, when he discovers the blots which sully the nation: luxury in dress, the avarice of the rich, the “miserliness and hoarding” of the peasants. Or when he tells unpleasant truths to the “greatfops,” the nobles, concerning their despotic and arrogant behaviour. Or, again, when he raises his voice in condemnation of the neglect of education, or to reprove excessive drinking, or when, to mention a special case, he paints in lurid and amusing colours the slothfulness and utter carelessness of the Germans after having achieved any success in war against the Turks. His gift of humour always stood him in good stead, and his love of extravagant phraseology and imagery and of incisive rhetoric was of the greatest service to him in his dealings with the people, for both appealed strongly to German taste. Nor must we forget his proficiency in the effective application of German proverbs—a collection of proverbs in his own handwriting is still extant and has recently been published—nor his familiarity with German folk-lore and ballads, nor finally the wonderful gift which served to tranquillise many who were still undecided and wavering, viz. the boundless assurance and unshakable confidence with which he could advance even the most novel and startling opinions. The Germans of that day loved weight and power, and a strong man could not fail to impress them, hence, for those who were not restrained by obedience to the Church, Luther undoubtedly seemed a real chip off the old German block.A single passage, one against usurers, will serve to show with what energy this man of the people could raise his voice, to the joy of the many who groaned under the burden. “Ah, how securely the usurer lives and rages as though he himself were God and Lord of the whole land; no one dares to resist him. And now that I write against them these saintly usurers scoff at me and say: ‘Luther doesn’t know what usury is; let him read his Matthew and his Psalter.’ But I preach Christ and my word is the Word of God, and of this I am well assured, that you accursed usurers shall be taught either by the Turk or by some other tool of God’s wrath, that Luther really knew and understood what usury was. At any rate, my warning is worth a sterling gulden.”[276]On the very same page he vents his anger against the supreme Imperial Court of Justice, because, “in matters pertaining to the Gospel and the Church,” its sentences did not accord with his. “I shan’t be a hypocrite, but shall speak the truth and say: See what a devil’s strumpet reigns in the Imperial Kammergericht, which ought to be a heavenly jewel in the German land, the one consolation of all who suffer injustice.”Particularly effective was his incitement of the people to hate Popery. “We Germans must remain Germans and the Pope’s own donkeys and victims, even though we are brayed in the mortar like sodden barley, as Solomon says (Prov. xxvii. 22); we stick fast in our folly. No complaints, no instruction, no beseeching, no imploring, not even our own daily experience of how we have been fleeced and devoured opens our eyes.”[277]—“The Emperor and the Princes,” he had already said, “openly go about telling lies of us”;[278]“pigs and donkeys,” “mad and tipsy Princes,” such are the usual epithets with which he spices his language here and later.“Out of deep sympathy for us poor Germans”[279]it is that he ventures to speak thus in the name of all.He boldly holds up his Evangel as the German preachingpar excellence. He declares: “I seek the welfare and salvation of you Germans.”[280]—“We Germans have heard the true Word of God for many years, by which means God, the Father of all Mercy, has enlightened us and called us from the horrible abominations of the Papal darkness and idolatry into His holy light and Kingdom. But with what gratitude and honesty we have accepted and practised it, it is terrible to contemplate.”Formerly, he says, we filled every corner with idolatries such as Masses, Veneration of the Saints, and good works, but now we persecute the dear Word, so that it would not be surprising should God flood Germany, not only with Turks, but with real devils; indeed, it is a wonder He has not done so already.[281]However small the hope was of any improvement resulting from his preaching, he fomented the incipient schism by such words as these: “They [the Romans] have always abused our simplicity by their wantonness and tyranny; they call us mad Germans, who allow themselves to be hoaxed and made fools of.... We are supposed to have an Empire, but it is the Pope who has our possessions, honour, body, soul and everything else.... Thus the Pope feeds on the kernel and we nibble at the empty shells.”[282]Finally, there are some who select certain traits of Luther’s character in order to represent him as the type of a true German. Such specifically German characteristics were certainly not lacking in Luther; it would be strange, indeed, were this not the case in a man of German stock, hailing from the lower class and who was always in close touch with his compatriots. Luther was inured to fatigue, simple in his appearance and habits, persevering and enduring; in intercourse with his friends he was frank, hearty and unaffected; with them he was sympathetic, amiable and fond of a joke; he did not, however, shrink from telling them the truth even when thereby offence might be given; towards the Princes who were well-disposed to him and his party he behaved with an easy freedom of manner, not cringingly or with any exaggerated deference. In a sense all these are German traits.[283]But many of these qualities,albeit good in themselves, owing to his public controversy, assumed a very unpleasant character. His perseverance degenerated into obstinacy and defiance, his laborious endurance into a passionate activity which overtaxed his powers, and he became combative and quarrelsome and found his greatest pleasure in the discomfiture of his opponents; his frankness made way for the coarsest criticism. The anger against the Church which carried him along found expression in the worst sorts of insults, and, when his violence had aroused bitter feelings, he believed, or at least alleged, he was merely acting in the interests of uprightness and love of truth. Had he preserved his heritage of good German qualities, perfected them and devoted them to the service of a better cause, he might have become the acknowledged spokesman of all Germans everywhere. He could have branded vice and instilled into the hearts of his countrymen the love of virtue more strongly and effectively than even Geiler of Kaysersberg; in seasoned and effective satire on matters of morals he wouldhave far excelled Sebastian Brant and Thomas Murner; in depth of feeling and sympathetic expression he could have rivalled Bertold of Ratisbon, and his homely ways would have qualified him to enforce the Christian precepts amongst all the grades and conditions of German life even more effectively than any previous preacher.
Before this, in 1851, in his Sketch of Luther, he had indeed said, concerning his patriotism, that, in his handling of the language and the use he made of the peculiarities of his countrymen, “he possessed a wonderful gift of charming his hearers, and that his power as a popular orator was based on an accurate knowledge and appreciation of the foibles of the German national character.”[272]In 1861, he wrote in another work: “Luther is the most powerful demagogue and the most popular character that Germany has ever possessed.” “From the mind of this man, the greatest German of his day, sprang the Protestant faith. Before the ascendency and creative energy of this mind, the more aspiring and vigorous portion of the nation humbly and trustfully bent the knee. In him, who so well united in himself intellect and force, they recognised their master; in his ideas they lived; to them he seemed the hero in whom the nation with all its peculiarities was embodied. They admired him, they surrendered themselves to him because they believed they had found in him their ideal, and because they found in his writings their own most intimate feelings, only expressed more clearly, more eloquently and more powerfully than they themselves were capable of doing. Thus Luther’s name is to Germany not merely that of a distinguished man, but the very embodiment of a pregnant period in national life, the centre of a new circle of ideas and the most concise expression of those religious and ethical views amidst which the German spirit moved, and the powerful influence of which not even those who were averse to them could altogether escape.”[273]Here special stress is laid on Luther’s power over “the moreaspiring Germans” who followed him, i.e. over the Protestant portion of the nation. Elsewhere, however, in 1872, Döllinger brings under Luther’s irresistible spell “his time and his people,” i.e. the whole of Germany, quite regardless of the fact that the larger portion still remained Catholic. “Luther’s overpowering mind and extraordinary versatility made him the man of his time and of his people; there never was a German who understood his people so well, or who in turn was so thoroughly understood, yea, drunk in, by the people, as this Monk of Wittenberg. The mind and spirit of the German people were in his hands like a harp in the hands of the musician. For had he not bestowed upon them more than ever one man had given to his people since the dawn of Christianity? A new language, popular handbooks, a German Bible, and his hymns. He alone impressed upon the German language and the German spirit alike his own imperishable seal, so that even those amongst us who abhor him from the bottom of our hearts as the mighty heresiarch who seduced the German nation cannot help speaking with his words and thinking with his thoughts. Yet, even more powerful than this Titan of the intellectual sphere, was the longing of the German nation for freedom from the bonds of a corrupt ecclesiasticism.”[274]The change in Döllinger’s conception of Luther which is here apparent was not simply due to his personal antagonism to the Vatican Council; it is closely connected with his then efforts, proclaimed even in the very title of the Lectures in question: “Reunion of the Christian Churches”; for this reunion Döllinger hoped to be able to pave the way without the assistance of, and even in opposition to, the Roman Catholic Church. The fact is, however, that in the above passages the domination which Luther exercised over those who had fallen away with him has been made far too much of, otherwise how can we explain Luther’s own incessant complaints regarding the small response to the preaching of his new Evangel? The production of a schism by his vehement and forceful oratory was one thing; vigorous direction and leadership in the task of religious reconstruction was quite a different matter.It is not our intention here to embark upon a controversyon such an opinion concerning Luther’s German influence as that here advanced by Döllinger. The present work will, in due course, treat of Luther’s posthumous influence on German culture and the German language, of his famous German Bible, and of his hymnological work (see vol. v., xxxiv., xxxv.), when we shall have occasion to show the true value to be accorded to such statements. As they stand, our last quotations from Döllinger merely constitute a part of the legend which grew up long since around the memory of the Wittenberg professor.It must certainly be admitted, that Luther’s powerful language is grounded on a lively and clear comprehension of German ways of thought and German modes of expression; his command of language and his power for trenchant description, which were the result of his character, of his intercourse with the common people and his talent for noting their familiar ways of speech, were rare qualities. He left in his writings much that served as a model to later Germans. Of his translation of the Bible in particular we may say, with Janssen, that, although Luther cannot be termed the actual founder of the new High-German, yet “his deserts as regards the development of the German language are great,” especially in the matter of “syntax and style. In the last respect no one of any insight will wish to dispute the service which Luther rendered.” “The force and expression of the popular speech was hit off by Luther in a masterly manner in his Bible translations.”[275]Those Germans, who had been won over to the new faith and had become Luther’s faithful followers, found in the instructions written in his own popular vein, particularly in those on the Bible, enlightenment and edification, in many cases, no doubt, much to their advantage. Writing for the benefit of this circle, the versatile author, in his ethical works—his controversial ones are not here under consideration—deals with countless other subjects outside the range of biblical teaching; here his manner owes its power to the fact that he speaks in tones caught from the lips of the people themselves. Thus, for instance, when he discovers the blots which sully the nation: luxury in dress, the avarice of the rich, the “miserliness and hoarding” of the peasants. Or when he tells unpleasant truths to the “greatfops,” the nobles, concerning their despotic and arrogant behaviour. Or, again, when he raises his voice in condemnation of the neglect of education, or to reprove excessive drinking, or when, to mention a special case, he paints in lurid and amusing colours the slothfulness and utter carelessness of the Germans after having achieved any success in war against the Turks. His gift of humour always stood him in good stead, and his love of extravagant phraseology and imagery and of incisive rhetoric was of the greatest service to him in his dealings with the people, for both appealed strongly to German taste. Nor must we forget his proficiency in the effective application of German proverbs—a collection of proverbs in his own handwriting is still extant and has recently been published—nor his familiarity with German folk-lore and ballads, nor finally the wonderful gift which served to tranquillise many who were still undecided and wavering, viz. the boundless assurance and unshakable confidence with which he could advance even the most novel and startling opinions. The Germans of that day loved weight and power, and a strong man could not fail to impress them, hence, for those who were not restrained by obedience to the Church, Luther undoubtedly seemed a real chip off the old German block.A single passage, one against usurers, will serve to show with what energy this man of the people could raise his voice, to the joy of the many who groaned under the burden. “Ah, how securely the usurer lives and rages as though he himself were God and Lord of the whole land; no one dares to resist him. And now that I write against them these saintly usurers scoff at me and say: ‘Luther doesn’t know what usury is; let him read his Matthew and his Psalter.’ But I preach Christ and my word is the Word of God, and of this I am well assured, that you accursed usurers shall be taught either by the Turk or by some other tool of God’s wrath, that Luther really knew and understood what usury was. At any rate, my warning is worth a sterling gulden.”[276]On the very same page he vents his anger against the supreme Imperial Court of Justice, because, “in matters pertaining to the Gospel and the Church,” its sentences did not accord with his. “I shan’t be a hypocrite, but shall speak the truth and say: See what a devil’s strumpet reigns in the Imperial Kammergericht, which ought to be a heavenly jewel in the German land, the one consolation of all who suffer injustice.”Particularly effective was his incitement of the people to hate Popery. “We Germans must remain Germans and the Pope’s own donkeys and victims, even though we are brayed in the mortar like sodden barley, as Solomon says (Prov. xxvii. 22); we stick fast in our folly. No complaints, no instruction, no beseeching, no imploring, not even our own daily experience of how we have been fleeced and devoured opens our eyes.”[277]—“The Emperor and the Princes,” he had already said, “openly go about telling lies of us”;[278]“pigs and donkeys,” “mad and tipsy Princes,” such are the usual epithets with which he spices his language here and later.“Out of deep sympathy for us poor Germans”[279]it is that he ventures to speak thus in the name of all.He boldly holds up his Evangel as the German preachingpar excellence. He declares: “I seek the welfare and salvation of you Germans.”[280]—“We Germans have heard the true Word of God for many years, by which means God, the Father of all Mercy, has enlightened us and called us from the horrible abominations of the Papal darkness and idolatry into His holy light and Kingdom. But with what gratitude and honesty we have accepted and practised it, it is terrible to contemplate.”Formerly, he says, we filled every corner with idolatries such as Masses, Veneration of the Saints, and good works, but now we persecute the dear Word, so that it would not be surprising should God flood Germany, not only with Turks, but with real devils; indeed, it is a wonder He has not done so already.[281]However small the hope was of any improvement resulting from his preaching, he fomented the incipient schism by such words as these: “They [the Romans] have always abused our simplicity by their wantonness and tyranny; they call us mad Germans, who allow themselves to be hoaxed and made fools of.... We are supposed to have an Empire, but it is the Pope who has our possessions, honour, body, soul and everything else.... Thus the Pope feeds on the kernel and we nibble at the empty shells.”[282]Finally, there are some who select certain traits of Luther’s character in order to represent him as the type of a true German. Such specifically German characteristics were certainly not lacking in Luther; it would be strange, indeed, were this not the case in a man of German stock, hailing from the lower class and who was always in close touch with his compatriots. Luther was inured to fatigue, simple in his appearance and habits, persevering and enduring; in intercourse with his friends he was frank, hearty and unaffected; with them he was sympathetic, amiable and fond of a joke; he did not, however, shrink from telling them the truth even when thereby offence might be given; towards the Princes who were well-disposed to him and his party he behaved with an easy freedom of manner, not cringingly or with any exaggerated deference. In a sense all these are German traits.[283]But many of these qualities,albeit good in themselves, owing to his public controversy, assumed a very unpleasant character. His perseverance degenerated into obstinacy and defiance, his laborious endurance into a passionate activity which overtaxed his powers, and he became combative and quarrelsome and found his greatest pleasure in the discomfiture of his opponents; his frankness made way for the coarsest criticism. The anger against the Church which carried him along found expression in the worst sorts of insults, and, when his violence had aroused bitter feelings, he believed, or at least alleged, he was merely acting in the interests of uprightness and love of truth. Had he preserved his heritage of good German qualities, perfected them and devoted them to the service of a better cause, he might have become the acknowledged spokesman of all Germans everywhere. He could have branded vice and instilled into the hearts of his countrymen the love of virtue more strongly and effectively than even Geiler of Kaysersberg; in seasoned and effective satire on matters of morals he wouldhave far excelled Sebastian Brant and Thomas Murner; in depth of feeling and sympathetic expression he could have rivalled Bertold of Ratisbon, and his homely ways would have qualified him to enforce the Christian precepts amongst all the grades and conditions of German life even more effectively than any previous preacher.
Before this, in 1851, in his Sketch of Luther, he had indeed said, concerning his patriotism, that, in his handling of the language and the use he made of the peculiarities of his countrymen, “he possessed a wonderful gift of charming his hearers, and that his power as a popular orator was based on an accurate knowledge and appreciation of the foibles of the German national character.”[272]In 1861, he wrote in another work: “Luther is the most powerful demagogue and the most popular character that Germany has ever possessed.” “From the mind of this man, the greatest German of his day, sprang the Protestant faith. Before the ascendency and creative energy of this mind, the more aspiring and vigorous portion of the nation humbly and trustfully bent the knee. In him, who so well united in himself intellect and force, they recognised their master; in his ideas they lived; to them he seemed the hero in whom the nation with all its peculiarities was embodied. They admired him, they surrendered themselves to him because they believed they had found in him their ideal, and because they found in his writings their own most intimate feelings, only expressed more clearly, more eloquently and more powerfully than they themselves were capable of doing. Thus Luther’s name is to Germany not merely that of a distinguished man, but the very embodiment of a pregnant period in national life, the centre of a new circle of ideas and the most concise expression of those religious and ethical views amidst which the German spirit moved, and the powerful influence of which not even those who were averse to them could altogether escape.”[273]Here special stress is laid on Luther’s power over “the moreaspiring Germans” who followed him, i.e. over the Protestant portion of the nation. Elsewhere, however, in 1872, Döllinger brings under Luther’s irresistible spell “his time and his people,” i.e. the whole of Germany, quite regardless of the fact that the larger portion still remained Catholic. “Luther’s overpowering mind and extraordinary versatility made him the man of his time and of his people; there never was a German who understood his people so well, or who in turn was so thoroughly understood, yea, drunk in, by the people, as this Monk of Wittenberg. The mind and spirit of the German people were in his hands like a harp in the hands of the musician. For had he not bestowed upon them more than ever one man had given to his people since the dawn of Christianity? A new language, popular handbooks, a German Bible, and his hymns. He alone impressed upon the German language and the German spirit alike his own imperishable seal, so that even those amongst us who abhor him from the bottom of our hearts as the mighty heresiarch who seduced the German nation cannot help speaking with his words and thinking with his thoughts. Yet, even more powerful than this Titan of the intellectual sphere, was the longing of the German nation for freedom from the bonds of a corrupt ecclesiasticism.”[274]The change in Döllinger’s conception of Luther which is here apparent was not simply due to his personal antagonism to the Vatican Council; it is closely connected with his then efforts, proclaimed even in the very title of the Lectures in question: “Reunion of the Christian Churches”; for this reunion Döllinger hoped to be able to pave the way without the assistance of, and even in opposition to, the Roman Catholic Church. The fact is, however, that in the above passages the domination which Luther exercised over those who had fallen away with him has been made far too much of, otherwise how can we explain Luther’s own incessant complaints regarding the small response to the preaching of his new Evangel? The production of a schism by his vehement and forceful oratory was one thing; vigorous direction and leadership in the task of religious reconstruction was quite a different matter.
Before this, in 1851, in his Sketch of Luther, he had indeed said, concerning his patriotism, that, in his handling of the language and the use he made of the peculiarities of his countrymen, “he possessed a wonderful gift of charming his hearers, and that his power as a popular orator was based on an accurate knowledge and appreciation of the foibles of the German national character.”[272]In 1861, he wrote in another work: “Luther is the most powerful demagogue and the most popular character that Germany has ever possessed.” “From the mind of this man, the greatest German of his day, sprang the Protestant faith. Before the ascendency and creative energy of this mind, the more aspiring and vigorous portion of the nation humbly and trustfully bent the knee. In him, who so well united in himself intellect and force, they recognised their master; in his ideas they lived; to them he seemed the hero in whom the nation with all its peculiarities was embodied. They admired him, they surrendered themselves to him because they believed they had found in him their ideal, and because they found in his writings their own most intimate feelings, only expressed more clearly, more eloquently and more powerfully than they themselves were capable of doing. Thus Luther’s name is to Germany not merely that of a distinguished man, but the very embodiment of a pregnant period in national life, the centre of a new circle of ideas and the most concise expression of those religious and ethical views amidst which the German spirit moved, and the powerful influence of which not even those who were averse to them could altogether escape.”[273]
Here special stress is laid on Luther’s power over “the moreaspiring Germans” who followed him, i.e. over the Protestant portion of the nation. Elsewhere, however, in 1872, Döllinger brings under Luther’s irresistible spell “his time and his people,” i.e. the whole of Germany, quite regardless of the fact that the larger portion still remained Catholic. “Luther’s overpowering mind and extraordinary versatility made him the man of his time and of his people; there never was a German who understood his people so well, or who in turn was so thoroughly understood, yea, drunk in, by the people, as this Monk of Wittenberg. The mind and spirit of the German people were in his hands like a harp in the hands of the musician. For had he not bestowed upon them more than ever one man had given to his people since the dawn of Christianity? A new language, popular handbooks, a German Bible, and his hymns. He alone impressed upon the German language and the German spirit alike his own imperishable seal, so that even those amongst us who abhor him from the bottom of our hearts as the mighty heresiarch who seduced the German nation cannot help speaking with his words and thinking with his thoughts. Yet, even more powerful than this Titan of the intellectual sphere, was the longing of the German nation for freedom from the bonds of a corrupt ecclesiasticism.”[274]
The change in Döllinger’s conception of Luther which is here apparent was not simply due to his personal antagonism to the Vatican Council; it is closely connected with his then efforts, proclaimed even in the very title of the Lectures in question: “Reunion of the Christian Churches”; for this reunion Döllinger hoped to be able to pave the way without the assistance of, and even in opposition to, the Roman Catholic Church. The fact is, however, that in the above passages the domination which Luther exercised over those who had fallen away with him has been made far too much of, otherwise how can we explain Luther’s own incessant complaints regarding the small response to the preaching of his new Evangel? The production of a schism by his vehement and forceful oratory was one thing; vigorous direction and leadership in the task of religious reconstruction was quite a different matter.
It is not our intention here to embark upon a controversyon such an opinion concerning Luther’s German influence as that here advanced by Döllinger. The present work will, in due course, treat of Luther’s posthumous influence on German culture and the German language, of his famous German Bible, and of his hymnological work (see vol. v., xxxiv., xxxv.), when we shall have occasion to show the true value to be accorded to such statements. As they stand, our last quotations from Döllinger merely constitute a part of the legend which grew up long since around the memory of the Wittenberg professor.
It must certainly be admitted, that Luther’s powerful language is grounded on a lively and clear comprehension of German ways of thought and German modes of expression; his command of language and his power for trenchant description, which were the result of his character, of his intercourse with the common people and his talent for noting their familiar ways of speech, were rare qualities. He left in his writings much that served as a model to later Germans. Of his translation of the Bible in particular we may say, with Janssen, that, although Luther cannot be termed the actual founder of the new High-German, yet “his deserts as regards the development of the German language are great,” especially in the matter of “syntax and style. In the last respect no one of any insight will wish to dispute the service which Luther rendered.” “The force and expression of the popular speech was hit off by Luther in a masterly manner in his Bible translations.”[275]
Those Germans, who had been won over to the new faith and had become Luther’s faithful followers, found in the instructions written in his own popular vein, particularly in those on the Bible, enlightenment and edification, in many cases, no doubt, much to their advantage. Writing for the benefit of this circle, the versatile author, in his ethical works—his controversial ones are not here under consideration—deals with countless other subjects outside the range of biblical teaching; here his manner owes its power to the fact that he speaks in tones caught from the lips of the people themselves. Thus, for instance, when he discovers the blots which sully the nation: luxury in dress, the avarice of the rich, the “miserliness and hoarding” of the peasants. Or when he tells unpleasant truths to the “greatfops,” the nobles, concerning their despotic and arrogant behaviour. Or, again, when he raises his voice in condemnation of the neglect of education, or to reprove excessive drinking, or when, to mention a special case, he paints in lurid and amusing colours the slothfulness and utter carelessness of the Germans after having achieved any success in war against the Turks. His gift of humour always stood him in good stead, and his love of extravagant phraseology and imagery and of incisive rhetoric was of the greatest service to him in his dealings with the people, for both appealed strongly to German taste. Nor must we forget his proficiency in the effective application of German proverbs—a collection of proverbs in his own handwriting is still extant and has recently been published—nor his familiarity with German folk-lore and ballads, nor finally the wonderful gift which served to tranquillise many who were still undecided and wavering, viz. the boundless assurance and unshakable confidence with which he could advance even the most novel and startling opinions. The Germans of that day loved weight and power, and a strong man could not fail to impress them, hence, for those who were not restrained by obedience to the Church, Luther undoubtedly seemed a real chip off the old German block.
A single passage, one against usurers, will serve to show with what energy this man of the people could raise his voice, to the joy of the many who groaned under the burden. “Ah, how securely the usurer lives and rages as though he himself were God and Lord of the whole land; no one dares to resist him. And now that I write against them these saintly usurers scoff at me and say: ‘Luther doesn’t know what usury is; let him read his Matthew and his Psalter.’ But I preach Christ and my word is the Word of God, and of this I am well assured, that you accursed usurers shall be taught either by the Turk or by some other tool of God’s wrath, that Luther really knew and understood what usury was. At any rate, my warning is worth a sterling gulden.”[276]On the very same page he vents his anger against the supreme Imperial Court of Justice, because, “in matters pertaining to the Gospel and the Church,” its sentences did not accord with his. “I shan’t be a hypocrite, but shall speak the truth and say: See what a devil’s strumpet reigns in the Imperial Kammergericht, which ought to be a heavenly jewel in the German land, the one consolation of all who suffer injustice.”Particularly effective was his incitement of the people to hate Popery. “We Germans must remain Germans and the Pope’s own donkeys and victims, even though we are brayed in the mortar like sodden barley, as Solomon says (Prov. xxvii. 22); we stick fast in our folly. No complaints, no instruction, no beseeching, no imploring, not even our own daily experience of how we have been fleeced and devoured opens our eyes.”[277]—“The Emperor and the Princes,” he had already said, “openly go about telling lies of us”;[278]“pigs and donkeys,” “mad and tipsy Princes,” such are the usual epithets with which he spices his language here and later.“Out of deep sympathy for us poor Germans”[279]it is that he ventures to speak thus in the name of all.He boldly holds up his Evangel as the German preachingpar excellence. He declares: “I seek the welfare and salvation of you Germans.”[280]—“We Germans have heard the true Word of God for many years, by which means God, the Father of all Mercy, has enlightened us and called us from the horrible abominations of the Papal darkness and idolatry into His holy light and Kingdom. But with what gratitude and honesty we have accepted and practised it, it is terrible to contemplate.”Formerly, he says, we filled every corner with idolatries such as Masses, Veneration of the Saints, and good works, but now we persecute the dear Word, so that it would not be surprising should God flood Germany, not only with Turks, but with real devils; indeed, it is a wonder He has not done so already.[281]However small the hope was of any improvement resulting from his preaching, he fomented the incipient schism by such words as these: “They [the Romans] have always abused our simplicity by their wantonness and tyranny; they call us mad Germans, who allow themselves to be hoaxed and made fools of.... We are supposed to have an Empire, but it is the Pope who has our possessions, honour, body, soul and everything else.... Thus the Pope feeds on the kernel and we nibble at the empty shells.”[282]
A single passage, one against usurers, will serve to show with what energy this man of the people could raise his voice, to the joy of the many who groaned under the burden. “Ah, how securely the usurer lives and rages as though he himself were God and Lord of the whole land; no one dares to resist him. And now that I write against them these saintly usurers scoff at me and say: ‘Luther doesn’t know what usury is; let him read his Matthew and his Psalter.’ But I preach Christ and my word is the Word of God, and of this I am well assured, that you accursed usurers shall be taught either by the Turk or by some other tool of God’s wrath, that Luther really knew and understood what usury was. At any rate, my warning is worth a sterling gulden.”[276]
On the very same page he vents his anger against the supreme Imperial Court of Justice, because, “in matters pertaining to the Gospel and the Church,” its sentences did not accord with his. “I shan’t be a hypocrite, but shall speak the truth and say: See what a devil’s strumpet reigns in the Imperial Kammergericht, which ought to be a heavenly jewel in the German land, the one consolation of all who suffer injustice.”
Particularly effective was his incitement of the people to hate Popery. “We Germans must remain Germans and the Pope’s own donkeys and victims, even though we are brayed in the mortar like sodden barley, as Solomon says (Prov. xxvii. 22); we stick fast in our folly. No complaints, no instruction, no beseeching, no imploring, not even our own daily experience of how we have been fleeced and devoured opens our eyes.”[277]—“The Emperor and the Princes,” he had already said, “openly go about telling lies of us”;[278]“pigs and donkeys,” “mad and tipsy Princes,” such are the usual epithets with which he spices his language here and later.
“Out of deep sympathy for us poor Germans”[279]it is that he ventures to speak thus in the name of all.
He boldly holds up his Evangel as the German preachingpar excellence. He declares: “I seek the welfare and salvation of you Germans.”[280]—“We Germans have heard the true Word of God for many years, by which means God, the Father of all Mercy, has enlightened us and called us from the horrible abominations of the Papal darkness and idolatry into His holy light and Kingdom. But with what gratitude and honesty we have accepted and practised it, it is terrible to contemplate.”
Formerly, he says, we filled every corner with idolatries such as Masses, Veneration of the Saints, and good works, but now we persecute the dear Word, so that it would not be surprising should God flood Germany, not only with Turks, but with real devils; indeed, it is a wonder He has not done so already.[281]
However small the hope was of any improvement resulting from his preaching, he fomented the incipient schism by such words as these: “They [the Romans] have always abused our simplicity by their wantonness and tyranny; they call us mad Germans, who allow themselves to be hoaxed and made fools of.... We are supposed to have an Empire, but it is the Pope who has our possessions, honour, body, soul and everything else.... Thus the Pope feeds on the kernel and we nibble at the empty shells.”[282]
Finally, there are some who select certain traits of Luther’s character in order to represent him as the type of a true German. Such specifically German characteristics were certainly not lacking in Luther; it would be strange, indeed, were this not the case in a man of German stock, hailing from the lower class and who was always in close touch with his compatriots. Luther was inured to fatigue, simple in his appearance and habits, persevering and enduring; in intercourse with his friends he was frank, hearty and unaffected; with them he was sympathetic, amiable and fond of a joke; he did not, however, shrink from telling them the truth even when thereby offence might be given; towards the Princes who were well-disposed to him and his party he behaved with an easy freedom of manner, not cringingly or with any exaggerated deference. In a sense all these are German traits.[283]But many of these qualities,albeit good in themselves, owing to his public controversy, assumed a very unpleasant character. His perseverance degenerated into obstinacy and defiance, his laborious endurance into a passionate activity which overtaxed his powers, and he became combative and quarrelsome and found his greatest pleasure in the discomfiture of his opponents; his frankness made way for the coarsest criticism. The anger against the Church which carried him along found expression in the worst sorts of insults, and, when his violence had aroused bitter feelings, he believed, or at least alleged, he was merely acting in the interests of uprightness and love of truth. Had he preserved his heritage of good German qualities, perfected them and devoted them to the service of a better cause, he might have become the acknowledged spokesman of all Germans everywhere. He could have branded vice and instilled into the hearts of his countrymen the love of virtue more strongly and effectively than even Geiler of Kaysersberg; in seasoned and effective satire on matters of morals he wouldhave far excelled Sebastian Brant and Thomas Murner; in depth of feeling and sympathetic expression he could have rivalled Bertold of Ratisbon, and his homely ways would have qualified him to enforce the Christian precepts amongst all the grades and conditions of German life even more effectively than any previous preacher.