WHAT I MUST DO. " From outward creatures I must flee,
And seek heart-oueuess deep within, If I would draw my soul to Thee,
O God, and keep it pure from sin," etc.
ONLY JESUS. " O Jesu Christ, most good, most fair. More flagrant than May's flowery air, Who Thee within his soul doth bear,
True cause for joy hath won ! But would one have Thee iu his heart, From all self-will he must depart ; God's bidding only where thou an.
Must evermore be done. Where Jesus thus doth truly dwell, His presence doth all tumults quell, And transient cares of earth dispel
Like mists before the sun," etc.
HYMNOLOGY
438
HYMNOLOGY
A marked improvement, however, took place in Ger- man hymnologv during the 15th century, especially near its close. ' The chief liymn-writer of this period was Henry of Laufenberg, who was particularly active in transforming secular into religious songs, as was fre- quent at this time ; he also translated for the Germans many of the old Latin hymns. One of the best speci- mens of a religious song transformed we cite here. The original was " Innsbruck, I must forsake thee." FAKEWELL.
0 world, I must forsake thee, And far away betake me,
To seek my native shore ; So long I've dwelt in sadness,
1 wish not now for gladness. Earth's joys for me are o'er.
Sore is my grief and lonely, And I can tell it only
To Thee, my Friend most sure ! God, let Thy hand uphold me, Thy pitying heart enfold me.
For else I am most poor. My refuge where I hide me. From Thee shall naught divide me,
No pain, no poverty : Naught is too bad to fear it. If Thou art there to share it ; My heart asks only Thee. Blany of these transformed hymns were preserved, like the one above cited, through the Reformation. An- other very popular hymn. Den liebsten jnielen den ich lian tier ist in des Ilimels Trone, was transformed from the song "Den liebsten puelen den ich han der liegt beim Wurt im Keller." Of the transformation of ballads by the minnesmgers into hymns to jMarj-^ and Anne we have already spoken. We return, therefore, to Laufen- berg, and cite one of his hymns, which well desen-es to be called not only one of the best of his age, but one of the loveliest sacred songs that has ever been written. We copy the first stanza of it from Mrs.Winkworth (p. 93):
CRADLE SONG. Ah Jesn Christ, my Lord most dear. As Thou wast once an infant here, So give this little child, I pray. Thy grace and blessings day by day: Ah Jesu, Lord divine. Guard me this babe of mine !
Laufenberg also wrote and widely introduced the use of many hymns in mixed Latin and German, a kind of verse which was the favorite amusement of the monks, and which had acquired considerable popularity at his time. The best Ivnown of these productions was a Christmas carol, dating from the lith century, In dulci jiibilo, Nil singet und seid fro. Feter Dresdensis was generally, but erroneously, regarded as the author of those yterhaps properly termed " IVIixed Hymns." " His real work, however, lay in the strenuous ettbrts he made to introduce hymns in the vernacular more freely into public worship, especially into the service of the Mass," from which they had, as we have already had occasion to observe, been excluded. But these efforts met with violent opposition from the Church, and the use of hymns in the vernacular still continued to be al- most exclusively confined to festivals and like occasions. Among these vernacular hymns are particularly cele- brated " FAn Kindelein so lObelich," " Christ Jure zu IlimmeW " Gott sei gelohet und gebenedeist," "Wir dan- h'li. dir Ih-her Jfe7-re,'^ etc. After the invention of the art of printing, the followers of Huss, who had formed them- selves into a separate and organized Church of their own in 14G7 (Bohemian and Moravian Brethren), and who made it one of tlieir distinctive peculiarities to use hymns in the vernacular, as their service was mainly conducted in their mother tongue, especially their pray- ers, gave new encouragement to the writing of German hymns. In 1504, Lucas, then chief of the Bohemians, collected 400 of the most popular of the German hymns and had them printed. This is " the first example of a hymn-hook composed of original compositions in the ver- nacular to be fomid in any Western nation which had
onCe owned the supremacy of Rome." Previous to this time, towards the close of the 15th century, there exist- ed two or three collections of German versions of the Latin hymns and sequences, but they are of verj' infe- rior merit.
The Reformation in the 16th centurj' marks the next aera in the history of German hymnology. The intro- duction of the vernacular into the liturgy of the Church gave an impidse to the German language that was only eclipsed by Luther's translation of the Bible for the ed- ification and education of the entire German people. But it was Luther's aim not only to furnish his follow- ers the Book of books, but also to introduce everj-where the singing of such hymns as already existed in the vernacular, and by the creation of a taste among the people for German sacred song to promote its cultiva- tion. Of this he set himself the best example. As in the cause of religion he knew how to enlist a large cir- cle of eminent men and scholars to carry out his great designs, so also, with a true appreciation of sacred art, both in poetry and song, he soon gathered about him many friends, who became the compilers of several col- lections of hymns, that were issued from the jiress at remarkably short intervals. See PsAoionv. Luther himself, besides translating anew many of the Latin hymnSj " which he counted among the good things that God's power and wonderful working had kept alive amid so much corruption," and, besides transforming or reproducing some four of the early German hj-mns, composed some twenty-one in the vernacular, most of which are known in our own day by most of the Prot- estant nations of the globe, and some of which are par- ticular favorites even with the English-speaking peo- ple. Tlie special object of the composition of these hymns, into which Luther threw " all his own fervent faith and deep devotion," was undoubtedly "to give the people a short, clear confession of faith, easy to be remembered. For the doctrines which Luther propa- gated were yet too new to be well understood by all as he desired them to be. He wished men to know ^\hat they professed. Protestantism meant the profession of a faith by choice, and not by compulsion ; a belief that was cherished by the confessor, and not a blind follow- ing after the teacher. He required a comprehension of his great doctrines of justification by faith, of the one Mediator between God and man, which gave peace to the conscience by delivering it from the burden of the past sins, and a new spring of life to the soul by show- ing men that their dependence was not on anything in tliemselves, on no works of their own performance, but on the infinite love and mercy of God, which he had manifested to all mankind in his Son; of his doctrine of the universal priesthood of aU believers, which jiut a new spirit into the Church, by vindicating for every member of it his right and duty to offer for himself tlie sacrifice of praise and prayer, and to study for himself God's word in the Scriptures" (comp. Wink worth, p. 105). One of Luther's hymns best known to us is that found- ed on the 46th Psalm, the famous " Marseillaise of the Reformation," as Heine called it. He is generally sup- posed to have written it on his way to the Diet of Worms. Some, however, think that it ^\as composed at the close of the second Diet of Spire (1529). It has been again and again translated. IMrs. Winkworth gives us the following :