[18] "Never before was the human mind more prolific." "Luther holds a
high and glorious place in German literature." "In his manuscripts we
nowhere discover the traces of fatigue or irritation, no embarrassment
or erasures, no ill-applied epithet or unmanageable expression; and by
the correctness of his writing we might imagine he was the copyist
rather than the writer of the work."--So says _Audin_, his Roman
Catholic biographer.
Hallam's flippant and disparaging remarks on Luther, contained in his
_Introduction to the Literature of Europe_, are simply outrageous,
"stupid and senseless paragraphs," evidencing a presumption on the
part of their author which deserves intensest rebuke. "Hallam knows
nothing about Luther; he himself confesses his inability to read him
in his native German; and this alone renders him incapable of judging
intelligently respecting his merits as a writer; and, knowing nothing,
it would have been honorable in him to say nothing, at least to say
nothing disparagingly. And, by the way, it seems to us that writing a
history of European literature without a knowledge of German is much
like writing a history of metals without knowing anything of iron and
steel.... Luther's language became, through his writings, and has ever
since remained, the language of literature and general intercourse
among educated men, and is that which is now understood universally to
be meant when _the German_ is spoken of. His translation of the Bible
is still as much the standard of purity for that language as Homer is
for the Greek."--_Dr. Calvin E. Stowe._
[19] "Nothing can be more edifying than the scene presented by the
last days of Luther, of which we have the most authentic and detailed
accounts. When dying he collected his last strength and offered up the
following prayer: 'Heavenly Father, eternal, merciful God, thou hast
revealed to me thy dear Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Him I have taught,
him I have confessed, him I love as my Saviour and Redeemer, whom the
wicked persecute, dishonor, and reprove. Take my poor soul up to
thee!'
"Then two of his friends put to him the solemn question: 'Reverend
Father, do you die in Christ and in the doctrine you have constantly
preached?' He answered by an audible and joyful '_Yes_;' and,
repeating the verse, 'Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit,' he
expired peacefully, without a struggle."--_Encyc. Britannica._