ntus firmus_, the melody around which
the old composers wove their contrapuntal ornamentation.

Luther was the creator of German congregational singing.

[21] Luther's first poetic publication seems to have been certain
verses composed on the martyrdom of two young Christian monks, who
were burned alive at Brussels in 1523 for their faithful confession of
the evangelical doctrines. A translation of a part of this composition
is given in D'Aubigne's _History of the Reformation_ in these
beautiful and stirring words:

"Flung to the heedless winds or on the waters cast,
Their ashes shall be watched, and gathered at the last;
And from that scattered dust, around us and abroad,
Shall spring a plenteous seed of witnesses for God.

"Jesus hath now received their latest living breath,
Yet vain is Satan's boast of victory in their death.
Still, still, though dead, they speak, and trumpet-tongued proclaim
To many a wakening land the One availing Name."

Audin, though a Romanist, says: "The hymns which he translated from
the Latin into German may be unreservedly praised, as also those which
he composed for the members of his own communion. He did not travesty
the sacred Word nor set his anger to music. He is grave, simple,
solemn, and grand. He was at once the poet and musician of a great
number of his hymns."

HIS GREAT QUALITIES.

Luther's qualities of mind, heart, and attainment were transcendent.
Though naturally meek and diffident, when it came to matters of duty
and conviction he was courageous, self-sacrificing, and brave beyond
any mere man known to history. Elijah fled before the threats of
Jezebel, but no powers on earth could daunt the soul of Luther. Even
the apparitions of the devil himself could not disconcert him.

Roman Catholic authors agree that "Nature gave him a German industry
and strength and an Italian spirit and vivacity," and that "nobody
excelled him in philosophy and theology, and nobody equaled him in
eloquence."

His mental range was not confined to any one set of subjects. In the
midst of his profound occupation with questions of divinity and the
Church "his mind was literally world-wide. His eyes were for ever
observant of what was around him. At a time when science was hardly
out of its shell he had observed Nature with the liveliest curiosity.
He studied human nature like a dramatist. Shakespeare himself drew
from him. His memory was a museum of