aged in 1613, the victims in Fraustadt
numbered 2,135. Herberger, however, stuck to his post, comforting the
sick and burying the dead. It was during these days that he wrote his
famous hymn, "Valet will ich dir geben," one of the finest hymns for the
dying in the German language. The hymn was published with the title, "The
farewell (Valet) of Valerius Herberger that he gave to the world in the
autumn of the year 1613, when he every hour saw death before his eyes,
but mercifully and also as wonderfully as the three men in the furnace at
Babylon was nevertheless spared."

The famous chorale tune for the hymn was written in 1613 by Melchior
Teschner, who was Herberger's precentor.

Other Lutheran hymn-writers of this period were Joachim Magdeburg, Martin
Rutilius, Martin Schalling and Philipp Nicolai. The last name in this
group is by far the most important and will be given more extensive
notice in the following chapter. To Magdeburg, a pastor who saw service
in various parts of Germany and Hungary during a stormy career, we owe a
single hymn, "Who trusts in God a strong abode." Rutilius has been
credited with the authorship of the gripping penitential hymn, "Alas, my
God! my sins are great," although the claim is sometimes disputed. He was
a pastor at Weimar, where he died in 1618.

Schalling likewise has bequeathed but a single hymn to the Church, but it
may be regarded as one of the classic hymns of Germany. Its opening line,
"O Lord, devoutly love I Thee," reflects the ardent love of the author
himself for the Saviour. It was entitled, "A prayer to Christ, the
Consolation of the soul in life and death," and surely its message of
confiding trust in God has been a source of comfort and assurance to
thousands of pious souls in the many vicissitudes of life as well as in
the valley of the shadow.

Although Schalling was a warm friend of Selnecker, he hesitated to
subscribe to the Formula of Concord, claiming that it dealt too harshly
with the followers of Melanchthon. For this reason he was deposed as
General Superintendent of Oberpfalz and court preacher at Heidelberg.
Five years later, however, he was appointed pastor of St. Mary's church
in Nuernberg, where he remained until blindness compelled him to retire.
He died in 1608.

A Masterpiece of Hymnody

Wake, awake, for night is flying:
The watchmen on the heights are crying,
Awake, Jerusalem, arise!
Midnight's