to carry out the
moulding of his nation. His greatest work, the translation of the
Bible, which he had now brought to a conclusion, in union with his
Wittenberger friends, gave him an entire mastery over the language of
the people, a language, the richness and power of which first became
practically known by this book. We know in how noble a spirit he
undertook the work: he wished to produce a book for the people, for
that purpose he studied assiduously the forms of speech, proverbs, and
technical expressions used by them. The Humanitarians still continued
to write clumsy and involved German, a bad resemblance to the Latin
style. The nation now obtained for its daily reading a work which in
simple words and short sentences gave expression to the deepest wisdom
and the highest spiritual treasures. The German Bible, together with
Luther's other writings, became the groundwork of the new German
language; and this language, in which our whole literature and
spiritual life have found expression, is an indestructible possession,
which, though marred and spoilt, has even in the worst times reminded
the different branches of the German race that they belong to one
family. Individuals are now discarding their native dialects, and the
language of education, poetry, and science which was created by Luther
is the bond by which the souls of all Germans are united. Not less was
done by this same man for the social life of Germany. Private devotion,
marriage, the education of children, corporate life, school life,
manners, amusements, all feelings of the heart, all social pleasures
were consecrated by his teachings and writings; everywhere he
endeavoured to place new boundary stones and to dig deeper foundations.
There was no sphere of human duty over which he did not constrain his
countrymen to meditate. By his numerous sermons and essays he worked on
the public; by countless letters in which he gave counsel and comfort
to inquirers he worked on individuals. He urged incessantly upon all
the necessity of self-examination, and the duty of being well assured
what was owing from the father to the child, from the subject to the
sovereign, and from the chief magistrate to his community; the progress
he thus made was important in this respect, that he freed the
consciences of people; and in the place of outward pressure, against
which egotism had haughtily rebelled, he substituted everywhere a
genial self-control. How beautifully he compre