eologian who lived during these stirring days.
Dach, who was professor of poetry and dean of the philosophical faculty
of the University of Koenigsberg, wrote some 165 hymns. They are marked by
fulness of faith and a quiet confidence in God in the midst of a world of
turmoil and uncertainty. Dach died in 1659 after a lingering illness. The
first stanza of his funeral hymn reads

O how blest are ye, whose toils are ended!
Who through death have unto God ascended!
Ye have arisen
From the cares which keep us still in prison.

Tobias Clausnitzer, who has bequeathed to the Church the hymn, "Blessed
Jesus, at Thy Word," was the chaplain of a Swedish regiment during the
Thirty Years' War. He preached the thanksgiving sermon at the field
service held by command of General Wrangel at Weiden, in the Upper
Palatine, on January 1, 1649, after the conclusion of the Peace of
Westphalia. He afterwards became pastor at Weiden, where he remained
until his death in 1684.

Johann Quirsfeld, archdeacon in Pirna, has given us a very impressive
Good Friday hymn, "Sinful world, behold the anguish." Quirsfeld died in
1686.

Christian Knorr von Rosenroth, a noted Orientalist, scientist and
statesman of the seventeenth century, in addition to duties of state
edited several Rabbinical writings and works on Oriental mysticism. He
also wrote hymns, among them "Dayspring of eternity," which has been
referred to by one writer as "one of the freshest, most original, and
spirited of morning hymns, as if born from the dew of the sunrise." He
died at Sulzbach, Bavaria, May 8, 1689, at the very hour, it is said,
which he himself had predicted.

The extent to which Lutheran laymen of this period devoted themselves to
spiritual exercises is revealed in the life of Johann Franck, a lawyer
who became mayor of his native town of Guben, Brandenburg, in 1661. To
him we are indebted for the finest communion hymn in the German language,
"Deck thyself, my soul, with gladness." He also was the author of such
gems as "Light of the Gentile nations," "Lord, to Thee I make
confession," "Lord God, we worship Thee," "Jesus, priceless Treasure,"
and the glorious song of praise:

Praise the Lord, each tribe and nation,
Praise Him with a joyful heart;
Ye who know His full salvation,
Gather now from every part;
Let your voices glorify
In His temple God on high.

It was Franck who began the long series of so-called "Jesus