in his love.
But I found that my weeping only made the inner fire burn all the more;
and it has been in such ecstacy and knowledge that I have composed my
works."

The _Aurora_ was his greatest production. His extreme modesty forbade
the publication of it; and it was first discovered accidentally in
manuscript by a nobleman who was visiting him. Of the literary character
of his works Schlegel says: "If we consider him merely as a poet, and in
comparison with other Christian poets who have attempted the same
supernatural themes--such as Klopstock, Milton, or even Dante,--we shall
find that in fulness of emotion and depth of imagination he almost
surpasses them. And in poetic expression and single beauties he does
not stand a whit behind them. The great intellectual wealth of the
German language has rarely been revealed to such an extent in any age as
in this writer. His power of imagery flowed from an inexhaustible
fountain." His last words declared the inward life of the man, "O Lord
of Sabaoth save me according to thy pleasure! O thou crucified Lord
Jesus Christ, have mercy on me, and take me to thy kingdom! Now I am
going into Paradise!"

John Arndt was not the subtle mystic that Boehme was, and his writings
are subjected to fewer misapprehensions. The service he rendered the
church and the cause of truth was important; and his influence is still
felt upon the practical life of the German people. While yet young he no
sooner became awakened to his spiritual condition then he saw the great
religious defects of his day. He first yielded to the prevalent passion
for the study of chemistry and medicine; but, through a severe illness,
he was subsequently led to give himself to the service of God. But few
works have obtained the celebrity which his _True Christianity_ has
enjoyed, not only while its author lived, but at every period since that
time. He was induced to write it on account of the controversial and
formal spirit which petrified the church. In a letter to Duke Augustus,
in 1621, he thus explained his motives: "I have first endeavored to
withdraw the minds of students and preachers from this disputation and
contentious theology which threatens to bring upon us once more the evil
of a scholastic theology. Another reason that has impelled me to this
course is my strong desire to incline dead Christians to become
fruitful. A third one is to lead people from the study of human theory
and science to the real exercis