CHAPTER III.
The Schwenkfelder Hymn-Writers of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries.
It will be the design of this chapter to provide an account of the Schwenkfelder hymn-writers whose activity had terminated before the emigration of the sect to America. Limitation in the matter of space necessitates the exclusion of much interesting material which had been prepared for this part of our narrative. Consequently we shall confine the account to a chronological list of these writers and a series of brief biographical sketches of the more important members of the group. Those writers who were among the immigrants will be treated in our account of the American period in subsequent chapters.
The Schwenkfelder hymn-writers of the European period are:
| Valentin Crautwald, | 1465 (?) | —1545 | |
| Georg Berkenmeyer, | (?) | —1545 ca. | |
| Johann Schweintzer, | (?) | —1560 ca. | |
| Adam Reissner, | 1496 | —1575 (?) | |
| Valentin Triller, | (?) | —1580 ca. | |
| Johann Raiimmd Weckher | wrote (circa) | 1540 | —1570 |
| Sebastian Franck, | 1500 ca. | —1545 | |
| Alexander Berner, | wrote | 1550 ca. | |
| Bernhard Herxheimer, | wrote (circa) | 1555 ff. | |
| Alexander Heldt, | wrote | 1565 ff | |
| Sigmund Bosch, | wrote | 1570 ca. | |
| Daniel Sudermann, | 1550 | —1631 | |
| George Frell, | wrote (circa) | 1575 ff. | |
| Claus Stuntz, | wrote | 1580 ca. | |
| Antonius Oelsner, | wrote (circa) | 1590 ff. | |
| Anna Hoyer, | 1584 | —1656 | |
| George Heydrich, | ( ? ) | —1657 ca. | |
| Martin John, Jr., | 1624 | —1707 |
Valentin Crautwald is a name not unfamiliar to students of church history. Of his early life we know but little. An autobiographical sketch written 1540 is preserved in manuscript in the Herzogliche Bibliothek at Wolfenbüttel.[1] It fails to give the year of his birth. It records, however, that he was born at Neisse, Silesia, the native town of Michael Weisse, originator of the German hymn-book of the Bohemian Brethren. He and Weisse were contemporaries and we may safely assume that they were acquainted. In 1523 he was called to Liegnitz as prebendary (Domherr) or Lector. This appointment he probably owed to Schwenkfeld.[2] He was an intimate of Schwenkfeld and for more than twenty years he ardently championed the cause of the Middle Way, as the Reformation under Schwenkfeld was called. For his accomplishments in Hebrew, Greek and Latin he enjoyed a wide reputation and was recognized as a gifted writer of religious verse, of which some was written in defense of Schwenkfeld. He died in Liegnitz, 1545, and is said to have reached the age of 80 years.
Georg Berkenmeyer was exhorter in the Swabian city of Ulm. He is the author of a number of writings directed against Romanism and defending the doctrine of the "inner light." The period of his activity was, approximately, 1525–1545. At the time of the prosecution of Schwenkfeld by the town-council of Ulm, 1540, Berkenmeyer was indicted for partisanship with Schwenkfeld. His best known hymns are:
"O Herr, bisz du mein Zuversicht", and
"O du betriibter Jesu Christ."
The former was printed at Strassburg, 1568, 1569 and 1580. Also at Niirnberg, 1607. The latter at Strassburg, 1580 and 1585.
Johann Schweintzer was a Silesian and a pupil of Valentin Crautwald. In 1530, in partnership with Petrus Schaefer, he set up a printing press at Strassburg. Among the products of his press were editions of the writings of Crautwald and also of a few works by Schwenkfeld, including his confession of faith. Schweintzer had been associated with Schwenkfeld in Liegnitz and followed him to Strassburg in 1529. In 1556, he was subjected to a trial for his Schwenkfeldianism. The following hymns by Schweintzer are noteworthy:
"Glückselig ist der Mann",
"O höchster Gott in deinem Thron", and
"Dasz Gott der Herr so freundlich ist."
All three appeared in the Strassburg hymn-book of 1537. The third appeared also in the Augsburg hymn-book (edited by Salminger), 1537, and in Zwick's hymn-book published at Zürich, 1540.
Adam Reissner (or Reusner) was born in 1496 at Mündelheim (now Mindelheim) in Bavaria. He first studied at Wittenberg, and afterwards, about 1520, he learned Hebrew and Greek under the noted humanist Johann Reuchlin. He then became private secretary to Georg von Frundsberg (who died 1528) and accompanied him during the campaign in Italy, 1526-1527. After the capture of Rome in 1527 he went back to Germany, locating in Strassburg. It may be well to remind ourselves that Schwenkfeld was in Strassburg during the period 1529-1535; and it was during his sojourn in Strassburg that Reissner made the personal acquaintance of Schwenkfeld. Henceforth he remained a loyal adherent and friend of the Silesian Reformer, as he himself said, "despite all opposition and affliction." The duration of his stay in Strassburg is uncertain. For some years he pursued the profession of the law in Frankfurt-am-Main, but seems to have spent most of his life after leaving Strassburg, in his native town of Mindelheim. Here in retirement and contentment, his professional career and public life dismissed from his mind, he found himself immersed in his favorite occupation—study and the pursuit of literature. The year of his death is not known with certainty, but was probably 1575. His motto, composed by himself and taking into consideration his own Christian name, was:
"Was lebt, das stirbt durch Adams Noth,
Was stirbt, das lebt durch Christi Tod."
Adam Reissner's published works are these:
1. The Miracles of Jesus Christ.[3] Printed by the Feierabend press, Frankfurt-am-Main, 1565.
This is a folio of 672 pages. It contains a long religious poem in 59 strophes of 7 lines, beginning :
"Der heylig Geist lasz gelingen."
The hymn is a summary of the miracles of Christ.
2. A History of the Military Exploits of Gcorg and Caspar von Frundsberg. Frankfurt-am-Main, 1568. Second edition, 1572.
3. The Psalms Translated. Frankfurt, 1568. This is an edition of Reissner's metrical versions of the Hebrew Psalms. Until recent years the author's private copy of these hymns was in the possession of Oberlehrer A. F. H. Schneider, the Schwenkfelder historian.
4. Jerusalem.[4] Printed by the Feierabend press, Frankfurt-am-Main, 1569.
This is a folio of 442 pages. It consists of three parts, of which the first and second are dated 1565. It closes with the hymn—Jerusalem, heilig genannt. This hymn, by Reissner, is a translation of the Latin hymn—Urbs beata Jerusalem. It is in 6 strophes of 6 lines, and forms the acrostic "Jhesus".
The Teglichs Gesangbuch, already discussed under number VI. of our Descriptive Bibliography, is another important work by Reissner. According to Koch,[5] this collection was published by Reissner. However, the manuscript of 1596 is the only form in which it is now extant. Of all the Schwenkfelder hymn-writers, in both Europe and America, the two greatest names are Daniel Sudermann and Adam Reissner. True, Reissner's hymns do not, like those of Sudermann, number thousands; but they number hundreds, and their merit is unmistakable. Indeed, Wackernagel, who gives twenty-five of Reissner's hymns in full, expresses the opinion that he is the author of many hymns which have hitherto been credited to other writers.
But of Reissner's most widely known hymn we have thus far made no mention. It is the choice magnificent hymn—"In dich hab ich gehofifet, Herr." This hymn is a metrical version of the Thirty-first Psalm. It was first published in the Form und ordnung Geystlichcr Gcsang mid Psalmen, Augsburg, 1533. It appeared in Zwick's hymn-book, 1540, and in Babst's (Lutheran) hymn-book, 1545. It was included in most of the German hymn-books up to the middle of the 18th century. It appeared in the German hymn-book of the Bohemian Brethren, editions of 1606 and 1639, and subsequently in the Moravian hymn-book. All the editions of the Schwenkfelder hymn-book contain it. The following are well-known English translations of this hymn:[6]
"In Thee, Lord, have I put my trust",—Catherine Winkworth;
"Great God! in Thee I put my trust",—J. C. Jacobi;
"Lord, I have trusted in Thy name",—Dr. H. Mills;
"On Thee, O Lord, my hopes I lean",—N. L. Ffothingham.
We reprint the hymn, employing the orthography of the first edition (1533).
PSALM XXXI.
IN TE DOMINE SPERAUI.
"In dich hab ich gehoffet, Herr,
hilff, das ich nit zu schanden wer
noch ewigklich zu spotte.
Des bitt ich dich,
erhalte mich
in deiner trew, mein Gotte.
2. "Dein gnädig or nayg her zu mir,
erhoer mein beth, thu dich herfiir,
eyl bald mich zuerretten.
In angst vnd wee
ich lig vnd steh,
hilff mir in meinen nötten.
3. "Mein Gott vnnd schirmer, steh mir bey,
sey mir ain burg, darinn ich frey
vnd ritterlich mög streytten
Wider mein feynd,
der gar vil seind
an mich auff bayden seytten.
4. "Du bist mein sterck, mein felsz, mein hort,
mein schildt, mein krafft, sagt mir dein wort,
mein hilff, mein hayl, mein leben,
Mein starcker Got
in aller not:
wer mag mir wider streben?
5. "Mir hat die welt trüglich gericht
mit liegen vnd mit falschem dicht
vil netz vnd haimlich stricken:
Herr, nymm mein war
inn diser gfar,
bhiit mich vor falschen tücken.
6. "Herr, meinen gayst beuilch ich dir,
mein Got, mein Got, weich nit von mir,
nimm mich in deine hende!
O warer Gott,
ausz aller not
hilff mir am letsten ende!
7. "Glori, lob, ehr vnd herligkait
sey Got vatern vnd sun berayt,
dem hailing gayst mit namen.
Die gottlich krafft
mach vns syghafft
durch Jesum Christum,Amen."
Daniel Sudermann,[9] in whom the cause of the Middle Way received both a fresh, a timely and powerful impetus, was the scion of an old and honored family. One of his ancestors, Hendricus (Heinrich) Sudermann, who lived in the 14th century, was a knight and a patron of the Order of St. Alexius. In the year 1432, and subsequently, Katharina Sudermann and other members of the Sudermann family, who had taken the veil, lived in the cloister of St. Gertrude at Koln, where they were occupied with the transcribing of religious books. Many of these manuscripts came into the possession of Daniel Sudermann, and one of them, written in 1469, was taken as the model for his handwriting—the artistic engrossing hand of his numerous manuscripts, which has always received unvarying high praise for its symmetry and grace. Sudermann's father (15141564), whose court-name was Lambert Suavius, was an artist and copper-plate engraver. Among his patrons were Duke William of Cleves, Duke Frederick of Saxony, the Duke of Weimar, and two emperors of the Holy Roman Empire, Charles V. and Maximilian II.
Daniel Sudermann was born at Lüttich in the Netherlands, February 24, 1550. But little is known of his early years. In 1558 we find him in school at Aachen. The year 1568 marks the beginning of his long career as private tutor (Hofmeister) to numerous young counts and noblemen. This activity continued for a period of more than twenty years. In 1576 he was presented to the Emperor Maximilian, who "most graciously" furnished him with" an introduction to the newly appointed viceroy of the Netherlands. During these years he wrote many poems in praise of his high-born patrons and friends. In 1585 he assumed the charge of the instruction of the sons of the nobility at the Bruderhof in Strassburg. In 1594 he was made vicar of the Bruderhof, where he lived until near the close of his long life. As early as 1585, reprints and new editions of Schwenkfeld's works began to appear, issued under the direction of Sudermann, but not until 1594 did he announce his participation in the views of Schwenkfeld. He gives the following brief account of his own career:[10]
"D. S. 1st geboren Anno 1550. Er ist Catholisch, aber bald Anno 1558 In der Caluinischen Schul gangen. Auch zu der Lutherischen predig mit gangen, Den Teüffern auch zugehört. Ist Anno 1594 zu erkantnusz der Warheit kommen, vnd hat Ao. 1624. disz vffgeschrieben seines alters 74. noch starck, frisch, vnd gesund, als lang der Herre sein Christus wil. bisz 1628. 1629. Gottlob. 1630. 1631."
His death occurred in 1631.
The earliest of Sudermann's poems which still exist were written in 1568. His poetic activity during the period 1572-1580, was limited for the most part to the production of motto-hymns and acrostic poems, the latter in praise of his patrons of noble birth. Beginning with the year 1584, he seems to have been occupied for some years chiefly with the publishing of Schwenkfeld's works. Neither the editor's name nor the place of publication, Strassburg, appears in any of these editions. It will be remembered that the Sixteenth Century was the great age of the German "master-singers" and their "Singschulen," and for a few years (1589-91 ) Sudermann practiced the Meistergesang—the writing of lyric poetry according to the strict rules of the guild of the Meistersänger. Many of his poems of this period are included in his manuscript collections of later years, and are usually indicated by the marginal note: "Disz ist ein Meistergesang." That Sudermann joined the "master-singers" of Strassburg, or that he was acquainted with his contemporary Johann Fischart can not be said with certainty. However, Fischart was a staunch Protestant and began his literary career by writing satires on Catholicism. Of these, the most important, Der Bincnkorb (1579) and Das Jesuiitenhütlein (1580), were issues of the printing-press of Jobin, Fischart's brother-in-law, in Strassburg, the press which soon after printed some of the Schwenkfeld literature published by Sudermann.
In his next period, 1594 ca.—1610, we find Sudermann wholly absorbed in his study of the mystics. In these years his unresting enterprise is applied in part to the collecting of old and rare manuscripts of the writings of such Christian teachers as Bernhard of Clairvaux (1090-1153), Bonaventura (1212-74), Meister Eckhart (ca. 1260-1327), Heinrich Sense, or Suso (1295-1366), Johann Tauler (ca. 1300-61 ),[11] Johann Geiler of Kaisersberg (1445-1510), Heinrich Vigilis of Weissenburg (1489) and numerous other exponents of the belief in the direcness of the soul's communion with God. From these writings he made selections of the choicest passages, which he compiled and added to his library. A number of the manuscripts collected he himself transcribed with the greatest care. Indeed, it may safely be said that the recognition which is due Daniel Sudermann for having collected, transcribed and preserved this literature has hitherto not been acknowledged. His hymns both of this period and later years reflect much of the sentiment and the imagery of these Christian writers, of whom Tauler was for Sudermann the master-teacher and close companion.
The last two decades of his life, like the earlier periods, Sudermann spent chiefly in literary employment. Until about 1628, he lived at the Bruderhof. He was never married, always enjoyed good health, and even at the age of 80 years he governed an active and a vigorous pen. He was a voluminous transcriber of Schwenkfelder literature, and in this role he was designedly supplying a real want of his friends. These transcripts are frequently inscribed thus :
"Disz Buch soil niemands eigen sein,
Schwenckfelds Discipeln ich schenks insgemein."
In this period he completed the fair-copy of his hymns contained in collections S Ilia, S Illb and S IIIc of the list given below. All of the important collections of hymns by Sudermann which appeared in print, were published in the years 1618-1628. As might be conjectured, a number of the hymns written in this decade reflect the fierce religious strife of the calamitous Thirty Years' War.
Sudermann was the author of 2500 hymns and other religious poems, of which 435 have appeared in print. Wackernagel alone prints 211 of Sudermann's hymns in full. Schneider[12] gives a list of Sudermann's writings amounting to twenty-seven numbers, not including his theological treatises. If now we remind ourselves that for more than a score of years Sudermann's duties as Hofmeister claimed the major portion of his time, that he directed the publication of many of Schwenkfeld's works, that during his curacy at the Bruderhof he accumulated a collection of old manuscripts which has ever since been an object of admiration to bibliophiles, copied five large volumes of hymns, edited twenty publications of writings by himself and by Tauler, and that by forty years of toil as transcriber he has preserved to us a vast quantity of Schwenkfelder literature as well as much of our information concerning Schwenkfeld and his adherents, we shall be able to approximate a just conception of the amazing activity of this resourceful and devoted champion of Caspar von Schwenkfeld.
The complete list of collections of hymns written by Sudermann follows. Of the published collections, the place of publication is given if known. The Roman numeral given after the title refers to our Descriptive Bibliography.
S i. Geistliche Lieder. Manuscript in folio. 1587. v.
S ii. Geistliche Lieder. Manuscript in folio. 1597. viii.
S iii a. Gsangbuch Newer geistlicher Lieder. I. Theil. Manuscript in quarto. 1615. ix.
S iii b. Gsangbuch Newer geistlicher Lieder. II. Theil. Manuscript in quarto. 161 5. x.
S iii c. Gsangbucli Neiver geistlicher Lieder. III. Theil. Manuscript in quarto. 1615. xi.
S iv. Von der Tochter Sion. Strassburg. 1618. xii.
S v. Ein gitte Lehr. Strassburg. 1619. xiii.
S vi. Five leaves in folio, xiv.
S vii a. Schöne ausserlescne Figurcn und hohe Lehren. Strassburg. 1620. xv.
S vii b. Schöne ausserlescne Sinreiche Figuren.' Strassburg. 1620. xvi.
S vii c. Schöne auszerlesenc Sinreiche Figuren.' Strassburg. 1625 (circa), xxi.
S vii d. xxxxx. Schöner auszerlesener Sinreicher Figuren. 1628. xxiii.
S viii. Ein Schöne Lehr, von den sieben Graden, oder Staff ein der volkommenen Liebe. Strassburg. 1622. xvii.
S ix. Twelve Leaves in folio, xviii.
S x. Hohe geistreiche Lehren, und Erkldrungen. 1622. xix.
S xi. Sixteen Pages in folio, xx.
S xii. Etliche Hohe geistliche Gesänge. Strassburg. 1626. xxii.
As a hymn-writer, he was honored by his contemporaries and is ranked high by modern writers on hymnology. Grammatically, his poetry is not infrequently defective, but it will be remembered that his linguistic traditions were Low German. Schneider says: "Sudermann always chose good models, in Dutch, French and Latin as well as in German. Schwenkfeld's flow of language, Reissner's brevity and Tauler's fervour are reflected in his writings." Wackernagel's valuation of Sudermann and his hymns runs thus, in English translation: "He was a true Christian, his poems are simply like so many spontaneous devotions, in which his soul was submerged as he studied the Holy Scriptures, the church fathers, the mystics and the Reformers; and it seems as though in the fifty years of his hymn-writing he had only godly thoughts. I have spent much time in the study of this author; indeed, I have a fondness for him, because his hymns are so genuine and at the same time so pertinent." The following hymn on the deception of temporal joy, written in 1584, we have chosen to illustrate both the godliness and the lyric fire of this' prince of Schwenkfelder hymn-writers:
"VON DER FALSCHEN BETRUEGLICHEN WELTFREUDE.
"O blinde Welt, wie hast du mich gestöret
Von Jugend vff vnd noch in diese Zeit,
O arge Welt, wie hastu mich bethöret
Vnd abgebracht von rechter Bahn so weit!
O falsche Welt,
Wollust vnd Gelt,
Wee dem ewig, der auff dich belt.
"O kurtze freüd, o langwirige schmertzen,
O Ewigkeit, wie machst mir ein geträng,
Wan ich ernstlich bedenck von gantzem hertzen,
Nach dieser Zeit dasz du wehrest so lang.
O falsche Welt, etc.
"O liechteschein, welchs finsternisz gebehret,
Dein Ehre fiihrt zu spott vnd ewger scliand,
kurtze Rhu, so lang die Seel beschweret,
O Eygen Will, hemach gfangiiisz vnd band;
O falsche Welt, etc.
"Fahr hin o Welt, dir will ich vrlaub geben,
Fahr hin o Welt, esz nmsz geschieden sein,
Fahr hin o Welt, mit dir mag ich nit leben,
Fahr hin o Welt, du brechst mich sunst in pein.
Fahr hin o Welt,
Wollust vnd Gelt,
Wee dem Zuletst, der auff dich helt."
Martin John, Jr., was born in Glatz, 1624. This was six years after the outbreak of the Thirty Years' War and five years before the appearance in Germany of Gustavus Adolphus, king of Sweden, as the defender of the leaderless Protestants. The story of the early life of Martin John, the younger, reflects the privation and suffering of this final, protracted conflict between Protestantism and Catholicism. For three generations this Schwenkfelder family was prominent in the struggle of the sect in Silesia for existence.
In 1583, the elder Martin John, grandfather of the subject of this sketch, adopted the faith of Schwenkfeld, and in 1584 bought property in Harpersdorf and settled there. Soon after, he began to work as a lay evangelist, holding public services at his own house. Persecution followed, and he and his associates became the victims of violence and incivility. His household furniture was destroyed, his fields laid waste and he himself committed to prison at Liegnitz. After a year's confinement here, where the most unsanitary conditions prevailed, with consequent disease and death among the prisoners, he was removed to the tower of an old castle on the Grötzberg. Here in 1594, after eight years of detention he died, having steadfastly refused to exchange his liberty of conscience for personal freedom. Numerous sermons and tractates penned during his imprisonment were brought to America by the Schwenkfelder immigrants in 1734.
The father of our hymn-writer was George John, who with his family for a time escaped the hardships of the war. In 1627, however, a detachment of Imperial troops was quartered in his house with instructions to resort to torture, if necessary, in order to compel the family to embrace the Catholic faith. A guard was placed before each door of the house to prevent flight or rescue. But George John had made provision for a possible exigency of this kind. Much to their surprise, and contrary to their accustomed treatment the soldiers were invited to enjoy a substantial repast. The temptation proved too great for their vigilance, and a day of festivity was proclaimed. Picture their satisfaction when the feast already in progress is augmented by an abundance of the choicest wine. The ruse of the host is wholly-successful. First a general carousing and tippling, and by and by soldiers and watch are soundly intoxicated and fast asleep. Under cover of the night, George. John now escapes, taking with him his wife and two children and a sister. The elder child, a daughter, was at this time eight years of age and little Martin in his fourth year. All his life he retained the memory of this flight.
When we next hear of Martin John, Jr., he is some thirty years of age and a physician in the town of Hockenau, Principality of Jauer, Silesia. The war had been terminated by the Treaty of Westphalia (1648); but this treaty, like the Peace of Augsburg (1555), granted to every ruling prince the right to enforce his religion upon his subjects, and to banish all who refused to conform. In a word, the Schwenkf elders had again been outlawed, and with the year 1650-51 began the period of oppression which the Schwenkfelders of that time and succeeding generations called "the great persecution." [13] Martin John, Jr., is the author of an account of Schwenkfeld, his tenets and the history of the reformation under Schwenkfeld up to the second half of the Seventeenth Century. Several copies of this chronicle are extant in manuscript in America. It includes an account of the measures adopted by the magistracies of Liegnitz and Jauer at the instigation of the Lutheran clergy, for the coercion of the Schwenkfelders. The chronicler records with great particularity the reproach and persecution suffered by his contemporaries George Heydrich, the hymn-writer, and Balthaser Jäkkel, both of whom publicly opposed the baptism of the children of Schwenkfelder parents. Heydrich was deprived of his property in Harpersdorf, was twice made to endure extreme hunger and twice received a cudgeling. He was three times imprisoned at Liegnitz. During his final imprisonment (1654-1656) he contracted an illness of which he died shortly after his release. Martin John, the subject of this sketch, also passed about nine months in prison at this time at Jauer, for having conducted religious services.
Although the chronicle in question furnishes many facts of the life of Martin John, Jr., it does not contain a connected narrative of his career. However, from this and other sources it appears that he was a man of considerable learning and an ardent believer in Schwenkfeld's conception of Christian living. As a chronicler, he rendered significant service; and he always lamented the fact that through the persecution of the preceding century as well as by reason of the long war, a great amount of historical matter and printed literature had been lost and destroyed. He died in 1707 at the advanced age of 83 years. Soon after, and while the hymn-collection of Caspar Weiss was being compiled, his hymns came to light and forty were immediately admitted to the collection. All the editions of the Schwenkfelder hymn-book contain hymns by Martin John. The Saur edition contains thirty. As far as we know there has not been found a collection of his hymns that purports to be complete; and hence a full account of his activity as a hymn-writer must be deferred until additional information concerning him has been disclosed. There exists a manuscript of ninety-seven hymns by Martin John, of which about one-third are translations of Latin hymns, chiefly by Aurelius Prudentius.[14] Of the hymns of this collection, a number are metrical versions of Psalms. It is note-worthy that this Schwenkfelder physician, historian and hymn-writer, was also the author of a printed work on bee-culture. As far as we know, there is but a single copy of this imprint extant in America.[15]
We give here a poem of Schwenkfelder authorship printed on a broadside in 1580. The place of publication is not known.[16]
MADRIGAL.
"Es ist mir allzeit lieb,
Wann gute Freunde zu mir kommen;
Dann, weil ich mir schon längstens vorgenommen,
Nicht viel mehr aus zu gehen,
So kan man leicht verstchn,
Dasz mir der Zuspruch lieber Leute
So angenehm als niitzlich sey;
Doch, disz erinnere ich dabey,
Dasz, weil ich sehr erpicht aufs angenehme Heute
Mir der am liebsten sey, der wohl bey sich erwagt,
Wie, offt ein guter Frennd dem andern
Viel edle Zeit verträgt:
Drum wer nichts Nöthigs mehr zu sagen weisz,
Beliebe nur bald wiederum zu wandern;
Dan wer zum Zeit-Vertrieb, mit ausgekehrten Sinneii
Von seinem Nechsten schlecht, ohn' Zweck zur Bessrung spricht,
Und von sich selbst zum Lob, und sonst von eitlen Dingen
Der hat die Zeit nur übel angewendt;
Wan ich ilm aber bleiben heisz,
So trau er mir, es sey kein Compliment."
Schwenkfeld himself seems to have written but little verse. Of course he recognized the irresistible power of congregational singing as an agency in the establishment of the Reformation cause, and was looking on with the warmest approval as all Germany, awakened by the song of "the nightingale of Wittenberg" began to sing itself into Protestantism. It was he who, in 1534, requested Katharina Zell to publish a new edition of the first German hymn-book of the Bohemian Brethren.[17] True, it is possible that some hymns of his may have been suppressed along with other literature from his pen. However, a few treasured verses of his composition have been preserved. We give here three pairs of rhymed couplets by Schwenkfeld. The first appears in all the editions of the Schwenkfelder hymn-book, on the reverse of the title-page. The other two strophes appear on a broadside published by Daniel Sudermann. This broadside contains a contemporary portrait of Schwenkfeld, of the year 1556. The verses in question appear just below the portrait. They are a metrical amplification of Schwenkfeld's motto : "Niltriste Christo recepto." On the same broadside are twenty-eight lines of verse written, according to Schneider,[18] by Sudermann. They begin: "Herr Caspar Schwenckfelds leib und G'stalt."[19] Following are the strophes by Schwenkfeld:
"Wenn singt im Hertzen Gottes Geist,
In Christo Gott wird recht gepreiszt;
Wenn aber singt der fleischlich Christ,
Solch Lob fiir Gott ein Greuel ist.
Wer Iesum christv vor im hat
der rhvet sanfte frve vnd spat
er ist getrost in aller nott
und ob er sclion hie steckt im chott
Das er avch wird der wellte spot
so schaidet er doch nit von got
der in behvet vor hell und todt
vnd speist in mit seim himel brott.
The following hymn entitled "Of the Love of Christ," because of its associations, must always retain—at least for Schwenkfelders—a peculiar charm. It was written in Ulm on the occasion of the approaching death of Schwenkfeld. In the earliest Schwenkfelder collections which contain it, Agathe Streicher is named as the writer of the hymn. It will be observed, however, that the fourth and sixth lines of the third strophe seem to indicate that it was not written by a woman, and for this and other reasons the question has been raised by Wackernagel : "May it have been written by Schwenkfeld him- self?" The hymn follows:[20]
"VON DER LIEB CHRISTJ.
"Wach auf, mein seel,
mit Psalmen, Beeten, singen,
hab Lieb ob alien Dingen
den waren höchsten Gott,
Jhesum, sein Lieben Sohne.
regierend jn dem Trone
in gleicher macht vnnd Ehr.
für mich am Creuz gestorben.
2. "Jhesu, mein Gott,
gib dich mir zuerkennen:
vva jch dich nu hor nennen
sich mein gemiit erf rent.
Du kennst dein Creature,
das jch bin von Nature
durch Satanns List vnnd trug
in siinden ganz verdorben.
3. "Herr JHESU Christ,
lasz dir es gehn zu herczen
den Jamer vnnd den schmerczen,
darjnn jch gfangner bin,
Von meiner sünden wegen,
darjn jch armer glegen
inn Hell, jn Angst vnnd tod,
du allein kanst Erlösen.
4. "Da jst kein Rast
noch ru zu keiner stunde,
bisz Du mich machst gesunde
an gewissen, hercz vnnd seel:
Füer ausz von disem Laide,
das jch von Dir nit schaide,
das jch Dir volge nach
vnnd mit gedult verharre.
5. "Ich opfer mich
dir, meinem Gott vnnd Herren,
jch bitt Dich, wellest niehren
mein glaub, hoffnung vnd Lieb,
Das jch bej dir mög bleiben,
das mich nicht künd abtreibeu
Verfolgung, Angst vnnd tod,
füer mich jus Ewig Leben."
- ↑ Cf. A. F. H. Schneider, loco citato, p. 4f.
- ↑ Cf. Corpus Schwenckfeldianorum, I, 151.
- ↑ "Miracvla, Wunderwerck Jhestt Christj. * * * Durch Adam Reissner."
- ↑ "Iervsalem, Die Gaistlich himlisch Stat Gottes. * * * Durch Adam Reissner."
- ↑ Koch, loco citato, II, 159.
- ↑ Cf. Julian, loco citato, p. 955.
- ↑ "Ein Schlesich singebuchlein aus Gottlicher schrifft. * * * Durch Valentinum Triller von Gora." (Cf. Wackernagel, loco citato, IV, 19f.
- ↑ "Ein Christlich Singebuch, fur Layen und Gelerten, Kinder und alten, daheim und in Kirchen zu singen. * * * Durch Valentinum Triller von Gora."
- ↑ Cf. Schneider, loco citato, p. gff. Koch, II. Allgemeine detitsche Biographic
- ↑ Cf. Corpus Schzvcnckfcldianorum, I, 51f.
- ↑ Cf. Corpus Schwenckfeldianorum, I, 389.
- ↑ Cf. A. F. H. Schneider, loco citato, pp. 12ff.
- ↑ "For an account of the persecutions which the Schwenkfelders suffered after the Peace of Augsburg and again after the close of the Thirty Years' War, vide "The Schwenkfelders," by Hon. C. Heydrick, in the Genealogical Record of the Schwenkfelders.
- ↑ This manuscript is in the possession of Mr. Daniel M. Anders, Fairview Village, Pa., who kindly permitted the writer to examine it for this work. Mrs. Susanna Krauss Heebner, Worcester, Pa., is the possessor of a manuscript of which a part consists of hymns by Martin John.
- ↑ In the possession of William H. Anders, Kulpsville, Pa.
- ↑ "A copy of this broadside is in the possession of Hon. S. W. Penny-packer, Former Governor of Pennsylvania, who kindly allowed the present writer to reprint the "madrigal" here.
- ↑ Cf. A. F. H. Schneider, loco citato, p. 21.
- ↑ Cf. A. F. H. Schneider, loco citato, p. 12.
- ↑ Cf. Erläuterung für Caspar Schwenckfeld. Second edition, facing frontispiece.
- ↑ Reprinted from Wackernagel, Vol. V.