For a better spirit manifested itself also among the lower
classes. A singular interest arose in sacred music. Not only in those
venerable Gothic Cathedrals, so long the glory of the Roman Catholic
Church, but in the field and the workshop there could be heard the
melodies of Luther, Sachs, and Paul Gerhard. Young men appeared in
numbers, offering themselves as candidates for the ministry. But let it
not be supposed that these encouraging signs were universal. While the
eye of faith could read the most decided lessons of hope, the religious
dearth was still wide-spread. Nor was it unlikely that in a short time
it would triumph over all the efforts for new life. When Spener rose to
a position of prominence and influence, he saw, as no one else was able
to see, the real danger to the cause of truth; and those affecting
descriptions which we find among his writings, revealing the real wants
of the latter half of the seventeenth century, show how keenly his own
heart had become impressed by them.
It was very evident that the Lutheran Church would require a long period
for self-purification, if indeed she could achieve it at all.
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