GREAT MEN'S BODIES
sonated revolutionary ideas. He was a man of thought, as well as a man of action.
"What he thinks the most of is the circulation of the Scriptures among plain people; so he translates them into German,—a gigantic task; and this work, almost single-handed, is done so well that it becomes the standard of the German language; as the Bible of Tindale helped to form the English tongue; and it has remained the common version in use throughout Germany. Moreover, he finds time to make liturgies and creeds and hymns; to write letters to all parts of Christendom—a kind of Protestant pope, to whom everybody looks for advice and consolation. No wonder the Germans are so fond of him, and so proud of him;—a Briareus, with a hundred arms; a marvel; a wonder; and prodigy of nature; the most gifted, versatile, hard-working man of his century."
And did this giant do his mighty work with only a weak or even ordinary body?
Let Dr. Lord tell: "He is an executive and administrative man, for which his courage, insight, will, and Herculean physical strength wonderfully fit him. A man for the times—a man to head a new movement; the forces of an age of protest and rebellion and conquest."
Not unusual strength merely; not great strength merely; "Herculean physical strength!" Like that of Zeus's famous son,—the strongest man of all mythology. Look at the face; the jowl; the neck; the way the head is set upon the shoulders; the deep, massive shoulders themselves; that chest; and the vast back-head. In some portraits, his head and that of Tom Sayers, one of the greatest and bravest prize-fighters England ever had, are almost alike. An ugly man to run up against.
And was not Luther a prize-fighter? Is not every man, worth calling a man, a prize-fighter? Just who has ever fought for a greater prize than did Martin Luther? Do you know of any one? Has Germany
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