German Prose - The Greatest German Book

In Germany until quite recently, when a kind of platform eloquence began shyly and awkwardly enough to flutter its young wings, there was only one kind of public discourse. The preacher was the only one in Germany who knew the weight of a syllable or a word. He alone had a conscience in his ears. Often enough a bad conscience, for reasons are not lacking why proficiency in oratory should be especially seldom attained by a German; or almost always too late. Compared with Luther's Bible, almost everything else is merely literature,. something which has not grown in Germany, and therefore has not taken and does not take root in German hearts as the Bible has done. There are two kinds