Some of them
had a kind of white leather pelisse beautifully wrought with embroidery.
Each girl carried a large bouquet of flowers. These blue-eyed German
maidens were many of them very pretty, and all were fresh looking and
exquisitely neat. It was an impressive moment when the whole
congregation joined in singing--
_"Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott;"_
"the Marseillaise of the Reformation," as Heine calls Luther's hymn,
"that defiant strain that up to our time has preserved its inspiring
power."
The Reformation spread with wonderful rapidity throughout the length and
breadth of Hungary, more especially in Transylvania. It appears that the
merchants of Herrmannstadt, who were in the habit of attending the great
fair at Leipsic, brought back Luther's writings, which had the effect of
setting fire to men's minds. At one time more than half Hungary had
declared for the new doctrines, but terrible persecutions thinned their
ranks. According to the latest statistics there are 1,109,154 Lutherans
and 2,024,332 Calvinists in Hungary. The Saxons of Transylvania belong
almost exclusively to the Reformed faith; they had always preserved in a
remarkable degree their love for civil and political freedom, hence
their minds were prepared to receive Protestantism. Three monks from
Silesia, converts to Luther's views, came into these parts to preach,
passing from one village to another, and in the towns they "held
catechisings and preachings in the public squares and market-places,"
where crowds came from all the country round to hear them.
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