The virtues as well as the imperfections of this extraordinary man were those of impetuosity, courage, self-reliance, and indomitable zeal. He was often very severe. “The severity which he used in the defence of his faith by no means diminishes the merit of his constancy. An apology may easily be found for the frequent rudeness of his expressions in the prevailing mode of speaking and thinking; in the nature of his undertaking, which required continual contest; in the provocations with which he was continually assailed; in his frequent sickness; and in his excitable imagination.”[210] Even the enemies of Luther, who so bitterly censure the severity often found in his writings, are constrained to admit that he was impelled by honest and honorable motives. Luther says of himself,―― “I was born to fight with devils and factions: this is the reason that my books are so boisterous and stormy. It is my business to remove obstructions, to cut down thorns, to fill up quagmires, and to open and make straight the paths. But, if I must necessarily have some failing, let me rather speak the truth with too great severity than once to act the hypocrite, and conceal the truth.” No one can be informed of the amount of labor performed by Luther, without astonishment. While preaching several times each week, and often every day, conducting a very extensive and important correspondence with the reformers all over Europe, he was one of the most prolific writers of any age, and rendered his name immortal by translating the Bible into the German language. This latter work alone one would deem sufficient to have engrossed the most industrious energies for a lifetime. His admirable hymns are still sung in all the churches; and the tune of “Old Hundred,” which he composed, will last while time endures. In the performance of such labors, he lived until he was sixty-three years of age. Just before he died, he wrote to a friend in the following pathetic strain:―― “Aged, worn out, weary, spiritless, and now blind of one eye, I long for a little rest and quietness. Yet I have as much to do, in writing and preaching and acting, as if I had never written or preached or acted. I am weary of the world, and the world is weary of me. The parting will be easy, like that of the guest leaving the inn. I pray only that God will be gracious to me in my last hour, and I shall quit the world without reluctance.” A few days after writing the above, Martin Luther died, at Eisleben,――on the 18th of February, 1546. He was buried in the Castle Church at Wittenberg.