( AUG 1 1 1977 V-^/ '^fO/.CGlCAL St^' :>e A BX 9469 .K94 A313 1869 Krummacher, F. W. 1796-1868 Friedrich Wilhelm Krummache FRIEDRICH WILHELM KRUMMACHER AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY. EDITED BY HIS DAUGHTER. TRANSLATED BY REV. M. G. EASTON, A.M. WITH A PREFACE BY REV. PROFESSOR CAIRNS, D.D. OF BERWICK. EDINBUEGH: T. & T. CLAEK, 38, GEORGE STREET. LONDON : HAMILTON & CO. DUBLIN : JOHN ROBERTSON & CO. MDCCCLXIX. EDINBURGH : t'OMMKIiriAI. PRINl INO COMPANY, 22 HOWE STKEKT. PREFACE BY DR CAIRNS OF BERWICK. The foUowiug Autobiography of Dr Krummacher needs no iutroduction or recommendation from any quarter. It has all the best qualities of its Author's well-known style, and some which are less prominent in his other writings ; and it may be confidently expected that it will secure in an English dress the popularity which it has at once achieved in Germany. It may be permitted, however, to one who has been associated in various ways with the lamented Author, to call attention to some of the interesting features of the posthumous work here presented, and thus to express something of the reverence with which the wide circle of English-speaking Christians must ever cherish his name. Among the most attractive parts of this volume are the early recollections, especially of the Author's father, F. A. Krum- macher, the author of the "Parables," the picture of whose successive charges, and most of all of his rural ministry in Westphalia, opens up the fine home influences under wliicli his son grew up to stiU greater eminence and usefulness. The sketches of university life in Halle and Jena wdiich follow, would not be easy to match in similar literature. The medal- lions of the professors, as of Wegscheider and Gesenius, Knapp and Fries, have the perfect individuality which only genius can give to the portrait ; and the whole description suggests the immense and blessed revolution which the student-life of Germany — so far as Christian orthodoxy is concerned — has since undergone. Leaving behind the characteristic notice of the Author's early ministry in Frankfurt, the narrative lingers long on his successive labours on the Ehine, in Euhrort, Bar- men, and Elberfeld. This is probably the best and liveliest description anywhere to be found of Ehenish Christianity. It a 2 PREFACE BY DR CAIRXS OF BERWICK. may be expected to be especially interesting to British and American Christians, because the type of Christianity exhi- bited more nearly resembles their own, and also because in connection with these scenes the Avithor's name first became a household word in their several Ghurclies. It may be ques- tioned, however, if the power is not greater which paints the struggles and difficulties of the Author's opening ministry in Berlin, and which affords the deepest glimpses into the moral state of the Prussian capital, and the working of the Gospel under new and trying conditions upon its various circles. The pictures of the leaders of different schools in the United Church of Prussia are as clear in outhne as they are tender in colouring ; and the Author's generous feehng has breathed over the features of Stahl and Hengstenberg, much as he differed from them, the same impartial warmth which lights up the incomparable sketch of Neander. It is needless to say that King Frederick AVilliam iv. receives full justice in this memorial volume. It is to be regretted that the Autobiography breaks off at the year 1848, before our Author's growing connection with the Christians of other lands had made him a central figure in the Evangelical Alliance, and even before the German Kirclientag had begun its career. Still the extracts from his correspondence which his executors have appended supply some compensation, and give some conception of his Potsdam ministry; and the dis- course with which he opened the Alliance meeting at Berlin in 1857 has been given entire — a discourse of which, eloquent and powerful as it reads, no record can preserve the overwhelming impression. It is hoped that a volume so various in matter, and so graphic in style, and bearing so deeply the stamp of the Author's piety and Christian patriotism, as well as of his fire and genius, may deepen the interest of a large circle of readers in German Christianity, and may contribute to that growth of Christian sympatliy whereby the whole living Church " makes increase of the body unto the edilyiiig of itself in love." JOHN CAIRNS. August 13, 18G9. ^ // PREFACE BY THE SURVWIXG MEMBERS OF THE AUTHOR'S FAMILY. Our beloved father, Dr Friedricli Wilhelm Krum- macher, the Royal Court-preacher, was born on the 28th • January 1796, and calmly departed this life, in the peace of God, on the 10th December 1868, Among his Remains we have, to our no little surprise and joy, found the following Autobiography, which we now give to the public. He had never spoken to us of this work, Alas! it reaches only to the year 1848; but still it embraces a great and important part of his life, and the blank of the last twenty years we have endeavoured to fill up with communications, in which he also, for the most part, speaks for himself. May the blessing of the Lord, which has rested in so rich a measure on the words of the living, also accompany the voice of the dead in all houses into which this Autobiography may be received ! Potsdam and Halberstadt, March 1869. CONTENTS. Introduction, Childhood, Thk Years of Boyhood, . The Period of Youth, . The University — Halle, The University — Jena, . Frankfurt-on-the-Maine, Euhrort, . Barmen, Elberfeld, CHAPTER I. CHAPTER 11. CHAPTER III. CHAPTER IV. CHAPTER V. CHAPTER VI. CHAPTER VII. CHAPTER VIII. CHAPTER IX. CHAPTER X. Berlin, CHAPTER XI. Supplement — Berlin and Potsdam, .... CHAPTER XII. Appendix— Poem composed on the occasion of leaving the University of. Jena, . . . . Sermon preached on New- Year's Day 1868, . Last Sermon, preached 15th November 1868, 18 34 48 64 81 108 124 152 225 266 330 331 339 INTRODUCTION. Whoever has entered into the venerable rank of the men of sixty years of age, and looks back on the two generations over which his life has extended, may well reo;ard himself as havino; now reached the last stao'e of his journey. He will hardly commence any new en- terprise, or enter on any fresh undertaking. Living only on that it has already gained, the soul will scarcely reckon on any farther real increase of its spmtual capital. It will rather live in the memories of the past, than dream away the brief time now remaining m hopes for which at least here, on tlds side, there is no longer any anchor-ground. Well is it for him who is able, with the peace of old Simeon — a peace altogether different from that which the world knows, and which it seeks to build on the deceitful foundation of a con- sciousness of personal merit — to look forward into the future, as w^ell as back into the past ! Perhaps this retrospect will not fill his soul only with songs of joy, but will also hold him fast at many places which he will be constrained anew to water with the hot tears of repentance. But he will always raise himself up and take courage again, and feel his just sorrow give place to equally well founded joy over the everlasting truth, that " if our heart condemn us, God is greater than om- heart, and knoweth all things." CHAPTER I. CHILDHOOD. ^HE first seven years of our childhood usually hover before us in our remembrances of them bathed in the golden radiance of a lost paradise. They are like the pre-historic period in the life of nations, which lies in the remote cloudy distance, in which it is difficult to distinguish legend from fact, fable from truth. Thus I am conscious — and, as I think, not from the hearsay of others — that, while yet an infant in the cradle, I was one day bathed in the sunshine of the joy-beaming countenance of my father. And how distinctly do I even this day see myself, when scarcely one year old, during a violent storm, which shook in the most dangerous manner the old tower at the foot of which my father's house stood, carried in the arms of a faith- ful female friend of our family across the open market- place mto her own more secure dwelling ; and I beheve that the relation in later years of what then happened was due to this my remembrance of it. There yet stand, in all the vivid distinctness of pictures before my eyes (for I was born under the tricolor of the French Republic, and the stming music of the Marseillaise, which breathes, in a way no other secular song does, the most glowing fanaticism of freedom), as I beheld them, in the tlnrd year of my Hfe, the lofty Tree of Freedom A 10 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DE, KRUMMACHER. in the midst of the market-place, around which there danced in a ring a band of men bellowing out the Carmagnole, and the tents of the charlatan French dentists, who, standing on an elevated tribune, recom- mended to the pubHc, in broken German, and with a loud voice, their tinctures and secret remedies against all possible evils, while, at the same time, for the pur- pose of enticing a crowd around them, they caused a monkey which they carried with them to perform its tricks, and a harlequin to make exciting sport. And I could yet almost paint the scene of the school at the watch-tower, to which I was sent as a half-day pupil before the end of my third year, certainly not accord- ing to my own inchnation ; and I look back in thought to the happy moments in which, as often happened in the summer time, the kindly old schoolmistress sur- prised us with little branches of purple-red currants out of her garden. The feelings with which I was wont then to receive my little branch even now renew themselves within me. They were feehngs not so much of joy over the little purple grapes which smiled upon us, as of a longing after the green free nature from which they appeared to bring a salutation to us little prisoners. I was born at Mors, on the Rhine, which was formerly the capital of the sovereign principality of the same name. Years passed by before I learned to share my pride in it with Gerhard Tersteegen, who was born there a full century before me. Since my tenth year scarcely has a single day passed in which some note of his pil- grim-song, " Kommt Kinder, lasst uns gehen" (Come children, let us go), does not echo in my heart. The times in which I first opened my eyes on the light of this world were stormy and troublous. On the left bank of the Rhine there had already been CHILDHOOD. 1 1 established the repubhc of Kobespierre, Danton, and Hebert, all besmeared with the blood of king and citizens. The inhabitants also of the hereditary pos- sessions of the Great Elector, till then so happy, saw with stifling indignation the Prussian eagle supplanted by the Galilean. In what an overflowing measure, too, had the country to taste, under the orders daily issued — - " voitures, chevaux d'ordonnance, pioniers, execution militaire, etc." — all the miseries of war and of foreign domination ! Yet it appears that, in the house of the director of the school for training teachers, which ofiice was held by my father, who was devotedly attached to the royal house of Brandenburg, neither courage nor good humour ever altogether disappeared. Amid all the tumult of the world around him, my father, Friedrich Adolf, found quietness and humour enough to establish a diary in the name of his little first-born son, in which he carefully recorded everything, however insignificant it might be, that appertained to the life of his child ; but especially notices of his observable progress in bodily and mental growth, together with earnest prayers to God on his behalf, are strikingly prominent in its pages. When the little boy first laughed to his parents ; how he attentively followed with his eyes a little bird flying about in the room, and thereby proved his strength of vision ; and par- ticularly how he commenced to aim at expressing the difiicult words mamma and papa — all these incidents are recorded in the diary. The book also records how the child was attacked by the fearful disease of small-pox. And the manner in which it bears testimony to their anxieties during that period, makes it obvious that their care for the life of the beloved infant pressed into the back-ground every other care in the hearts of the 12 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DR KRUMMACHER. parents, and that their joy at the first sure symptoms of incipient recovery was great enough to make the happy pair then altogether forget for a while aU the political and social miseries under which millions were at that time sighing. My father also at that time making his escape into the world of the ideal from the furies of war which were let loose upon the land, wrote, among other poems breathing only peace and hope, his animated " Hymnus an die Liebe" (Hymn to Love). At a later period of his life he was wont frequently to speak of the pleasant hours he had now and then spent in those stormy days, (when not seldom the tumidtuous sound of the drums of the French regiments passing through the streets was heard), under the leafy shade of a plane tree in his httle garden, situated beside the ruins of the old baronial castle, in the midst of a circle of trusty neighbours and dear friends ; and of the witty and refreshing conversa- tions there enjoyed, and the cheerful and solemn toasts " for better times," and for a " restitutio in integrum," with which they strengthened the courage of one another, and drove away then* anxious cares. To this cu'cle belonged, among others, Ross, the pastor of Bud- berg, who was afterwards bishop ; Essler, the worthy pastor of Capelln, who was generally, but erroneously, taken for a brother of the celebrated actor of the same name (though spelt a httle differently — Esslair) ; and Pastor Spiess, and Professor Moller, my father's much- loved brother-in-law, of Duisburg — excellent young men, of genial nature, and of noblest aims, besides being zealous patriots, who never doubted the restora- tion of tlieu" Prussian Fatherland, whose triumphs at length they celebrated together. After seven years of manifold and richly-blessed CHILDHOOD. 13 activity at Mors, my father was surprised by the recep- tion of a call to the Professorship of Theology and Eloquence at the University of Duisburg.^ After long hesitation he at length responded to it, v^hile in the most modest estimate of himself he despaired of his ability to succeed the excellent man, Professor Dr Berg, whose place he was to occupy, and who was then widely famed both for his learning and his piety. I was four years old when we, now five in all — ^^for meanwhile a little brother and sister had been given to me — crossed the Rhme. That this was not done on the part of my parents, to whom that little town of Mors had become gradually more endeared, without many tears being shed at their departure, I know only from tradition. The many new objects of contemplation which during this little journey no doubt claimed the attention of the little boy, if not in mountain and valley, yet in forest and river, villages and farm-yards, flocks of cattle, and ships, left no room in the circle of my vision for the convoy of friends who accompanied us from Mors, and the joyful welcome we received on reaching our new dwelhng. My childhood-life at Duisburg lies, however, in some- what clearer light before me. In the back-ground of my remembrances I see walking before me, partly veiled in shadows, it is true, and at best only as remarkable and singular personages, the colleagues and domestic friends of my father. Among these I see the philo- sopher Plessing, the noble transcendental dreamer, Goethe's friend and companion on his journey to the Hartz mountains, who, knocking at every door between heaven and earth, always sought but never found that which was enduring, except the love and affection of 1 Foiuided 1655 ; abolished 1806. 14 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DR KRUMMACHER. all who had learned to know this simple, childlike, fantastic and most singular man. I see also the old Professor Orientalium Grimm, whom his friends were wont jocularly to style the " Eabbi Rambach," appear again vividly before me. This honest and certainly learned rationalist was fau^ly driven out of his scientific saddle and overcome by the young knight Menken, who in his first work, "Die Diimonologie" (Demonology), con- clusively proved that the devil was indeed something more than a myth. His head appears to me in every bust of Socrates which I see. I remember also Giinther, who was then widely famed as a physician, being honoured in his profession with a degree of public confidence which, in its intensity, almost amounted to a veneration equal to that with which he was looked up to as a saint ; and Spiess and Moller, whose images, it is true, rise up before me more distinctly in the recollections of later times, but who appeared to me, then entering on boyhood, to be men who needed only to show their countenances, and open their lips overflowing with wit and humour, to diffuse all around them the brightest sunshine of joy and gladness. Among my father s trusted friends, by whom he was encircled in those days, a conspicuous place is to be assigned to my ever-youthful uncle MoUer. He had enjoyed endearing fellowship with Klopstock, Claudius, Gleim, and many other men of the first and second rank of greatness in the Hterary world in the era preceding that of Goethe, and whom he kept in warm and loving remembrance till the end of his days. It was a pleasure for us not only to listen to him, but also to look upon him, when, as often happened during his later years, he recited aloud from memory, with a pleasing and animated countenance, as he walked up and down in the room, whole cantos of the " Messiah," CHILDHOOD. 1 5 and one ode of Klopstock's after another, particularly that of the " Frlihe Griiber" (Early Graves); while it delighted my father to interweave and season his table- talk with quotations from the Greek and Latin classics, always aptly made, as well as with memorable passages from Shakespeare and the English Humourists, and above all from the " Wandsbeck Messenger," and from the poetical works of Goethe. Of the oppression of those sorrowful times I think there was scarcely anything known in the circle in which the years of my childhood were spent. It was a principle with my parents, in the education of their children, always to wear a cheerful countenance before them. In Duisburg I experienced the first foretaste of the realities of life. When a boy, only six years of age, I had to exchange the sports of childhood for the slate and the primer, the sweet freedom of early boyhood for the heavy yoke of the school. In three years I outgrew the elementary school, and then found myself, when nine years old, trembling in the presence of Nonne, the director of the Gymnasium, a man of a venerable and imposing aspect, who, after examining me with all the official solemnity of his position, admitted me, with an encouraging and good-natured "Now, that will do very well," into the number of the scholars of the Quarta division of the mstitution, which was at that time by no means in a very prosperous condition, as it contained only four classes. My parents early taught their children to ask a blessing at table, and to offer morning and evening prayer ; yet I cannot say that they bestowed upon us a specially Christian upbringing. This was not because they too were caught in the snare of the then prevailing French Illuminism. Frequently, indeed. 16 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DR KRUMMACHER. were we children witnesses of their heart-felt gratitude, when events of a joyful nature occurred, expressed involuntarily and amid many tears in thanksgiving and praise to the merciful God ; yet the pious spirit which then animated them appears to have been more that of natural than of revealed religion. While they also bowed themselves with the deepest reverence at the name of Jesus Christ, yet this worship was rendered less to the God-man, Mediator, and Redeemer, than to the Ideal of perfect moral excellence and of perfect humanity, which they saw realised in Him. But still, even already during this period of their vague and undefined religiousness, the whole splendour of the life of evangehcal faith, rich in promise, began as if from a distance to break in morning-dawn upon their souls. We have heard them at a later period of their lives acknowledge that the religious family-traditions of both of them contributed to this result. The house of my paternal great-grandfather, Adolph Heinrich Krummacher, captain of the ducal castle of Tecklenburg, was well known in all the surrounding region as a " tabernacle of God with the children of men," and for many it was a blessed place of rich edification. And of my father's mother, whose image, as long as he lived, always appeared in his eyes as that of a saint commanding veneration, the excellent rector Hasenkamp thus bears testimony in a letter to Lavater : " Like a radiant star she lighted up the domestic firma- ment, and, living in the full sunhght of revealed truth, she exhibited in her whole deportment the splendour of a peaceful, childlike Christian spirit." To my father himself he also said on one occasion, " If it were lawful for me to bow the knee of homage before any human being, then I would do it before your mother." My • CHILDHOOD. 17 father's father also, the court-fiscal, commissary, and burgomaster of Tecklenburg, was well known to have been, in the same manner, in deep earnest in his belief in Christianity, insomuch that after his death the people generally believed that a little hollow found in the floor of his chamber had been caused by the stream of tears shed by the saintly man when wrestling with God in prayer. Such beneficent stars as are seen shining out among the ancestors of my father's family are seen also among the MoUers of my mother's family. Chief among these is the pious woman under whose maternal blessing, and Christian counsel, and prayerful care, my mother grew up from her childhood. If ever a true and thankful remembrance of beloved parents was preserved in the hearts of children, this was the case with both my father and mother. My father, as his biographer truly testifies, " could never speak but with deep inward emotion of childhke ecstacy of that heart-refreshing picture of motherly gracefulness," in which, even to his old age, his departed mother with unfading distinct- ness hovered before his soul. Such pictures cease not to bless us even long after those whom they represent have shaken the dust of the earth from off their feet ; yea, they then for the first time truly bless those in whose loving remembrances they have found even on earth an enduring place. CHAPTER 11. THE YEARS OF BOYHOOD. A T the Duisbm^g Gymnasium, according to the some- what m echanical method of my teachers, it happened that within a year and a half I was promoted from the Quarta, i.e. the lowest, to the Tertia, the so-called " Flegelklasse." Perhaps it was necessary that here the school discipline should make itself felt as essentially of a severer character, and therefore the exhortations of the master were made to produce a deeper impression by the application of the hazel switch. But in praise of this class I must say, that while in it, and engaged in reading Ovid and Csesar, the first presentiment dawned upon my mind, that after one has once for all passed over the grammatical and lexical stumbling- blocks and difficulties, pleasure and enjoyment might truly be experienced in reading the ancient classics; and to this day I regret, and much more than I did then, that, in consequence of changes in my father's official position, my studies in the Tertia were inter- rupted in less than a year. The University of Duisburg had already, before the beginning of the French domination, fallen through neglect into a languishing condition. But in the un- happy year 1 806, it received from the usurpers its death- blow. The professors, now reduced through death and THE YEARS OF BOYHOOD. 19 translations to only three theologians, two in the medi- cal department and one jurist (for the noble philosopher Plessing had died a short time before, surrounded by his weeping friends, and, according to his own doctrine, had escaped away from all the troubles of the times to his own " star "), counted themselves fortunate if they found some four or five students sitting at their feet ; and, besides, they were continually wrestling with the authorities for their salaries, which were at the best but paltry. These, in the most favourable circumstances, they received only in dribblets, but more frequently only in promises for the future, and, since the university was to have no future, with well-meant hints that the best thing for them to do was to seek for employment in some other sphere. Yet, for all this, as appears from letters of several of those gentlemen on whom the calamity fell the heaviest, the black care, the "atra cura," was quite overcome by genial contentedness, which was the fruit of faith. We boys were little aware of the difficulties of those times. The noble spirit of patriotism was too deeply implanted within us for us to do otherwise than con- template the quartering of soldiers upon us on its cheerful side, though it cost our parents many heavy sighs. We felt ourselves, indeed, not a little flattered when the proud grenadiers of the great Emperor con- descended, in a friendly manner, to joke and play with us; and it seemed to us to be more a festival than a calamity when the martial strangers helped us, as our table-companions, to consume the material profits of my father's labours as an author. When I place myself in memory back again in the midst of our Duisburg family-life, I see it only in the light of the most cloud- less serenity, especially after Christiane Engels, the 20 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DR KRUMMACHER. faithful friend of my parents, and the tender guardian of our youth, became an inmate of our dwelKng. This was she who afterwards was known in wider cu"cles as the active assistant of the noble Count von der Recke, in the Asylum at Dusselthal, and, at a later period, as the unwearied and blessed helper of the poor at Mlin- ster, even to her old age. She lived in the memory of all — and they were not a few — who learned to know her ; for her whole character was so full of childlike benevolence, and was so genial, and lively, and hearty. Being richly endowed with musical talent, by her own singing, and by forming us into a little choir of singers, she made our house a kind of music-hall. And by means of the magic wand of her harmonies, she exer- cised such a sway that, in the circle of friends who frequently and gladly sojourned under our roof, the discords of those times, so damping to the spirit, and productive of so much sorrow, did not so far penetrate into our midst as to deprive my father, in spite of his feelings of patriotic indignation against the invaders, of heart and joy enough to prosecute without ceasing his " Parables," his little " Festival-Book," and his assthetic work " On the Spirit and Form of the Gospels." In the year 1858, I sent to this motherly friend of our childhood, on the occasion of her 90th birthday, the following lines : — I hail thee with thanks, thou queen of my song- ! On thy throne of honour thou'rt worthy of fame : With jubilee voice thy praise I'll prolong, And tell of the mem'ries that hallow thy name. Bright scenes from the past crowd full on my view, And I see in them all God's goodness to man ; Those glad days of old my thoughts all renew, Whenever I utter that word — Cliristiane ! THE YEAKS OF BOYHOOD. 21 Thy name reminds me of the days of youth — Days spent among friends whom I loved so well — In a home where gladness, and peace, and truth. And the harmonies of joy were wont to dwell. Ofttimes do I ask, in my thoughtful dream. Shall this earth ever become lovely again ? Thy mild eye on me, how gently it beams. As the answer sounds in my ears — Christiane ! Where are they now round whose brow thou didst twine The laurel wreath ? Alas, from earth they have gone ! Yet mirror'd in thee, before me they shine, And I know them, and name them, every one. Fain into life would I call them once more : Ah, they come not ! Yet in vision I see them. Their forms and their features, distinct as before, At the magic sound of thy name — Christiane ! Their lives I see them live over anew. And idyls,^ and sermons,^ and chorals,^ I hear, With parables,* and songs,^ and proverbs^ true. And the memories of those times shine clear When of thee I think. There is no name that can Bring back all the past like thine — Christiane ! If pure and sacred thoughts my bosom swell. If hallow'd purposes and plans I frame. If lofty aims within my heart do dwell, To thee I owe them. How dear to me thy name ! And when with thankful mind I praise the Lord, Who, in love, from sins whereiuto others ran Has kept me free ; in every song, that word. Thy dear name, inweaves itself — Christiane! What we say in these verses regarding her whose fame they celebrate was not, it must be confessed, the object of our consciousness duiing our stay at Duisburg. 1 Immemiann. ^ M(3ller. ^ Nator]). ■* Friedr. Adolf Krummacker. ^ Harder. " von Vincke. oo AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DR KRUMMACHER. What seeds she sowed in our hearts we had then scarcely any apprehension of at all. We boys were fond of unrestrained freedom, and had greater pleasure in sports and amusements than in serious matters, and were far fonder of rambling in the green woods, and in the meadows chasing the butterflies, and by the banks of the Rhine and the Ruhr, listening in the summer time to the music of their waters, than in striving to become skilful in playing the piano, or in studying the sheets of music placed before us. My father did not, indeed, fail at times to admonish us earnestly, yet the subject of religion was but rarely on his hps. If at any time he reminded us of God and of His commandments, he always did so under such deep emotion, that the hot tears started from our eyes. He himself appeared to be afraid of such " scenes ;" but they afforded us a glance into his heart, which could only increase our veneration for him. The ship of the university, already a wreck, was un- mistakably on the point of sinking. He who alone could have averted such a catastrophe, had enough to do with other things besides the preservation of schools of learning. " Sauve qui pent," he cried, in answer to the professors who were in vain calling on the State for bread. " Aide toi et Dieu t aidera !" was his only word of consolation. And God did help them. Several invitations to vacant congregations and schools soon came to our house from Detmold, Diiren, and Crefeld. The most acceptable of these came from the congregation of Kettwig, on the Ruhr, which was at that time only a village, but has now become a httle manufacturing town. It was successful in applying for my father's services. The magnificent, beautiful scenery THE YEARS OF BOYHOOD. 23 wliich. surrounded that ancient " Yicus Cattorum " had for him a pecuhar charm. He was moreover highly pleased with the stalwart, intelligent peasantry, whose deputies, sent to him for the purpose of inducing him to accept of their invitation, brought with them a large number of the manufactures of that widely-extended parish. Enough. In the month of October, in the year 1807, our beloved, peaceful home at Duisburg was broken up, amid all the storms of the outer world. Our entrance upon our new residence was celebrated with every demonstration of joy. The way was strewn with flowers, and we passed under triumphal arches, amid the pealing of the chui'ch-bells, accompanied by a procession on foot and on horseback as we were con- ducted to our home in Kettwig. It was not at all dif- ficult for my father, with the affection he bore for that simple people altogether untouched by the modern French civilisation, to exchange the professorial chair for the village pulpit. On the contrary, it was alto- gether in accordance with a deep necessity of his poetic nature, and with his simple, childhke disposition, to pomt out to the humblest among the people, in judi- cious figurative language, the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, as they disclosed themselves more and more to his own heart. In Kettwig, which had no high- school, I had to endure the humihation, which was bitter enouefh, of seeing myself degraded, for a time at least, from the rank of a gymnasiast (they said it was on account of my writing and arithmetic) to that of a pupil of a some- what advanced elementary school, while my classical studies, amid many interruptions indeed, were prose- cuted under the direction of my father. As for the 24 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DR KRUMMACHER. rest, there was in us happy boys scarcely any more room for the ideal, when that wliich we now beheld surrounded us as actual reahties. The beautiful beech forests, abounding with birds, which we were wont to perambulate, making them echo with our merry song — the exciting hunts we had in these forests for the nests of the raven, and the magpie, and the squirrel, when we climbed even to the loftiest branches of the trees — the high mountain ridges, difficult of ascent, from which the view all around stretched itself away into immensity — the exuberant, splendid strawberries and bilberries found in the lonely forest-glades and on the mountain slopes ; then the harmless, cheerful public festivals, such as the spring-festival, and the egg- festival on Easter Monday, celebrated sometimes on the high rocky eminence called the " pulpit," rising precipitously from the banks of the Ruhr, in which it mirrored itself, and at other times in the lovely Korn- thal below, among the green hawthorns which grew luxuriantly all over the ruins of the old " Kattenberg ;" and, at a later period, the riflemen's day, with its flyuig banners, the firing of the rifles, the merry shouts of the men, and the music and the dancing in the green, shady halls formed by the high overhanging oak and beech trees of the " Heisterbusch ;" and, besides all this, the pleasure of bathing in the summer time, and of catcliing fish and crays in the Ruhr, which was clear as crystal to its very bottom, and, in the winter time, of sporting on the splendid sheet of ice extending for miles, smooth as a mirror, along the beautiful water, — what more was needed for us boys, to make us tliink this world a very paradise ? We, the sons of the minister, enjoyed also the pleasure of frequent visits with our father to the farms k THE YEARS OF BOYHOOD. 25 of the peasants, which, for the most part, were very extensive. There we received abundance of apples and nuts, and perhaps also presents of pigeons, which we carried home with us. We also made frequent excur- sions to the friendly families in our neighbourhood, especially to the excellent family of Keller, distin- guished for their cheerful disposition and their stead- fastness in the faith and love of the Gospel; and to the famihes of the genial Pastor Engels at Mlihlheim, and of the always hearty Baedeker, and of the serene and peaceful Natrop in Essen, which last was after- wards to be more closely united with our own in the bonds of relationship. At times, also, we made more distant exciu'sions, as to Ross, in Budberg, who was then surrounded with all the youthful glory of his hkeness to Apollo, charming all hearts Tvath his inex- haustible, harmless humour ; and to my soberminded, but in his own way not the less amiable, uncle, Gott- fried Daniel Krummacher, who was then already richly blessed in his pastoral labours at Wlilfrath. As a matter of course, the parsonage-house at Kett- wig received also many gladdening visits of heartily welcomed friends. In particular, we were frequently visited by the youthful pastor, Friedrich Strauss of Ronsdorf, who was at all times a welcome guest. His never wearisome flights of enthusiasm gave occasion to my father for many cheerful and well-meant jokes. His delightful " Glockentone " (Bell-peals), — the fii'st volume of that precious and never-to-be-forgotten httle work having then appeared, — was known far and wide, and, mth its harmonious symphonies, prognosticated to the Church a glorious future. There was no lack of joyful experience and of health- ful excitement of many kinds to us boys during our B 26 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DR KRUMMACHER. five years' residence at Kettwig ; would that I could boast in the same way of our progress in education ! This, alas ! was but fragmentary work, since our father, dui'ing the last of our five years there, was our only teacher, and he found almost his whole time taken up in his official duties in his widely-extended parish, although he had the assistance of an active colleague. I had certainly reached the age when I ought to have entered the " Secunda " of the Gymnasium, but that goal could not yet be reached. Yet out of our some- what irregularly spent quinquennium at Kettwig there grew much precious gain for the future of life. As such I reckon, first of all, the ideal of pastoral life which we derived from the relation sustained by my father to his congregation. It was a source of great pleasure to see how my father was accustomed to hold intercourse with the peasants, among whom he daily went out and in throughout the different districts of the parish suc- cessively. With a cheerful, happy salutation, he would cross the threshold of their dwelHngs, if he had not already met them in the field, when he would receive from them in return as hearty and joyful a welcome. Far from discharging his official duties among them in a stiff", formal way, he fii'st of all entered into a friendly conversation with them about all their every-day interests which engaged their attention (unless some serious family occurrences forbade such a style of conversation), their domestic affairs, and their temporal circumstances ; and I well remember how pleased he was when he saw then- healthful appearance, and listened to the intelligent opinions which these homely people gave expression to in their conversations — in their own blunt and lively manner, indeed, but in a way not seldom betraying a rich fund of genuine THE YEARS OF BOYHOOD. 27 mother-wit. " There are many unpolished gems," he often said, when he returned home from these pastoral journeys among his people ; " the peasants are more sensible and intelligent than many big- wigs in the pro- fessorial chair, and on the judge's bench." He could enter into conversation with one quite intelligently on the subject of astronomy, with another on botany, in which sciences they were self-taught ; and there were not a few of them who conducted their agricultural operations to a certain degree scientifically. He knew with great skill how, in the course of conversation with the people on minor matters, to raise their thoughts step by step, ere they were aware of it, into a higher sphere. My father's manner in dealing with the interests of men's souls was not the method called the " Pietistic " nor the " Methodistic." He did not press upon them, in a violent way, discourses on repentance, nor did he overwhelm them with theologumena and dogmas. He made it his special aim at such a time to quicken withm them the belief that all depended on God's blessing, and thereby at the same time to awaken within them the consciousness of want, and lead them with all joyful confidence to lay hold of the compassion and grace of this God who has all things in His hands, which could only be done in fellowship with Christ, the Divine Mediator. Every one of his visits to the homes and cottages of his people assumed at length naturally the character of a quiet holy festival ; and seeing how much he loved them, they usually parted with him heartily shaking his hand, and with tears of emotion and of thanks in their eyes. He increased in the life of faith along with his parishioners, and they along with him. Tliis was felt on both sides, and this formed the 28 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DR KRUMMACHER. bond which bound them to each other with a tie more affectionate and tender than perhaps ever united a pastor and his congregation. They in many ways gave constant proof of their love to him, sometimes bring- ing him presents of diverse kinds from their farms, and sometimes in other and more thoughtful ways. Frequently have we heard those in health, as well as those who were in sickness, say to him, " Herr Pastor, if you wish that we should bear our cares and sorrows, and be again cheerful and happy, let us see your coun- tenance." There were at that time in the congregation ex- perienced and advanced Christians. This could not be said, however, of the greater number of his parishioners, nor even of our father himself. These called them- selves " the friends of Tersteegen," because from his writings they chiefly sought their spiritual nourishment, though, under the nickname of " Feine " (the pure), they had to bear much ridicule. This ridicule they had, however, to place to the account, not always of their spiritual-mindedness, but for the most part only of the sectarian manner in which they generally conducted themselves, and the anchoretic exclusiveness with which they stood aloof from those whom they regarded as less enlightened than themselves. My father, how- ever, always stood in the gap in defence of these people, however little, as far as he was concerned, he could relish the external form of their life, or the narrowness of their views, and partly also of their hearts. He held intercourse, indeed, with them also, but more frequently and more satisfactorily with those whom he saw ani- mated for the first time with a serious fear of God, and who might truly be designated New Testament prose- lytes, in whom he was fully persuaded that he saw THE YEARS OF BOYHOOD. 29 indications of a living and thoroughly sound develop- ment of Christianity. Of these he found a great num- ber in his congregation who were decidedly attached to him. One of them one day said to him, when the con- versation was about a wicked mocker and blasphemer, " I indeed believe, Herr Pastor, that that man is a free-thinker, an atheist, yea, I believe, even a free- mason!" This expression, "I believe even a freemason," filled my father with great surprise, because he was still the "Brother Redner" (preacher) in the Duisburg Lodge, and it brought the resolution he had formed on his entrance into the sacred office suddenly to. maturity. He never after that made mention of the order, except on one occasion, when to some one who asked him for information regarding freemasonry, he replied, " Ask Frederick the Great, who is grand-master of the order, concerning it." The sermons of my father — always listened to by large numbers, and heard with edification — even to this day sound their key-notes in my soul, however far they were then above my comprehension. I do not remem- ber ever to have heard any one preach the Gospel in a more loving tone and with a more dignified mien, or in a more heart-winning manner, than he did. Were I to give a motto to his sermons which would at once characterize theu" spuit and their general theme, I would present these words of the apostle, which naturally suggest themselves — " But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but accordmg to His mercy He saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost. "^ He discerned his commission as a 1 Titus iii. 4, 5. 30 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DR KRUMMACHER. preacher especially in these words of Isaiah — "Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned."^ And he remained true to this commission to the end of his days, only with ever-increasing penetration into the mysterious ground on which the command rested. Next to the beautiful image of pastoral life which was impressed on our memory from the time of our residence at Kettwig, together with the many joyful and sorrowful domestic events which happened to us there, the intimate acquaintance with the people which resulted from our familiar intercourse with them at that time, appears to me also as a valuable acquisition of that period of our life. With the exception of the sons of some of the manufacturers, our intercourse was limited to the boys of the humbler classes, in whose families we were quite at home, whose modes of speech we imitated, the circle of whose views and ideas we learned thoroughly to know, and whose sorrows and joys we sympathized in with some degree of sincerity of feelino-. Out of this intercourse there sprang not only a deep, enduring affection for the so-called lower classes, but there was established in us also the permanent convic- tion that intelhgence, a sound judgment, depth and penetration of mind, and a taste for the ideal, are not by any means monopoHzed by the higher and educated classes. It is true, indeed, that we ran the great risk of growing wild from our wandering about so freely with many idle children of the work-people ; but not only the manner of our parents' house, but also of several other famiHes -^vith whom we had very friendly 1 Isaiah xl. 1, 2. THE YEARS OF BOYHOOD. 31 relations, families belonging to the higher ranks, tended successfully to counteract this danger. In particular, a wholesome influence was exerted over our upbringing by Christiane Engels, whom I have already mentioned, who was only, however, an occasional visitor to us during our stay in Kettwig; and also by an intimate friend of our family, who had been early left a widow, and who resided in our neighbourhood. She also, even to this day, stands before the eye of my memory as a person in whom the strength of a masculine, regal spirit was blended, in the most perfect harmony, with gentle female modesty. This was the widow of Dr Schneider, the same who afterwards gained for herself an honour- able reputation as instructress of young ghls at Heidel- berg, and who also became the much esteemed mother- in-law of the celebrated Heidelberg theologian, Bahr. Her whole appearance hovers before my mind, as often as I think of the words of Goethe's "Tasso:" "If ye wish to know what is seemly, ask only at noble women." We have reason to thank her, that she let no oppor- tunity pass by unimproved, of holding up before us boys those truths which might seem to draw tight again the somewhat loosened reins, that thereby we might be restrained within the path in which we ought to go. And from the decided manner in which she was wont to express these truths, she secured for them a firm place for ever, at least in our memory. More salutary than even that of their mother, who wished to win our reverence rather than our childlike affections, was the influence upon us — unconscious to us as well as to them-— of her two little daughters, whom she had educated in the most careful manner. They took part with us in our education under my father, particularly in the study of the French and EngHsh 32 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DR KRUMMACHER. languages. From them there began to flow in upon us a gentler feeling, so as to lead us to a higher con- versation, and to engage in more intellectual games than we had been accustomed to among the, in great measure, unrestrained children of nature with whom we mingled. In company with them we built arbours on the woody slopes of the mountains, where a beauti- ful prospect presented itself, and erected seats of turf, that we might afterwards surprise our parents with them in then' walks. We sang together beautiful songs to the melodies of Keichardt and Harder ; and while we sang, we wove wreaths of flowers and leaves with which to adorn our houses. We also read to one another interesting stories, and portions from my father's book of " Parables." Thus we were on many sides pleasantly guarded against contracting rudeness of manner. And if, in spite of the affectionately earnest sermons which we heard every Sabbath, and the beautiful examples set before us in the family circles of our neighbours, as yet nothing of the Christian life manifested itself within us, still there was operating in our hearts an influence which could not fail from time to time to raise us yet higher. For the first time, when under instruction for confirmation, and especially when in the act of being confirmed, it happened to us that more decidedly religious thoughts were awakened within us, and we were con- strained, with many tears and with sincerity, to bow before God. Yet the first deep and enduring reHgious impression was made in me, and, if I mistake not, in my brother Emil also, during a visit we paid, at a later period, in the company of my father, to our uncle at Wulfrath. In his house a younger brother was at that time confined to a bed of affhction, under a severe. THE YEARS OF BOYHOOD. 33 incurable malady. He was now on the point of depar- ture to the eternal world. We boys, who never before had seen any one die, were also led into the chamber, where lay the dying man. For the first time in our lives we saw, in the wasted form, the hollow cheeks, and the death-like paleness of the sufferer near his end, the dreadful appearance of Death, the "King of Terrors." Dumb with amazement, and deeply agitated, there we stood, while the dying man was assisted in his endeavour to reach out to us his thin, bony right hand to bid us farewell. Our uncle interrupted the painful silence, and spoke to us, who were sobbing, these few and simple words : " Yes, dear young friends, as we all, so you too must one day lie on a dying bed. We are born to die. See that you learn early to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, for, without Him, we are the most miserable of all creatures ! " These words, spoken with great solemnity of manner, as well as the whole scene itself, we have never for- gotten, and never will forget. From amid all the sounds that might sometimes drown them in obli- vion, they always anew break forth upon our ear, like the solemn warnings of the funeral-bell. They did not then, however, bring us to the full experience of the divine life. They were, however, at least, part of that leaven, whose penetrating power, at a later period, and first after very gradually overcoming many obstacles which rose up against it, made itself manifest in the hard dough of our nature. CHAPTER III. THE PERIOD OF YOUTH, TT was high time for us to leave Kettwig. The advancement of our very fragmentary and much interrupted studies urgently required such a step. This happened at a fitting time, in consequence of my father having received an invitation to become General Superintendent of the Duchy of Anhalt-Bernburg. " I now leave my Elim," said he, with deep, heartfelt emotion, in his farewell sermon. To this the congre- gation responded with tears. Thus we at length migrated from the banks of the Ruhr and the Rhine, to those of the peaceful and more gently-flowing Saale ; from the mountains and valleys of the " rough, unpol- ished gems," to the plains and meadows of the polished and polite Saxons, No matter ! we boys, as well as our parents, departed — unwillingly, so far as our feel- ings moved us, but readily, according to the dictates of the mind ; for what would have become of us if we had continued still in Kettwig, unless we had wished to be only peasants ? The sorrow we felt at leaving was overpowering. But thus it must be ; and therefore we proceeded on our journey, in the old fashion, in two calashes, along highways which were, for the most part, rough and uneven, and after many days we at length reached our new dwelling. THE PERIOD OF YOUTH. 35 The situation of the town of Bernburg, sinrounded with vineyards on every hand, and encompassed by the Saale, surprised us in the most agreeable way by its pleasantness. A not less happy impression was made on us also by the splendid residence allotted us, situ- ated on the height near the Schlosskirche, from the upper windows of which a most pleasing, wide-spread view presented itself, embracing a great part of the duchy, and extending as far as the Hartz mountains, whose summit, the Brocken, was clearly visible. The quiet way in which we were received to our new home seemed strange to us, because it stood in too distinct a contrast with the manner in which pastors were usually welcomed by their congregations in the provinces of the Lower Bhine. Only a few friends, and these for the most part the future colleagues of my father, came out to meet their superintendent, as we approached the city; but their welcome to us was right hearty, and fully reconciled us to the absence of any other demon- stration. We also consoled ourselves with the consider- ation that every land has its own manners and customs. We could not, however, prevent the bald, silent, manner in which we were permitted to enter the city from casting a little shadow over the commencement of the ecclesiastical hfe of our new home — a shadow which events afterwards proved to be merely imaginary. The first family care which lay on the heart of my parents was the introducing of their sons, whose scientific studies had been somewhat neglected, into the curriculum of regular students. And I am to this day thankful that Bernburg afibrded them the much- mshed-for opportunity of doing so. The Bernburg Gymnasium was in some respects admirably conducted as an educational institution, into the " Secunda" of 36 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DR KRUMMACHER. which I was now introduced. And I cannot but lay a fresh wreath of deepest thankfuhiess on the long since moss-covered graves of Herzog, at that time the learned dkector of the institution; of Friedrich Giinther, well known m the philological world, the enthusiastic friend of the Greeks; as well as of Professor Sachse, distin- guished for the animation and clearness of his able and stirring expositions of ancient history, and for his lectures on the Latin classics, electrifying even the dullest of his pupils. Under the guidance of such men one could not but learn something. Several of those who were then my fellow-pupils afterwards rose to the honoured position of gymnasial directors. By earnest striving, and by iron industry bestowed on our studies, it hap- pened that both I and my brothers were able in a short time to fill up the numerous chasms in our knowledge, and also to see our progress, in the most essential sub- jects at least, of our course of study, very honourably recognised, and once and again rewarded with prizes. That seems to me to be almost a wonder, when I look back upon the times so stormy, and so full of distractions of every kind, in which those studies were prosecuted. In the first year (1812) we saw a great part of the grand army of Napoleon pass along on its march to Russia, with imposing pomp, and with an overbearing haughti- ness, as if already the whole world were subject to it — a spectacle which naturally presented a most powerful attraction to our youthful fancy, whilst our parents in secret gnashed their teeth with anguish at the sight. The retreat, a few months afterwards, of the Emperor's army, once so proud and intoxicated with victory, but now reduced, by the judgment of God which overtook them on the snowy plains of Russia, to a few tattered THE PERIOD OF YOUTH. 37 fragments, awakened, indeed, quite other feelings within us, and it contributed also not a little to withdraw our attention from our accustomed every-day work. Parti- cularly exciting to us was the moment which afforded us the opportunity for a brief quarter of an hoiu", during a change of horses, of seeing Napoleon himself, the great - oppressor of nations, resembling in his aspect the busts of the Emperor Nero. We saw him as he sat, leaning back in silence in the corner of his carriage ; only once did he bend forward with cold formality when some young girls, without any display, handed to him a bunch of flowers. On the box of his carriage cowered his Mameluke Rustan, and armed carabineers with drawn sabres formed his escort. But now at length came the year 1813; the year of the reviving and elevation of the Fatherland, which had been long enough down-trodden ; the year of the most glorious Hberation, with its calls to arms, its enthusiastic bands of heroes, worthy of the ancient German fathers, its frequent victorious battles and skirmishes — which latter, with the booming of cannon, the rattle of small arms, and the glitter of swords, penetrated on one occasion within the boundaries, and even into the very streets, of our town. It could not but be that such scenes as these should materially derange all our plans of study. The patriotic fire which blazed through every district of Germany natiu"ally also burned in our hearts, and we who formed the " Secunda" and the " Primaria" of the G3nxinasium were fired with the desire of immediately joining the many thousands of our contemporaries, and of exchang- ing the pen and the ink-glass for the musket and the cartridge-box. With the full approval of my parents, I, at that time scarcely sixteen years of age, along with *t f. 38 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DR KRUMMACHER. my friend and class companion, the present Oberliof- prediger (chief court-preacher) Hoffman, proceeded to Ballenstedt with the urgent request to von Ross, who was then charged with the formation of a new ducal battaHon of Jagers, that he would permit us to join it. We met with a hearty reception from von Ross, and were dismissed with the remark, that in a few hours we might perhaps expect the decision of the Duke himself With painful impatience, seated in our inn, we saw these "few hours" pass slowly away, when at length a servant came to us with the order that we were immediately to betake ourselves to Herr von Ross. But how great was oiu- surprise when it was explained to us that his Serene Highness knew and approved of our patriotism, but commanded us to return to school again, and that his Highness would call for us at the fitting time. Hangmg our heads with sorrow we returned home, and two days afterwards, not without envying certam Primarians who had better success in Ballen- stedt, and were already busily engaged in making preparations for entering the battalion, we once more sat down at the school desk to read of the battle-tumults of the Homeric heroes, and of the triumphs of Juhus Caesar. We saw ourselves soon, indeed, as a very poor recom- pense, placed under the chief command of the old councillor, the brave von Krosigk (the rank of a sergeant having been conferred on me), in the rifle or lance company of the Landsturm (militia), and the thought consoled us that in such a situation we might, in some practical way, contribute our share to the hberation of the Fatherland. But we experienced the very heavy sorrow of being permitted only to sing THE PERIOD OF YOUTH. 39 of the splendid victories gained at Gross-Beeren and the Katzbach, and, above all, at Leipzig, during our peaceful parade, and in the churches, or of declaiming in the hall of the Gymnasium, but not, along with our laurel-crowned friends and brethren, to celebrate these victories on the bloody fields of battle. And when, in the year 1815, on the sudden return of the great exile from the island of Elba, we again in vain waited for the call of the ducal general, we devoted ourselves, with a sort of despair, and stimulated by an unusual ambition, wholly to study, resolved to conquer for ourselves, in default of one of another kind, the laurel of an enduring honour in the field of science. If we had needed any farther incitements and encouragements to this end, these were supplied to us m rich abundance in the many excellent and amiable guests of whom the house of my parents, distinguished for their hospitality, was scarcely ever empty, many of whom, belonging to the Confederate army, were quartered upon us. Thus I remember that our father one day came into our chamber, and with a joyful countenance said: "We have quartered with us to-day a most beloved man. He is a common soldier, or perhaps a chief Jiiger, but you will be dehghted with the intelligence and learning of the young man who will diiie with us." And so it hap- pened. Who was this amiable, intelligent, enthusiastic youth in the Prussian uniform ? It was Dieffenbach, who was afterwards Professor of Surgery at Berlin, and famed throughout the world as an operator. An incident of a different kind also occurred at this time, which did not pass without leaving its impression on us. A. W. Schlegel, the weU-known and celebrated poet and historian, at that time secretary of the Crown Prince of Sweden, was quartered for several days in our house. 40 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DR KRUMMACHER. Although, he left us a truly ridiculous and memor- able example of foppish self-conceitedness and childish self-sufficiency, and although the odour of the perfumes and ointments left in the room which he occupied pre- served for weeks after his departure the recollection of his sojourn with us, yet it cannot be denied that his conversation, by reason of its keen wit, as well as on account of its briUiant manner and its rich matter, contributed to the quickening of our youthful spirits, and helped to increase our love for the ideal, and for all that was aesthetically beautiful. The oft-repeated visits of the famed Dresden painter, Gerhard von Kugelgen, whose younger son was then being educated along with the hereditary prince, exer- cised a lasting and beneficial influence upon our minds. Those were festival days in our house, and particularly to our father, which this truly excellent man — in whom, although he was a Catholic, we believed we saw the character of a true Christian — spent with us ; and that joy was doubled when his wife, of the family of von Manteuffel of Esthonia, and Hke himself in spirit and disposition, accompanied him. What this man spake always came forth like pure, refined gold; and even when his conversation was about secular and insignifi- cant things, his language always bore the reflection of a higher consecration. The terrible death of this child of God, advanced beyond thousands of others in his piety, is one of the many most perplexing mysteries of Divine Providence.^ But among the many other beloved guests who sojourned with us a longer or a shorter time, and who left behind them enduring, and in many respects beneficial, impressions on us the sons of the house, ^ He was murdered. THE PERIOD OF YOUTH. 41 I certainly place in the foremost rank our uncle MoUer, whom I haxe already referred to. He was at that time Professor of Theology in the University of Bres- lau. We were accustomed to say of him as often as he appeared amon^ us, " He brings with him new, fresh life into our house." And his inexhaustible stores of information, which he never tired in communicat- ing, as well as the lively interest he manifested in an interchange of thoughts, never disappointed our high expectations, but rather always exceeded them. With what deliofht were we wont to listen to him when he communicated to us the most recent intelligence from the Republic of Letters, the interest- ing discoveries that had been made, the conjectures and hypotheses in the region of the various sciences, news about the universities, and literature, and many other subjects ! And what an inexhaustible, incom- parable fund of humour he had, keeping the risible faculties of the hsteners continually in motion, while at the same time he manifested the most hvely and sacred interest in all that was true, and good, and beautifid ! How the period of the " Hainbund " lived again before our eyes, in the copious recitations by his eloquent hps from the writings of Gleim, and Burger, and Stolberg, and especially from those of Holty ! How majestically also did we see Klopstock's genius pass before us when with overflowino' emotion he recited his odes, or portions from his "Messiah" and the " Her- mannschlacht ! " We young people at least welcomed no one more joyfully than we did uncle Moller. He had a happy way of looking at all things in such a light as to be able to point out in them a good and pleasing side, and he was always full of admiring thankfulness. He was remarkable also for his amiable absent-mindedness, c 42 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DR KRUMMACHER. which in his later years increased to a degree exceeding the limits of all propriety; so much so i:hat on one occasion, at a Consistorial Session, having laid aside his cloak, he sat down in his shirt sleeves, forgetting that he had not put on his coat before* he had left his house. On another occasion, while on a visit to his son at Elberfeld, all at once, in clear daylight, he made his appearance in the streets, arrayed in go^wn and bands, marching solemnly along, engaged in an animated con- versation with the servant-girl of his son's house, whom he had met carrying a market-basket on her arm, supposing all the while that he was conversing with his intelligent wife by his side. I mention farther, among those distinguished persons who exercised a direct and enduring" influence on our spiritual and mental development, Dr Christian Spiess, at that time pastor of the German Keformed congrega- tion of Frankfurt-on-the-Maine. He was one of the most eloquent men I ever met with. He not only impressed us by his penetration of mind showing itself in all his opinions, but he also carried us along in the most delightful manner by the sparkling and brilliant flashes of his rich genius, and by his keen, and, in truth, sometimes satirical descriptions of the learned men and the preachers of BerHn, from the midst of whom he had just come to us, and with whom he associated as preacher to the Court and in the Domkirche — a practice which, however, at a later period, he was induced to abandon. There also frequented our house, Natorp of Pots- dam, member of the Consistory and of the Council of Education, who was famed for his musical talent ; the distinguished chancellor, Niemeyer ; the noble Count von der liecke-Volmarstein,^ who first took the lead in 1 Founder of the House of Refuge in Diisscltlial, ISIC. THE PERIOD OF YOUTH, 43 that work which was afterwards comprehended under the name of the "Inner Mission ;" the learned archae- ologist, Bottiger of Dresden ; and Professor Lindner of Leipzig, the courageous confessor and bold leader in contending for the cause of the pure Gospel. By all these distinguished men an animating influence was exerted upon us. Among those who lived in familiar intercourse with us were the benevolent, thoroughly honourable, and afiectionate chief court-preacher, Starke of Ballen- stedt, author of the once widely circulated "Household Pictures," read by many thousands with emotion and delight ; and the consistorial assessor, and afterwards consistorial councillor, Meister of Bernburg, a serious man, and of extensive erudition, but yet, under a stern exterior, a man of deep afiection. Whenever he spent an evening with us, which was frequently the case, our little family concerts usually moved him to tears of deep emotion. To all the men I have now named we owed more or less our thanks, that, unconsciously and without inten- tion, they helped to fire us with the desire for our intellectual improvement. But let no one think of us as at that time buried in the dust of books, and as pale recluses, eaten up with zeal for learning. We lived a fresh young life, through which, as through the lives of most educated youth at that time, there moved a strong romantic bias. We read with our parents Tasso's " Jerusalem Delivered," the " Mag-ic Pdno-," and " Undine ; " Alexinger's " Bliomberis," and " Doolin von Mainz:" the " Gotz von Berlichingen " of Goethe, and such-like productions. We sang to- gether Arndt's, Korner's, and Schenckendort's songs, and Uhland's romances, as well as choruses from 44 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DR KRUMMACHER. " John of Paris," and other operas. We even adapted with an audacious hand the plays of Goethe and Schiller to our own use ; and with costumes which we ourselves contrived, we acted them in a spacious bower in the garden. We ourselves also ventured to write poetry. It also sometimes happened that, in the still, romantic hours of the evening, unwatched by Argus eyes, we gladly sung our songs, accompanied with the guitar, on a high rampart under the walls of the ancient Schloss of Bernburg, the lovely daughter of the Castellan standing on the lofty balcony representing to us the noble ladies of the castle. And what pleasure we enjoyed in winter on the frozen Saale, and in summer what delight we had in the merry song as we plied the oars of our flower-bedecked gondola on its smooth waters ! A gleam of rosy gladness hovered around these the days of our youth, which, however, exposed our studies to so httle danger, that it rather imparted to them a new and hiofher enthusiasm. But how did it fare with our Christianity ? That great period of the most glorious deliverance and elevation of the Fathei-land undoubtedly bore on it the stamp of a sacred festival. The people rendered to God, after having long forgotten Him, the honour which was His due. The churches were again filled with worshippers as they had not been for many years before, and again they echoed with the songs of praise and thankfulness. " The Lord has been our helper," men were heard frequently to say — men from whose lips such a pious utterance was never heard before. A powerful attrac- tion was felt in the sign of the cross, which, surrounded with the animating device, " Forward, with God, for King and Fatherland ! " gleamed, amid the tumult of battle, on the brow of the conqueror. Little crosses THE PERIOD OF YOUTH. 45 and crucifixes were the most coveted ornaments which the women hung around theh^ necks. A rehgious tone pervaded the favourite songs which were sung by the people everywhere throughout Germany, such as Arndt's " Der Gott, der Eisen wachsen Hess," and Korner's "Yater, ich rufe Dich." Even the cold, hard ration- alism (which then, from almost all the pulpits of the land, cast down to its scanty congregations, condemned to spiritual famine, its poor ideas, which were only chopped straw and husks) felt itself breathed upon and irradiated by the general religious spirit which hovered in the very air ; and its God, who till then had only idly contemplated, as from an immeasurable distance, the movements of His great world-machine perpetually revolving according to fixed laws, became a living God, and came near to men as the Hearer of prayer and the Director of battles. In Anhalt also, — where, in spite of the influence of the Duke, who was on the side of orthodoxy, though he was also disaffected towards all " pietism," till that time scarcely in any other churches than in those of my father and of the consistorial assessor, Meister, was the sound of the unencumbered Gospel ever heard, — the same interest in rehgion was awakened. Meister was our teacher of religion in the Gymnasium, and the deep, awe-inspiring earnestness of that excellent man could not fail to have a wholesome influence over us. Yet, on the one hand, he failed in the gift of interesting the minds of the young in the truths of Christianity, and of accommodating himself to the movements of their inner world of thought ; and, on the other, by adhering in his lectures to the directions laid down in Niemeyer's '"' Lehrbuch fur die hoheren Gymnasial- klassen " (Compendium for the use of the higher classes 46 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DR KRUMMACHER. of the Gymnasium), he failed to set himself free from the doctrines then taught in the schools, which would have enabled him with greater boldness to apply to our hearts the Word which was to the Jew a stumblino;- block, and to the Greek foolishness. Naturally, the youth did not remain unmoved by the signs of the breaking through of better times. And if our relation to God did not all at once occupy the foreground in our minds, so as to determine all our actions and thoughts, yet was there present with us at least something of this, and we, the sons of our father's house, felt our- selves animated by new sentiments and emotions, which were created within us by the spuit which reigned in that house. Not that there was in our house any definite recognition of God in the form of worship, be- yond the frequent singing of beautiful spiritual songs. Kegular "family- worship" was not the custom, and religious conversation, though not in itself so much dis- approved by our father as conversation on sacred sub- jects with an unwashed mouth, was only seldom heard. But there was in the atmosphere of our domestic life, in other respects spent in harmless cheerfulness, that which always again put us in mind of the " sarsum corda;" and the frequent and familiar intercourse of our father with the families of decidedly Christian-minded noblemen in our neighbourhood, particularly with that of von Krosigk in Hohenerxleben, contributed not a little to reconcile us early to a contemplation of the glory of an elevated evangelical life of faith, far above the level of the common and undefined fear of God which was then so generally making itself manifest. I bless the dear land of Anhalt, which became a second Fatherland to me, and which has not yet forgotten the labours of my father there, who was aided mdeed by THE PERIOD OF YOUTH. 47 the circumstances of the times, in the reviving and recovery of its church, then sunk into deep lethargy. The number of able and successful preachers of biblical truth increased visibly in the land under the influence and encouragement of their superintendent and friend. Among these I may name Pastor Klaus, still surviving, the well-known author of a learned Commentary on the Book of Psalms ; and the Provost Posenthal, a valiant and richly blessed witness for the truth. In the elementary schools of Anhalt the Gospel again assumed an honourable place. And if afterwards the rising Christian life appeared to the reigning Duke, who was truly a benevolent man and possessed of many excellent virtues as a ruler, to become too zealous and active, and some ungracious utterances of his Serene Highness about the " increasing pietism" led my father to accept a call to another sphere of labour, yet the separation between him and the Duke was equally deplored by both of them after it took place. As the Duke afterwards confessed that he had con- founded true Christianity with mystic enthusiasm, so our father confessed that he also had too rashly given effect to his vexation at the loss of confidence in him on the part of his ruler and patron. CHAPTEE lY. THE UNIVERSITY — HALLE.^ TTAYING happily completed my curriculum at tlie Gymnasium, and passed the final examination (exa- men maturitatis^) cum laude, I now went forth full of hope and expectation to the University. Since it was an understood thing that, by birth and by natural talents, I was predestined to theology, I now proceeded to the old Fredericiana at Halle, and sought wisdom at that fountain of learning. With a joyful heart, in company with some of my fellow-students, who were also going to that university, I set out on my journey. We ^ The University of Halle, on the Saale, in the Saxon jirovince of Prussia, was founded 1694, and after the annexation of the Saxon province to Prussia was enlarged by having the University of Wittenberg merged into it in 1817. " During the former half of the last century, it was the literary stronghold of the pietistic school of Spener and Franke. But from the time of Semler (professor at Halle from 1751 ; died 1791), tlie father of German neology, it fell into the hands of rationalism, as represented by the celebrated Hebrew scholar Gesenius, and the didactic divine TVeg- scheider, who gave tone and character to the university for more than twenty years. During this last time the venerable Knapp was the only evangelical professor there, and he, with all his learning and zeal, could not turn the current of the age. But since the arrival.of Tholuck in 1827, a gradual change has taken place, so that the present faculty is comjDosed of sound Cliristian teachers." It is Protestant and evangelical. During the last winter ses- sion (1868-69) there were i>resent at the university, in all the faculties, 859 students, who Avere under the care of 81 professors and teachers. — Tr. 2 The " Abiturienten-examen," without Avliich no one can be admitted as a regular student at the university. — Tu. THE UNIVERSITY — HALLE. 49 thought ourselves all at once, on what ground it is diffi- cult to say, " higher than any one of the people, from the shoulders and upwards." Our hearts beat within us with the feelins: of a new and more elevated existence. Was that which filled us with such ecstacy the ideal of sovereign freedom which we now supposed to be realized for us, or the prospect of climbing the heights of science, where we hoped to find the solution of all mysteries and problems, or the anticipated joy of new youthful relationship which we saw before us ? Enough — perhaps never did youths enter with greater delight and exultation on their academical triennium than we did. No Greek youth could ever look with more hopeful expectation on the pinnacles and domes of Athens and of Delphi, as from afar he saw them rising to his view, than did we on the towers of " Alma Mater," toward which, with knapsack on our back and staff in hand, we now eagerly hastened, when at length we saw them appear on the horizon, rising up from amid the dark heath of the extended plain in which the town is built. Our fair dreams, sad to say, ended in many disap- pointments, the sting of which we afterwards keenly felt. The depression that had fallen on the University of Halle from the sorrowful events of the time, had now passed away, and in the winter semester, 1815-16, there had assembled at that university more than 600 theolo- gical students, many of whom were adorned with badges of honour which they had won on the battle-fields of the great war of liberation, from which they had just returned. Not without thankfulness do I recall to memory those who were at that time pillars of the theological faculty there, although, with the exception of only one, they were not also pillars in the "kingdom 50 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DR KRUMMACHER. of God." When in thought I take my place agam in the auditorium, and at the feet of him who was ■/•o.t'' s^oyjv the great chancellor/ a pathetic feehng comes ^ Niemeyer. " The organization of tlie European universities is derived from tliat of Paris, tlie oldest among tliem (founded in the twelfth century), and was originally of a double kind — national and literary. They were divided into four, or as many more nations as were represented in the body of teachers and pupils ; and into foiir faculties, a term which signifies both the professors devoted to a particular science, and the sciences themselves. " The former division has been long since abolished ; the latter remains. Each faculty has its dean, who is elected annually from the professors who constitute it. At the head of the whole academic body stands the rector or the chancellor, who is likewise chosen for one year from the regular professors of the various ftxculties in turn, and entrusted with the care of government and administration, according to the statutes or constitution. The legis- lative power resides in the academical senate, which is composed of all, or a delegated jDart of, the ordinary professors of the four faculties. A imi- versity is thus a complete republic of letters, -w-ith an organization of its own, and enjoys, with the exception f)f Austria, a high degree of indepen- dence upon the Church and the State. The academic liberty, both intellectual, nKjral, and personal, the liberty of the professors to teach, and of the students to learn, without any restraint from Anthout, is regarded as one of the highest privileges of a German university." The four faculties are (1.) that of Tlieology ; (2.) that of Philoso2)htj, formerly called "facultas artium liberalium ;" (3.) of Law (facultas juris canonici et civilis) ; (4.) of Medicine. There are three classes of teachers at the German universities — (1.) the ordinary professors, " who are regular members of the faculty, receive a full support from the State independent of tlie proceeds of their lectures ;" (2.) extraordinary professors, " who have no seat in the faculty, a smaller income, but are generally jiromoted to a regular professorship when a vacancy occurs ;" (3.) the jyrivate lecturers (privat-docenten), "who have passed through the examen rigorosuvi, and deliver lectures like the regular professors, but are without apjwintment, and recei\'e, with a few exceptions, no salary from the State. They depend therefore for their sujiport upon the lecture-fees of their hearers." — Schaff's Universities of Germany. In the 23 German universities there were during the last semester, 1868-69, in the 23 theological faculties, in all 3556 students and 203 pro- fessors and teachers ; in the 21 faculties of law, 3794 students and 247 pr(jfessors ; in the 11 medical faculties, 3353 students and 453 jirofessors ; and in the 23 philosophical faculties, 4670 students and 830 jjrofessors. Thus at all the German universities there were in attendance in all 15,373 students, under the instruction of 1733 professors and other teachers attached to them. — Tr. THE UNIVERSITY — HALLE. 51 upon me. This greatly celebrated man, intoxicated by the applause of his times, dreamed of an absolute per- petuity of his fame. But less than fifty years have been sufficient to sink all his works (and their name was legion), with perhaps the exception of his " Pildagogik," in the sea of complete oblivion. With what confidence did he bring the prophets and apostles into subjection to his ideas of humanity, and with what dexterity was he wont to leap over those stones of stumbling which stood in his way, the miracles of Scripture, observing merely in passing that they were devoid of any immediate practical signification for us ! But that which always impressed us most in his lectures was, along with the elegance of his style of exposition, in which he fre- quently rose to a high poetic elevation of thought, the singularly respectful reserve and awe with which he was wont to speak of the Person of Jesus. He could never bring himself to rank Him among those person- ages whom he designated and described in his "Charac- teristik der Bibel," according to a purely human estimate. Perhaps he felt, though he did not acknowledge it, that in Him he had to do with a super-human Being ; and if he protested against being numbered among the rationalists, he had grounds for doing so, in so far at least as his sentiment (Ahnung) was more orthodox than his creed (Begrifi"). If the rationalism of Niemeyer presented itself in a gentle and veiled form, that of Wegscheider stood forth in an open, decided, outspoken manner in his theological teachings at Halle. The only source of rehgious and moral truth which he then recommended to us was Peason, which, in searching the Holy Scrip- tures, had to determine whether the biblical state- ments were worthy of being received, or were to be 03 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DR KRUMMACHER. rejected. As a consequence of this, we saw the Lord of Glory stripped of all His supernatural majesty, shrivelled into the rank of a mere Rabbi, noble indeed, and highly gifted, but yet always entangled by the prejudices of his time. He had never performed a real miracle, and had neither risen from the dead nor ascended up into heaven. We saw also the whole contents of the Gospel, after being stripped of its particularistic and mythic veilings, reduced to a mere moral system, for the manifestation of which no divine revelation was at all needed. What was to us a psychological mystery in a man otherwise so learned and altogether so honourable as Doctor Wegscheider, was the remarkable naivete with which, like a very conjuror, he interpreted the language of Scripture in accordance with his own ideas, though it manifestly taught the very opposite of that which he set forth and wished to prove. But that which infused into us a reverence for this Cory- pheus of Rationalismus vulgaris, was, along with the devotion he showed toward his God of nature, and his fidelity to his convictions, the high moral earnestness which breathed in all his words, and indeed revealed itself in his whole life. And yet how could a theology so jejune and so destitute of heart and feeling as his was, possess any attraction for those of his hearers whose souls were capable of a higher elevation, espe- cially as it depended on an exegesis which, by its capriciousness, violated in the most arbitrary manner all sound taste ? From Weofscheider's Docfmatics I learned more about rationalism than I did about Christianity, and knew that it was so also with many others of my fellow-students, who, at the most, were pleased only with the loo-ical frame in which his caricature of the THE UNIVERSITY HALLE. 53 Gospel was set. Thousands, indeed, there were who carried away with them from Wegscheider's class-room more than the frame, and many congregations are to this day doomed to spiritual famine because they have presented to them only the husks and chaff which were there gathered and stored up by his students. If Wegscheider was not the founder of rationalism, since he stood on the shoulders of Semler and others, yet he was certainly its most distinguished apostle, and most able advocate and director ; and Rohr was its great homiletic expounder, the channel through which the wisdom of the Professor at Halle was popularised in the sermons of pastors, and thus diffused throughout the churches. The rationalism of the great Hebrew scholar Gesenius, who was then still a young man, presented itself to us in a form altogether different from that of the always respected and earnest-minded Wegscheider. I cannot think of this. little, lively, petulant man, from whom, it is true, much was to be learned 171 Orientalihus, and who was skilful in urging us on to write long Hebrew exercises in private, otherwise than with the traces of a sarcastic smile playing around his mouth whenever he had occasion to allude to any of the specifically Christian doctrines, or to the history of the miracles recorded in the Bible. In particular, in his Lectures in Church History, his unbelief not unfrequently rose up and manifested itself in the most open frivolity ; we seemed to be frequently conducted by him through some large lunatic asylum, in which there was presented to us only that which excited deep pity and compassion, or provoked Homeric laughter, with which the whole area of his auditorium, always filled to its remotest corner, was oftentimes convulsed in response to the 54 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DB KRUMMACHER. sallies of the Professor's wit. Unfortunate, indeed, is he who has not learned the history of the church of God on earth, otherwise than as taught in the lectures of that caricaturist in the Theological Faculty at Halle. On the other hand, fortunate is he who had wisdom to appropriate to himself the treasures of Oriental litera- ture and antiquities which this " master in Israel" was wont to scatter so abundantly among his students. As a philologist he has achieved for himself a deathless name. What Oriental scholar of the present day does not stand upon his shoulders ? The Professor of Practical Theology and university- preacher was at that time the friendly Marx. He always wore white glace gloves and embroidered bands when he entered the pulpit, and he intoned the prayers and collects of the Liturgy with a tenor voice which would have been worthy of the opera. He left nothing undone, by his teaching and example, t.o form us, according to his own model, into elegant and aestheti- cally ureproachable preachers of a Christianity adapted to the taste of the times. In order to train us to our future pulpit duties he caused us by turns, standing before a table adorned with two silver candelabra, in an elegant saloon in his own house, to read portions in prose and verse from our German classics. On such occasions there was also present, as a general rule, an invited company of ladies and gentlemen, whom he £lled with wonder at his fine and ingenious criticisms, while he at the same time also encouraged us by his judicious and commendatory expressions of opinion regarding our mode of utterance, oiu' rhetorical style, and declamatory talent. On one occasion he even in- duced the celebrated stage-player, Frau Handel-Schiitz, to entertain us on one of those evenings with some of THE UNIVERSITY — HALLE. 55 her pantomimic actings, because he thought that this might in some respect contribute to our training as pubhc speakers. It is true, indeed, that many an accurate gesticulator, and enchanting flowery speaker, has gone forth from his school; but even those who w^ould not venture to reckon themselves in such a class have preserved an enduring affectionate remembrance of the kind, benevolent man. The only one in the University of Halle who — I would say held aloft the banner of the Gospel, were I not afraid lest, in such an expression, I should present him before the reader as a man of heroic stature, which, certainly, this man, whose memory I revere, was not, and therefore I will rather say — taught with a believing heart a Scriptural theology, was " der alte Knapp" (the old Knapp), as he was then called, though he was only fifty years of age. This " last descendant of the old evangelical school of Halle" was well able, from intellectual ability and scientific attainment, to have waged a successful war against the then reigning rationalism, and to have tossed from their airy saddles its champions among his colleagues who were intoxi- cated with triumjDh; but his excessive gentleness and modesty, bordering even on timidity, led him carefully to avoid everything like direct polemics, and permitted him only now and then at the most, and with a tone of voice betraying the existence of a hostility inwardly suppressed, and provoking on the part of his auditors a secret smile, to make reference to " Herr Doctor Weg- scheider" as " one who was of another way of thinking." To this almost painfully cautious reserve, which he was accustomed to manifest in his, at the most, very sparing- intercourse with the students, this circumstance might in some degree contribute, that he had continually to 56 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DR KRUMMACHER. contend with feeble health ; yet the prmcipal cause of it was, perhaps, the anxiety he felt, rooting itself in a deep consciousness of sin, for the salvation of his own soul, which, as it made him forbear to pass judgment on others, so it withdrew his thoughts altogether from the outer world, and fixed them on himself Perhaps there was not a single young theologian in Halle who did not feel himself constrained, from whatever motive it might be, to listen to Knapp's exegetical lectures, which were at once so profound and judicious. His auditorium was always crowded ; and although by far the greatest number of his students called him a "pietist" or a " Herrnhutter," living after his time, yet no one could resist the impression of the perfect sincerity and unfeigned heart-piety, calling forth esteem, which manifested itself in all his words and conduct. How respectfully did we uncover our heads, if the little plain-lookmg man, walking, as he was wont to do, with his head somewhat bent down- wards, and with a countenance always cheerful, met us at any time in the afternoon, when on his way toward the quiet country-house where he was accustomed to have coffee ; and how, as often as we crossed the threshold of his study, our hearts beat within us as if we had entered a holy place ! When on such an occasion I once composed myself to ask from him the solution of a certain theological difficulty which had arisen in my mind during one of his lectures, he appeared almost embarrassed; then handing to me from his library the work of Kleuker, entitled " Men- schlicher Versuch ueber den Sohn Gottes und der Menschen," with a hearty salutation he dismissed me, saying, " Read that, and forget not earnestly to pray for enlightenment from above." THE UNIVERSITY HALLE. 57 Had this beloved man entered with more freedom and vigour into the subject, and had he, in a more direct manner than that which he adopted, aimed the lance of the faith and of science against the neology of the time, this, from the prevailing susceptibility then moving the minds of so many youths, would have enabled him to raise up a new school in opposition to the rationalistic. But his timid and strictly didac- tic method said as little to the youthful thinkers as did the too contracted, ascetic form in which his Ufe of faith had clothed itself He did not understand how to meet those thoughts which, at that time, pulsated within us, and were leavening our spmts, nor how to use the means necessary for bringing us over to the adoption of his own religious sentiments. He showed an inexpressible joy when, on one occasion, among a great number of students, who always sat at his feet, he discovered one whom he had gained to his standard. Speaking of this, he thus wrote to one of his friends : "It has been to me, indeed, a source of very great encouragement that our dear Lord has answered the prayer, which at the last Easter feast I presented to Him, in the sincerity of my heart, that He would grant me, from among the students who have newly assembled here, only 07ie whom I might discover to be favourably inclined toward His sweet Gospel. This might give me some courage to pray for more than one ; but," continued the modest man, " I have not yet had freedom enough to do so ; l3ut am meanwhile content to pray for the preservation and protection of this one He has given me. At a later period, however, the good seed of the Word, which he had sown in prayerful hope, sprung D 58 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DR KRUMMACHER. up into a rich harvest, as he himself afterwards, in the last years of his life, was able abundantly to testify. " Here is my consolation," said he, " in the letters of those in whom, for the first time, in the midst of their official experiences, the seed sown has grown up." And how many are there yet living who in spirit lay a wreath of deepest gratitude on his tomb ! That saying of our Lord's^ remains always true, " One soweth, and another reapeth ;" and Knapp's immediate followers in the faith have had these words abundantly realised in their experience, " I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labour: other men laboured, and ye are entered into their labours." Thus we young theologians stood then, to a great degree, without support; on the one side we were repelled, and we were not attracted on the other. De Wette's^ theology, which was based on the philo- 1 John iv. 37, 38. 2 Author of " Theodor odcr des Zweiflers Weilie" (Theodore, or the Con- secration of the Sceptic), a work which appeared, in two vohimes, in 1822. The object of the work was to show that all religion was deducihle from an innate propensity of the human mind, controlled and refined by reason and experience. " The divine excellency of the Christian religion," it teaches, " is especially conspicuous in this, that it directs men to seek their salvation within their own breasts, without any foreign aid whatever." It proceeded on the principle that religion consists in feeling, and that revelation is just the kindling iip of the original light in man. Dr Tlioluck, who still lives, one of the brightest ornaments of the Evangelical Church of Germany, suc- ceeded "der alte Knapp" in the Chair of Theology at Halle in 1826. Detecting the rationalistic character of Dr de Wette's work, he published (1825) a work well worthy of a permanent place in theological literature, fitted to counteract its influence, entitled " Die Lelire von der Sunde und voni Versiiliner : oder die walin Weilie des Zweillers," which has been translated into English under the title of " Guido and Julius ; or Sin and the Propitia- tion." Shortly before his death, which took place in 1848, De Wette made the following touching confession regarding himself, and his efl'orts to frame a consistent religious system :— " Ich fiel in eine wirre Zt^it Des Glaubens Einfalt war veruichtet THE UNIVERSITY HALLE. 59 sopliical system of Fries, ^ brought, apparently at least, to some of us tlie wished-for help. That theology claimed to be a reconciliation of reason and feeling, and it spoke the word scientifically both to the intellect and to faith. If Wegscheider wholly rejected every- thing that was supernatural in Christianity, and abandoned us, who were thirsting after the positive, to a Bible which he had converted into a mere worthless collection of fragments, a tabula rasa, — Knapp, on the contrary, endeavoured to gather together again all the materials, even to the minutest parts, the pins and nails of the fabric of truth, which had been broken to pieces by that rationalist, and scattered to the winds, and out of them to construct again, with careful accu- racy, and in its old style, the building which had been pulled do"wii; an operation which was in no way pleas- ing to us, who were bent on something fresh and new. De Wette, however, in his little work on " Keligion and Theology," a work breathing a youthful inspiration, placed before our view a new theological structure corresponding to our wishes, and guided us to an aesthetico-symbolical apprehension of the contents of Scripture, under which the most incomprehensible and the most marvellous things in the Bible became irradiated with the splendour of great and eternal ideas. Indeed, we now believed that we had won back again, in an ennobled form, that which had been torn from us ; and only for the first time, at a later period, discovered the delusion by which we had been misled. Icli niisclite mich init in den streit ; Docli, acli ! icli liab'ilm nicht geschliclitet." (I fell i]ito a time of confusion ; the unity of the faith was destroyeil. I, too, mixed myself up with this stniggle — in vain ! I have not settled it). — Tr. ^ The philosophy of Fries stands between that of Kant and Schelling, and combines the main piiiieiplcs of both. He died in 1843. — Tr. 60 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DE KRUMMACHER. The biblical liistories remained, even accordino; to this symbolical way of interpreting them, the same as the vulgar rationalism had affirmed them to be, viz., only legends and myths; and the "great ideas" which we derived from them were none other than those of the common rational consciousness, to the attaininof of which a more convenient and a shorter M^ay was to be found than by that of searching the Scriptures. I know none among my friends who might be regarded as having remained steadfast at the position we then with joyful satisfaction reached, except the true and amiable Dr Franke, who died as Professor of Philosophy at Postock. Student-life at Halle was at that time, and partly, at least, is still, the old boisterous, wild student-life, developing itself in "canon-firing" and "storming," with "boxing-matches" and " birch- wood duels. "^ It is true, indeed, that there had then begun, in connec- ^ Scliaff thus descriljes the old student-life of Germany : — " The students spend from two to five hours every day in the lecture-rooms of the univer- sity hall, and the rest of the time in reading and writing at home, or in intercourse with their fellow-students. The majority, especially the " Foxes," as the freshmen are called, join one of the clubs or associations for social enjoyment, after true students' fashion. The memhers generally wear, or used to wear, peculiar colours on their caps, flags, and breast-bands, are regularly organized, and meet on special days at a particular inn or private room. There they sit round oblong tables, in the best of humour, drinking, smoking, and singing, at the top of their clear strong voices, " Gaudeamus igitur," or " Was ist des Deutschen Vaterland," or " Freiheit, die ich meine," or " Es Zogen drei Bursche wohl ueber den Rhein," &c. They discuss the merits of their professors and sweethearts ; they consult about a serenade to a favourite teacher, or about a joke to be practised upon some sordid " Philister" or landlord ; they make patriotic sjieeches on tlie prospects of the German Fatherland ; they pour out their hearts in an unbroken succes- sion of alfection and merriment, pathos and humour, wit and sarcasm, pun and taunt ; they smoke and puif, they sing, and laugli, and talk till midnight, and feel as happy as the feHows in Auerbach's cellar in Goethe's ' Faust.'" This rude state of things is, however, happily passing away, and the more serious among the students keep entii'ely aloof from such scenes. Tlie THE UNIVERSITY — HALLE. 61 tion with the " Teutonia,"^ a reformation of the rude manners of former times, but the progress of this change was as yet very slow. This will appear manifest when I mention that one of the most able and highly-gifted of the students at that time in Halle, the afterwards celebrated Carl Immermann, was treated one evening with the horsewhip (Hetzpeitsche), by the verdict of the conclave of the seniors of that coterie, merely because he had the courage to lift his voice against the insuffer- able terrorism which the Teutonians took the liberty of exercisino; over the whole of the students of the university, and their actions. Those who kept them- selves farthest aloof from this bullying manner which was then prevalent, were for the most part such as had returned from the war of liberation, and had learned during that struggle the earnestness of life. They scorned the mash of heroism, because they felt them- selves in possession of the reality. Among such students one met, if not universally, at least generally, with those who gave themselves to diligent study in the various sciences; and to them, also, especially belonged the merit of raising to a higher and nobler elevation the aims and ambitions of the students in connection with the so-called " Burschenschaft."^ The fellowship among the students, and their festival pomp on occasions, was conducted, perhaps, in the old way, present generation of students is a more refined class of men ; " they liave exchanged the gauntlet for a pair of kids, the sword or rapier for a riding- whip or walking-stick ; and it is no more an honour to Lesot one's-self with beer and tobacco, and to provoke duels." — Tr. ^ Name of one of the students' clubs. — Tr. 2 Students' club or association, formed for the purpose of " realising the patriotic ideals which had been awakened in the German nation by the successful war of independence." The " Landsmannschaft " was an older association of a similar character. The Governments have now condemned these associations as hotbeds of political agitation. — Tr. G2 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DR KRUMMACHER. but their spirit and significance were no more what they had formerly been. It was no longer a mere love of companionship, or a desire for empty exhibitions, that animated them, but a true spirit of patriotism. The affair of duelling, hitherto controlled by a company of unrestrained swaggerers, was brought under regulation, placed under a court of honour, and ultimately sublimated into a sort of Ordeal. The mass of the students belong-- ing to that rude class, though not by any means all at once extirpated, saw themselves more and more distinctly branded with the mark of dishonour, and their ribald songs began to be altogether silenced before the saying which was now rising in estimation as the motto of a new party : " Frisch, frei, frohlich und fromm" (lively, free, happy and pious). Along with the general students' clubs there was also formed a large number of literary societies and associations for debating in the Latin language. In one of these, of which I was a member, the theology of Schleiermacher,^ which was at that time engaging the ^ Born at Breslau in 1768; died in 1834. His parents Avere of tlie reli- gious sect called Moravians or United Brethren. In one of liis minor writings, Neander thus describes the peculiar characteristic of Schleier- nxacher's religious teaching, and the extraordinaiy impression his " Reden ueber Religion" (Discourses on Religion, 1799) produced at the time of their publication : — " Those who at that time belonged to the rising genera- tion, will remember with what power this book influenced the minds of the young, bemg written in all the vigour of youthful enthusiasm, and bearing witness to the neglected undeniably religious element in human nature. That which constitutes the peculiar characteristic of religion, viz., that it is an independent element in human nature, had fallen into oblivion by the one-sided rational or speculative tendency, or a one-sided tendency to absorb it in ethics. Schleiermacher had touched a note whicli, especially in the minds of youth, could not but continue to sound everywhere. Men were led back into the depth of their heart, to perceive here a divine draw- ing which, when once called forth, might lead them beyond that which the author of this imi)ulse had expressed with distinct consciousness." His theological system is fully developed in his " Der Christliche Glaube," first THE UNIVERSITY HALLE. 63 attention of many, was the subject with us of much discussion. There were some who could recoOTiise in this glowing meteor which had appeared nothing else than a pantheistic wandering star, which was more portentous of danger than the rationalism of Weg- scheider. On the other hand, there were others who felt themselves constrained to speak of him in language of unbounded praise, as a new reformer of evangelical theology. Certain it is, however, that his enthusiasm for the Person of Christ produced an indelible impres- sion on our minds. But whether there was any one of us who had possession of Ariadne's thread to guide us through Schleiermacher's dialectics is, it must be confessed, quite another question. published in 2 vols, in 1821-22. While the influence of his writings on the intellect of Germany was, and still is, exceedingly great, it was far sur- passed by that which was exercised by his eloquence as a pulpit orator, and by the simplicity and piety of his personal character, over all he came in contact with. — Tr. CHAP TEE y. THE UNIVERSITY^JENA. A FTEE; tlie course of two years I left Halle for Jena.^ In tlie last month of my residence at Halle I preached to a neighbouring village congregation, on one occasion in the presence of quite a crowd of my fellow-students, who had assembled to hear me for the purpose of criticising. They approved of my bold per- formance, pronouncing it " wohl bestanden " (well done) ; but the shame still suffuses my cheeks when I think of that first effort at a sermon. The princi|)al attractions which led me to Jena were Fries among the philosophers, and Schott among the theologians. I confess, however, that the nature of student-life at Jena also exercised a material influence over the choice I now made. At that time academic- life at Jena had unfolded itself into a form altoo^ether of the faii'est and purest character. This to\\ai, sur- rounded by well-wooded heights, is beautifully situated ^ " To maintain an intellectual contest with tlie new electoral honse, and with the University of Wittenberg, then suspected of being possessed of a Calvinistic devil, and to constitute a fortress for genuine Lutheranism in general, the University of Jena (in the Grand-Duchy of Saxe-Weiniar), with a charter from the Emperor and a blessing from Heaven, was founded (1548-58) by the sons of John Frederic, who in troublous times confided in the future." — Hase. During the session of 1 808-69, this university was attended by 432 students in all, under the care of 62 professors and teachers. — Tr. THE UNIVERSITY JENA. 65 on the banks of the river Saale. As I entered it, the scene of youthful activity, animated and cheerful, yet restrained within due bounds, which met my view and greeted my ears in the public market-place, seemed abundantly to confirm my opinion as to student-life in Jena. Here I saw the students in great numbers, clothed in the costume of the German coat and the plumed velvet cap, or in the plain linen blouse worn while taking exercise, walking to and fro singing merry songs, or engaged m cheerful conversation with one another. And when I asked one of them to show me the street where lodgings were provided for me, he saluted me with a hearty Dii^ {thou), took up and carried my knapsack whether I would or not, and accompanied me to my dwelhng, remarking to me by the way how very costly it was to live in Jena. And so indeed I found it in a short time to be, and had great reason to be on my guard, lest from that cause my sojourn there should come to a sudden termination. As a matter of course, without delay I entered into the "holy brotherhood" of the "German Burschen- schaffc," in which I very soon had the honour of being promoted to a post of responsibility. And even at the present day, when in thought I place myself again in the midst of those scenes of youthful, active, and boisterous hfe, there is reproduced within me some- thing of that solemn and elevating impression which the &st general meeting of the Burschenschaft, con- vened for the purpose of admitting new associates, gave rise to. The sjDacious, well-lighted hall, decorated with the insignia of the society, and filled in every part ^ This form of expression among the Germans implies familiarity and affection. It is employed by near relatives in addressing one another.^TR. G6 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DR KRUMMACHER. with a large, dense mass of young men, all full of hope, the representatives of a new era to our Fatherland, as we thought ourselves to be ; before us, on a platform, the oblong table, over which was spread a black-red- and-yellow covering, and on it naked swords placed on each other in the form of a cross, and also the reofister of the transactions of the Bund ; and behind it the chosen twelve who constituted the committee, all of them being decorated with the Iron Cross of Honour, which they had won in the war of liberation ; and in the midst of them the president, over whose chair was suspended the German flag ; and then the proceed- ings of the meeting commenced by the whole multitude of 800 singing with loud, clear, sonorous voices, accom- panied by the orchestra, the favourite animating song of the Bund, " Sind wir vereint zur guten Stunde ;" and after this the president's energetic address to the new members, followed by their taking the usual oath, that they would observe the ancient, holy, honourable, knightly customs of the Fathers, and the laws and principles of the Bund ; — all this, how could it be otherwise than that it should highly excite one newly arrived amid such scenes, and irresistibly hurry along his youthful imagination, and elevate him, as it were, into an ideal world of enthusiasm ? And, indeed, the proceedings of the Burschenschaft at that time were not mere idle show, and boyish flash- ing eccentricities. It was enthusiasm, it is true, which animated them, but such enthusiasm, although the students themselves were but half conscious of it, as had in it much of the beautiful and the noble strivinff after outward realisation. The society was pervaded by a subtle penetrating atmosphere, which was fuller of elements worthy of a careful fostering hand than THE UNIVERSITY JENA. G7 of tliose which tended to relentless destruction, such as soon after developed themselves. If this had not been the case, how would enlightened men, and men of mature minds, such as E. M. Arndt, Schleiermacher, Luden, and many others, have attached themselves to it ? In the movements of the students there was mani- fest a moral earnestness wrestling with the traditional rudeness of academic life ; a more ideal contemplation of the importance of life, with the Philistine •'■ narrow- ness of all pig-tail and dung-hill cock society ; a more extensive German patriotism, with the exclusive spirit of the Landsmannschaft ; and at the same time a felt need for a positive faith, with the old negative ration- alistic aims of those days. It is true the object Avhich these enthusiasts were striving to attain hovered before them as yet more or less only in the distant obscurity of mist and cloud ; yet this only served to strengthen the longing aspirations with which they stretched forth toward it. It was a spiritual " Argo- nautic expedition" for a golden fleece, the glory of which we had some faint apprehension of, but could not describe — an expedition in which poetry, the companion of the Orphean lyre, did not fail us, so that the flame of our inspiration did not want the nourishing oil. The student-spirit which then ruled us showed itself also in the manner in which we made choice of the teachers under whose instructions we placed ourselves. Old John Phihp Gabler, the learned dis- ^ A name given by the students to all tradesmen and others not belong- ing to the university. Tlie whole system or world of Illuminism was also called the " Philisterwelt " (the world of Pliilistines) ; and the students of this period of the renovation never wearied in pouring contempt upon all the principles and aims by which that world was governed, and holding them up to ridicule. — Tr. GS AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DR KRUMMACHER. ciple of Eiclihorn^ and Griesbach,^ was esteemed by us who were theologians, not only on account of his hon- ourable, upright German character, but above all, and specially, because he was wont to speak of the moral sublimity and dignity of Christ with a reverence scarcely to be distinguished from devotion, and thereby he met the deepest want of our souls. We, dreaming of freedom, willingly indulged him when he cut in pieces for us the fetters of Church symbols by which we were restrained. But his superficial jejune ration- alism, which sought to explain all the miracles of the Bible on mere natural principles (e.g. the transfigura- tion of Christ was explained as only a thunder-storm, the multiplying of the loaves as the obtaining of a supply which had been hid in the store of some trader, the resurrection of Jesus as merely His awakening out of a death-like sleep), was repulsive to us, and afforded us only a compassionate laugh, or made us shrug our siioulders at his naivete and folly. In spite of his awkward and unsociable manner, which gave occasion to the youthful students who were fond of fun to pass many harmless jokes upon him, Henry August Schott, the well-known and very cele- brated editor of a revised edition of the Text of the New Testament, and of a most masterly Latin translation of it, far excelled Gabler in his influence over us. By his kindness of disposition, and his truly quiet, unas- suming manner, together with his erudition, he gained our affection and love in the same degree in which he impressed us by his deep and extensive knowledge, ^ Johann Gottfried Eichhorn, Professor of Biljlical Literature at Gott- ingen, where he succeeded Michoelis in 1788. He died in 1827. — Tr. 2 Griesbach was Professor of Theology at the University of Jena. He was distinguished for his Critical Edition of the Text of the New Testament, wliich was first published at Halle in 1774-75. He died in 1812. — Tr. THE UNIVERSITY JENA. G9 and his fine classical taste. But he was yet the more attractive to us by reason of his taking up a position of hostility to the platitudes of the then prevailing form of doctrinal belief As a behever in the supernatural, he recognised the fact of a supernatural revelation, spoke of Jesus, with the greatest reverence, as the " God- man," and resolutely rejected all doubts cast upon the doctrine of His literal resurrection from the dead. And yet his belief in the Bible teachings was limited, and he did not deny that his judgment was not yet so wholly emancipated from the theological tendencies of the times, as that he could lay aside the vaulting- pole of the doctrine of accommodation, wherewith to help himself over many things " altogether too won- derful in the Book." There pulsated in him also no vein of mysticism, and so it happened that many deeply excited thinkers complained of the " fatigue " which they often experienced while listening to his lectures. The men we enthusiastically admu-ed, and that because they came nearest to the circle of our society, and in many respects also to the circle of our ideas, were the historian Luden and the philosopher Fries, whom we have already mentioned. The latter of these cast a spell over us by the charm, the freshness, and the elegance of his lectures, but principally by the fire of his German patriotism, which glowed through his words. If any one understood how to fire the youthful mind with an enduring enthusiastic love of Fatherland, it was he; and that so much the more, since his en- thusiasm sometimes, like our own, was very generally pervaded by a high religious strain. The religious element in his philosophy, however, limited itself only to an aesthetic delight in the eternally Beautiful and 70 AUTOBIOGKAPHY OF DR KRUMMACHER. Sublime, discerned by kindred sentiment in tlie actual world. But he delighted us by his poetic warmth, and afforded us the opportunity, in his fluent vagueness, of always attributing to him that which was pleasing to ourselves. Perhaps only a few of us sufficiently pene- trated the system of the subjective philosophy, as not to suppose him enraptured as well with Bible Christi- anity as with the Sublime in the actual world, and to see that what he called Faith was only subjective sincerity of conviction, which was boimd to no posi- tive objective truth. But that by which Fries principally won our hearts was the fraternal relation into which he entered with us. Not only did he condescend to deliver to us a course of public lectures on our student-motto, "Frisch, frei, frohlich, fromm ! " but he also took the deepest in- terest in all the arrangements and proceedings of our Burschenschaft. Our statutes were submitted to his inspection, and he revised them with as great earnest- ness and care as if they had been fundamental laws of the State. He helped us to settle, on a basis of firm principle, the subject of duelling, and sketched out for us the rules for the regulation of the court of arbi- tration, and the " Ehrengericht."^ He even applauded, at least from his window, the foolery — often enough quite too scandalous, though not altogether senseless — which was not seldom carried on in the public market- place. We even actually thought that he saw so much of the realisation of his idea of a " better world," from the mad masquerade in which, after we had been excited by Oken's Free Journal, the " Isis," and its vignette, we made use of a series of piquant tableaux ^ A jury of students, estalili^hed for the pur2:)ose of peacefully settling all quarrels that might arise, without having recourse to duelling. — Tr. THE UNIVERSITY — JENA. / 1 vivants, satirically to expose to the laughter of the public the pig -tail and Philistine worlds, as well as the affectation of democracy that then began to prevail. It was also Fries who, before all others, helped to originate and give effect to the idea of the Wartburg Festival^ in 1817, which was to many so disastrous. I confess that at this day I look back upon that festival only with pure joy. In it that high tone of patriotic feehng, that religious excitement and joyful expectation ^ At tlie instance of tlie Bursclienschaft of Jena an invitation was ad- dressed to the students of the German, universities to assemble at the Wartburg on 18th October, to celebrate the Tricentenary of the Reformation, and at the same time also the recent deliverance of Germany from the French domination. On the appointed day, 500 students and some of the professors, prominent among whom was Dr Fries, assembled in the market-place of Eisenach, and marched in solemn procession to the old castle of the Wart- burg. There, after singing the great national hymn, " Ein feste Burg," a sermon was preached by Riemann, Knight of the Iron Cross won at Waterloo, one of the theological students of Jena, and the whole service was concluded by prayer and the singing of the German Te Deum, "Nun danket alle Gott." The whole assembly then partook together of a common meal, at which patriotic speeches were delivered and enthusiastic toasts given. The even- ing was spent in singing and gymnastic exercises in the market-place of Eisenach, and in social hilarity. But, unfortunately for the reputation f)f the Burschenschaft, a number of students assembled at a late hour on the Wartenberg, opposite the Wartburg, and there made a bonfire, and cast into it twenty-eight obnoxious books and pamphlets, together wdth a bodice, a cue, and a corporal's staff, " symbols of the old-fashioned pedantry and tyranny of Germany." This act was regarded in high quarters as a political offence. It was looked upon as the symptom of a revolutionary spirit, and as revealing the political tendency of the Burschenschaft, w'hich henceforth fell under suspicion. In 1819 the Hofrath von Kotzebue was murdered by Carl Ludwig Sand, a half insane fanatic student of Jena, and member of the Burschenschaft. This was regarded, though without any evidence, as the result of a general revolutionary conspiracy among the students ; and therefore, on 20th September of that year, the German Diet abolished the Burschenschaft, many of the prominent members of which suffered im- prisonment and exile. Though legally abolished, however, the society still secretly exists in the two societies that have sprung out of it, viz., the Arminia, whicli favours constitutional monarchy, and the Germania, which is of a republican character. See Schaff's Universities of Germany. — Tk. /2 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DR KRUMMACHER. of a better future both for society and the State which then animated the youth of Germany shortly after the war of hberation, reached a development of the fairest and most promising character. The assembling of the students at the Wartburg, at least in its main intent, appeared as a worthy sequel to that gathering of the students around Luther which took place at Wittenberg in 1 5 1 7. A German-Christian regeneration of the Fatherland in the State, the Church, and the family, was the ideal which swelled our bosoms, though it was only dimly seen by us in vague, fanciful images, enveloped in mist. No doubt the elements which, in a very wonderful manner, mingled themselves together in that great spiritual seething-kettle, stood greatly in need of being purified. For I do beheve that only a few were at all distinctly conscious of the ground on which they felt themselves so devoutly interested, filled with such ecstacy, and so deeply moved at the general Communion in the town church in Eisenach, which formed the solemn crisis of the whole festival.^ Religion and patriotism, asceticism and the free spirit of the Burschenschaft, romanticism and politics, and all manner of earthly and heavenly thoughts and affections, mingled themselves together therein. The noble ingredients, without question, were as yet only in an embryotic and impure condition. As for the rest, in the speeches, the toasts, and the resolutions in which we breathed forth our love of freedom, not the slightest trace of anything of a revolutionary tendency was perceptible. We were enthusiastic for a united, free Germany. We dreamed also of a new German emperor, w^liom we supposed ^ After tlie celebration at the Wartburg, tlie procession returned to Eisenacli to attend divine service there in the afternoon. — Tr. THE UNIVERSITY — JENA. 73 we had discovered at one time in our high patron, Carl August, at another in tlie King of Prussia, and again in some one of the other German princes. But the thought of overturning the throne of any of our German rulers was far distant from us. Yea, the numerous band amongst us of brave men, who had come from the war of liberation decorated with Orders, among whom were also counts and barons, thought that patriotism, and respectful submission and fealty due to hereditary princes, were inseparable ; and these men took the lead at the University. And even at the auto da fe of the books which took place at midnight at the Wartenberg, which, moreover, was only an mtermezzo and an impromptu exploit of a very few, nothing was done or said by which that principle could in the remotest degree be injured. Enough. Every one who took part in the Wartburg Festival will always remember it, as one of them has expressed it, " as a May-day of his youth ! " Who among all who were companions in that festival, do not see still standing before them their friends Riemann, Sieversen, Count Keller, Frommann, Leo, and other types of the youth of Germany ? And among them also was the unfortunate Carl Ludwig Sand, in whom the Christian-ethical enthusiasm, which we all, to a certain degree, participated in along with him, increased to an ever-to-be-lamented fanatical degree. I knew him long before the delusion came upon him. On one occasion, when on a journey, he entertained me as his guest for several days at Erlangen. I cannot forget the pleasant hours which I then spent with him there. He was a man of an upright mind, animated by Christian principle, deeply moved toward all that was noble and beautiful, and grieved at heart on E 74 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DR KEUMMACHER. account of the moral condition of the Fatherland. At the time of the Wartburg celebration, his dark eye already, it is true, burned with a fire which occasioned much anxiety on his account to those who were more narrowly observing him. But a deed such as that which he perpetrated two years afterwards, no one would have believed the youth who was striving in all points after the highest moral perfection, at all capable of It is true they did not know that, in the man whom he afterwards devoted to death ^ — in the name of God, as in his madness he thought — he saw the chief betrayer and corrupter of the morals of his Ger- man people, whom he warmly loved above all others. The ladies and gentlemen who dipped their pocket- handkerchiefs in Sand's blood on the scaffold at Mann- heim, were as much deluded as he was. But they who in silence mourn over him beside his grave, as over one of the noblest of the sons of Germany, who was ruined by the philosophy which confounds the mere subjective sincerity of conviction (Ueberzeugungstreue) with Christian faith, find themselves in the right, and stand in the truth. I pass by in silence the sad fact that, soon after the time of the Wai-tburg Festival, the pure idealistic spirit which then moved and excited us, degenerated into a 1 Hofrath von Kotzebue, a very unprincipled man. He was hated by all the liberals as a Russian spy and traitor of Germany. Sand stabbed him to death with a. dagger, in his own house at Mannheim, in March 1819. *' While his worthless victim was expiring in his own dAvelling, Sand rushed to the street, assemljled a crowd, and exclaimed : ' Hurrah for my German Fatherland, and all those Germans who desire to promote the welfare of pure humanity!' He then made an unsuccessful attempt at suicide, hoping by means of a double crime to open a bloody path for Ger- man liberty, and thus to immortalise himself as a second Arnold of Wiji- kelried. Having been brought to trial for murder, he was condemned to death, and executed by the sword on 20th May 1819, near Mannheim, before a great concourse of people " (Sduiff). — Tk. THE UNIVERSITY JENA. 75 political power, which aimed at effecting changes in national legislation, and, falling under the control of demagogues, manifested here and there even a revolu- tionary tendency. The influence which poisoned the harmless poetic enthusiasm of the Wartburg came chiefly from the south of the Fatherland. Emissaries, particularly from Giessen and Heidelberg, appeared at Jena, who, for the first time, infused into our ideas of the Burschenschaft, which were from the beginning very lofty indeed, but indefinite and general, floating before the mind in undefined vagueness, a real and positive aim. And this definite aim became afterwards well enough kno^vn from the acts of the inquisition by the Govern- ment. I thank God, and not indeed in the spirit of the Pharisee of old, that at the time when this degeneracy in the spirit of the Burschenschaft took place, my residence at the University had already terminated. The echo of the great Wartburg Festival sounded so lonof within us in undiminished distinctness, that it secured at least the greatest number of us against the danger of being misled by the " Schwarzen" (the black party), as the extreme party then called themselves. But let no one have too high an opinion of the pious earnestness of the youth at that time attending the University of Jena. The first words of their motto, " Frisch, frei, und frohlich," were always greatly more applicable as a description of their character than the last word^ of it. If everything that bordered on what was low and base was banished from theh^ circle, yet, along with the constant drilling of the " Wehrschaft," formed from among the students, and commanded l)y ofiicers who had been ensfao-ed in the war of liberatio 1 1 , and the practice of the " noble gymnastics," the old ^ Viz., " fromin," i.e. " pious." 76 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DR KRUIVIMACHER. habits continued. Duelling, though less frequently — masquerade exhibitions in the market-place, and what not — went on as merrily as ever. Yea, along with the very imposing and solemn assemblies of the Bund, there continued amongst us also, in full splendour, the old traditional Lichtenhaine court, with its pot-valiant Duke Thus, its courts-martial, and its battery of cannon — a sport which, once upon occasion, Goethe,^ as he walked past, saw to his great amusement. We had frequently the pleasure of meetmg with this tall, stately, poet-hero. On one occasion he lingered a while in our midst, looking at the students engaged in gymnastic exercise, having dismounted from his carriage, which was drawn by two white horses; and to this day I well remember the sonorous voice with which he gave expression to his astonishment at the sight of the swinging to and fro performed by a very skilful gymnast on the pole, in the following words: "I am surprised! the young man is like an osier wand." A deputation of the students once waited on him with the request that he would deliver to us lectures on literature or eesthetics. He received it in the most gracious manner, and after conversing for some time in a very friendly way with the students who were pre- ^ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was born at Frankfurt-on-the-lMaine, in August 1749. After a course of somewhat desultory studies at ditt'erent universities, he went to Weimar (1775) on the invitation of the Prince, by whom he was elevated to the rank of iirivy-councillor (Geheimrath) in 1779. He afterwards became a member of his government, but devoted hiniself to science, literature, and art. He is the author of numerous works, both in poetry and prose, all of them characterised by a decided superiority of thought and style. He has gained for himself the foremost jjlace in German literature. He was, indeed, almost the creator of German literature, as his writings were the introduction of a new era. During his whole life he was in correspondence with the chief authors of the day, and in various ways exeixised no small direct influence on tlie literary lalxjurs of others. He died at AVeimar in 1832. — Tr. THE UNIVERSITY — JENA. 77 sent regarding the studies in which they were severally engaged, he dismissed them with the assurance that he would, " at a convenient time," gladly comply with their wish. That " convenient time," however, never came. I would have made as little progress in theology as in religion by my residence at the University of Jena, had I not by private studies sought to attain what the instructions of the professors failed to present. The exegetical lectures of the otherwise highly-honoured Schott were really after all of little significance to me, because they were devoid alike of enthusiasm and of penetrating thought. And in the homiletic and catechetical lectures of Dr Danz, I found only that which was self-evident, or what I already knew. The finely constructed, but rationalistic and empty, sermons of Marezoll created in me a dislike for the service of the Church, and drove me away from it ; and so nothing remained for me but to seek refuge from this spiritual famine in reading. Herder's work on " The Spuit of Hebrew Poetry," and my father's book on " The Spirit and Form of the Gospels," and Kleuker's Apologetical writmgs, rendered me great service, ever to be re- membered by me with thankfulness. Besides these, I studied many portions of the " Fathers," read Schleier- macher's " Discourses on Religion," refreshed myself by perusing the pages of the " Wandsbeck Messenger,"^ ^ The " Wansbecker Bote," a religious journal, edited by Matthew Claudius of Wandsbeck, a town in the duchy of Holstein, near Hamburg. " Claudius (1743-1815) ; Lavater, a sacred poet (1741-1801) ; and Stilling, a physician and religious writer, esteemed by the " Pietists" of Germany (1740-1817), preserved a childlike piety in an age of prevailing scepticism, and proved in their persons and wiitings a blessing to thousands." " Claudius was a true son of ]\Iartin Luther, not in strength and zeal, it is true, but in child- like sense, in simple-hearted cheerfulness, in the cordial ajapropriation of the Divine Word in its wonderful miction and sweetness. His writings are no doubt the last German ones in which one is entitled to say that Luther's spirit was breathing in them" {Grundtvig). — Tr. 78 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DR KRUMMACHER. and drank full draughts from the living water-streams which flowed in sparkling copiousness from out of Luther's works. I was not without friends, who were associated with me in this earnest course of study. Among these I name before all others my brother Emil, who gave himself with great zeal to his studies, having few who were his equals in dihgence. He had the good fortune, after leaving Jena, to carry on his studies under the care of Steudel and Flatt at Tubingen, and through his intercourse with friends, such as Louis Hofacker, and the poet Albert Knapp, Earth, Burck- hardt, and others of his own age, to be introduced into a full and deep appreciation of the theology of the heart. ^ With pious thankfulness I look back on that brief period of my life which I spent at Jena as one in which my soul, delivered from every fetter by which it was bound, learned to rise on the wings of faith to a higher and purer elevation. My heart, and my mind also, experienced at that time a material quickening, an expansion and advancement of their capability of appre- ciatmg spiritual conceptions. My conception (Ahnung) of the splendour of the life of faith gradually and gently formed itself into the experience of such a hfe ; and that ^ " Pectus est qi;od theologum facit," was Neaiider's motto. Schleier- maclier stood between two ages of German theology. He was the hist in the generation of sceptics, and the first in the succession of believers. The new era introduced by him was one of awakened siiiritual life. Theology began to be studied, not as a mere exercise of the understanding, but always as a sacred business of the heart. " Powerful preachers arose, like Louis and AVilliam Hofacker, and the Krummachers, father, uncle, and son, who unfolded the plan of salvation, and led thirsting souls to fountains of living water. A new taste and zeal were awakened for sacred hymns, and Spitta, Knapp, and Bahrdt tuned their harps for new songs of Zion." Neander's motto became the guide to theologians, and the " theology of the heart " gradually began to take the place of that of the rationalism of the 2>reced- ing a!:re. — Tr. THE UNIVERSITY — JEXA. 79 which may be called the German-Christian principle, although it existed at that time only in very feeble intimations, and in an embryotic condition in the centre of the Burschenschaft, grew up into an actual exist- ence before me, and became the living reality which has accompanied me all my life long since then. No one therefore will laugh at the inexpressible sorrow with which, at the end of my academical curriculum, I left, in the company of my dear friends, the old Athens on the Saale. On the way to Dornburg, through the charming valley of the Saalp, along which I had often wandered, I had frequently difficulty in refraining from weeping, in spite of the merry singing and the sounds of joy that echoed around me. Just before bidding farewell to my companions in Cunitz, one of them ventured, in the most harmless manner however," to joke about my weakness. This gave occasion to me to send to him to Jena the following quickly- written verses from Naumburg, where I found a lodging for that night : — DER AUSZUG AUS JENA.^ Kaum f Jirbte der Morgen den Giebel am Ilaus, Da kuckte der Bursche zum FcDster liinaus : " Jena, du Werthe, nun geht es zu End, Gott weiss wie das Herze in Leibe mir brennt." ^ When Kramraacher's Autobiograpliy was passing through the press in Germany, this poem, by some accident, could not be found for insertion in its proper place. The sheets were printed accordingly without it. It was afterwards discovered and forwarded to the Translator by the family of tlie deceased, for insertion in the English edition. It is here printed because it gives a very "vivid idea of certain customs connected with student-life in Germany, and it affords a glimpse also into the character of the youthful Krummacher. An English version of it will be found in the Appendix. — Tr. 80 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DR KRUMMACHER. Er sprach's iind das Wasser zum Auge ilim drang-, Da drohnte die Treppe — da halite der Gang- — " Herr Bruder, pack' auf " und " Ilerr Bruder, beiss' ein, Und sclimeckt es aiich bitter, geschieden muss sein." Und voller die Kammer, und voller der Gang, Und lauter das Rausclien, und wilder der Drang — Den Ranzeu nimmt Einer, und Einer den Stab — Dann larmend selbander die Treppe hinab. Und driiben am Markte, da hebt sich alsbald Ein Griissen, so rauli, wie ein Stiirmen im VYald. Doch sauftiglicli schauten die Augen darein, Und helle mocht' manches von Thrjinen aucli sein. Drauf wogt's durcli die Gassen, geschlossen zu ReiL'n, Es halite das Pflaster, es sprtihteder Stein — Es brauste zum Ilimmel der Abschiedsgesang — Nur Einer schwieg stille beim rauschenden Klang. Manch Fensterlein klirrte, manch Aiigelein zag' Sah heimlich durcli Blumen dem Scheidenden nach. Manch Griissen stieg neckend von unten hinauf — Nur Einer schlug nimmer die Augen auf. Und rings an den Schenken, da hielten sie ein — Nur Einer verschmJihte den wiirzigen Wein ; Bis dass er gekommen zum iiussersten Haus, Da fasst er den Becher, und leerte ihn aus — Und warf ihn hinab in die schiiumende Well' — Da stiirzten die ThrJinen so gliihend und hell, Als sah er versinken sein Alles zur Fluth, " Jena., Dich lassen, — wie bitter das that /" CHAPTER YI. FRANKFURT-ON-THE-MAINE. TTAVING returned to my home, I now regarded it as my first and most important duty to put my hands to the " Christian-German Reformation of the Fatherland." Those who originated and were carry- ing forward such a work expected everything from Gymnastics. A fantastic address, proceeding on this idea, appeared at this time m the Bernburg weekly journal. It called upon the young men of Anhalt to erect places for the practice of athletic exercises in their fathers' gardens. This address gave rise to great and serious reflection among the citizens, and failed not to draw forth several public remonstrances of a very solemn nature ; while on the part of the more intelligent and those of a freer spirit, it only provoked ironical laughter and pleasantry, and, at the most, in- duced them to recommend to the enthusiasts a thought- ful moderation. A letter to the gymnast Jahn brought back the encouraging answer, " Now, quick to the rally ! Why does the grumbling of the old men trouble you? Let the dead bury their dead! In the fresh hfe of the young there are the germs of the new world growing up!" A witty, sarcastical poem, aimed at the " Philistines," raised the opposition to the whole move- ment to the highest pitch of excitement, and the whole 82 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DR KRUMMACHER. attempt at a reformation by such means ended, to the great grief of the society of gymnasts that had been gathered together within a short time, in their dis- solution as a body, and in the destruction of the bars and cHmbing-poles and other implements, which were inteiKled as the symbols of the rise of a new and vahant race of Germans who would be worthy of their fathers. Instead of devoting myself to those " bodily exer- cises," which the apostle — certainly without any reference to the gymnasts — declares " profit nothing," I was diligently and seasonably employed, along with my companions who were to be examined with me, in preparatory studies for our approaching final examina- tion, with a view to our being admitted to the status of candidates. I passed the examination, on the whole, cum laude. Adhering, so far as I understood it, to the theological system and method of interpreting the Scrij)tures taught by De Wette, whose theology was based on the philosophy of Fries, I expounded the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves recorded in the Gosj)el of Matthew-^ (as that jDortion of Scripture had been assigned to me as the subject of a trial dis- course), as a symbol in which was mirrored forth the inexhaustible goodness of God toward all the needy and suifering children of men. This mode of interpret- ing the miracle was evidently pleasing to one of the examiners; but my father, who presided over the examination of the Anhalt consistory, interrupted my exegetical discussion with the question, Whether, then, I regarded the Gospel narrative as historically true, or as only allegorical? This question, which had never before, in the same form, pressed itself on my attention, 1 Matt. XV. 32-38. FRANKFURT- ON-THE-MAINE. 83 filled me at once with perplexity and confusion. It was some time before I had the power of composing myself to answer that I did not at all deny that the miracles of Jesus were true, but that I regarded their chief value as consisting in the religious and moral truths which they represented. But at the same moment when I thus answered, a light broke in upon my mind, convincing me how miserably this notion harmonized with my supposed belief in the historical verity of the miracles, and making it manifest to me that my whole Christianity consisted as yet more in undefined senti- 'ment than in firm conviction — more in the hazy vision of the imagination than in the possession of truth won as the result of warfare against error, or as gained from experience. Scarcely had I passed the ordeal of the theological examination — which I did creditably, indeed with honour, thouofh at the same time not without the feel- ing of deep humiliation at my own imperfection — when my father received a letter from Dr Spiess, of Frankfurt- on-the-Maine, in which he inquired whether. I had any inclination to occupy the situation of an ordained assist- ant preacher to the German Reformed congregation there, which had become vacant by the resignation of Herr Wilhelmi, who afterwards became Bishop of Nassau. I at once accepted the offered situation, and after a few days set out on my journey to Frankfurt. There I preached my trial discourse, which was ap- proved of more perhaps on account of my open, frank manner, and my lively style of delivery, than on account of the richness and depth of the truths set forth in the sermon itself. I was thereafter unani- mously chosen by the presbytery of that congregation. I then returned to Bernburg, that I might there undergo 84 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DR KRUMMACHER. the second examination " pro ministerio," and, on my passing it, be immediately ordained. All this happened within a few weeks. And now, at the beginning of the year 1819, I hastened once more by Erfurt, Eisenach, Fulda, and Gelnhansen, with joyful expectation, and painting to myself a blessed future, to the old free town of Frankfurt. There I received from all, but especially in the house of Dr Spiess, the most hearty and friendly welcome. On the following Sabbath, amid a great conflict of inward emotion, I entered for the first time on the functions of my sacred ofiice. I was charged with the duty of preacliing the afternoon sermon in the German Reformed Church ; and besides, in the event of any- thing preventing either of the two pastors from con- ducting the public worship of the forenoon, I was to supply their place. In Frankfurt I entered on a life which was in many respects new to me. This free city, forming, as it were, a bond of union between Northern and Southern Germany, comprehended in itself not only all that was fitted to supply the outward conveniences and comforts of life which woidd be agreeable to a young man, par- ticularly in its surrounding scenes and in its delightful society, but also such as was fitted in some degree to awaken and to bring forth into more beneficial develop- ment whatever of the elements of education mio-ht still be slumbering within him. The spirit of trade has never gained in it, as in many other commercial towns, the predominance over the intellectual and spiritual in- terests of man. Not only did the rich old nobility, who at all times have had their residences in Frankfurt, and who, mindful of their motto, "Noblesse oblige," had con- secrated their leisure to the cultivation of the fine arts FEANKFURT-ON-THE-MAINE. 85 and of the sciences, contribute to this result ; but also the historical reminiscences connected with the founding of the city by Charles the Great. The affection for it first manifested by the emperors, Ludwig the Pious (St Louis), and Ludwig the German, who raised it — as the old palace, the Saalhof ^ yet bears witness — to be the capital of Austria, and made it their chief place of resi- dence ; and the crowning of the emperors there in later times, — the remembrance of all this gave to the inhabi- tants a certain tone of dignity, and a consciousness of superiority. What further helped to guard them against the hardening influences of materialism, and to enlarge their intellectual horizon, was, along with the con- stant influx of foreign tourists into this, the gate of the two hemispheres of Germany, the great number of scientific institutions and societies for the cultiva- tion of art of which the city then had to boast, and also its free form of government, which afforded to every citizen the opportunity of winning his way to the highest offices of State. Every one was thus stimulated by powerful motives to seek his intel- lectual advancement. Yea, even the seven years' domination of Napoleon, when the city was placed under the Prince-primate,^ however greatly that state of things was detested by the citizens, had, upon the whole, a favoiu-able influence on their general culture. During that period the old fortifications and town- walls were removed, and in their room there arose, as if under the hand of a magician, the most charming garden -ground and promenades. There were also ^ The modern building on tlie site of the ancient palace of the Karlo- vingian emperors. — Tr. '^ i.e. of the Rhenish Confederation. The present " constitution of the free city of Franlifurt " was voted hy the citizens in July 1816. — Tr. 86 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DR KRUMMACHER. removed many other old, dilapidated buildings, which had outlived their time, and thus the city was opened up on all sides and beautified. And how brilliant is the place which is filled in history by all the Dalbergs, those distinguished patrons and active promoters of literature and art ! Carl Theodor also is seen at that time worthily following the shining footsteps of his fame-crowned ancestors, so that no noble endeavour put forth in the region of intellectual activity failed of encouragement and support. In this way Frankfurt became enriched by the advent of many celebrated artists and men of science. After the Restoration in the year 1813, when Frankfurt again came into the possession of all its former rights and freedom, it received into it as a new, and at the same time favour- able, element in its general elevation, the German Diet, whose numerous members, for the most part men dis- tinguished for their intelligence and ability, did not take up so exclusive a place mth reference to the citizens generally, as to prevent them from exercis- ing an intellectual influence upon them, and thereby widening the circle of their ideas and views. The various societies of difi'erent kinds into which I was now introduced, gave to my hfe in Frankfurt a very parti-coloured appearance. Naturally, chief among those with whom I had intercourse were the families which belonged to the congregation among whom I laboured, and some of whom, as the Neufvilles, Lutter- oths, Passavants, Lessings, cle Barys, Bernuses, &c. , like tlie old original families of the sister French- Walloon congregation, on account of their wealth and position, their solid intelligence, and their dignified manner, were reckoned among the patrician families of the first rank in Frankfurt. With delight do I look back to FRANKFURT-ON-THE-MAINE. 8 7 these, in every respect, excellent families, among whom was found a luxury conformable to their social rank, but yet without any ostentation, the finest etiquette without exclusiveness, and kindhness of disposition without formal stiffness. They manifested a lively interest in all literary and artistic excellence. For the most part, also, they took an active interest in all that concerned the Church. , In later years, the celebrated geographer E-itter, who lived for a long time in the midst of them, once said to me that they always hovered before the eye of his memory, as presenting to him the very ideal of domestic and social life. But I mingled also in other societies besides, among which the prevailing tone was not less pleasing, but at the same time more cordial, more unrestrained, and freer. A circle of romantic poets, who achieved for themselves, however, less fame than one would have expected from the talents of those who composed it, received me as a companion into their midst. I en- joyed friendly fellowship with the celebrated romance and novel writer Doring, who was early removed by death ; vdth Wilhelm Kilzer, the author of a poem on the town of Frankfurt, and other occasional pieces of poetry ; with the cabbalistic-theosophic philosopher Molitor ;^ with the amiable author of " The Stories and 1 A follower, to a great degree, of Baacler of ]\Iuiiicli, whose system of pliilosophy was closely allied to the philosophy of Jacob Boelmie (died 1624), " the shoemaker of Gorlitz." Molitoi-'s system was also allied to the Cabbala which sprang out of the Oriental philosophy. The Cabbala is an expansion of the Masora, the system of biblical criticism of the Jews. The tlicoretical Cabl^ala consists of the transposition of letters , their resolution into numbers, the cause of a letter being written great or small, the reason of a consonant being ^vTitten without a vowel, or a vowel without a consonant, the hidden meaning of words, vowels, and accents, &c." The j^radical Cabbala is a sort of magic or black art, by which all manner of knowledge might be acquired. The Cabbalists deal in charms and incantations. — Tr. 88 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DR KRUMMACHER. Legends of the Rhine," Professor Nicolaus Vogt, whose heart, accordmg to his last will and testament, lies buried at the foot of the Rat-tower ^ (Miiusethurm) of Bino-en. From him I learned to know the demon Fountains which then began to sparkle in the first manifestations of his Titanic genius, as they then appeared in his journal, the "Wage," to the alarm of the whole town. I also became acquainted with Clemens Brentano, the writer of romances, the brother of Bettina. He once offered, with all seriousness, to meet the whole expense of the journey, if I would pro- ceed to Rome, and for six weeks attend the worship in St Peter's, w^hich he had no doubt would convert me to Catholicism. I thanked him that he had such a concern for my soul; whereupon he replied : " Till you Protestants pull down the chatter-box " (" Plapper- kasten") — he meant the pulpit — "or, at least, throw it into the corner, where it ought to be, there is no hope of you." I could only reply to him, " It is true, indeed, that our ' Plapperkasten ' stands greatly in the way of you Catholics," Bettina had been at that time for eight years the Baroness Achim von Arnim, but was still remembered in Frankfurt as the highly-gifted maiden, who w^as wont to be spoken of by the people, in a harmless sense, however, as " die kleine tolle Brentano " (the little mad Brentano). This name she received on account of her fantastic original genius, and her free, confiding manner. In the hospitable house of the genial aulic counsellor, Berly, who was at that time chief editor of the " Ober- 1 The Binger-see, or Hole of Bingen, is a rocky bar over wliich the Rliiiie descends with great impetuosity. A little way above it, on a rock in the middle of the stream, is the Miiusethurm, au edifice of the Middle Ages, of renown in legendary lore. — Tu. FRANKFURT-ON-THE-MAINE. 89 postamtszeitung," I had frequent opportunities of being introduced to the acquaintance of persons of intellectual eminence. Those who passed for literary celebrities in Frankfurt, not omitting even Elise Burger — for whom this constant patron of those unfortunate poets who, according to Schiller's " Theilung der Erde,"^ find at length, because they come too late, after the earth has been divided, only a little place in an imagi- nary heaven, provided at a later period of her life a quiet death-bed in an hospital — were usually found assembled at his musical soirees and conversaziones. The saloon of the amiable Hadermann, the Counsellor of Education, was also a favourite resort for those who were enthusiastic friends of the Muses and men of worth. At his flourishing school for the sons of the higher classes I first began, and continued for two years, my labours as a teacher. The attractive influ- ence, however, principally emanated from the lady of the house, who," in her extensive reading, her lively spirit, her sound judgment, and her remarkable gift of imparting information, possessed a magic wand, which quickly aroused the minds of all around her to hvely activity, and compelled them to draw on the treasury of their best thoughts. To many young men of talent she became a gold-digger, bringing out that talent to the light of day, and leading it into the way of future development. Even Peter von Cornelius^ did not ^ " Division of the Earth." The poem describes how Jupiter divided the earth among different classes. While this was going on, the poet was li\ang in dream-land, and missed his share. Jupiter thus consoles him — " Was thun ?" spricht Zeus, " die Welt ist weggegeben Der Herbst, die Jagd, der Markt ist nicht niehr mein. Willst du in meinem Himmel mit mir leuen, So oft du kommst, er soil dir offen sein." — Tr. 2 Son of the inspector of the Picture Gallery at Diisseldorf, was born in F 90 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DR KRUMMACHER. hesitate to ascribe it, for the most part, to the animat- ing influences which she exerted over him, that at one time, when he was on the point of despairing of himself and his art, he did not succumb to the trial. And as an evidence of this, he bequeathed to his amiable patroness, as a gift of thanks, his original drawings in illustration of Goethe's " Faust," and also many other valuable sketches from his master-hand. Now and then the soirees held at Hadermann's were honoured by the presence of the distinguished deputies to the German Diet, who, on such occasions, seemed willing to lay down their ofiicial gravity at the feet of the Muses and Graces, and with poets and artists and singers, to proclaim with enthusiasm their admiration of Goethe, Jean Paul, Mozart, Beethoven, Vandyk, Memling, Canova, Danneker, and Thorwaldsen. Among those children of the world, intoxicated with the love of genius, one Dr Gontgen was generally pre- sent, greatly to my comfort. He was from the heart a pious man, though altogether of the middle-age mystic stamp. He had imbibed the thoughts and ideas of Eckard,^ Tauler, Suso, and Buysbroek, and was at the 1787. His father died when he was still a youth. Amid many difficulties he rose to the higliest eminence as a painter, and, in association with such men as Overheck, elFected a regeneration in German art. His first great work was a series of designs illustrative of Goethe's " Faust," which at once gained him a high reputation. He also prepared elaborate designs to illustrate the " Niehelungen Lied" and " Gerusalemme Liberata." He painted also the frescoes in the Glyptothek at Munich. — Tit. ^ Master Eckard, the first of the German philosophical mystics, died about 1.329. His writings jjroduced a deep impression on the age. He was followed in the 14tli and IStli centuries by like-minded mystics, whose works con- tributed greatly to the revival of genuine piety among the people. Fore- most among these were Tauler of Strasburg (died 1361), who was a man of deep humility and fervent piety, some of whose works have recently been published in English ; Suso, called also Amandus (died 1305) ; and John Ruysbroek (died 1381), called Doctor Ecstaticus. — Tr. FRANKFUIlT-ON-THE-MAIiSrE. 9 1 same time a diligent student of the Apocalypse, but not wholly free from abstruse notions and unsound ideas. He interposed a religious tone into the conversations of the guests, which, however, according to the spirit of the times, bore on itself, for the most part, the stamp of Komanticism, rather than of biblical Christianity. Their religion frequently took no higher form than the confession of Faust, " Call it Happiness 1 Heart ! Love ! or God ! I have no name for it ! Feeling is everything,"^ etc. At a later period the good Gontgen allowed himself to be misled by the well-known fanatic or deceiver Proli, who gave himself out as the " other Elias" spoken of by the prophet Malachi,^ and follow- ing him to America, there shared in the lamentable ruin which overtook his sect and colony, and found his early grave. In spirit I lay an olive-branch on his tomb. His religious depth and warmth had a great share in the process of my enlightenment in the knowledge of that which I yet wanted before I could fully number myself among believing Christians. I sought him often in his own little chamber, up several flights of stairs, and seldom did I return home from those visits to him without being compelled, with a troubled and agitated conscience, to say to myself, " In thy Christianity there is as yet no reality. It is an affair of the understanding and of the lips, but as yet there is no life!" The liveHest interest of the whole cultivated world of Frankfurt was taken up with the " Museum," which was then in its youthful vigour. I had the honour of seeing myself enrolled among the active members of it. 1 " Nenn's Gliick ! Herz ! Liebe ! Gott ! Icli liabe keinen Namen Dafiir! Gefiihl ist alles." 2 Mai. iv. 5, 92 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF BR KRUMMACHER. This excellent institution was under the management <)f the men who were most eminent in the various de- partments of science and art. Among the former — the men of science — I name Dr Kirchner, widely famed for his "History of the City of Frankfurt," and also the highly-gifted Dr Clemens. Among the latter — men distinguished in art — I name the organists Spohr and Guhr; the singing-master Schelbe, like them still well remembered in Frankfurt ; and also the painter Passa- vant. Most of the numerous members of this institution, both ladies and gentlemen, assembled every fortnight to an exceedingly pleasant evening's entertainment, which consisted in the exhibition of old and new speci- mens of sculpture, stucco-work, and painting ; in the performance of magnificent pieces of classical music; and in lectures on subjects appertaining to belles- lettres, or to history. All tliis contributed essentially to the furtherance of the general culture. Here, on such occasions, one sometimes met with distinguished men from a distance, inasmuch as the members had the privilege of rlitroducing their guests. Thus I saw here, of men of science, De Wette ; Marheineke,^ an en- thusiastic admirer of art, who by his serious demeanour presented to me an infallible measure for estimating his philosophical self-consciousness ; Tzschirner of Leip- zig, the bold apologist for Protestantism in opposition to the Papists ; the great jurist Thibaut,^ who was •skilled in music ; the celebrated Carl Hitter, the geo- ^ Of Berlin. Died 1846. He was an admirer of Daub of Heidelberg, the father of modern speculative theology. In some of his theological Avaitings he leans toward Schelling, and in others toward Hegel. — Tr. 2 Of Heidelberg. He was author of a Avork on choral singing, entitled " Ueber Reinlieit der Tonkimst." Like Natorp of Munster, he advocated the restoration of chural singing to its ancient place of honour. — Tn. FRANKFURT-ON-THE-MAINE. 93 graplier, then in the prmie of his manhood ; and many others. Of poets, I there met with the excellent Swabians, Uhland, Kerner, Schwab, and Baggesen, and Tieck from the North.' Of artists, I saw the Dane Thorwaldsen, who, above many others, drew all eyes towards him. "With his gigantic stature, and his features sharply and distinctly marked, and reaching to a colossal magnitude, the whole proportions of his profile bearing evidences of genius and strength, he appeared like a living statue of Michael Angelo. On the occasion of a magnificent banquet, held in celebra- tion of Goethe's seventieth birthday — I mention this in passing — I happened to come near to the great artist, and after I had spoken Avith him a little, he put to me the question, "Are you an artist?" " No," I replied; "I am a theologian." I then heard from him the same words which, at a later time, Bettina once addressed to me in Berlin : " How can one be only a theologian ? " cried, shrugging his shoulders, this famed sculptor of the statue of Christ.^ Who may expound such a psychological contradiction ? I drew from it the conclusion that an enthusiastic admiration for the Person of Christ is something very different ivova faith in Him. If to what we have already said we further make mention of the distinguished " St Cecilia Verein," formed for the purpose of performing only classical ^ Bertel Tliorwaldsen was born at Copenhagen, 1770. He went to Rome at the expense of the Danish Government to study the art of sculpture, for excellence in which he had received, when still a youth, the gold medal of the Academy of Arts at Copenhagen. He remained in the Papal States for twenty-three years, and then, in 1819, set out on a visit to his native country, crowned with fame as one of the greatest sculptors of the time. It was on this occasion of his journey to Copenhagen that Krummacher met him. Among his principal works, executed after his return to Rome, were statues of Christ and the Twelve Apostles. — Tr. 94 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DR KRUMMACHER. music, under the leadership of Schelbe, Riippel's com- munications regarding his voyages of discovery, and many other opportunities of intellectual elevation, it viiR be sufficiently evident that, at that time, in Frankfurt, there were not wanting incitements of many kinds to mental improvement. Yea, in no other place was the elevation which the war of liberation at that time gave to the whole German world of mind, ex- perienced in a greater degree than in Frankfurt. The reUgious element, also, as I have already mentioned, participated in this general intellectual awakening. There was an unmistakable increase in the interest felt in ecclesiastical matters. The sanctuaries were agfain filled with worshippers of all ranks. The Communion table, which had for many years been almost wholly forsaken by the people, was again surrounded by crowds greater than had ever at any time been seen before ; and in social circles it was quite noticeable that the people felt an interest in conversing on the sermons they heard preached from the pulpits on the Sabbaths, and that not in a spirit of hostility, but of friendly criticism. The general scale of Christian knowledge was, it must be confessed, very low. There were some, however, who apprehended that the dis- courses they heard from by far the greatest number of the pulpits, contained in them something essentially dif- ferent from the truths of the free Gospel, which many who frequented the churches were unconsciously in search of The ^^eople were enthusiastic in their admi- ration of Senior^ Hufnagel, who was certainly animated in his style of preaching, and, beyond question, learned, ^ The majority of the inhaLitants of Frankfurt are of the Lutlieran faith. They have twelve clergymen, who are presided over by one of their number, who is stvled the Seniur. — Til. FRANKFURT-ON-THE-MAINE. 95 but still only a Deist. They regarded him as a very apostle. Pastor Kirchner, a man of high mental endowments, though in spirit, and in his system of doctrine, related to the rationalistic Paulus of Heidel- berg, gained for himself an honoured place by his labours for the culture of his native town. Many thousands regarded him as an authority in theology. What he spoke, they said, must be in accordance with the mind of God. Pastor Friedrich, about whom it was probably quite truthfully reported, that he received instructions in the art of declaiming and of mimicry from one of the most distinguished actors, exercised every Sabbath, by his intellectual, devout, declamatory orations, a power over the sensibilities of his numerous audience such as no other preacher then did. With what emotion did I myself once see his audience dissolved in tears, while listening to a sermon in which, after his return home from a short tour, which he had under- taken for the sake of his health, he presented a truly brilliant picture of an enchanting prospect which he had enjoyed from the heights of the Schwarz-Wald (Black Forest), concluding with these words : — " The view I enjoyed of the creation of God altogether over- powered me ! I sank on my knee ! I prayed ; and for whom ? for you, for you, my beloved congregation 1 " All sobbed aloud with emotion and delight, and one would have envied the man for his oratorical powers, had there been less of the theatrical in his manner, and more that was true and real. Among the Lutheran pastors. Stein of Sachsenhausen^ was for Frankfurt a man rich in blessings. He introduced a new and better era for the Church. Yet it is true that in him also ^ One of the suburbs of Franlcfurt. 96 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DR KRUMMACHER. pathos was in excess of the clearness and the fulness of his thoughts. But he proclaimed with high animation, in the language of the educated, Jesus Christ as the only Saviour of the world and of the souls of men. It was the higher classes principally who waited on his ministry. Among those who regularly appeared in his church was the noble Baron von Stein, during his residence in Frankfurt. Many of the delegates of the German Diet, along with their families, also followed his example. And how many have had, at a later time, reason to bless the church of Sachsenhausen, as that in which they first found the " Light of Life ! " The circle of zealous believers in Frankfurt has from that time perceptibly increased ; but so far as it owes its existence to human instrumentality, it dates prin- cipally from the labours of Pastor Stein, In the two Beformed cono-reefations of Frankfurt, the preaching of the true faith was never altogether silent.^ In my time the four pastors all preached the pure and unfettered Word of God, although they were not aU equally decided in announcing its fundamental doctrines. Doctor Spiess, my fatherly friend, was regarded for his spirit, his fine taste, and his style of language, as the most splendid and effective pulpit orator of his times. ^ Tlie Protestant Churches of Germany were originally all Lutheran in their character. The controversies which broke out in the close of the 16th and beginning of tlie 17th centuries, in the Lutheran Church, occasioned by the spread of the views of Melancthon, led to the develojmient on the one side of strict Lutheranism, and on the other to the more decided adojition, on the part of many of the Churches of Germany, of the views of Calvin. Hence resulted a division in the Protestant Church into the Lutheran and the Calvinistic or Reformed. In 1817, the late Frederick William iir. of Prussia united these two branches of the Church. He gave to the United Church the name of the Evangelical Church. The union was only in part successful, however. Thus there are now three branches of the Protestant Church in Germany — the Lutheran, the Reformed, and the United or Evangelical Church. — Til. FRANKFURT-ON-THE-MAINE. 97 Yet lie achieved nothing in comparison of what might have been hoped for from his labours, because he scarcely, in his theological views, rose above the rational supernaturalistic standpoint of Keinhardt, the chief court-preacher of Saxony, who was to him, and to thousands also of his associates in office, a pattern of excellence implicitly followed. In his style of sermon also he had adopted his method of handling texts. His discourses were too much cut up into divisions, and were very loosely connected with the texts which had been chosen. His occasional sermons, particularly those bearing on public themes, may even to this day, how- ever, take the rank of masterpieces. On Fast-days, he was in an especial degree deeply affecting, from the open, free-hearted way in which he dragged out to view the prevailing sins. Beyond doubt, many were aroused by him from the slumber of carnal security, and stirred to seek after the kingdom of God. But to carry these souls farther onward in the way of life, and to initiate them into " the wisdom of God, in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the founda- tion of the world unto our glory " ^ — in this he by no means excelled. More of this duty devolved on his able colleague Passavant, the youthful friend of Goethe, the intimate acquaintance and hke-minded companion of Lavater, whose cheerful peace of mind, and counten- ance bright with unbounded good - will, might be regarded as preaching to all an evangelical sermon. In his lectures, which, like " a Song of Degrees," echoed constantly with the love of God in Christ, it were greatly to be desired, however, that there had been more of a substratum of dogmatic truth. They lacked too frequently the power of conveying instruction. The 1 1 Cor. ii. 7. 98 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DE, KRUMMACHER. special ground on which is manifested the love of God to sinners, did not always occupy the prominent place it was entitled to ; and the way of salvation, with its various steps and stages, floated before him generally as if enveloped in clouds. No one Avho heard his sweet and heart-movino; voice ever left the house of God unrefreshed and uncomforted, and not one of the ministers of Frankfurt w^as held in more general and more deserved honour than this " John," as they were wont to call him, on account of the general refrain of his sermon, "Little children, , see that ye love one another." His seventieth birthday was celebrated by almost the whole town ; and the poem with which I saluted him on that occasion, which appeared in the literary weekly journal called the " Iris," gave expres- sion to the opinions which were entertained by all regarding him. The French Reformed congregation, with its highly distinguished families, who maintained a somewhat ex- clusive superiority of rank, had been accustomed at all times to hear from the lips of its ministers only pure Calvinistic doctrine — with the exclusion, however, of the doctrine of predestination ; and those who were in my time walked firmly in the footsteps of their prede- cessors. These were the Waldensian Appia, who took more delight in the ethical element of Christianity; and Manuel, from Lausanne, who applied himself with more diligence to the dogmatic and mystical depths of the Gospel, the successor of the richly-gifted and only too early departed Jean Renaud, the father-in-law of Mendelssohn-Bartholdy,^ our great master of music, and composer of the unsurpassed oratorios. ^ Felix MeiHlelssolui-Eartlioltly was the grandson of Closes Mendelssohn, tlie distinj^uislied Jewish philosopher. Ills father was a banker, first at FRANKFURT-ON-THE-MAINE. 9 9 Manuel was much to me, yea, very much. In spirit I anoint the tombstone of this distinguished man, whose hfe came too soon to an end. His was a character out and out pure and genuine as gold. He was distinguished by a thorough scientific education, and by the depth and penetration of his mind, combined with a remark- able power of imagination. He very soon won my whole heart. In our reciprocal friendly intercourse there gradually grew up a certain degree of inward sympathy, such that a separation from each other, for hours together, became absolutely unbearable, and he received me as an inmate of the parsonage-house, which was situated near to the church. Oh the never-to-be- forgotten delightful days we spent in fellowship with each other! I bless the man whom the Lord used as the principal instrument in leading me to know the depths of my own heart better, in revealing to me the barren deserts which were there, in vivifying and making distinctly felt in my heart my need of salva- tion, and in heightening the earnestness of my prayers. He has often made me despair of myself, but under his encouragement I always again was able to compose myself and gain courage. When the world with its phantoms threatened again to ensnare me, his voice, to me, always clothed itself m the language of God: " This is the way ! walk in it. Turn not aside to the right hand nor to the left." Tempted by doubts — historical, critical, or philosophical — we sought in Hamlnirg and aftenvaids in Berlin. Felix Avas born in Hamburg in 1809. He early distinguished himself as a musician. His oratorios, which were all performed in England, for the first time in the toAvli hall of Birmingham, were " St Paul," the " Lobgesang," and " Elijah." They were received with the greatest enthusiasm, and the renoAvn of the author spread over Europe, They stand in an equal rank, as masterpieces of musical genius, with Handel's " Messiah " and " Israel in Egypt."— Tr. 100 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DR KRUMMACHER. common their solution, and rested not till it was found. We read together Latin, Greek, and German, with which languages he was perfectly acquainted, and also French, We engaged in a constant interchange of thoughts, if not about some portion of God's Word, about some one of the Reformers or Church Fathers, or about some distino-uished theoloofical work of recent date. We refreshed ourselves in reading Pascal's " Thoughts," and in the writings of tlie Magus ^ of the North, which had then just appeared; we wandered also through Goethe's "Faust," "Iphigenie," and " Tasso," and enjoyed together the chief productions of all litera- ture. We also usually took our walks together through the fields and woods; and it then happened not seldom, as it was the season of the advancing spring, that his Swiss home-sickness showed itself in all its power. Even to this day do I hear him, as on these occasions, ^ J. G. Hamann, Lorn at Ktinigsberg, 1730, and died in 1788. Kahnis thus speaks of him : — "A consunung restlessness pervades his life. Un- bounded desire of study drove him from book to book, from one department of study to another, Avithout his finding satisfaction. It is almost incredible what departments of knowledge he has wandered through. After years of iiTegular study he threw himself, adventurer-like, into the floods of life, until in London the Word of God found him. The thirst for salvation with which he read the Scriptures, made him find as their centre the sal- vation of the sinner through Jesus Christ He was a knotty ' wonder-oak' from which the winds of the spirit of the time elicited oracles. What he WTote are flying leaves which he cast into his time." Of this Magus of the North Goethe says, " He was of course regarded as an abstruse enthusiast by those who swayed tlie literature of the day (Nieolai and his consorts) ; asj)iring youth was, however, attracted by him. Even the (|uiet of the land, as they were called, half in sport, half in earnest — those j)ious souls who, without joining any particular sect, formed an invisible church — gave him their attention." Herder, who was at that time teacher in the Gymnasium (Frederick's college) of Konigsberg, was greatly influenced by Hamann, who was " a good handful of years " his senior. They Avere men of kindred spirit, and were united together in deepest symjiathy. It was Herder who first gave origin to the title by which Hamaun became so widely know in the literary world, " The Mayician of the North.'' — Tu. FRANKFURT-ON-THE-MAINE. 101 with a longing sigh, he poured out these words from his heart, " O ma patrie ! mon lac ! mes belles Mon- tagnes ! " (0 my country ! my lake ! my beautiful mountains !) He was at last, however, set free from all this longing for home, inasmuch as in spite of all the opposition he encountered in the love of his congre- gation toward him, he exchanged his official position, which was in every respect exceedingly agreeable and richly blessed, for that of prison-chaplain in Lausanne, a situation, in a worldly point of view, by no means so comfortable. It is probable, however, that his decision to accept of this inferior situation was hastened by his discovery that a love which was shut up in his breast, the secret of which only betrayed itself to my suspicion, was altogether hopeless. The object of this tender affection, which he kept anxiously concealed, was the daughter — worthy of all love — of one of the most dis- tinguished families of his congregation. Her name was Sophie Gontard, and it is probable that she never knew how the heart of her pastor was moved toward her. Manuel was a decided and richly-gifted witness " of all the blessings which we have in Christ Jesus." He preached with fervency; but nourished as he was with the milk of the Greek and Latin classics, and always farther increasing his acquaintance with them, he laboured, even in the form of his sermons, to attain a perfection which, perhaps, many times injured their popularity, and weakened the impression of their devoutness. Every sermon, costing him from eight to fourteen days' labour, when it was finished, rightly laid claim to be regarded ^.s a sort of classic, and, as is generally the custom among French pastors, was de- livered in different churches, and frequently at the 102 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DR KRUMMACHER. exjDress desire of the congregations who had heard the fame of it. Manuel at one time believed that the Word read, if that was only done according to the rules of rhetoric, would in no degree be inferior in the effect it produced to that which arises from the Word when sung ; and he once undertook, during the service of a Good Friday, to read the whole of Handel's oratorio of the " Messiah," and, at an Easter service, the whole of Handel's " Creation." I was present daring one of these remarkable homiletic experiments ; but he con- fessed to me with deep shame, after the service had been concluded, that he was convinced of his mistake, and that his object would have been reached sooner if he had prepared himself for his duties in his closet in prayer to God, rather than by practising from the rostrum of a Demosthenes or a Cicero, and had then given free scope to the thoughts which pulsated in his heart. He was for ever cured of all confidence in such feats of artistic skill ; and his later sermons serve as a witness how excellently he had learned to unite child- like simphcity, transparent clearness, and true popu- larity, with the neatness and elegance of diction and of style, which were befitting him. His activity in the prison at Lausanne laid upon this intellectual, and on many sides highly-cultivated and gifted man, not a little restriction; but his humility was great, and genuine enough to make this scarcely at all per- ceptible by him. He boasted only of tlie homiletic and psychological ex23erience which he acquired there. And the witnesses of his laboriousness in this infe- rior position, whom he gained also there, speak much in praise of his self-denying fidelity. In the most vigorous period of his manhood, when pastor of the town church of Lausanne, he departed this life in the FRANKFURT-ON-THE-MAINE. 103 peace of God; and I have myself not long ago seen evidence how happy memories of the name, and how the image itself of that genuine honest witness for Christ, live in his congregation, and even far beyond its limits. I cannot also forget what the celebrated and excel- lent Schoflf (town-councillor), Johann Friedrich von Meyer, was to me during my year of training at Frank- furt. Always welcomed by him with the greatest frankness, I never left his study without feehng myself strengthened in the faith, and more filled with the love of the Lord. I was wont to lay before him all the scruples of conscience which in many ways filled me with anxiety; and it was affecting to see with what deep concern he entered on the subject referred to him, and sought by his discourse to me, which always fell from his lips like calm refreshing dew, to set me free from my difficulties. I yet hear him saying, " Does the Mosaic history of the creation awaken doubts in your mind? Are you not rather filled with the highest admu-ation of the sublimity of these words, ' In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth,' which went forth like lightning into the night of the dark world? My dear young friend, could the great secret of the creation of the world be brought near to our limited human circle of vision in a form more beautiful and more appropriate than it is here presented in the history of the six days' work, in which single creations follow each other in the order in which also natural science classifies them? Do not regard the Bible as intended to be a convenient handbook of geology, but with me praise the loving condescension of the great God, who would make Himself in it understood by the weakest and most limited in mental capacity of His 104 AUTOBIOGRAPPIY OF DR KRUMMACHER. eartli-born cliilclren." On another occasion he said : " You feel difficulty at this, and that, in the third chapter of Genesis ? The world in the midst of which this chapter places us is no longer in existence. How can we then at all comprehend its appearance ? But the events recorded in it — does not your own heart and life confirm them to you every day? Is there not always something in your own heart which desires to be as God ? Do you not frequently meet in the depths of your own soul the feelings of an exile who looks back with longing heart to the home from which he has been driven? Do you not also find yourself, with all the children of Adam, under the sentence of the thorns and the thistles, and at last of death itself, as of some strange thing that has fallen upon their original nature ; and wherever you sojourn, does not that word reach you regarding the " Seed of the woman" who will "bruise the serpent's head?" When on one occasion I gave expression to some fears, in view of the efforts of critics to undermine all faith in the Holy Scriptures as the Word of God, this valued friend said to me with a smile, which mirrored forth to my view the unclouded clear- ness and unshaken stability of his faith : " Let not yourself be moved ! All these destructive operations shall and must serve, according to the will of God, only to make evident the absolute immovableness of the foundation on which our faith rests. But though our adversaries— supposing that which is impossible to be possible — were to succeed in bringing suspicion on the authenticity of all the apostolic wiitings — yea, to prove that our four gospels were composed in the third or some other later century — what matters it ? Christ yet remains: He is the Lord! The evidences of His FRANKF LrRT-ON-THE-M AINE. 105 divinity, as well as of His mediatorial reign, and of His power to save, are now indelibly recorded in the history of the world, and engraven on the souls of millions of men whom He has redeemed and sanctified, and brought to the possession of heavenly glory." But of incomparably greater . value to me than were these apologetical hints, to which I might add many more, with which he came to the help of my weakness, was the glance which he thus afforded me into the innermost realm of his heart, as well as the familiar communications which he made to me from the world of his own spiritual experience, and which were so strengthening to my faith. He was a mystic in the noblest sense of the word, and a man of prayer such as few then were. How often did the Lord seem near to him in most remarkable answers to prayer, and ui gracious help which He vouchsafed ! Hence the pecu- liar, gentle sunshine which seemed to irradiate his brow. Often when I looked upon him, the words once written of Moses came to my remembrance, " When he came down from the mount, he knew not that the skin of his face shone when the Lord talked with him." It was greatly to my encouragement that, on one occasion, after he had condescended to hear me preach a sermon, he said to me : "I am glad from my heart to observe your growth in the knowledge of the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. May God help you to go on still farther ! " My joy at this testimony might indeed have given place to shame, for my whole knowledge of Christianity was at tliat time by no means great. Yet that word of his comforted me somewhat, and spurred me on to greater endeavours. In Frankfurt there was at that time a Church within the Church (ecclesiola in ecclesia). Von Meyer some- G 106 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DR KRUMMACHER. times was present at its meetings for devotion. I also now and then took part in these exercises. Its presi- dent and leader was Lix, the leather-merchant, a man of feeling, whom I do not remember to have ever met otherwise than with moist half-closed eyes, and wear- ing lightly-framed spectacles. He read and delivered addresses of an edifying character at these meetings, and also sung and prayed. In this circle I learned to know many truly pious men. That the odium of the great public rested on the " conventicle," was to me a sufficient sign that they who were thus marked were i-eally in earnest with their Christianity. But here also the leader did not seem to have altogether escaped the dangers which threaten the conductors of such meetings. A bankruptcy which he made was reck- oned — I know not whether there may have been any foundation for this — as a very great reproach to him, and, at the same time, it brought reproach also on the whole Gospel. This rendered it necessary for him to terminate the prayer -meetings, and it scattered, at least for a time, the little congregation. It was soon afterwards, however, again re-assembled under others, ministers of the Gospel, who conducted its worship. It was the root out of which ultimately grew the present Frankfurt Bible and Missionary Society. When I now review the sermons I then preached at Frankfurt, I cannot but see — however greatly in them fancy prevailed over experience — that there was in them something, as it were, of the cock-crowing herald- in o- in me the dawn of a new mornino; of life. As Christ had been long since recognised by me as the God-man, who had come down from heaven, and is now highly exalted above the whole race of Adam, so I felt already also, in a very lively and increasingly pro- FRANKFUET-ON-THE-MAINE. 107 found manner, that I, a sinful creature, estranged from the Creator, could not be without Him, in order to my sanctification and salvation. That this belief made itself evident in my public ministrations, accompanied by the breath of thorough truthfulness, is testified by the circumstance that, on one occasion, a Wurtemberg pietist, a behever of great experience and of tried fidehty, who had come to Frankfurt on business as a merchant, when he heard me preach, came to me with the earnest request not only that I would give him the sketch of the sermon, but that I would also grant him permission to have it printed. Moreover, I re- marked, and in an increasing measure among my regular hearers, a not inconsiderable number of true Christians, whom to this day I ought to thank that they were so patiently contented with the stinted pro- visions which then in my youth I had to offer to them. But, above all, I thank the Lord for the rich blessings which, unconsciously to themselves, they were the instruments of conveying to me. Yea, the name Frankfurt stands as the name of the true cradle of my life of faith, and is written, in letters that are inde- lible, in the very centre of my heart. And also for another reason I bless Frankfurt : It gave to me, from one of its excellent families belonging to the city, my dear wife, the faithful companion of my earthly pilgrim- age, the most precious blessing which, next to God Himself, I possess in tliis world. CHAPTER VII. RUHRORT. TN the year 1823 I heard that the situation of pastor -*- to the congregation of the viUage of Ruhrort had become vacant ; and at the same time a request was made to me, provided I had an inclination to become a candidate, to deliver a sermon there. I at once resolved to do so, and accordingly set out on my journey thither, preached, and, not long after my return, was surprised by the news that I had been chosen from among the candidates by a great majority. The departure from Frankfurt, the separation from aU the beloved families with whom 1 had formed an intimate acquaintance, and the leaving of all the opportunities I there enjoyed of mental quickening, of cultivating a taste for that which is sesthetically beautiful, and of mingling in the best and most delightful society, particularly the fre- quent excursions which I made in company with those who were of kindred spirit, to the hills around, and througli the green pleasant valleys and meadows which lay between the magnificent mountain ridges of the Taunus — all this caused me much sorrow. For the future, also, I would not have it in my power so easily to visit the beautiful town of Heidelberg, where I often sojourned in the house of Frau Schneider, who was after- wards mother-in-law of the professor of theology, Bilhr, RUHEORT. 109 and where I enjoyed fellowship with many of the pro- fessors, such as Boss — father and son — Schwarz, Paulus, and others. But that which lightened the sorrow of my departure from Frankfurt, was the prospect of the independent situation, as sole pastor over a congrega- tion, which now lay before me, and the thought also that I would be near to my brother Emil, who had been chosen, a short time before, as pastor of the con- gregation of Baerl, which lay nearly opposite Buhrort, on the left bank of the Bhine ; but, above all, the sweet consciousness that I would carry away with me, as in- deed the people of Pvuhrort had expressly wished, my beloved one from the dear old free town of Frankfurt. Thus, then, I took my departure with my young wife, after the venerable Passavant had bestowed the priestly benediction on our union. We went forth in the name of God, to whom I must wholly ascribe it that I was led in this path. From Diisseldorf, where the presbjrtery of the congregation of Buhrort, to which my brother Emil had joined himself, welcomed us in a large barge, adorned with flags and flowers, around which was quite a fleet of smaller boats, we sailed down the Bhine. According to the custom of the congregations in the Bhine provinces, we were re- ceived by the people not as a poor pastor about to enter on his ofiice, but like a prince, amid the firing of guns and the loud huzzaing of the multitudes on both banks of the river, bidding us a hearty welcome. At the landing-place of Buhrort, where all the vessels in the harbour were decorated with their flags, the whole congregation had assembled. I delivered to them an address of salutation from the ship. This was followed by the salutation addressed to me, on their part, by the president of the congregation ; and 110 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DR KRUMMACHER. then we moved on in procession through the green triumphal arch, amid the pealing of the bells from the church tower, into the town, which was every- where adorned with festoons of flowers, to the house of Haniel, where we were welcomed in the most hospit- able manner, till our own parsonage-house should be put in order for our inhabiting it. I do not now particularly remember the contents of the sermon I preached on the following Sabbath, on entering on my office. There was, however, present with me, both during and after the dehvery of it, a definite feeling that between me and the congregation a bond of union was formed that could not be more intimate ; and the future abundantly confirmed the truth of this feelmg. Oh how incomparably happy was the time which was granted to me in dear Ruhrort ! However brief it was — and it extended over not quite two years — yet it was the May-time of my official life. The spiritual leaven which had gradually penetrated into my heart at Frankfurt, now in Ruhrort unfolded itself and was seen— the bud wdiich there began to swell here opened out mto full leaf Was it a wonder ? I not only preached to a congregation hungering for the Word of God, which received from my lips, with eyes beaming with delight, whatever I had to ofier them from the treasury of the Gospel ; but I also felt myself as if borne up by the affections and by the prayers of considerable circles of experienced and well-informed Christians who gathered around me, and I thought that I saw very soon my constant and yet very imperfect instruction honoured with a rich blessing of fruitfulness among the old, and especially among the young. Christian life on the Ruhr and in the Lower Rhine, especially at Mulheim, Duisburg, Baerl, Kettwig, and RUHROET. Ill ill the principality of Mors, Lad at that time less or more of a Tersteegen^ shade about it, without, however, any separatistic tendency. " Inward Christianity" was the watchword of the faithful. " Spiritual experience," " the life hidden with God," " the death of self," " Christ in us," were the catchwords of their theology. But whoever would on that account, according to a certain new view, mark them with contempt as " sub- jectivists," must bear in mind their relation to their Lord, whom they served truly and in the full sincerity of their souls. Yet it happened, nevertheless, to many of them that, while they professed to lay the whole weight on holiness of heart, they yet at the same time fell, unconsciously to themselves, into the bondage of a certain exteijnal formahsm. Tersteegen's saying, " By silence will they be known," was to them the rule of their conduct. They appeared sparing in words, and with their thoughts turned in upon them- selves. They were shocked at loud laughter, or jokes, however harmless, and indeed at all manner of social intercourse which had not as its centre the one sacred object. And while attaching no importance to things indifferent, they comprehended under the class of "things of this world," which they condemned, and from which they stood wholly aloof, not only the theatre and concerts, not only all toasts and the sing- ing of merry songs at family festivals, but they also regarded as worldly, and not befitting those who are ^ " Gerhard Tersteegen, ribbon- weaver at Miillieim, on tlie Ruhr (died 1769), was a mystic, and that one of the noblest and most pious that ever lived. He is distinguished as a sacred poet. He was a patriarchal hermit, to whom anxious souls came from far and near to receive spiritual counsel, comfort, and refreshment ; and he was withal a child in humility and simplicity. Without being a separatist, he regarded the Chiu'ch with indifference and neglect." — Kurtz. — Tr. 112 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DR KRUMMACHER. Christians, tlie taking of any interest in any other kind of literature than that which was distinctively rehgious. They even condemned all taking delight in the creations of art, even though it were sacred art. They had no conception of the regeneration of the world as the last aim of Christianity. The building up of the Church into a glorious temple of God upon earth, was to them an idea that was foreio-n, their whole sphere of vision being limited by the spiritual edifica- tion of the soul of each individual believer. From this tendency, which was certainly unhealth- fal, and for which it would be a crying injustice to make the noble Tersteegen responsible, the faithful at Ruhrort ought to have had intelligence enough to have kept themselves freer. Ters'teegen was their favourite and constant guide and adviser in the narrow way. His " Crumbs " constituted, the whole year through, the principal foundation of their household devotion, and the precious songs of his imperishable " Geistliches Blumengiirtlein " (Little Garden of Spiritual Flowers) lived continually in their mouths and in their hearts. But they did not confine theu" rehgious reading wholly to Tersteegen's writings, but appropriated to themselves also the spiritual treasures found in the writings of Lampe and other devoted servants of God. But, above all, they turned from the brooks and cisterns ever afresh to the living fountain, the Word of God itself They were diligent searchers of the Bible, and this guarded them against many errors into which others had fallen, through a too unconditional attachment to the mystics of the French • Catholic Church — Poiret, J. de Ber- nieres-Louvigny, Madame de Guyon, and others — whom Tersteegen, by means of translations and other- wise, made accessible to wider circles of readers in order RUHRORT. 113 to guard tlieir inner life against the blighting influence of a dead orthodoxy. But did the sea-faring life of the Christians at Kuhrort, which, in contrast to the occupa- tion of weavers which prevailed in other places, extended the horizon of their thoughts and brought them into contact with men of different lands, help to give a fresher and freer direction to their thoughts ? This was the case, as might naturally have been expected. But the prmcipal thing by which they were kept from the narrowness of a false legal ascetism, was the cir- cumstance that to them the Scripture doctrine of justi- fication by faith alone, which to those who are called mystics, and even to a Thomas a Kempis,^ was hid under a thick veil, was revealed in unclouded clearness, as the Reformers had brouo-ht it forth ao^ain from underneath the rubbish of Bomish institutions. Among the faithful of those who were the first-fruits of my ministry there were two men who, though they sat at my feet as if eager to learn like the rest, with a modesty and humility which often put me to the blush, were yet true fathers in Christ to me. The one, named Scholten, was in his youth a driver of horses along the river-side, but who became at a later period, by fidelity and industry, and through the dowiy he acquked by his wife, a well-to-do owner of land and property at a colhery. He was at an early period of life led into the ways of holiness, principally by means of Terstee- gen's writings, which he was wont to fasten on the ^ Was born at Kempen, near Cologne, altout 1380. He was educated among the "Brethren of the Common Life." He afterwards became a canon in the monastery on Mount St Agnes, at Zwoll. He employed himself in transcribing the Bible and several of St Bernard's treatises, a work in which he excelled. He transcribed also from older manuscrij^ts a work entitled " De Imitatione Christi," wliich is now generally sujjposed to have been composed by Gerson, Chancellor of the University of Paris. — Tk. 114 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DR KRUMMACHER. crupper of the horses behind which he walked, and to read from this strange desk. He afterwards consecrated all his spare hours to a very diligent perusal of God's Word ; and by personal inquiry, by prayer, and conver- sation with other like-minded friends, he at length acquired a knowledge of the Bible which many theo- logians might have envied. And his extensive know- ledge of the Bible was perfectly equalled by his under- standing of its contents. When I came to Buhrort, this dear amiable man, to whom my heart was very soon drawn, was regarded, and properly so, among the pious of that place, and throughout the whole surrounding district, as a mature Christian of great enlightenment and experience. He was invited to visit those who were seeking after sal- vation, and to speak to them of the way of life ; and as he had in a remarkable degree the gift of presenting the truth in a clear and lively- manner, he frequently conducted meetings for religious instruction and devo- tion, sometimes in one place and sometimes iii another. Though the labours thus imposed on him of visiting among the dwellings of the people were very great, yet after he was assured by the excellent clergyman of the place of his approbation of his conduct, he always responded to such invitations with joy ; and I have myself many a time, and to my own great edification, been witness of the unction and solidity and popular power with which he was wont, " from the heart to the heart," to proclaim the word of life. To, very many indeed he was a messenger of blessings, and not least to myself He has now departed from earth to the Church triumphant. A few years ago, when I saw him, then an old man of ninety years, I addressed him in these words : — " My dear Scholten, how greatly have I reason RUHRORT. 115 to thank you ! Through you the Lord led me deeper, not only into the knowledge of my own corrupt heart, but also of the word of His grace. And yet even more than this you were to me. May God reward you ! " The other of the two men who were to me, I must confess, though it was altogether imconsciously to them- selves, as my spiritual mentors, and whom I number among the most beloved of those I have met with on my life's journey, was a poor master-tailor, by name Wickop. To prevent all sneering at the mention of this man, I remind the reader of the words of the apostle : " God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise ; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty ; and base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are."-"^ He was self-taught from his childhood, but, according to the words of the prophet, "taught of the Lord,"^ full of spirit and of fine feeling, and as rich in faith and in love as in un- assuming modesty and genuine humility. He was compared, not without truth, to the disciple who lay on Jesus' bosom, the apostle John ; while in his friend Scholten there was perceived more of the nature of Peter. On his lofty brow rested, as it were, the reflec- tion of the " wisdom that is from above," of which the Apostle James says, "It is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy."^ On his clear and beautiful countenance there shone the Hght of mildness, and gentleness, and inward peace, which made the most pleasing impression on all who beheld him. The true-hearted, open glance of his 1 1 Cor. i. 27, 28. 2 jg. ]iy. 13. 3 j.^jj^^g ^j, 17, IIG AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DR KRUMMACHER. friendly eye inspired all ^^dth the most perfect con- fidence in him, and his words streamed forth from his lips so clear, so full of meaning, so well arranged, yea, often admii'ably selected, and as if springing from a kind of sacred humoui-, that no one was left in doubt that this man, although he had never passed through the schools of science and of literature, was yet in the possession of true profound education. His whole appearance confirmed in a high degree a well-known saying of Goethe's, who, without being conscious of it, often gave forth predictions, as formerly the Rabbi Gamahel and the high-priest Caiaphas did ; and still more, there was fulfilled in him that word of One greater than all, which was spoken to fishermen and publicans : "I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to gain- say nor resist."^ This beloved man lived and moved in the atmosphere of the Word of God as in his pro- per element ; and how frequently had he not occasion amid his labours to echo, from his own experience, these words of David : " How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God ! how great is the sum of them!"^ He was rich in possessing a deep insight into the Holy Scriptures; and it was a great pleasure to hear him when, with an eye beaming with delight, but yet with the greatest modesty, he communicated how he beheved that he had discovered, in this place or in that, some new depths of meaning, had found some new treasury of truths, or the solution of some biblical difficulty. But he was rich not only in his intelligent acquaintance with the Bible, but also in his experi- ence of the nearness of the Lord, and of the efficacy of prayer, for he was eminently also a man of prayer. 1 Luke xxi. 15. ^ p.><, exxxix. 17. RUHRORT. 117 But let no one suppose that he was one who, hke an anchorite, withdrew from the world. He mingled in the most friendly way with his fellow-men, and so far as his ability reached, he was always ready to help his fellow-citizens and his neighbours, and cheerfully took part in all undertakings which were for the common weal, and in all Christian associations. He looked with delight on the beautiful world of nature, " the divine picture-book for learners," as he called it ; and his soul was so attuned, that even what was truly beautiful in secular art and poetry awakened a respon- sive echo within him. These two friends I now saw every Sabbath sitting before me, along with not a few other experienced and mature Christians, in the very attentive and always numerous congregation ; and one very easily conceives how a young preacher would be excited and quickened by having such hearers as these. He could not but feel himself fired with earnestness in his endeavour always to present well-considered discourses, corre- sponding to their expectations and necessities. After the public services of the Church were concluded, these Christian friends were accjistomed to meet together again, in the house of one or another of their number, to converse together in a familiar manner over what they had heard ; and to their no httle joy I also some- times was present at these pleasant meetings. It happened that I frequently heard there many beautiful thoughts expressed, which, alas, I had not spoken as I ought to have done, and many deep interpretations of Scripture given which made me ashamed ; for with sincerity of heart they really ascribed them to me, and I had only thankfully to note what they said. By this means, I naturally felt myself spuiTed to more 118 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DE, KRUMMACHEE,. diligent study of the Scriptures, and to more earnest prayer, that I might, at least in some measm^e, be worthy of the remarkable confidence which, to my shame, they placed in me. On one occasion there happened to me what once also occurred in the experience of the celebrated Bishop Albertini of the Moravian Brethren. As he was preach- ing on the words of the apostle, " In labours more abundant,"^ &c., one of his auditors, to the surprise of the whole congregation, cried out, " It is plain that Paul was strongly inclined to pride and vainglory, w^hatever else may be deduced from this passage." So, when dis- coursinof on the words, " Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself like- wise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil," ^ I allowed the inconsiderate remark to escape my lips, following therein the opinion of Saurin, whose writings I had but recently been engaged in reading, that the apostle, in the last words of that text, alluded to the superstition of the later Judaism, accord- ing to which " Sammael," a wicked spirit, held the world in terror, and ruled Qver it by Death as his jailer and hangman. No sooner had I said this than one of the friends sitting in the circle I have above referred to, addressed to me, quite inoffensively, and in a modest manner, the question, Wliether the apostle, then, did not believe and wish to teach that the devil truly had the power of death, in so far as he not only filled the soul with fear through death, but also, after he had drawn men aside into sin, led men away into hell by means of death as his executioner ? The question filled me with surprise and amazement. I had not only made 1 2 Cor. ii. 23-30. 2 jjeb. ii. 14. RUHROET. 119 the apostle to be suspected of writing in accommodation to a Jewish superstition, but I had also given rise to the thought that I myself denied the existence of the devil. I assured the friends, notwithstanding all I had said on the subject, that I was no such heretic as that; yea, I begged them to pardon me that I had for the moment been so forgetful. But by this I only made the case the more embarrassing. They, in reply, begged me to pardon their boldness, and assured me that they had not the remotest doubt about my soundness in the faith. I mention this occurrence only as an evidence at once of the delicate forbearance which the faithful of the congregation at Ruhrort showed to their young pastor, as also of the modesty which at all times they evinced in all their intercourse with him. I may well say that the congregation took me and my wife by the hand. Whatever they could do in an- ticipation of our wishes, that they cheerfully did. They took care that our house was well supplied with meat and drink, so that we scarcely needed to purchase any- thing. When a little son was born to us, whom it was found necessary to nurse with a nursing-bottle, they very considerately arranged that a milk-cow kept by one of them should be reserved for our house exclusively. When we thought of filling our garden with vegetables instead of flowers, they told us that we would receive abundance of vegetables from the gardens of the con- gregation ; and so we certainly found it to be the case. The friends celebrated our birthdays, and came to us on such occasions with their good-wishes and with presents for us. They surprised us on the occurrence of such family festivals with choral and psalm singing, and by other such displays and acts — and always in the 120 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DR KRUMMACHER. most delicate way, as proved the greatness of their affectionate interest in us. " But had you no adversaries?" Do you mean per- sonal adversaries? I am inclined to believe I had none. There were, however, certainly not wanting those who opposed themselves to my doctrines. These adversaries were chiefly found among the families of several wealthy and in other respects very honourable owners of coal- works, who had come over from the county of Mark,^ and settled at Ruhrort, where they had stores of the produce of their works. This they did for the sake of conducting the transport on the Kuhr and the E-hine, and superintending the traffic at the harbour of Ruhrort; In the district I have named, at that time distinguished for the spirit of patriotism it displayed, there still sur- vived the recollections of the "great monarch," ^ such as perhaps was found in no other district of the Prus- sian Fatherland. In every house one found his por- trait. No region was richer in the anecdotes which were related by the people concerning " old Fritz," than was the district of Mark. But, along with liis fame as a conquering hero, they gloried in him also as the philosopher of Sans-Souci, and his principles here found 1 An old county, now comjireliended in the Prussian province of West- phalia. 2 Frederick ii. of Prussia, Frederick the Creat. After a hrilliant rei_L;n, so far as the advancement of the material interests of Prussia are con- cerned, he died in 1786 at the palace of Sans-Souci. He was an avowed unbeliever in revealed religion. His notions even of natural religion were of the vaguest kind. He admired Voltaire, and was greatly influenced in his opinions by the French literati of that period. On one occasion, writing to Voltaire, he said : " Were 1 a heathen, I would worship you under the name of Apollo ; were I a Jew, I would assign you a place beside the kingly prophet and his son ; were I a Papist, I would make you my guardian saint and my father confessor ; but as I am no one of these, I can do no more than content myself with admii'ing you as a pliilosopher, loving you as a poet, and honouring you as a friend." — Tr. RUHRORT. 121 hospitable acceptance. Hence there appeared m many of the inhabitants of that place a spirit of opposition to the faith to which I was attached with my whole heart, and which I loudly proclaimed. Yet, for all that, this did not separate them from the church, nor alienate them from myself personally. We met frequently with one another, disputed often keenly enough, and then sat down peacefully again together in the Presbyterium. They derisively called those who were behevers " the pure,^' and watched to see if they could not discover some weakness or imperfection in their characters. In this respect, perhaps, they did not watch in vain ; but there was one at least against whom they could find no charge of inconsistency or shortcoming — that was the master-tailor Wickop. This man enjoyed the esteem and love of all. Yea, when he left this world, in the peace of God, not only the whole congregation of the faithful, but the outside world besides, adorned his grave with an honourable memorial; an almost solitary example of these words of our Lord, " If they have persecuted Me, they will also persecute you;" for " the servant is not greater than his Lord," ^ seeming not to be fulfilled. But in this disciple the leaven of divine grace had fully penetrated the dough of his whole nature in a way rarely to be met with. He was distinguished for his Christian excellence, reaching even to the eminence of the first disciples of Chris- tianity, of whom it is said that " they had favour with all the people." ^ But what helped, in an essential degree, to gladden the period of my residence at Buhrort, was my near- ness to my brother Emil in Baerl. The towers of our respective churches saluted each other across the 1 Jno. XV. 20. 2 ^cts ii. 47. H 122 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DR KRUMMACHER. Khine ; and on the Sabbath, when the wind was favourable, I could hear his bells ringing, or he mine. A short walk along the banks of the Rhine, and then a sail across the stream, brought us into fellowship with each other — and this often happened. And then we freely and frankly communicated with one another about our respective studies, our sermons, the affairs of our congregations, and the interests of our homes, as well as also the thoughts and feelinsfs of our hearts. In Baerl, also, which had been singularly blessed in the labours there of my uncle, Gottfried Daniel Krum- macher, in all the useful freshness of his first zeal in the service of the Lord, and also in those of his suc- cessor, Snethlage, who is now Oberhofprediger, ecclesi- astical and spiritual life were then in a very prosperous condition ; and that which was once said of the Church of Jerusalem might almost have been said of that of Baerl and the region around it : " The Lord added to the Church daily such as should be saved." As a rule, the people of Baerl were better conducted and more prosperous than those of Buhrort. They were quieter, more hospitable, and, inasmuch as they belonged ex- clusively to the Reformed faith, they held strongly to the Calvinistic doctrine of the Sacrament of the Supper, which in Buhrort, since the union of 1817, had fallen more into the background ; but in respect of the inwardness of their faith in the Lord, and in the fidelity of their service to Him, they stood in no respect behind my dear congregation at Buhrort. Also the old Duisburg, the scene of my boyhood, lay only some half an hour's journey from Buhrort across the Bhine, and it never allowed the recollections which flowed over my soul, in ceaseless waves rolling up from the past, to be at rest. I had frequent personal inter- RUHROET. 123 course with Gunther, who was formerly professor, and with the burgomaster Schlechtendahl, who were stead- fast adherents of Menken^ and the Hasenkamps, having much in common with these two noble men. Gunther and the burgomaster were the two great promoters there of Church life. Ross, in the neighbouring town of Budberg, who acted toward me and my brother as if we had been his own children, received us often under his hospitable roof with unequalled heartiness and good feeling, and refreshed us with his genial humour. Besides this, the Dutch transport-ships, which sometimes remained durino' the whole winter in the harbour of Buhrort, gave me the opportunity of form- ing many excellent acquaintanceships among their cap- tains and their families. Thus there were many things of a pleasant nature connected with my residence in Buhrort fitted to engrave its name indelibly on my heart. It was truly the spring-time of my official life which I spent there. 1 Menken and the two Hasenkamps were of the religious party called Collenljusclxians, founded ])y a physician called CollenLusch, of Wichling- hausen (died 1803). This party was a sort of offshoot from Sj^ener's Pietism, and was pervaded by the elements of Oetinger's Theosophy. Oetinger's development was " a retreat from the snowy regions of Wolffianism, lead- ing through the misty lands of the intuition of Jacob Boehme, of central visionaries, of the alchemists of Swedenborg. And then, after all, we are again attracted to this Magus of the South Ijy his wonderful life of prayer, by the mysterious intercourse with a higher world, by liis thoughtful living and mo\'ing in the my.steiy of Scripture." This distuiguished Swabian prelate died in 1782.— Tr. CHAPTEE VIII. BARMEN. TN the beginning of the year 1825, after I had ah'eady, to the great joy of my congregation, dedined the calls I had received from the congregations of Langen- berg and Kronenberg, there appeared in my church men from Gemarke, a parish in the town of Barmen. They were presbyters. One of the two pastoral charges in that parish was vacant. They heard me preach, and after divine service they paid me a friendly visit ; but beyond that they gave me no information, and then departed. On the following Sabbath other deputies also appeared in the church. I observed that by this time my congregation, to their no httle annoyance, perceived what was doing. Enough. I was chosen by the con- gregation of Gemarke ; and although my heart bled at the thought of leaving Ruhrort, yet I accepted the call I had received with the approbation of my Chris- tian friends, who recognised it as a call from the Lord, which I could not disregard. Many things attracted me — the wide sphere of action which was thus opened to me, the fame of the spiritual life which reigned in the Wupperthal, the fellowship with so large a number of distinguished, highly-gifted preachers, into the midst of which I should by such a step be introduced. But, above all, this translation to Gemarke would bring me BARMEN. 125 near to my uncle in Elberfeld ; and I had the prospect, which was soon realised, that my brother would in a short time leave Baerl, and would again become my near neighbour. Yet, in spite of all this, I durst not ask my heart what was to be done. It would have decided quite otherwise. I thought, however, that the Lord had decided, and therefore I accepted the call in His name. The first among the ministers in the Wupperthal who welcomed me with a brotherly salutation, next to my uncle, Gottfried Daniel, was Pastor Sander of Wichlinghausen, which was also a parish in Barmen. Although I had heard his name before, yet this was the first occasion on which I met him. But this first meeting had this effect, that it filled me with the liveliest anticipation of our future friendship. It brought to me consolation, for it was not without, great anxiety that I now entered on my new sphere of labour. My entrance into the Wupperthal, accompanied by a long procession of splendid equipages and a troop of stately horsemen at their head, represented in the most worthy manner the wealth of that industrial district. In the midst of it all, however, Ruhrort, inferior, it is true, as to pleasantness of situation, and ruder in the character of its population, yet for all that more agreeable and more fitted to engage the affections of the heart, hovered before the eye of my memory. Yea, in spite of all the heartiness with which they now met and welcomed me into the Wupperthal, I thought that I felt a different and a colder atmosphere breathing on me than that which I had hitherto experienced. And this feeling was no delusion. Oh, with what deep thankfulness, and at the same time inward shame, do I look back on 126 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DR KRUMMACHER. the great and overflowing love witli which I was con- tinuously, in ever-increasing measure, honoured during my twenty years' residence in the Wupperthal ! But the love here assumed an altogether different form and attitude from that which, almost to my injury, brightened with its golden halo my days at Ruhrort. It was, in comparison to the love of that my first con- gregation, something hke the thoughtful love of the mature man measuring the worth of men, as compared with the instinctive love and respect of the innocent child ; or like the love of husband and wife, which, in the course of years, has grown into a deeply rooted reciprocal aifection, as compared with the love of the newly married during the so-called honeymoon. The principal feature in the character of the people of Berg ^ — the Clevish type of character prevailing in Ruhrort — among whom I now lived, I cannot otherwise describe than as a general intelligence and intellectual acuteness. They are a people of quick reflection, with whom the heart less frequently asserts itself The sophist is more akin to them than the mystic, the scholastic than the enthusiast. They almost seem also as if they had been created with a religious capacity for Calvinism. Everywhere system was demanded, and therefore the Heidelberg Catechism^ was raised to a higher place than the Enchiridion^ of Luther. They held it as of special doctrinal importance, and hence it came about that the tendency of their faith showed ^ The duchy of Berg, in the old circle of Westphalia, hounded on the north hy the duchy of Cleves. — Tr. 2 Prepared under the direction of the Elector Frederick iii., by Ursinus and Olevianits, two professors of Heidelberg, for the use of the schools of the Palatinate. — Tr. ^ Enchiridion ( = Manual), der Kleine Katechismns. — The smaller cate- cliism, prepared by Luther in 1529 for the use of the peo])le and children, as the larger was for the use of the clergy and schoolmasters. — Tr. BARMEN. 127 itself even in Lutheran congregations as predominantly Reformed. They were, almost to tlie extreme of Puri- tanism, a Protestant people, and from the heart they abhorred whatever, even in a remote degree, in consti- tution, worship, or doctrine, swayed toward Ptomanism. The fine arts had no attraction for them. Their pas- sion was rather for science in its popularized form. Nor did they take any delight in singing, particularly in choral singing, the text of which was too lyrical and altoofether too sentimental for them, but could not easily have been made too dogmatic. Besides, this sober, calculating, speculative people presented in their personal character, which was pervaded by the Gospel, the evidences of their didactic modes of thought. They knew thoroughly and clearly whatever they requked to know. They were what they were without any reserve or hesitancy, and they regarded ignorance of what the Gospel of Christ taught as equivalent to a being ashamed of it. They always carried their con- fession forward to the same degree of fulness as their faith, and did not think they had reason to shun inquiry into the rectitude of their conduct in daily life, pro- vided they stood to their profession. Many such Christians as these, firmly rooted in the doctrines of salvation, I met with among the members of my new congregation at Barmen. Many disturbing elements, however, from the districts of the Upper Rhine and the river Sieg, on the banks of which Jung- Stilling^ was born, afterwards penetrated amongst them, 1 A celebrated mystic. He died at Karlsruhe in 1817. As a physician, he was distinguished for his skill in diseases of the eye. His auto- biography, which was prepared at the suggestion of Goethe, who had a great fondness for him, and refers frequently to him in his " Dichtung imd "Wahrheit," has been published in English. " The great element of his character was an invincible and intense faith in God, and an immediate 128 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DR KRUMMACHER. SO that the pecuhar features of the Bergish character appeared less sharply defined than they were in my congregation at Elberfeld, to which I was next removed. For more than thirty years before this, the congrega- tion at Gemarke had enjoyed, in their Pastor Krall, the ministration of one who, as a guide of the people, appeared to many of them as a living illustration of the words of the apostle, " If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body."^ Few pastors have ever been so highly honoured among the people of his charge as he was. He might well have said of himself, with Job, " I chose out their way, and sat chief, and dwelt as a king in the army, as one that comforteth the mourner."^ On his friendly, yea, generally smihng lips, neverthe- less, there lay an episcopal imperative, which quickly made itself apparent to all under this outward appear- ance of gentleness, and before which all were con- strained to yield. With all his humility, perhaps by very reason of it, he was shepherd of his diocese in the sense of the word in which it was applicable at once to one who cared for their souls, and who was also a ' ' governor. " Even in his own house, which was regarded by the people with a certain degree of veneration as a tabernacle of God with the children of men, as it was in very truth, and among his own family, although he was childless, this double character did not fail to exhibit itself His domestic servants passed through his room on tiptoe like fairies ; and if after the heat and burden of the day his wife brought to him a lighted match for his clay pipe, it was done with a deportment and a Providence, ever at hand in the time of trouble, and which momently pre- served man from evil." — Tr. ^ James iii. 2. - Juh xxix. 25. BARMEN. 129 demeanour as if she presented it to a saint. His ser- mons were uniformly of the same general character. There was first an introduction, in a sentence, bearing some relation to the text; then an explanation of the text, followed by a three-fold application : to unbelievers, to those who were longing for salvation, and finally to those who had already turned to the Lord and were living a life of faith. The contents of his sermons — which were always, to a minute, of precisely the same length, and never contained a single word or thought which had not first been carefully considered, and then committed to writing — were good, home-baked, cate- chism-bread, solid and nourishing, but without any generous refreshing ingredients. It was impossible but that every one of his hearers, under such teaching, should become tolerably well acquainted with dogmatic theology, as exhibited by Calvin, even to the profound doctrine of predestination. An Elberfeld critic once said. If any one should imagine that the venerable Krall filled up the measure of his sermon on the Saturday, as one fills a flagon by only turning the crane at his feet, this would be as untrue as it would be odious. He wrote his sermons praying for divine guidance, and there- fore there rested on them a rich blessino' from above. I was now appointed as successor to this venerable man, after he had, of his own accord, resigned his office, on account of his advanced age and bodily infirmity, to the no small grief of the greatest part of the congre- gation, I mention only a part of the congregation, for there certainly were not wanting those who were glad at this result, inasmuch as it freed them from a " hier- archical yoke," as they called it, from which they could not otherwise escape. But the venerable Krall remained to his death a benefactor to the congregation, for he 130 AUTOBIOGRAPPIY OF DR KRUMMACHER. was a very wealthy man, as well as its circumspect and benevolent counsellor. To me, also, he acted the part of a kind paternal friend. Many hours have I, with great respect, spent beside him ; and I had reason to thank him for many salutary instructions and advices. However immature and inexperienced I felt myself to be as the successor of such a man, yet it was perhaps for the good of the congregation that now, once again, the fresh youthful breath of the " first love " to the Lord, and to the sacred office with which I was now invested, should blow upon them. My excellent and richly-gifted colleague, Dr Griiber, who afterwards became general superintendent, was certainly not defi- cient in zeal in testifying for the truth, and in warmth of heart ; but yet he was at least ten years my senior, and was greatly inclined toward dialectics, whilst I was more a man of feelinsr and of imagfination. Thus one in faith, the complement of each other, we went on in our work hand in hand, with the most fraternal affec- tion toward each other ; and it caused no disturbance to our confidential relationship that he often blamed me, and perhaps justly so, for my rhetorical and even dog- matic extravagances ; while I, on my part, also often reproved him for his too cautious and dry argumentative moderation and reserve in the statement of doctrine. In Barmen there was at that time very great activity displayed in the sphere of ecclesiastical life, the waves of which, from year to year, rose ever higher. The extensive population of Lower Barmen exhibited in the fullest representation the beautiful spectacle of a true Christian Church-union, and was blessed with the labours of these distingfuished men of God, Snethlao-e and Leipoldt, who were still in the prime of their youth. In Wupperfeld the theosophic Pastor Feldhoff" poured BARMEN. 131 out the thoughts which filled his burning heart, and awakened many to a new life. There also laboured the eloquent Heuser, whose appearance, as often as he entered the pulpit, seemed to be a fulfilment of the promise of the Lord by the prophet Zephaniah, " Then w^ill I turn to the people a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of the Lord, to serve Him with one consent. " ^ In Wichlinghausen, Sander sounded the trumpet of a pure Gospel, so that far and wide, over mountain and valley, it summoned to the standard of the Cross. Associated with these men was Pastor Lindl, formerly a Romish priest, who had been forced to leave Sarepta,^ in Russia. By his powerful sermons on the necessity of repentance, preached here and there, he aroused the minds of the people. At my parsonage- house he was solemnly consecrated as the first inspector of the Barmen Mission Seminary, which had then just been established. Great crowds of hearers were everywhere thronging the churches, and it was quite a common thing to hear the sound of choral singing, in which many voices were united, proceeding from the workshops and factories, and echoing from the woods and hills around on the Sabbath afternoons. Our time was indeed almost wholly taken up with our ofiicial duties. In addition to the services of public worship on the Lord's day, were week-day sermons, and many services connected with baptisms and funerals. The children, as a rule, from their tenth year, and not seldom from their eighth and ninth years, attended our catechism classes. Bap- tisms and marriages were all celebrated in the houses 1 Zeph. iii. 9. 2 A Russian to\ni on the Scarpa, not far from its junction with the Volga. It was founded in 1765 by a German colony of Herrnhutters. — Tr. 132 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DR KRUMMACHER. of those concerned ; and it was expected that on these occasions the preacher would remain with the company after performing the duty, and season the conversation by taking an active part in it. Constant domiciliary visitation among the families of the congregation we reckoned among our common official duties. Besides, all who were sick expected to be frequently visited by their pastor. In addition to all this there were duties con- nected with the societies for Bible circulation, for mis- sions and other Christian purposes, which devolved upon us ; and our houses were frequently resorted to by those who sought instruction in the way of salvation, or who only needed counsel as to their secular affairs. But all these varied duties were undertaken with joy, and the fruit of our labour seemed to increase in our hands. In our fields of labour we realised the fulfil- ment of that comparison mentioned by James, " Behold the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruits of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain,"^ As a rule, the sowing of the good seed and the reaping of the harvest were not separated by any great interA^al of time. Tersteegen once said that he would not represent himself as one possessing in true experience that which he described to others of some profound truth, and of the condition of a j)ure soul ; but that rather he would frequently be regarded as nothing else than as one who first, by the grace of God, had come to the knowledge of that which he proclaimed as precious, and to be desired, and who sought to attain to a genuine experience of it, yea, who also could not forbear in weakness to commend it to others. I must make the same confession regard- ing myself in view of my labours at that time, although ^ James v. 7. BARMEN. 133 I am by no means entitled to compare myself to this man, the latchet of whose shoes I do not, in truth, esteem my- self worthy to unloose. Many of those things which T have preached about the glory of inward Christianity, animated me only at first as ideals, and became, first in the way of thorough self-knowledge, and increasing en- lightenment from above, and after many inward conflicts, more and more the true possession of my inner life. It was in Gemarke, at a week-day evening service, before a crowded congregation, that I first delivered my sermons on the life of the prophets Elijah and Elisha. In Elberfeld ^ I also deUvered them in the same manner. In response to the frequent requests of my hearers, I published at this time my lectures on the Song of Solomon, and a volume of sermons under the title, " Blicke in das Reich der Gnade " (Ghmpses into the Kingdom of Grace). This firstling of my homiletical publications had the honour of attracting the atten- tion of Goethe, who spoke of it in Rohr's " Prediger- bibliothek " in the following terms, which were, as a matter of course, by no means agreeable to me : — "Gemarke is a respectable market-town of some 380 houses, with all the privileges of a town, in the Wup- perthal, in the circle of Barmen and duchy of Berg, situated over agfainst Elberfeld. The inhabitants have considerable hnen, ribbon, bed-ticking, and thread factories, and carry on an extensive traffic in these manufactures, as well as in bleached yarns. There is one Reformed and one Catholic Church in the place. " Herr Krummacher is the preacher in this town. His audience consists of manufacturers, booksellers, ^ The town of Elberfeld is connected with the town of Barmen by a bridge over the Wiipper. The circle of Elberfeld comprehends the valley of Barmen, and contains four towns and twelve villages. — Tr. 134 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DR KRUMMACHER. and workmen who are principally engaged in weav- ing. In their own narrow district they are to be regarded as excellent, well-conducted men, to whom it is of the greatest moment that nothing take place that is out of the way ; and for this reason there is scarcely any mention of great crimes amongst them. They live more or less in straitened circumstances, exposed to the social inconveniences and trials both of mind and body which man, as man, is capable of sujSering. Therefore, in general, there are found among them many of a diseased and afflicted mind. In general, however, they are unacquainted with all that can stir the imagination and the feelings ; and although ad- vanced in home knowledge, yet they are in want of proper quickening nourishment for the spirit and heart. " The weavers have been known from of old to be a people disposed to an abstruse form of religion, where- with they accommodate themselves in quietness to one another. The preacher appears to satisfy the spiritual necessities of his congregation, by agreeably setting forth their condition, and exposing their faults, in a way they can endure it, and he intends thereby to animate in them the hope of present and of future good. Such appears to be the aim of these sermons, in which he adopts the following method. "He takes the German translation of the Bible as canonical, simply as it is, adopting its language with- out farther criticism, and interpreting it arbitrarily, as an unlearned Church father would do, according to his system already prepared. Even the superscriptions of the different chapters serve him for texts, and the cus- tomary parallel passages as proofs ; yea, he twists the word, whatever it may be, and whatever be the proper meaning attached to it, to his own use, and finds in it BARMEN. 135 abundant confirmation of the interpretation he is pleased to give it, and which he deduces for the special purpose of imparting to the people quietness and consolation ! " He declares that man is good for nothing, and threatens them all with devils and everlasting punish- ment. Yet he has always the means at hand of pro- curing for them redemption and justification. That any one should become pure and better thereby, he does not indeed desire, being contented that it does no injury, because, the aforesaid being granted, the cure is always ready, and confidence can be placed in the physician and in the medicine. " In this way his expositions are tropical and pictorial, the imagination seen and manifest on all sides ; but good sense is concentrated into the smallest compass, and is not at all heard. Thus his hearers vainly fancy that they return to their homes from such displays made better, though their ears have received much more than their hearts. " How this method of treating the subject of religion stands related to that which is prevalent in other similar well-known, but separistic communities — Herrnhutters, Pietists, etc. — is manifest. And one can well see how a minister of such a stamp will be welcome to them, as the inhabitants of that district, as remarked already, are altogether of the working classes, engaged in the toil of the hands, and devoted to secular gain, whom one needs only to lull to sleep over their bodily and mental injuries. On this account, one may justly call these productions narcotic sermons, which appear truly very wonderful in the clear light in which central Germany rejoices."^ 1 Goethe's Werke, Ausgabe von 1840, B. 32, Seite 377-79. Comiiare the preface to the " Glimpses into the Kingdom of Grace." — Tr. 136 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DR KRUMMACHER. My work in Barmen had been now carried on into the sixth year with pleasure, under the blessing of God, when our mutual love— that of the congregation, and also mine — was put to a severe test by my election to the office of pastor of the great Reformed congrega- tion of Elberfeld. We both endured the test. The bond between us had been bound so firmly and closely that a dissolution of it could not then be thought of. Of the joy which my renewed resolution to minister among them gave to my dear congregation, and which sought its expression in love-gifts of many kinds, I shall say nothing; nor will I attempt to describe the increased delight with which I again resumed my work. This second stadium of my ministerial life in Gemark© began with a new and extensive revival of religion in the congregation ; although the spiritual excitement could not be expected to continue long in the same high degree. Gradually the waves subsided, and the course of things returned to their accustomed form — yea, some- times it appeared to me as if, here and there, I could discern the beginnings of a certain lassitude appearing ; not visibly, indeed, in the matter of attendance at public worship, but in the interest manifested in the Kinofdom of the Truth. The question of the Agenda^ began also to be 1 i.e., things to he done. It is a name given by ancient ecclesiastical writers to books which were published by authority as guides to ministers and people in the various services of public worship. It first occurs, in this sense, in the writings of Johannes de Janua, 1287. It was adopted in the Lutheran Church of Germany, and is there still used to designate the public liturgy of the Church, the book containing the formula) of prayer and ceremonies to be observed by the minister in conducting public worship. Since the 16th century, the Roman Catholic Church has made use of the term ritual, instead of agenda. In order to promote his scheme of union, which he had inaugurated at the Jubilee of the Reformation, 1817, between the Lutheran and the Calvinistic Churches of .Germany, BARMEN". 137 agitated in tlie congregation, mucli to the injury of its spiritual life. My colleague Graber, on one occasion, on his return from the provincial synod, of which he had been moderator, and where they were of opinion he had not been decided enough against the Prussian agenda, was met by a number of rude boys, who chalked upon his back the figure of a cross, as if they would thereby indicate that he intended to make the congregation Catholic. Wliat also caused a certain reaction in the spmtual life of the Church of Barmen was a sorrowful episode, of which I must, in a few words, give some account. There appeared among us a certain German preacher from America, a man of great rhetorical power accord- ing to the style of the Methodists, and capable of wielding a great influence over his audience. He was regarded as a very pattern of piety ; and from our pulpit, which we willingly resigned to him for a time, was able, in a very remarkable degree, particularly by the number of his religious anecdotes, and histories of cases of conversion, to arrest the attention of the great crowds that assembled in the church hours even before the time of public worship, whenever he preached, and to move them to tears, the signal for which was usually his own tears flowing copiously. The publica- tion of a collection of poems, teeming with warm emo- King Frederick "William iii. introduced a new agenda in 1822, whicli was chiefly prepared by himself, principally from Lutheran sources. It did not give much satisfaction, on account of its stringent regulations, which by some were regarded as Romanizing in their tendency. A second edition was therefore issued in 1829, intended to be more conciliatory in its character. The congregations in the "VVupperthal being, for the most part, Reformed, disapproved of the arbitrary measure of the Government in introducing the new liturgy. They desired to retain more freedom in their forms of reli- gious worship. Hence the question of the agenda was agitated in the Church.— Tr. 138 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DR KRUMMACHER. tion, and exhibiting true poetic talent, could only heighten the general estimation in which he was held. Hundreds of souls were awakened by means of this earnest man, and hung upon him with an almost idola- trous veneration. All this elevated his oratorical pathos more and more ; and not less also his pride, which at length he was not able any longer to conceal behind the artful guise of humility. Rendered bold by the triumph he had won, and believing himself firmly rooted in the favour of the people, he ventured to give utterance from the pulpit to witty statements, popu- lar expressions, and a chaotic mixture of accidental ideas and thoughts of the most extravagant kind. But that was not all ; the stories by means of which he sought to awaken souls and melt to tears, and in which he was wont, as it were, to open up both heaven and hell to the view of his auditors, gradually assumed so strange, yea, so wild a character, that doubt arose in the mind whether they were truths or only fictions. At the same time, the discovery was every now and then being made that there was not wanting in the appar- ently seraphic man, a delight in material enjoyments, and still less a craving after the favour of the great and the rich. Enough. His reputation had already passed beyond its highest point. And what now happened? From America there came tidings regarding him which compromised in the most serious manner his moral character. There appeared young men with dis- closures which suddenly stamped on the brow of the celebrated man the mark of an unmasked hypocrite of the basest kind. Yea, it appeared manifest that this man, even quite recently, whilst he was regarded by thousands as full of the Spirit and of holy enthusiasm, had been guilty of crimes, of which it is "a shame even BARMEN. 139 to speak ! " Naturally, as the effect of these discoveries, he at once stood isolated, as if he had been a leper. Not only the churches, but now the houses of the people were shut against him. His disciples, more- over, not only withdrew from him, but for the most part they went back again to the world, and nothing remained for him but to leave the Wupperthal, yea, Germany itself, with disgrace and ignominy, and to return in the utmost haste to America, where, as we afterwards heard, he met with a fearful end. In the Wupperthal they endeavoured to forget this very sad ecclesiastical intermezzo. Whatever the man had re- lated of an edifying nature, they did not repeat ; but looked upon it as to be classed only among false inven- tions and incredible fables. His poems were every- where cast into the fire, or were converted into mere waste paper. And here, also, we pass by in silence the name of this unhappy man. But this sad event did not occur without producing lamentable consequences, injurious to the prosperity of the Church. The enemies of Christianity naturally derived from it a new occasion of reproach against the Gospel and its friends. Those who were not estab- lished in the faith, gathered therefrom also doubts regarding the regenerating and sanctifying power of the Word of the Cross, which this man had pro- claimed in so Hvely and earnest a manner. By this sorrowful occurrence, also, many of the faithful were for a long time deprived of that impartiality with which they had hitherto listened to warm and ani- mated sermons ; and particularly there was infused into them a mistrust in all stories regarding the experiences of the Christian life, as if they were all of them inventions contrived " mi major em Dei 140 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DR KRUMMACHER. gloriam."^ A great scandal was thus created, whose destructive consequences, however, were, in course of time, greatly counteracted in the circles of men who were seeking salvation. Some, for instance, found in the life-course of that miserable man only a fulfilment of the words of the apostle in his Epistle to the Hebrews, " For it is impossible for those who were once enlight- ened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, and have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, if they shall fall away, to renew them again unto re- pentance ; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put Him to an open shame. ""-^ Others thought on Balaam, whose New Testament representa- tive they supposed him to be. But all regarded the event as teaching them humility, inasmuch as his con- duct created in them the consciousness how greatly they were wanting in the gift of distinguishing spiiits ; while, at the same time, it impressed more deeply upon them the truth, that it was not feeling (Empfindung), but the disposition of the mind (Gesinnung), whicli made a man a Christian, inasmuch as the old sinful nature could assume a bastard-blossom of apparently pious feeling, which had nothing in it in common with the life of faith to which it perhaps bore a likeness ; and, in a word, it was a spur to them to earnest self- examination, and it awakened them to renewed fervour and zeal in a life of watchfulness and prayer. Herein there was seen a fulfilment of that word which teaches that " all things work together for good to them that love God." Thus this sad history proved at 1 " For tlie greater glory of God "—the favourite rule of tlie Jesuits. — Tr. 2 Heb. vi. 4-6. BARMEN. 141 length to be the means of spu-itual blessing to hundreds. " You come from the valley, do you not, where stories are made ? " Thus Schleiermacher once, with a pleasant but ironical laugh, addressed a young man who had introduced himself to him as a Candidate from the Wupperthal. The celebrated theologian no doubt meant, by the " stories," the*" tracts " so often met with in the Wupperthal, and circulated even beyond the valley in other regions, containing records of the experi- ence enjoyed by some of the immediate nearness of God, and examples of remarkable answers to prayer ; and he intended also by the expression to give indication of his possessing by no means a strong faith in these little things {" Sachelchen "), which lay so far beneath the sphere in which his spirit moved. In experiences of that kind the congregation of Gemarke, richly blessed from former times, was also not wanting. As it would have been difficult to find among them a single family in which at least one true disciple, or one tried handmaid, of the Lord could not have been found ; so, on the other hand, there were many houses in which all the inmates, young and old, were walking in the way of life. And in how many of these dwellings could one easily feel as if he had entered into the tent of Isaac and Rebecca, or into the house at Bethany I My heart yet swells within me when I think of two brothers there, of whom, after many years' intercourse, the whole community testified that with them never anything else could be seen than love, friendship, and constant acts of kindness, united with the most genuine humility; or of a certain joiner's family, of whom it was said, that whoever was sorrowful or was conflicting with doubts must go to it in order 142 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DR KRUMMACHER. to return comforted, strengthened, and refreshed ; or of the family of the owner of the factory, who lived among his work-people, as of old, in the plains of Mamre, the patriarch Abraham did among his servants, and who seemed to carry on his exceedingly prosperous business only for their sakes, and for the interests of the kingdom of God ; or of the families of the always happy and contented silk-weavers, among whom the whole of the 128th psalm seemed to be translated into life and action, verse for verse ; and of many more besides of kindred spirit ! What wonder is it, then, that among such families thus devoted to the Lord, that word of the Prince of Peace, verified itself continually : " He that loveth Me shall be loved of My Father, and I will love him, and will manifest Myself to him !"^ I mention the case, for instance, of a young woman belonging to a family in humble life, who had been for more than twelve years grievously affiicted under mani- fold sujfferings. During my pastoral visits to her, which were very frequent, I never saw the least shadow of impatience on her always cloudless brow; and from her lips, instead of complaints, there always streamed forth the utterances of thanksofivinof to God, that she was enabled to trust to His grace. And to what an extent did she experience the condescending love of her Lord ! If she at any time needed bodily refreshment, she laid the matter in childlike simplicity before Him, and she required not long to wait till some one of her many female friends surprised her by bringing to her that very thing which in secret prayer she had asked from the Lord. If a dark cloud ever threatened to over- shadow her mind, she prayed, " Lord, send me a com- forter ! " and ere she knew it, there stood beside her, if 1 Jno. xiv. 21. BARMEN. 143 not her pastor, yet some other experienced Christian friend, who had felt himself moved by some secret impulse to visit her with words of consolation. I knew also a poor frail ribbon-weaver, who was frequently in great domestic straits, but on such occa- sions was wont to cheer up his family with the words : " Children, only have patience ! Ye know that we have an all-powerful Helper in our time of need, and a rich Lord ! " E,etiring to his little chamber, he then poured out his sorrows confidingly into His bosom ; and to the very end of his life He never left him in straits or dis- appointed his hopes, but when things seemed to come to an extremity. He always helped him, even hundreds of times, and not seldom in a truly wonderful manner. I was also acquainted with an old couple, not like Elkanah and Hannah, who had only one son, but blessed with many sons, who when they grew up were under the necessity of going forth into the world one after another, and some of them to a great distance. To the' friends who expressed their astonishment at their free- dom from care, and the calm and cheerful peace with which they regarded this departure of their sons from their home into a world full of temptations, they were wont to reply: "We have commended them to our Lord, and do it daily, and He has said to us that they will all be His possession ; and how can He not take care of them ? " And they were indeed the heritage of the Lord, and walked, and still walk, all of them, in the light of His countenance. A Christian friend once sprang after his boy who had fallen into the swollen flood of the Wupper, and as he sprang he cried, " Lord, teach me to swim ! " He swam skilfully, although he had never tried it before, and he saved his child. He raised no claim for a reward for such an exploit. 144 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DR KRUMMACHER. How many remarkable incidents of a similar character could I not recount ! But experiences of this kind, it must be noticed, were solely limited to answers to prayer, and to the inner testimonies of the Holy Spirit ; never apart from the divine Word, but always in harmony with it. Of appearances from the invisible world, with which some were said to have been favoured, of audible voices which were heard coming forth from it, or of new revelations, there was very rarely indeed any mention made. As already remarked, the people of Elberfeld were in no degree inclined to fanaticism ; and if this seems to contradict the appearance of the famous Kons- dorf sect of Zionites^ in the preceding century, it must at the same time be remarked that this sect bore a very realistic character. It built itself on a false inter- pretation of the written word of God, animated by an expectation little diiferent from that gross form of con- ception prevalent among the later Jews, of the near approach of the manifestation of the perfected kingdom of Christ on the earth. But after the so-called " Mother of Zion " gaA^e birth to a girl, instead of the hoped-for son who was to rule with a rod of iron, the whole sect came utterly to nothing. Since that time there has to this day appeared no trace of fanaticism in the whole district of Berg. On the contrary, the general opposi- tion to such a tendency has only since that time become the more decided. I am, nevertheless, far from affirming ^ Elias Eller, overseer of a factory at Elberfeld, founded in 1737 a reli- gious colony at Ronsdorf, as the " New Zion." His wife, Anna von Buchel, who, under fanatical excitement, prophesied of the approach of the millenniiini, he appointed as "Mother of Zion," styling himself the "Father of Zion." This colony at Ronsdorf obtained at length the privileges of a town, and Eller became burgomaster, distinguished only for his insane religious fanati- cism and his tyranny over his followers. The grandfather of the great Schleier- macher, who was a Reformed j^reacher, was one of his disciples ; but his eyes were at last opened to the delusion, and he escaped to Holland. — Tr. BARMEN. 145 that the spiritual life of the inhabitants of the Wupper- thal has always been free from aU excrescences. In some cases these are found to exist, and they appear in forms to which we shall afterwards have occasion to refer. From Barmen, I made an excursion into Holland, where, during the whole fifteenth century, the reforma- tory activity of the Beghards,^ the Lollards,^ and the " Brethren of the Common Life,"^ was so conspicuous; and where the National Church, after having been nursed by Calvin's teaching, at one time stood in so close and important a relation to the German Church of the Lower Bhine. The people of that land, which 1 The Beghards was the name of a religious association, formed in imita- tion of the Beguines, which sprang iip in the Church in the thirteenth century. These brotherhoods, so-called, existed principally in the Nether- lands, Germany, and France. They supported themselves by weaving. They were instrumental in keeping alive the lamp of truth in many places. They, however, ultimately associated generally with the heretical Fratricelli, and were suppressed in 1311 by the Council of Vienna. They existed, however, as a monastic association in connection with the Orders of St Francis and St Dominic, till 1650, when they were finally abolished by Pope Innocent. In the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, the name was generally given to all persons who opposed the worldly tendencies of the Romish Church. It was given to the Waldenses, Wyckliffites, and Lol- lards, in France and England. The Beguines were a female association of a similar character, which originated prior to that of the Beghards, and was always more popular. It was ultimately formed into a monastic order. In almost all the large towns of Belgium there are still Beguin- ages, the largest of which is at Ghent, containing about seven hundred Beguines. — Tr. 2 A religious association, founded at Antwerp in 1300. They were called Lollards, or singers, from their practice of singing hymns. Tliey devoted themselves specially to attendance on the sick, and to the burial of the dead. — Tr. ^ An association of pious priests, founded by Gerhard Groot, at De- venter, in the Netherlands, in 1384. The institution in the Netherlands became the parent of many similar ones throughout the north of Europe. They devoted themselves to the duties of religion with great zeal ; and by earnest evangelical sermons, and by means of their much frequented schools, they were instrumental in scattering far and wide the seeds of Gospel truth, and of preparing the way for the Reformation. — Tr. 146 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DR KRUMMACHER. has been snatched from the ocean, who were once so powerful among the nations, ruhng over the seas, unfurhng their victorious standard in all parts of the world, and even dictating terms of peace to the proud Louis the Fourteenth — this people of the Netherlands, which then comprehended also Belgium, appeared to me, in comparison with their glorious past, as if they had been wholly removed from the scene of history, and laid to rest on their own soil, after it had been drenched with streams of martyr-blood, as if on an island severed from all the din and confusion of the world. But I quickly perceived that they had not withdrawn from their centuries of toil, and their con- flicts, severe indeed, but carried on with knightly valour, without gaining a rich and enviable spoil, the fruit of many conquests. I found their houses neat and clean, even to excess, and bearing evidences of the most solid comfort. I saw in them the signs — in pictures, carpets, and all kinds of household furniture — of a substantial and pro- sperous state of things, which did not originate yester- day. Their families exhibited a vigorous Christian life ; and the finest and noblest manners and culture were manifested, particularly on the part of the women. They surprised me, I confess, by their intellectual quickness of perception, as well as by their whole graceful lively bearing ; and they reminded me more of educated French ladies, whose language they spoke fluently, and with the most excellent accent, than of Dutch ladies, as they had been represented to me, at least by tradition ; while in the men certainly there was not wanting that phlegmatic dulness usually attri- buted to the Netherlanders. But it was the phlegma which is to this day associated with that old vigour BARMEN. 147 wliicli once shrunk not back from the boldest under- takings, and against which the despotic tyranny of the blood-thirsty Alba dashed itself to pieces, and which chose as its motto the " Je Maintiendrai," which holds its place to the present hour on the scutcheon of the house of Orange. I found during my visit that the Dutch Church was divided into two hostile camps. The internal war in which they were engaged was the same old one which has dragged itself along from the sixteenth century, between Calvinistic orthodoxy and Arminianism, a great part of whose adherents had entered on a path gradually sloping down to Sociaianism — yea, even to the dead level of the old vulgar Rationahsm which had penetrated into Holland from Germany. Everywhere I saw waving the party standards of the so-called " old " and " new " light. The most active and vahant warriors, who drew towards them the sympathies of my heart, stood evidently on the side of the old Church doctrine. In the forefront of these, penetrated by the fire of their " first love," and animated by a high youthful enthusiasm for Christ, both of them sprung from noble Portuguese famihes, and won over to the standard of the Gospel by means of the celebrated poet Bilderdyk, stood the two witnesses for the truth — Da Costa in Amsterdam, and Cappadose in the Hague. By their side, equipped in the full armour supplied by the Synod of Dordt, was the noble Groen van Priu- sterer, reminding one, by his martial bearing and his heroic calmness, of the Ajax of Homer, who appears also to have chosen as his device the " Saevis tran- quillus in undis " of William of Orange. In many respects, he may be spoken of as the Stahl of the Netherlands. He has recently written a panegyric 148 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DR KRUMMACHER. on his counterpart, the German StahL I became acquainted also with the animated and always active de Clerq, the skilful law}^er, and at the same time the greatest and most gifted improvisator which the Netherlands can boast of for versatility of talent, and for true poetic inspiration, as well as for the purity and harmony of his measures. These men, by their writ- ings as well as by their conversation, laboured for the cause of pure doctrine. They had behind them, with many others, their contemporaries, and the greater part of their fellow-labourers belonging to the clergy, the majority of the people connected with the Church ; and they became the instruments in God's hands, and are so partly still, by whom the power of Pelagian neology, which was already on its way to universal dominion, was thoroughly paralysed, if not altogether broken. I came into friendly fellowship on that occasion also with many of the clergy. I mention here only the pastors Van der Ham in Kotterdam, and Dyrk Molenaar in the Hague, who by their religious earnestness and their theological ability, and by their imposing vener- able demeanour and their whole bearing, constrained me to imagine that I saw in them many of the old Netherlandish pillars of the Church — such as Gomarus, Boetius, and Yitringa— risen from the dead, and stand- ing before me. I frequently attended divine worship in the churches in Holland, and convinced myself, from what I saw, that zeal for a Church which numbered its witnesses, who had sealed their testimony with their blood, by thousands, had by no means disappeared from the land. I found the churches filled even to their remotest seats, an,d many of them crowded, with attentive hearers. The lengthened sermons, extending as a rule to, at the very BARMEN. 149 least, two hours, required not only tliat a carafe of water should be carried up to the pulpit for the refreshment of the preacher, but rendered it necessary also for the worshippers, after they had obtained a seat, to supply themselves with a hymn-book, a Bible, and a scent- bottle, and in winter with a w^arming-pan. I heard many sermons which bore the stamp of having been thoroughly wrought out, and were indisputably dogmatic in thek character, delivered with a pathos which I have never met with to the same degree of elevation from a German pulpit ; and I could not but envy the preachers the unfaltering eager attention which their hearers gave to their sermons, although the course of their delivery may have been for a moment interrupted two or three times by the preachers moistening their hps from the carafe in their pulpit, and by the use of their pocket- handkerchiefs, and although the sermon may not have been always brilliant with new thoughts. I also heard sermons which savoured of the " New Light," but in which the rationahsm appeared so faint, and as if under a veil, that the preachers would have been reckoned in most of the German churches as quite orthodox. This anxious caution and reserve of neo- logically inclined pastors appeared to me, beyond doubt, to indicate that by far the majority of the people frequenting the churches were still of the " Old Light " party. And at the present day this is, as I under- stand, the actual state of the theological controversy in which the theology of the university, as set forth by several of its leaders, is but a servile imitation of the German philosophy, which has already been overcome and vanquished from the field of argument in the land of its birth. No friend of the Gospel can in the pre- sent day make a journey through the Netherlands, and 150 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DR KRUMMACHER. become conversant with its Church-life, without bringing away with him rich spiritual profit. It is to be expected indeed that here and there, and principally in the great towns, he will meet with wickedness and immorality in many forms even on the public streets, such as he has perhaps nowhere else encountered in so high a degree, and in so wild a form of dissoluteness. As a general rule, he will there witness the revolting spectacle of sailors reeling about under the effects of brandy, and also drunken women of the lowest class. But yet he will fiiid himself richly comforted by witnessing the vigorous Church-Hfe, the steadfastness of Christian faith, the extensive acquaintance with the Bible, and the pure domestic morality which he will everywhere meet with among this people, and particularly among the middle classes of society. The blood-bedewed foundations of the Netherlandish Church are deeply laid, and will long outlast the straw-hay-and-stubble-work which is now sought to be built up upon it, and which it despises. What in a particular manner helped to brighten my life in Barmen was the confidential fraternal relation- ship in which all we ministers, Reformed and Lutheran, stood to one another. There was no envy, no strife, no petty jealousy, no seeking to have the pre-eminence among us. We regarded ourselves as one in all things essential to the faith. Together, as a united band, we fought in common all our battles. We stood as one man against Bationalism and Materialism, as well as against CoUenbuschianism,^ Quietism,- and Antinomi- 1 See Note, page 123. 2 " The Reformation drove back the Romish Church, which had become wholly externalized, in life and doctrine, to a revival of mediteval mysticism. The powerful Jesuits, however, who, in the mechanical cliaracter of all their religious practices, hated, as much as they did Augustinism, every species of mysticism which held outward religious forms in little esteem, and was BARMEN. 151 anism. We furbished each other's shield, and whetted each other's sword, at our fortnightly conferences, the fresh animated life of which I have described in the biography of my departed friend Sander.^ We com- municated to each other our official experiences; and while there was by no means wanting mutual respect- ful demeanour, yet we did not spare one another, if any one on preaching exceeded due limits, or committed any mistake in performing his duties. It was a pre- cious fellowship in which we lived and wrought to- gether. Those of that happy circle who are yet living, Snethlage and Heuser, I hear in spirit calling to me, as they too look back with sorrow to the memories of that happy time: "Yes, yes; that it was!" indeed not wholly free from fanatical enthusiasm. They branded it with the heretical name of ' Quietism ' " (Kurtz). The noblest and most devout of the mystics of that period was Francis of Sales (died 1622), whose " Philothea " stands only second to the " Imitation of Christ." Michael de Molinos, a Spanish priest, published (1681) his "Manuductio Spiritualis," a guide to a spiritual or contemplative life. His great doctrine is, that the highest exercise of the soul consists in the withdrawal of the mind from outward objects, and in directing it wholly towards God, so as to have the understanding and the will merged in Him. Molinos became the doctrinal guide of the mystics generally. — Tr. ^ Inunanuel Friedr. Sander. Eine Prophetengestalt aus der Gegen- wart gezeichnet von Dr F. W. Krummacher. Elberfeld, 1860. CHAPTER IX. ELBERFELD. TN the year 1834 I received, for the second thne, a -^ call to Elberfeld. This gave rise to a new conflict within me, and to new commotion in the two congre- gations. My uncle had been compelled to promise to the friends in Elberfeld that he would wave a white handkerchief from the attic window of his house as soon as he received from me a favourable answer to the call. The day did come when the handkerchief was waved from the window. But I needed one also to wipe the tears from my eyes; for the departure was to me a sorrowful occasion, despite the joyful congratula- tions with which I was now on all hands saluted — as sorrowful to me, indeed, as it was to the beloved friends who crowded around me, for whom I cherished a deep affection, and whose displeasure, giving occa- sional expression to itself, grieved me more than their sorrow did. Enough. I took my departure ; but, to me, it was as if I had lifted my anchor to sail away from a peaceful haven out into a stormy sea, full of dangerous rocks. I knew the proud traditions, the extensive Bible knowledge, the high expectations from their pastors, and the excessive critical tendencies by which this large congregation was distinguished. I knew about their sometimes impetuous contention for ELBERFELD. 153 freedom and independence; the intensive strength of the so-called lay element representing them in pres- bytery ; the boldness, often severe enough, with which they were accustomed to call the preacher to account if in any respect he erred; but, to my comfort, I also knew of the enduring and self-sacrificing love which they were wont to show towards him, if they found him to be a true and faithful "steward of the mysteries of God," A large number of dear tried friends, my venerable uncle Gottfried Daniel, and the family of von der Heydt at their head, waited on me ; and so once more, with some satisfaction, I struck my tent, and went forth. And I have never repented of the course I then fol- lowed. Not only did I gain here for my official labours a wider and grander sphere of action, but it appeared to me also to be pervaded by a fulness of animat- ing, intellectual elements. I do not believe that at that time, on the European continent, there was a place where the Gospel had shown itself in a higher measure as a power ^ and where the ecclesiastical hfe flowed in a fuller and fresher stream than at Elberfeld. Of the manner in which we preachers were here borne up by the spiritual animation of the congregation, elevated and continually carried forward in our work, there was no experience in any other corner of the Church of our Fatherland. Oh those grand imposing assemblages, gathered together in the Church every Sabbath-day — a great ocean of faces, and the men not fewer in number than the women ! How overpowering their full-toned choral singing ! It echoed far out into the streets, rendering the liturgical choruses and re- sponses altogether superfluous. How earnest was the attention of the thousands as they listened to the words of the preacher ! The lively evidences of the K 154 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DR KRUMMACHER. deep impressions they produced on their minds were mirrored in their countenances ! And what shall I say of the grand solemn Communions, over which, instead of light from the altar, tlie fire of a true devo- tion and of genuine worship diffused the radiance of a higher glory ! And then the responsive echo of the sermons Hstened to on Sabbath, sounding all through the week in the homes of the congregation ; the hearty joy with which the pastor was welcomed whenever he visited them ; the animated and truly fruitful conver- sations on biblical or ecclesiastical subjects, or on prac- tical Christianity, which were wont to season such visits ; and, above all, the faith-strengthening evi- dences of the purifying and comforting power of the word of the Cross, which was able to overcome the world, and to raise above the trials of poverty and the fear of death, of which one heard in so many of the houses of the poor and the sorrowing, and beside the triumphant death-beds of so many of the dying, both among the humbler and the higher ranks of society ! — what a powerful stimulus I what encouragements and incentives to offer his very best to such a congregation, could not the minister fail to experience from all these things ! In Elberfeld I succeeded Pastor Nourney, who died in the peace of God at an advanced age. As a pastor he was highly esteemed, and was richly blessed in his labours. The more stringently rigid adherents of the Confession in the congregation had only these things to blame him with : that his dogmatics in certain articles were not sharply enough defined, and that his heart was too tolerant, and that he was too friendly towards the union. At his jubilee, on his entering the fiftieth year of his official life, it all at once was made manifest, in a very pleasing yet splendid ELBERFELD. 155 manner, in how high a degree he possessed the love of aU. Among my associates in the ministry at Elberfeld, the first place is due to my uncle Gottfried Daniel Krummacher, a man thoroughly Calvinistic not only in his tone of mind, but even in his outward aspect. Under a severe, even sometimes gloomy, external appearance, like his great Geneva master,^ there was concealed a deep childlike disposition ; and behind his doctrinal behef, which he wore hke a brazen coat of mail, there lay hidden a heart filled with love for all who loved the Lord Jesus Christ. A declared enemy of all that was false and unsound in religion, he some- times purposely at once put on the mien of a man of the world, in opposition to a false pietism, or encountered those who appeared to deal with godliness as a sort of trade, with paradoxes which remained fixed in their very hearts like spears and nails. On one occasion, when a young theologian, who had travelled a great deal, ad- dressed him with the words, " You wish, no doubt, to hear something of the kingdom of God ? " he at once answered, " No." The youthful retailer of news must have been thunderstruck by this ready negative with which he was met. He probably afterwards felt con- strained to reflect on the meaning of this response, so promptly given. The truthfulness of the man found its expression generally in his sermons. But there never appeared in them the traces of laboured ornament or of premeditated effect. There was everywhere manifest in them, under the plainest form, the most immediate evidences of an inner hfe. All was natural and original. His testimonies reminded one of the mythological daughter of the gods,^ who was born in full dress, ^ Calvin. ^ Minerva. 156 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DR KRUMMACHER. and completely armed. Hence the deep and endur- ing impressions which they could always certainly be expected to produce. Perhaps few ministers of the Gospel could venture to appropriate to themselves, with greater justice than he, that word of the prophet : " The Lord hath made my mouth like a sharp sword ; in the shadow of His hand hath He hid me, and made me a polished shaft ; in His quiver hath He hid me ;"^ and also that word spoken by Moses : " My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distil as the dew; as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass. "^ The blessed memory of this man of God still remains warmly cherished above that of many in the Wupperthal. How distinctly uttered to this day by the mouth of thousands is that thankful testimony to his work : " Thou hast instructed many, and hast strengthened their hands ; thy speech hath raised up many that had fallen, and the feeble knees hast thou made strong!" My second colleague was Albert Kohl, a man of extensive knowledge and of great literary ability. He contributed much by his truly peculiar sermons, delivered " ore biblico,"^ to diffuse the knowledge of the Scrip- tures. The congregation of Elberfeld was, with good reason, proud of him. But now, at the time of my writing this, his harp hangs on the willows, or only emits the tones which find their expression in the 88th psalm.* God is near to help those who are in the depths of sore affliction ; and he fulfilled in his experi- ence that word of the 97th psalm, " Light is sown for the, righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart." 1 Is. xlix. 2. 2 Deut. xxxii. 2. ^ With constant reference to the Bible. — Tr. 4 " Let my prayer come before Thee : incline Thine ear unto my cry ; for my soul is full of troubles, and my life drawetli nigh unto the grave," &c. ELBERFELD. 157 The third was Hermann Ball, the skilful Hebrew scholar, the acute exegete, the zealous and uncompro- mising champion and defender of the " Eeformed Zion" — a man in whose whole being his motto, " Das Wort, und das Wort allein, und nichts als das Wort" (The Word, and the Word alone, and 7iothing but the Word), was distinctly imprinted. On account of his tact and ability in the management of affairs, he was, in many ways, of great service to the congregation. The fourth whom I mention, although the first in my esteem after my uncle's departure to his heavenly home, was a youthful brother, who reminded one of ApoUos, of whom it is testified, in the Acts of the Apostles,^ that he. was "an eloquent man, and mighty in the Scriptures ;" that he " was instructed in the way of the Lord ; and, being fervent in the spirit, he spake and taught diligently the things of the Lord." His name was E-einhard Hermann. He was the descend- ant of a family which had from generations past been richly blessed with all heavenly blessings. In his fiery energy of action he illustrated the words of the Song of Solomon, " Love is strong as death ; zeal is firm as the grave. "2 But in his mouth those words of the psalm also expressed a truth, "The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up."^ He soon finished his course, and was succeeded by Pastor Kiinzel, the man of anointed lips, who, worthy in a high degree of the title of pastor, to this day, along with five colleagues who all succeeded me, has charge of the congregation. The pastors of the sister congregation of the Lutheran Confession, which, without any formal union, was yet in the most intimate manner united with the Eeformed, were associated with us in close brotherly fellowship. 1 Acts xviii. 24, 25. ^ gong viii. 6 ; Luther's version. ^ Ps. IxLx. 9. 158 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DR KRUMMACHER. During my time, the ministers of that congregation were Carl August Doring, an unwearied sower of the good seed, which he scattered abundantly over the field of the Church by his writings in prose and verse, as well as by his spoken words ; and without exactly sow- ing in tears, he yet, before his departure to his heavenly home, reaped in joy the richest harvest. Then there followed the honoured Wilhelm Htilsmann, the first and the only one in the Wupperthal in whose sermons, which were always rich in thought, there appeared any tinge of Schleiermacher's doctrine. He was at length called to fill the ofiice of Consistorial and Government Educational Counsellor in Diisseldorf, where, for the first time, he reached the position in public Hfe which was most adapted to his peculiar gifts. After him, in the later years of the dear Sander, came the highly gifted and eloquent Jaspis, now General Superintendent of Pomerania, who, in a very special degree, knew how to attach the educated classes to the Church ; and Feldner, whose peculiar character bore imprinted on every part of it the unmistakable stamp of his early patron, von Gerlach, but who afterwards, to the deep sorrow of his congregation, united himself to the separate section of the strict Lutheran party of the Church. Perhaps nowhere in the evangelical Church were those who sustained the pastoral ofiice held in higher honour than in the Wupperthal, and especially in the duchy of Berg, While the royal functionary, and even the teachers of the upper as well as of the lower schools, had reason to complain, if not directly of disrespectful neglect, yet at least of the cold reception which they met with in the different family circles, the pastor, on the contrary, the house-friend, always and everywhere cheerfully welcomed, had to be on his guard lest he ELBERFELD. 159 should contract some bad habit, and be unfavourably influenced by the manifold kindnesses with which he was honoured. He was made acquainted with all the family secrets. To him belonged, as a matter of course, the precedence on all solemn occasions, and the place of honour at all domestic festivals. Among all who are invested with office, he is in truth the only person who is specially held in respect ; and that so little on account of his title and sacred orders, that it is rather believed that if these do not lower him, they at all events reveal a certain degree of estrangement from the people, and therefore they wish to address him by no other title than that of " Herr Pastor." I do not deny that the proud consciousness of the congregation that they had freely elected the preacher, manifests itself to some extent in this ; and as little do I deny that the honour they pay to him is not exclusively rendered to the office with which he is invested as such, but rather sometimes to the worthy bearer of that office. The conception of the pastoral office which in these recent times strives to gain for itself predominance here and there, particularly among the Lutherans, per- haps arising out of despair at the lamentable condition of the spiritually dead congregations, is altogether abhorred by the Church in the Khenish province, and is regarded by it as " Romish leaven." According to that conception, Christ entrusted His treasures of grace, not to the community of believers, but to a new tribe of Levites, a class separated from the congregation and standing above it, the class of regularly called and ordained clergymen. To it, and not to the congrega- tion, were the means of grace, the word, the sacraments, as well as the power of the keys, delivered. To this class is given a power and an authority which the con- 160 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DR KRUMMACHER. gregation is wholly destitute of. It acts in the name of God, and under an immediate commission from Him ; but the congregation never does so. The believing "laity" can and may preach the Gospel. But to pro- duce the divine life in the soul by the Word is a pre- rogative granted only to the possessors of this office, as the successors of the apostles. A layman may also speak the comforting words of pardon to troubled souls ; but the bearer of this office alone truly dispenses pardon. The word of the Gospel comes to the full salvation of a man only when the authorized official person proclaims it. The Sacrament also is as ineffica- cious as the word, if the privileged administrator is not present. Many excellent gifts may be present within the congregation, but the charisma ^ which is in the office alone brings enduring blessings. Apart from the legal institution of the duly commissioned possessor of the office to which is entrusted the means of grace, this " minister of the holy tabernacle," there is no channel through which the blessings of salvation may flow to the Church. The latter never attains to the hisfh blessings of its heavenly calling where it is not minis- tered unto by a clergy called and ordained according to regular ecclesiastical ordinance. Such is the idea of the pastoral office to which we refer. On the other hand, the Rhenish Church saw in all this the rise of a new hierarchy, which contented itself indeed with expending its strength for the congregation only in the way of applying to it what has been already obtained by Christ, and not, according to the principle of the Komish Church, in making atonement ; but, never- theless, in the one way as well as in the other, the ^ Xupi(T/u,(ii, gifts and graces imparted from God. Of. 1 Cor. vii. 7 ; 2 Cor. i, 11 ; Rom. i. 11 ; 1 Tim. iv. 14 ; &c.— Tr. ELBERFELD. 161 office of a mediator is arrogated, and the immediateness of the relation of the congregation to God is materially restricted. And the Church on the Rhine will not be herein accused of an unjust opinion when incidents happen such as the following, which was lately reported from one of the provinces of our Prussian Fatherland. When several persons, who had long approved them- selves as true Christians, wished to return from the fellowship of the Lutheran Separation to the National Church, and made their desire known to the clergyman of their district, they happened, among other things, to say to him, during their conversation with him, that they hoped they had received the pardon of theu- sins from the Lord, this " Lutheran pastor " of the Evan- gelical National Church said to them, " How dare ye venture to boast of the pardon of your sins, when it has not been adjudged to you from a confessional V And when they appealed to the words of the Holy Scriptures, in which the approach to the throne of grace is declared to be set wide open to all believers, he reproached them with it as a culpable presumption, that they should venture to read the Scriptures for themselves. AVhen they quoted again, in vindication of themselves, the example of the noble men of Berea, and adduced the command of the Lord, " Search the Scriptures,"^ and at the same time reminded him of the promise given to all believers, that the Holy Spirit would lead them unto all truth, he violently reproached them as "enthusiasts," and dismissed them with the words, "The Holy Ghost comes only through, the office, in the divine authority of which ye do not beheve." The Rhenish Chm-ches reject such an idea of the sacred office, and take up an opposite view. 1 John V. 29. 162 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DR KRUMMACHER. Their view may be thus represented : The idea of mediation, as appertaining to the ministerial office, as it at present here and there, in the evangelical Church, seeks for itself expression, finds its support, it is true, in a tradition extending back over more than a thou- sand years ; but it rests in a falsehood, in a delusion, and not in the truth. The first act of the Reformation, in which its whole principle immediately manifested itself, and which, therefore, had all the succeeding acts as its natural and necessary development, was a decided protest against the traditional Komish conception of the sacred office. Not only supported by the word, " By one offering Christ hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified,"^ did it reject every atoning act in the Church as a denial of the sacrifice of Christ ; but it assailed, as a false opinion, and opposed to the Gospel, the notion that Christ had entrusted, with the exclusive administration of the treasure of His grace, a class of priests peculiarly privileged above the community of the faithful, and different from them. According to the doctrine of all the Reformers, and especially ac- cording to Luther's doctrine, the word, the sacraments, and the power of the keys, are given to the whole community of believers. Christ did not renounce His threefold office of Prophet, Priest, and King, but con- tinues still to execute it within the domain of His Church. But His Church, as a servant entrusted by Him with His office, must work, and must by the Word bring blessings to herself and others, must administer the sacraments for her own enjoyment and quickening, and for that of others, and, in His name, bind and loose — that is, must announce salvation to all who are penitent, and proclaim the law of justice and 1 Heb. X. 14. ELBERFELD. 163 judgment against all who are impenitent. But because He wishes that within His Church it should ordinarily be so arranged, because, moreover, not all can dis- charge those duties, which perhaps they have the right and authority to perform, and finally, because if all made use of their authority, the general edification would thereby sufier. He has so ordained it, that indi- ^dduals particularly gifted and endowed in the Church should be commissioned to represent the Church, by publicly preaching the Gospel, administering the sacraments, and exercising the power of the keys of discipline. He has instituted the ofiice of pastor, or shepherd of the people. " But are the shepherds also messengers, instead of the Church ? " No ; they are messengers in the stead of Christ, as the Church is called to be so ; and they are only herein the mouth and the hand of the Church, the organ of the Church. " But is there, then, no distinction between the priesthood of the ordained shepherd and teacher, and the general priest- hood of all believers ?" No other than that the former appears in a regular public ministry, and the latter does not so appear. Yet through the separation to that ministry, the person so called enters into no higher rights and privileges, conveying to him author- ity, than they enjoy who are already believing members of the Church, As invested with ecclesiastical author- ity, he does not stand in a more immediate and direct relation to God than He did before. He brings, by virtue of His official position, nothing new to the word and sacraments as means of salvation. It is even possible that many of the laity who sit at the feet of him who exercises the sacred ministry, have a deeper insight into the meaning of the Scriptures, and know how to speak 164 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DR KRUMMACHER. the word with greater unction, and more efficaciously and impressively to urge upon men the truth, for their conviction as well as for their consolation, than he does ; yea, that all the members of his congregation may have had all their sins forgiven immediately by the Lord, before he has announced to them absolution. The minister remains a member of the great spiritual body, whose head is Christ, along with the other members. He needs their help as well as they need his. The grace of the office he holds is essentially none other than that which is common, which all believers glory in, though it manifests itself in other forms of operation. Let us hear Luther ! " Word, sacrament, and the keys, are given to the Church, i.e. to the people of Christ, over tlie wide world. We are all priests, and we have equally the same right to the Word of God, and to each of the sacraments. We all become priests by baptism. Injustice is done to the little words, ' Priester, ' ' Pfaff, ' ' Geistlich, ' ^ and the like, when they are used with reference to a little section as separate from the general body of the Christian com- munity — when they are applied to those in the sacred office. Yet there must be order observed, and a public testimony made. Therefore, from among such as are priests by baptism, some are selected and appointed to this special office- that they may, in behalf of all of us, perform the duties of such an office. Do you ask, what ^ A " Priester," one wlio performs the religions rite of sacrifice ; a priest. This title is retained in the Roman Catholic Church, because he who officiates at the mass is regarded as performing a sacrifice. '! Pfaff" is gene- rally spoken in contempt, as designating a " Priester." " Geistlich " is applied to all those who devote themselves to religious duties, as distin- guished from the laity. These words are, however, sometimes used indis- criminately. — Tr. ELBEEFELD. 165 then the difference is between the priesthood and the laity in the Christian Church, since all are priests ? I answer : The Holy Scriptures recognise no difference but this, that it calls those who are so chosen and ordained ' servants,' ' ministers,' ' stewards,' who are, on that account, required to preach to others Christ and the faith, and Christian freedom, which all who are Christ's participate in. For though we are all equally priests, yet we cannot all equally perform the functions of a servant, or a steward, or a preacher of Christ. By consecration to his office, the ' Pfaff ' does not become holier or better than all baptized Christians are. If thou art not willing to confess to a ' Pfaff,' take a man, whether a layman or a priest, and confess to him ; and as he says to thee, so let it be to thee an absolution. Every Christian is a Father-confessor. When St Paul says, " Who also hath made us able ministers of the New Testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit," ■'• he speaks to all Christians ; yet can they not all equally preach, although they may all have the same authority to do so." Thus far Luther. Whence did the Reformers derive their free concep- tions of the office of the ministry ? They partly inferred them from the fundamental Gospel doctrine of the jus- tification of the sinner by grace through faith in Christ, and partly they appealed in support of them to the ex- press testimony of the Holy Scriptures. According to the doctrine of justification by faith, all believers, as they are purified and reconciled to God by one sacrifice, and are baptized into one body by one Spirit, have an equal claim to all the treasures of grace of the New Testa- ment, and the same right to a free and an immediate access to the throne of grace. No one is needed to 1 2 Cor. iii. 6. 166 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DR KRUMMACHER. open the door of entrance before they can come ; it stands wide open for all of them, and they no longer need a representative and a mediator between them- selves and God. They are, in truth, as members of one organized body, brought into relation to one another for mutual spiritual assistance ; and whoever renders this help in the form of a public service to the whole body of the Church, renders it not by a special spiritual en- dowment which he possesses, and by a special authority conferred on him, but as animated by the one spirit which is common to all, and from the authority which all possess ; nor has he received the rich spiritual gifts he may probably be endowed with through his consecra- tion to the ministerial office, but he has been separated to that office on account of the charisma which was seen to be already in him. The Scripture says : " Christ gave some, apostles ; and some, prophets ; and some, evangelists ; and some, pastors and teachers ; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ."^ All those here named exercise no other priesthood than that of all Christians. The apostles alone exercise their office by vktue of a char- isma which was limited only to them, and was not con- ferred on the community of behevers ; the charisma given them for the founding of the Church, according to a divinely appointed form, free from all error, that testimony might be authoritatively given of Christ and His word. It was appropriate for them to say, " Though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other Gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. "^ The apostleship, in the specific meaning of the word, was confined wholly ' 1 Ephes. iv. 11, 12. 2 Qal. i. 8. ELBERFELD. 167 to the twelve. The apostles did not take up an autho- ritative, much less a mediatory place, with reference to the Church, beyond that special call they had to the office in which they were only the didxovoi (ministers) of Christ. They were not the founders of a privileged clerical institute. The power of the keys did not belong exclusively to them, but, accord- ing to the words of Matthew^ and John,^ to the entire body of believers. The sacraments were not rightly administered, only when they administered them. The deacon Philip baptized, and believers broke bread from house to house, without the presence of the apostles among them. The testimony given to the truth was as efficacious in its power to convey the blessing of salvation, when given forth from the mouth of the beheving laity, as when preached by the apos- tles. According to the Acts of the Apostles,^ those disciples who were driven by persecution from Jeru- salem, went everywhere preaching the Gospel of the cross of Christ with success. We nowhere read that the Church had to wait on the apostles as on those who must ffist pour out upon them, as from some vessel, the grace of salvation from God. They hailed with great gladness the presence of these helpers of their joy, and instructors in the truth and in the ser- vice of God. But if the apostles communicated the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands, the Church well knew that they did this, not by virtue of their office, but by vu'tue of their faith; and if they felt themselves greatly comforted by them, they did not attribute it to them as men who were priests in ^ Matt, xviii. 17, 18, " If he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church," &c, * Jno. XX. 21, &c. 2 Acts viii. 4. 168 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DR KRUMMACHER. some other sense different from that in which they also were priests, and as set in charge over fountains of consolation to which they, the laity, had no freedom of access, but as more enlightened and more experienced brethren, who, moreover, were not ashamed to confess that they on their part also needed to be comforted by them. If, then, even the apostles, by their official position, were able to contribute nothing either to the efficacy of the revealed Word, or to the power of the sacraments, and, by virtue of their character as apostles, had it in their power to boast themselves neither of a more inti- mate relation to God, nor yet of more enlarged author- ity over the divine blessings of salvation, nor of a more valid proclamation of pardon to penitent sinners, than other believers enjoyed; how much less will this be the case with the succeeding guides of the Church, bishops, or presbyters ? These, on the ground of their chris- matic endowment, conferred on them by virtue of their selection from the number of the faithful, and not exclusively confined to preaching, distinguish them- selves from the other members of the congregation by nothing else than this, that, with the view of preserv- ing order in the Church, they exercise publicly, and as the great business to which their lives are consecrated, the functions for the purpose of which they have been invested with power and authority. Such are the conceptions of the office of a mmister of the Gospel, as they were at all times held in the Evangelical Church of the Rhineland, and even in the Lutheran Church ; and they were all the more vigor- ously expressed, as the Romish propaganda pressed hard asfainst them there. It is known that the Rhenish Church sprung into ELBERFELD. 169 existence along with its present constitution and form of government, the presbyterial-synodical.^ As this form of government has existed in that Church unin- terruptedly, as a source of blessing to it, for three hundred years, while, at the same time, the pure Gospel has been always preached in it with power, Rationalism was never able to gain footing within its borders, and sects that rose up were always sooner or later overpowered by the general intelhgence prevailing in the Church. If it be asked whether this constitution ever paralysed and oppressed us the preachers, I must confess — and in this I know that I utter the sentiments of all who were then my colleagues— that, on the whole, we could speak and boast only of a quickening, ani- mating influence furthering our work, which it exerted upon us. How could it be otherwise, since I might say that a kind of natural tact led the congregations to elect from among themselves as their elders, deacons, and representatives, only the men most attached to the Church, and most deeply interested in its welfare? And the old liturgical formulas, solemnly .read every year to the congregations, had this result also, that they made ^ The form of Churcli government in Prussia is the consistorial. The king, as head of the Church, exercises his authority through the courts called consistories, which are composed of clergymen and lawyers selected "by himself. Each province has a separate consistory. Having authority over all the consistories, there is an upper consistory (Oberkirchenrath), composed for the most part of professors of theology and other clergymen. The congregations have no voice in the management of their own interests, further than having the right to veto, for sufficient reason, any new ap- pointment of a minister over them. The Oberkirchenrath has, however, attempted at various times, within these recent years, to organize separate parish Church courts, but with indifferent success. In the western pro- vinces, Westphalia and the Rhine, the Presbyterian form of Church government has always prevailed. In each of these provinces there is a royal consistory, but it rarely interferes with the popular form of Church government. — Tk. L 170 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DR KRUMMACHER. prominent the high importance of these Church offices, as well as the sacred obligations resting on those who filled them. Perhaps it happened now and then that, in individual strong-minded persons, the proud consciousness of their being presbyters ^ overstepped the measure of propriety, and sought for itself, for some time, a supremacy in the Church courts which, to the view of the clergy, ap- peared somewhat threatening. Yet they were always men of the best intentions with whom one had to transact, and so the moment did not fail to come when the opposition adjusted itself, and the relation in which all stood to one another returned to what was right and proper. Here there was one family which before all others I must make mention of, which, because of their remarkable natural talents, their energy in action, and their decision of character, seemed born to rule, so that I ventured to prognosticate with confidence, more than twenty years before it happened, that one of its members would occupy the seat of a minister. The oligarchical position which this family for a long time took up in the sphere of civil society, as well as in the sphere of the Church, was very disagreeable to many. Yet it must be granted to them that they always sought to promote the best interests of the town and of the Church ; and their readiness to make sacrifices, and their munificence, never reipained behind their zeal for the object they strove to accompHsh. However the people lifted up their heels against their aristocratic bearing, yet they were in many ways a great blessing to the congregation, although afterwards, through their persevering, unrelenting consistency, they went to such a length that they drove off a party from it. ^ Ruling presbyters, i.e. elders. ELBERFELD. 171 The year 1835 was, for the Church-Hfe of the congre- gation, one that was full of disaster. As upon the Rhenish Church generally, so also upon it the new Agenda was forced, not perhaps according to the will of the civil authorities, but rather by the chief ecclesiasti- cal courts. Bishop Ross, in whom, as a man held in high esteem in the Rhine province, the hope of suc- cess in this endeavour was founded, was entrusted with the carrying out of the project. The tidings of his arrival, and of the object of his mission, however, gave the signal to a universal movement in opposition to such a scheme. The renunciation which was de- manded of them of their ancient time-hallowed formu- laries, and of their " simple, beautiful order of Divine worship," appeared to the congregation to be almost like a change of their confession, yea, like a very apos- tasy. The most decided remonstrances against it were put forth, and from time to time renewed. But when the commissioner, in other respects so mild, and a lover of peace and freedom, appeared all at once stern, and put on the mien of a grand inquisitor, and — from what power I am not able to judge — threatened the clergy with depositions which he kept concealed in his pocket, if the opposition were persisted in, then a small majority of the representatives of the congregation con- sented, with the greatest reluctance it is true, to the acceptance of the minimum of what was offered to them : namely, to accept the so-called small hturgy, with the omission, however, of the choruses and the responses, and with the addition to it of the Sabbath-morning prayer in use in the old Reformed Church. That was accepted, in the meantime, as all the amount of concession that could be obtained ; but it was very far from restoring quietness to the congregation. However insignificant and almost 172 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DR KRUMMACHER. only formal the liturgical addition to the usual service of the sanctuary might be made to appear, the congre- gation nevertheless saw in this small patch the detested signs of a foreign power oppressing the free Church, and distrust, when once awakened, saw in it even some- thing more. Enough. The edification of the congrega- tion was, in consequence of this vexatious business, seriously interfered with. Instead of the pure unrestrained joy with which the people were wont to respond to the summons of the Sab- bath bells, their minds were for the time discomposed. Instead of conversing, as they had been wont to do in their social circles, about the Word of God, the "Agenda" now occupied the uppermost place in their minds. Be- tween those who were inclined to yield the point, and the " Totalers " (the extreme party of opposition), there was a painful division ; and it at length came to this, that a not inconsiderable portion of the latter party, and among them were persons whose loss we had reason to mourn over, separated themselves from the congrega- tion, and constituted themselves into an independent " Ecclesiola," which continues to the present day. Indeed, the efforts to bring about uniformity at that time in the matter of Church government were by no means wise. Whatever urgent need there might be in the eastern provinces for the new Agenda, the Rhenish Churches which were at peace in the enjoyment of their Christian privileges, and satisfied with the liturgical treasures they had inherited from their fathers, could well dispense with it. It was at a later period seen to be a mistake that due importance was not given to the congregational and confessional peculiarities of the dif- ferent ecclesiastical circles of the country. For many years the last traces of the lamentable " Agenda Con- ELBERFELD. 173 troversy" have, with the sanction of the highest authorities, entirely disappeared from the forms of wor- ship as observed in my former congregation at Elber- feld. How much disturbance, confusion, and injury to the spiritual prosperity of the Church would be spared if men were sensible enough beforehand to call to remembrance the words : "It seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things ! " ^ It has often been said, as a reproach to the Khine- landers, that they are not genuine Prussians. But in this reproach great injustice is done to them. One might perhaps find amongst them a few who would not shrink from the thought that they ought to belong to some other State than that of Prussia. They know, indeed, too well what they have become through then" incorporation with Prussia, and how, from that time, not only their remarkable prosperity, and their com- mercial and industrial activity, but also even the essen- tial advancement of their intellectual culture, is to be dated. But it is nevertheless true that the spirit of patriotism, with its specific Prussian national conscious- ness, with its pride of historic traditions, and with its hereditary, and, as if inborn, pious veneration not only for the house of its ancient rulers, but also for the whole of its nobles, and with its respect for the uniform and the profession of the soldier, and the panoply of war, has not yet gained such a deep hold over them as it has over the Prussians in the old pro- vinces. They are good Prussian subjects, not, how- ever, so much from instinct, as rather from deliberate choice. Whoever may feel surprised at this should think how many changes of government they have 1 Acts XV. 28. 174 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DR KRUMMACHER. already experienced, and how recent is their annexation to their new Fatherland.^ It must be regarded as a misfortune that the image of a true Prussian has always hovered before their minds in the form of a BerUner. They conceive of him, perhaps, as a person well-dressed, clothed with the appearance of fashion, but as a windy talker, whose word is not to be de- pended upon, as one who, stepping boldly forward, with high bombastic talk, acts the part of a learned man, and is accustomed, in speaking, to say " We," as if he were a member of the king's cabinet, who boldly criticises every one, and with his senseless attempts at wit, reveals a certain sentimentalism, which speaks, however, rather of the theatre, than makes itself worthy of notice by presenting anything that has the breath of true feeling. These are mere peculiarities, which stand diametrically opposed to those which characterise the inhabitants of the Lower Khine, and particularly the people of Berg, who love all that is solid and true, and manifest in this respect a sobriety often culminating in the extreme of prosaic plainness. In their social intercourse, they exhibit a directness in their style of conversation which frequently degene- rates into thoughtless rudeness, and not seldom a frankness and nonchalance which borders on incivility, coarseness, and insolence. But already, by the fre- quency and facility of communication between the provinces, by the general military service in which all must take part, the process of naturalization has been essentially advanced, and the people of Berg, in spite ^ The Province of the Rhine is composed of territory taken in 1814 from France and the Grand-duchy of Berg, which formerly belonged to the Elector of Bavaria. At the Congress of Vienna, in 1815, the Eliine pro- vince was given to Prussia, and has since formed a part of that kingdom. — Tr. ELBERFELD. 175 of the hindrances which have grown up in their his- tory, from their natural disposition, their confession, their customs, and defects, will emerge from the pro- cess true normal Prussians. As such I saw them when, in the year 1833, the now deceased King Frederick William iv., then, as crown-prince, in all the grace of his youthful dignity, and. adorned with all those endowments of mind and those excellences of character which distinguished him, visited the Bhine province. The genuine enthusiasm with which this amiable prince was everywhere saluted and accompanied was beyond all description. Never did the loyalty of any people exhibit itself so worthily as on that occasion. The countenance of every one was lighted up with joy, if but a sight of the prince was obtained ; and they to whom he addressed a friendly word, or to whom he stretched out his right hand, felt themselves as raised to the very pinnacle of happiness. He spent a Sabbath in the Wupperthal, and it devolved upon me, by his express wish, although I lived in Barmen, to preach on that day, the 20th October, in the High Church of Elberfeld. I subjoin the sermon preached on that occasion. " And- at that time Solomon held a feast ^ and all Israel tvith him^ a great congregation^ from the entering in of Hamath unto the river of Egypt^ before the Lord our God^ seven days and seven days^ even fourteen days. On the eighth day he sent the people away: and they blessed the king^ and icent unto their tents joyful and glad of hearty for all the goodness that the Lord had done for David His servant^ and for Israel His people." — 1 Kiugs viii. 65, 66. These words we have read place us in the midst of a scene which was one of the grandest in the whole 176 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DR KRUMMACHER. history of Israel. They bring us into the midst of a great national festival. It is thousands of years indeed since the joyful notes which sounded forth on that day were heard ; but it seems to me as if they still echoed and lived anew, vibrating in a lofty strain on the harp- strings of our hearts. Come, let us draw near and contemplate for a httle, more closely, this great festival in Israel. And first let us consider the object of the festival, and then the festival itself. I, We find ourselves in Jerusalem. Never was the city in a higher excitement of joy than it is to-day. The people have streamed in crowds into it from all parts of the land, from the river of Egypt even unto Lebanon. Every countenance is radiant with joy ; the words of praise and thanksgiving are on every lip. Wliat does all this mean ? It is not the song of victory we hear. For years the valiant sword of Judah has slumbered in its sheath undisturbed, and the banner of peace has waved from the summit of Mount Zion. It is a joy of a difierent kind that now moves the people. It is a joy unmixed and incomparably holy. No ; this festival has no bloody field as the background on which it rests. The whole of the joyful excitement among the people is stirred up by their zeal for the Lord, and their interest in His worship. You all remember how, on one occasion, David with amiable humility once cried out, " See, now I dwell in an house of cedar, but the ark of God dwelleth within curtains!"^ What "that man after God's own heart " dared meanwhile only to desire the accomplishment of, and to prepare for, was now brought to a successful issue by Solomon. The sacred temple now stands completed on the summit of Mount 1 2 Sam. vii. 2. ELBERFELD. 177 Moriali ; a building which is a monument of faith ; a psalm of praise to Jehovah in stone and lime. But that which carries away the people with such excite- ment of joy is not the stone walls they see rise before them, or the beautiful and richly adorned rows of pillars. It is the solemn purpose for which the building is erected, to be the dwelling-place of the Most High. It is the circumstance that the Holy One of Israel has now found an house to dwell in, where He may mani- fest Himself among His chosen ; no longer as a guest sojourning among them, but having a fixed habitation. Now, for the first time, He has His home in Judah. For His priests who served Him, and for their signifi- cant acts of worship, there is now afforded ample and fitting space. The people see all this accomplished, and their hearts swell with gladness. That which gave dehght to the people made Solomon, their great king, also glad at heart. He rejoices and praises the Lord with them. I might, indeed, well envy Israel the joy of that day. Yet, lo ! my eye rests on my people, my country ; and what do I perceive ? surely here is more than Solo- mon's temple ! Here stands forth the temple of living stones, whose foundation is Christ. Here the Lord meets me, not amid the darkness, or behind a veil, but with open face. Here is the reality, while on Zion there was only seen the shadow. Here is the blood that speaketh better things than that of Abel. Here is the true mercy-seat, the true ark of the covenant, the sacrifice which perfecteth for ever them that are sancti- fied, the High Priest who has for us entered into Heaven to present us to the Father, clothed in His own righteousness. And . . . But why should I say more ? Yes, brethren, if ye wish to ask me which 178 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DR KRUMMACHER. among all the nations of the earth I consider as that which has been chiefly chosen by God as the Israel of the New Covenant, with gladness of heart I bear testi- mony that it is you — ^you, my German people I and I could with ease give proof that this belief of mine is not unfounded. I might begin my proof by uncovering to you the depths of the German language, which, hke that of ancient Israel, was formed, as no other has been, into a language of the sanctuary. Before that Gospel came to us, it carried it, as if in the germ, in its bosom. This language expressed already, from the beginning, the truth, that whatever God commands is law (" Gese^z"), i.e. firmly fixed and immovable; the viola- tion of the " Gesetz" is sin {" Silnde"), that is, some- thing that must be expiated; the greatest wretch- edness of man is his " Elend " (misery), his being made a foreigner, his banishment and estrangement from his father's house ; for the bringing him back from his estrangement there must be the propitiation (" ver- sohnung "), the suhnung (expiation), and that by the Son. Thus I might go on to show you the wonderful depth of our language, and to prove that it had Chris- tian ideas pervading it at its very formation, so as to prepare it beforehand for being able to receive and em- body the message from Christ. Thousands of expres- sions I could mention, which lay ready from the begin- ning, prepared through a divine influence presiding over their formation, as so many vessels and forms into which the ideas of the divine revelation might be received as soon as revealed. No other language is so capable of receiving these ideas, of preserving them in their full force, and of transmitting them in their pure and un- encumbered truthfulness, as is our German lansruasfe. ELBERFELD. 179 The formation and structure of our language will also account for the circumstance that the German transla- tion of the Bible, among all that have been executed, stands in the fore-ground as the most noteworthy, and pervaded by the deepest and most hallowed unction. I might further remind you that our German Father- land, like ancient Israel, has been richly blessed by God with the precious gift of true sacred art, as no other land has. I might, for instance, place before you the old domes towering heavenward, as thoughtful copies of the Temple of Israel, which found their first models in the devotion and the faith of the German Church. I might bring before you all our sacred images that have come to us from ancient times, which, as if some Christian Bezaleel had breathed upon them, bear on their fore-front, as no others do, the stamp of the deepest evangelical life. But especially would I have you to observe that it was our Church that gave birth to the chorale, the truly hallowed Christian mode of offering the sacrifice of praise, and that it was the Church of our Fatherland also which received by inheritance the harp of David, attuned to New Testament song. She possesses the evangelical psalm, the true Church hymn. She first struck the key-note ; other Churches have only prolonged it. I could also open before you the year-book of the history of our Fatherland, and unveil to you the re- semblances between the divine method of the education of our people and the training of ancient Israel. I might show you how the theocracy of Israel has no- where found so true an image and counterpart as it has in the relation subsisting between the German people and their rulers — a relation bearing in it the 180 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DR KRUMMACHER. idea of a lieutenancy in the name of God, such as is taught by the eternal Word, and is firmly rooted in all our hearts. Our monarch's crown has always been seen by us as all-radiant with the glory of an immediate divine investiture, and Church and State have never been so closely, so inwardly united as they have been in our land. I might, in illustration of the same truth, summon before you the bands of prophets and evangelists with whom the Lord has blessed our people as He has not any other nation ; and I might remind you, in addition, how the brightest constellations which hundreds of years ago illuminated the horizon of the Church, arose in by far the largest number from out of the bosom of our German Church. I might prove to you how no Church ever enjoyed so great a fulness of evangelical light as ours ; yea, how it was called to be the moon to catch and reflect again upon the world the rays of the Sun of Righteousness. I might bring before your eyes the man who, as a light moving amid the darkness, worthy almost to stand by the side of Paul and Peter, the valiant hero for the truth of God, who was ordained not only to bless his own age, but to extend his influ- ence for good to succeeding centuries — the man whose torch, kindled at the fire of the Gospel, yet to the present day difiuses its blissful fight over the whole earth, from pole to pole ; and for this great ofiice he was, as it were prophetically, pointed out in a very remarkable historical manner. For the Galatians, to whom that letter was written — a letter which prin- cipally contains the very kernel and the central prin- ciple of the Gospel, the doctrine of justification by faith alone without works — were, according to an old tradition, of German origin, perhaps from the neighbour- ELBERFELD. 181 hood of the Elbe, and were carried over Italy under the leadership of a Lothar or Luther into Asia Minor. And lo, many hundreds of years later, in the same region, a Luther again appears, who kindles his torch at that letter to the Galatians, and receives a com- mission from God to give back to the Church, in all their unveiled glory, the doctrines taught in this epistle, and to lead His people a second time, only in a holier sense, to Galatia ! But why should we proceed further in this direction? I only wished, in a few cursory remarks, to point out how my statement might be illustrated and proved, that God intended great things for our people, such as might be regarded as ordained for none other than the Israel of the New Covenant. And, indeed, it were easy to multiply such illustrations and proofs, and those things which might seem of an opposite character it would not be difficult to explain. It is true we lament, with bitter sorrow, that even in our land there has been manifested the spirit of a falhng away from the Word of truth. But the poisonous plant of the false doctrine did not grow up in our land.^ Even in ^ Modem infidelity, the product of that general lethargy which fell upon the Churches after the Eeformation, first developed itself among the so- called English Deists. Voltaire, then known by his assiuned name, Francois Arouet, came over to England in 1725. He adopted the infidelity of Morgan and Tindal, and especially that of the profligate and superficial Bolinghroke, secretary of state under Queen Anne, and carried it back with Mm to France. Rousseau, who also gathered his weapons from England as Voltaire did (he died also in the same year as Voltaire, 1778), exerted a wide influence by his writings, where infidelity appeared in a form not so rude and ofi'ensive as it did in those of Voltaii'e, in undermming all faith in Christianity. The infidel party in France grew in numliers, and became bolder. They issued their great work, the " Encyclopedie Universelle," edited by D'Alembert and Diderot, which very materially aided in the wider diffusion of those principles which at length showed their tendency in the open war, which began in 1793, against all that was holy — the Revolu- tion, with all its horrors and blasphemies. 182 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DR KRUMMACHER. the worst times, however, the falling away has, through the grace of God, never become general. Of that the hills and valleys which surround us here in a wide circle can give joyful testimony. And finally, in these recent times, in the region of science and intellectual culture, there has arisen a crisis which sheds upon us a silver light, and casting its hopeful radiance over the foaming, boiling cauldron of the present conflict, fills us with the expectation of coming good ; yea, leads us to the behef, that in the hidden future there lies the Diderot was called to the court of Catherine ii, of Russia, and infected the nobility there with the poison of the French infidelity, which was but a development of the English Deism. The works of the English Deists, first imported by way of France, were for the most part translated into the German language, and widely circu- lated throughout Germany. Their principles readily took root, the soil having been in some measure prepared for them. David Hume's " Essay on Miracles" was very popular in Germany, and intensified the infidel spirit which was fostered by the works of the English Deists, and by the writings of Voltaire and the French school. Voltaire, who was called to Berlin (1750) by Frederick the Great, diffused among the literati, of whom for a time he was the admired and acknowledged head, of the Prussian capital, and by them through the whole of Germany, and particularly among the higher classes, the taint of the frivolous French Naturalism. The king, surrounded by French Free-thinkers, showed his subjects the example of scoffing at all positive religion. The great German organ of this " Illuminism " was the Berlin journal (1765-92), the Allgemeine Deutsche Bibliothelc, which introduced from France and England all manner of infidel arguments and objections, and scattered them throughout Germany, niuminism invaded the sphere of the theologian, and created Rationalism, from the withering blight of which Germany is but now recovering. Scepticism has there now spent itself, and has been proved to be but vanity. Kant's (died 1804) philosophy sprang out of David Hume's infidelity, and it is well known how extensive has been the influence of that phil- osophy, as modified by Fichte (died 1814), Fries (died 1843), Schelling (died 1854), and Hegel (died 1831), in the interests of rationalism and infidelity. Thus it may justly be said that infidelity and rationalism in Ger- many are of foreign origin, and not the natural product of the soil. -Tr. ELBERFELD. 183 gracious purpose of the Lord to usher in a new Refor- mation. Germany, the Israel of the New Covenant times ! pleasant heart-quickening thought ! May it become more and more e\ddent that it is even so ! But is it true — my Fatherland in a narrower sense, may I not venture to salute thee as the Benjamin and Judah in this Israel ? Yea, the Lord deals in a specially graci- ous manner with thee, thou dear Prussia ; with thee, before all lands, it is evident that thou thyself mayest be taken as a proof that the eyes of God are continually open in grace and mercy over the whole boundaries of Germany. That we are not worthy of all this His goodness, is among all clear things the clearest. No, O Lord, we are less than the least of all such love ; unworthy of all that mercy and faithfulness Thou hast shown toward us, and art still making to pass before us up to this present hour ! It cannot be mistaken that, out of the dark tumult of battle of that never-to-be-forgotten October day,^ the morning-dawn of a new era broke over us — that the knees bent to the earth on the bloody battle-field, as well as the cross borne on the helmets of our brave soldiers, without its being so intended, were a signifi- ^ Alluding to the memorable Volkerschlacht (battle of nations), which was fought at Leipsic (16th-18th October 1813) between the Allies and the French, who were led by Napoleon in person. The Allies were com- pletely victorious, and pursued the French across the Rhine. They then entered Paris, and the Congress of Vienna met to re-an-ange the affairs of Europe. The " Confederation of the Ehine," formed by Napoleon in 1806, with himself as protector, was now dissolved ; Europe was emancipated from the French yoke, and Germany was freed from the humiliation of foreign domination, which it had for seven years endured. The " Liberation Wars," terminated by the bloody battle of Leipsic, introduced a new era into the development of Germany ; a spirit of moral earnestness widely diffused itself among the people, and they entered on a new career of reli- gious and intellectual elevation.— Tr. 184 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DR KRUMMACHER. cant symbol, and afforded a kind of prophetic pre- intimation of the near outshining of a new and glorious day. That it is even so, the present aspects of the times give token in many thousand ways. I look round upon our land. Yes, praise the Lord, my soul ! The Lord is among us, the Lord is with us ! Wliat do I see ? In the Church, a new awakening to life ; in science, unmistakably a more earnest effort of mind, a deeper necessity felt ; on the Universities there have fallen again the tongues of fire which bear witness for Christ ; from the pulpits there is heard more and more, in new and distinct utterances, the proclamation of the old good Word ; in the seminaries of learning a powerful process of development is going on towards a more evangelical form of culture ; and along with these there are flourishing mission schools under the shelter of a gentle royal sceptre, Bible societies in full and unwearied activity, institutions aiming at the promo- tion of the welfare of the neglected and the criminal. And what is yet more than all this, there are not incon- siderable bands of men, constantly increasing in number in all districts of the land, among all classes and condi- tions of society, who have sworn that they will never more bow the knee to Baal ; a company of praying men encompassing the land as with a chain, difiusing bless- ings all around. And if further evidences be needed to prove that God is with us, consider that at a time when here and there the most sacred bonds were rent asunder by traitor hands, our people gave a cheering proof that true fidelity had not yet altogether dis- appeared from the earth. In the days when, around our borders, a gulf opened its fearful mouth to vomit forth into the world spirits accursed of God, then the Prus- sian people gathered more closely in a compact circle of ELBERFELD. 185 defence aronnd the throne of their ruler. And if a fire now burns among us, it is the fire of an enthusiastic and ardent love for the dear house of our ancestral prince. And the fearful commotions that here and there arise, are able to exert no wider influence upon us than is necessary to call forth the most glorious pro- testations against the profane spirit they display. Truly it is evident, and the circumstances powerfully con- firm the judgment, that the Lord has not yet forsaken us with His grace. And what shall I more say ? I am silent — Oh, your own hearts know well how to follow out that fine of thought which here opens before me ! An essential ingredient in the cup of Israel's joy at that festival was the circumstance that the king himself carried before his people the banner of Zion, and, deeply rooted in the faith of his fathers, walked in the peaceful pilgrim path of those who pass through this world as strangers on a journey to that city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. One of the notes of praise sounding from their harp was the consciousness that a ruler stood at their head who adorned the crown he wore, a crown which, wherever it appeared, was the joy- ous token, full of promise to all the people, of peace and safety. This crown came not forth from the workshop of an earthly artist. It was not formed by the hands of man. It was not made of perishable materials. That was the crown of Solomon, that the kindness and love of God had shone upon him. It was the fairest diadem, the richest ornament, that he appeared seated on his throne as a man whose countenance con- strained the Queen of Sheba to cry out, " Blessed be the Lord thy God which delighted in thee, to set thee on the throne of Israel ! " When Israel thought thereon, M 186 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DR KRUMMACHER. the jubilee-song of the people rose higher, and sounded forth in clearer notes, and all countenances were radiant with joy and hope. Once more I am silent — what I might further say to you already your own hearts pro- claim to you in the joy which pervades them. Yes, brethren, it is clear as day, if any nation has now occasion and ground to echo in full accord that festival gladness of ancient Israel, then, people of Prussia, it is you ; you, among whom there have been always seen the shining footsteps of the tender love of God — a people whose greatness and splendour gleam out into the remotest distance, and in whom is anew fulfilled what is written of Israel under the reign of Jehoshaphat : " And the fear of the Lord fell upon all the kingdom of the lands that were round about Judah, so that they made no war against Jehoshaphat." II. How did Israel celebrate the festival ? We read : " And Solomon at that time held a feast, and all Israel with him, a great congregation, from the entering in of Hamath unto the river of Egypt, before the Lord our God." Hear ye this? ''Before the Lord!" Thus thanking God, praying, offering up sacrifice ; and especially doing homage, and devoting themselves unto the Holy One of Israel, and vowing unto Him to follow Him fully. Brethren, ye understand this. A like thing is this day done among us. But, behold, I come nearer to you, and I first unfurl a banner in your midst. I observe what ye are thinking. Ye think it is the eagle -banner, the dark-coloured victorious standard of our Fatherland, and I see you in the act of rallying in bands around it with enthusiastic joyfulness. Now, perhaps also that, beloved ! But, meanwhile, the ban- ner which I at this moment unfurl before you is a ELBERFELD. 1S7 different one. It is the sign in which, all salvation rests ; the sign in which the welfare of States in general, as well as the happiness of each one of you in particular, finds a sure basis. Ye see it now : it is the banner of the Cross ! Around it do ye rally, and wor- ship with adoring homage Him who hung thereon, even Christ Jesus ! Say not, " We will worship God." All worshippers who come to God without Christ are rejected! Say not, "We will honour Christ." Ye ought to worship Him, for He is King ! Think not in your hearts, we will do Him homage according to the measure of our faith. No, all honour must be rendered to Him. The Father requires it. Answer not, " We seek to imitate in our lives His example." That is nothing. The grace of the Eternal is as His blessing, a crown which is not bestowed as a reward of work separated from faith, the living faith in the name of Jesus. Oh, consider it, that the love of God is a love in Christ Jesus ; and only in the measure in which they honour the name of His Son will men be truly blessed of God. Let me further say to you, that God deals with sinners not otherwise than through Christ ; and in so far only as in faith we place Him in the midst, between ourselves and the Almighty, will we succeed in opening over our heads His fountains of blessing, and remove from our borders His judgments. There- fore, whoever loves his people, his country, and his own soul, let him rally to my banner; let him in true alle- giance stretch out toward it his right hand, vowing to the Lord, and from the very depths of his soul let him join in the jubilee chorus of Israel: " Praise be to Jesus Christ I All honour to the Lamb ! " Along with the banner of the Cross, I erect in the midst of you an altar holy to the Lord — and, lo, 188 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DR KRUMMACHER. scarcely does it rise up into view, when my people gather in crowds around it ! They think they are look- ing on the altar of the Fatherland. And I see how they offer a solemn vow, and express an ardent wish for the welfare of the highly loved land of their fathers. And see how they cast down a sword upon the altar. They wish it to be " one man and one wall," if there should be strife again. And how they bring all their strength, consecrating it to the achievement of the lofty aims of the fathers, and then how they break out with the good, old, joyful watchword, " All for one, and one for all ! " Yes, on our altar, which we now erect, there is even room for all that ; — but room also for a very dif- ferent kind of offering. There is room on it also for tears of repentance, because of our ingratitude ; room for the sacrifice of a broken heart and a grieved mind ; room for a confession, like that of the centurion, " Lord, I am not worthy that Thou shouldest come under my roof;" room for the sighs of publicans and sinners, and for the effusions of souls hungering for grace and crying for mercy. Oh that my people would more and more, with such gifts and sacrifices, cover the altar of the Lord ; so would there soon descend upon it a fire from heaven, as upon the altar in the temple of Israel, giving witness that they had come up before God as a sacri- fice well-pleasing in His sight, and they would return in showers of blessing again upon the earth. And, finally, I lay before you, upon the steps of that altar, a book for your signature. I imagine your thouirhts. Ye think it is the book bearins" the siirna- tures of a people loyal to their king — the book wherein there is recorded the names and pledges of those who are protesting against the spirit of the times, which has broken away from God and His Word, and ELBERFELD. 189 against those evil principles that have emanated from the abyss. No, my brethren, in that book stand in- scribed, long ago, all your names. But this book I mean is the book of the suppliant — the book in which they record their names who wish to be bound together with us in a covenant to bring before God continually, every day, the interests of our land and our people, and earnestly to plead before Him His own promises ; to plead for a general outpouring of the Holy Spirit, and, instead of the sparks that have hitherto shone, to draw down a very flame of new life upon our land. And, oh, what do I see ? How also to this book they gather in crowds, with the pen wherewith to inscribe their names in their hands ! Now I take this document in both of my hands, and lift it joyfully up, and prophesy to my people, that to-day or to-morrow the new Ben- jamin and Judah of God will be revealed in full sjDlen- dour. Here is the document which warrants it ; here the letter, here the seal ! Now to conclude. The termination of that festival in Israel was joyful ; its consequences were altogether blessed. Our festival to-day will also bear its blossom. How read we ? " And Solomon sent the people away : and they blessed the king, and went unto their tents joyful and glad of heart, for all the goodness that the Lord had done for David His servant, and for Israel His people." They had anew been constrained to say, " We are a people with whom the Lord is present;" and before the powerful impression which the consideration of all the goodness and mercy with which God had crowned Israel had produced within them, all the clouds of debasing covetousness and worldliness, which had here and there gathered around the heart, were all at once completely swept away. Their inner 190 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DR KRUMMACHER. life was all radiant with the clear shining as of spring. Their hearts overflowod with thankfulness, and they bowed down in humble adoration. Their souls were like bright festal chambers, echoing with the sweet tones of praise ; and there was perhaps no one among the whole people who did not feel himself constrained by new love, and strengthened with new might, while giving himself up to the duties of domestic and public life. . And the Jews returned from the festival not only "joyful," but of "good courage." From that which Jehovah had already done for Israel, there was legiti- mately drawn the conclusion, that, in the future, He would do yet more for His people. They remembered that He was called the Amen, the Faithful and True; and they believed that, in the thousand bright illustra- tions of the kindness He had hitherto displayed, they saw the promise revealed : " Israel, I am thy God ! Fear not, My grace is a Fountain which is never exhausted ! " And if they wanted yet further supports for their hope of the future, these were richly supplied them by the festival itself from which they now re- turned home. There were so many things in those blessed days they had just spent, which warranted them to cherish the happiest expectations for the future. Their universal jubilee at the entrance of God into the temple which had been prepared; Solomon's going before them with the banner of Zion and with the censer of prayer ; the enthusiasm of the affection shown by the whole people for their paternal ruler ; the earnest, heartfelt prayer for the king, his house, his government, and his country, rising up from the lips of the thousands of Israel — all this, and many other such-like things, oh, how they lighted up the future. ELBERFELD. 191 as if Israel's firmament had been sown over with the golden stars of hope ! " They went unto their tents glad of heart, and they blessed the king." Brethren, here I end, and in silence retire into the background. Lo, I see one standing now in the midst of you, one incomparably more glorious, a herald from the presence-chamber of Jehovah, a seer with his sacred harp consecrated to God. There he is, and he salutes my people on the right hand and on the left. Why beams his counte- nance with joy ? The man, it is easily seen in him, brings good tidings. Only with significant look reveal- ing to us his secret, he passes quickly through our midst, he hastens to the throne of the king, and joy- fully opens his mouth to deliver his message. Come, let us stand with reverence at a distance, and listen in silence to his word. " Thus," begins the seer, " thus saith the Lord to thee, His anointed, I hold thee by thy right hand, that thou mayest subdue nations be- fore thee, and loose the loins of kings, and to open before thee the two-leaved gates ; and the gates shall not be shut before thee ; I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight : I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron : and I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I the Lord, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel. Lo, thou wilt be my shepherd, and shalt perform all my pleasure ; even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built ; and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid. And I the Lord will make thy land as a garden of Eden, and thy fields as a garden of the Lord. And I will give great peace to thy land, that nothing but delight and joy may be 192 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DR KRUMMACHER. found therein, and thanks and songs of praise through- out all its borders!"^ Thus speaks the seer of God in the name of Jehovah. " Yea, Amen, we joyfully ex- claim. So let it be ! " Kaise thyself aloft, Prussian Eagle, on the wings of faith, and choose for thyself thine element in the marvellous light of that Sun, under whose wings there is health and salvation. Build thine eyrie in the rock Christ, and thou shalt never be overcome, and the gleam of thy crown will make the nations tremble! " And they blessed the king." Now, dear brethren, I have long enough held in your hearts with rein and bridle. Now let every restraint give way, and allow the freest scope to the animation and joy of your hearts ; gather joyfully around the throne of the noblest father of his country ; give voice to the feelings which burn within you ; salute him with the cry, " Long live the king ! " and no longer hesitate with childhke joy, as every one's heart may prompt him to speak out, to pour forth your good wishes into his bosom ! May the Lord our God be with him, and crown him with grace as with a shield ! May the king rejoice in Jehovah's strength, and be very joyful in His salvation ! May the Lord grant him the desire of his heart, and deny him nothing which his lips have craved ! May the Lord prosper all his designs ! May He make him a blessing continually, and make him glad with the joy of His countenance ! May he also, through the power of God, stand as a beautiful pillar under the temple-roof of the true Church ; as a strong tower against which the waves from the abyss may dash themselves to pieces ! May the great salvation be granted unto him from the Lord ; to him, and to his seed after him, for ^ See Isaiah xliv. 26, xlv. 1, &c. ELBERFELD. 193 ever ! May blessings descend on the future heir of his throne ! May the grace of God in Christ Jesus cover him with its heahng wings ! May the Lord, before Avhom he, along with us, lies in the dust, fulfil the thousand joyful hopes with which a whole people look upon him, our ardently beloved Prince ! May the God of his father be his helper ! May he be blessed, and may the blessing of God be upon him, which may reach "to the precious things of the lasting hills!" From day to day may the bond divinely formed, which binds us and our royal house together in such loving fellow- ship, be more and more closely knit together ; and may the holy relationship root itself continually the deeper in the love of Christ, and in the Word of Life, that it may endure through all time, and be perpetuated in eternity ! Brethren, what do I hear ? truly our desires and prayers for blessing pierce through the heavens. A voice from above comes hovering down to us. Ye may all hear it. To the assurance and great joy of your hearts, ye may hear it echoing— it is the voice of God, the Faithful and True — " Amen, so let it be ! " This is the voice from the clouds. Thus let all be glad and rejoice ! Brethren, what we desire, may it be granted ! Amen, it will ! Yea, hallelujah, amen ! A public festival was given by the magistrates of Elberfeld on the occasion of the Prince's visit, at which he very graciously condescended to be present. His demeanour, in its power to win our affections, was befitting the princely nobility and amiable gracefulness which he inherited from his father — a gracefulness which, in its most familiar condescension, never passed beyond the bounds of what was right and fitting. My love 194 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DR KRUMMACHER. and veneration for him drew me on, toward the close of the festival, to make some observations which happily gave expression to the innermost thoughts and feehngs of the whole company seated around the table, and which were applauded with the highest enthusiasm. The Crown Prince repHed to the acclamation by saying to me, " Krummacher, pray I " One of the Prince's retinue, the General von Thile, had caused the toast I then gave, so far as he could recall it to remembrance, to be afterwards lithographed for his friends ; and I am sorry that I cannot here insert it, for the simple reason that I no longer possess a copy of it. I remember only that I saluted the Crown Prince as the prototype of the future German people, not only as risen up again into a united nation, but also come into the possession of all the virtues of their ancestors — renewed, however, and regenerated by the purifying influence of Chris- tian truth ; and this I only now remember, because thereby the first foundations were laid of that relation which I afterwards sustained to him, which led to my being called to Berlin, and afterwards to Potsdam. In the year 1841, when the Prince, who had by this time ascended the throne, came to Elberfeld, he was received with the same tumult of joy as before. Alas, that at a later period a blightening mildew should have fallen upon and poisoned these blossoms of the purest patriotism ! Yet in spite of all that, the Wupperthal, so far as regards the majority of its inhabitants, re- mained true and loyal to the king, and they showed this in the most splendid manner on several occasions, when dangers seriously threatened the Prussian Father- land. If I were asked to bring forward, from among the different classes belonging to the Reformed Congre- ELBERFELD. 195 gation of Elberfeld, persons in whom its spiritual and ecclesiastical character showed itself in a clear and distinct manner, I would select as such from among the burghers '' old Diedrich," and from among the higher classes, particularly from among the female portion of them, the mother of the well-known family of Heydt. The former was regarded as, in a remarkable degree, an " experienced Christian," which he really was. From his own personal experience he knew all the steps of the inner life of faith. He knew also how to speak of an awakening out of a state of spiritual death, of conflicts with sin under the law, of an entrance upon a state of grace, and of the blessedness of the first love under the comforting words and gracious assurances that came to him from the Lord. He could speak from experience also of a spiritual warfare against many foes ; of doubts, of wrestlings with ungodly thoughts ; of being deprived of the comfort of the Holy Spirit, and of the darken- ing of his faith ; but he could speak also of victories gained through the Word and Spirit of God, of naked faith, and also of a faith full of emotion and of joy, and of all other steps and stages of a living Christianity. What wonder is it then, that seldom a single day passed by in which some soul, seeking for God, did not visit this " Father in Christ," that he might be aided and comforted by his counsel ? And he was indeed an excellent counsellor, who always knew how to strike the nail on the very head, in the most original and often most humorous way. No one left his presence without receivinof the blessinof either of comfort and consolation, or of warning and instruction.^ ^ In the manuscrijit of the Autobiography, the description of the char- acter of the late Frau von der Heydt, which would naturally have been here inserted, is unhappily wanting. We refer the reader, as a compensa- tion for tliis defect, to the " Frauenbriefe," edited by Adolf Zahn, where he 196 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DR KRUMMACHER. In the year 1840 I paid a visit to my parents in Bremen, and it was on this occasion that I threw the torch of war into the midst of the Church-hfe of Bre- men, by a sermon which I was permitted to preach in the Church of St Ansgar,^ of which my father was at that time pastor primarius. I had heard several ser- mons there which, by their flat rationahstic character, veiled under a light bibhcal white-wash, so stirred me up that I felt a deep, genuine sympathy with the con- gregation, from whom the comforting truths of the Gospel were so hidden. I ought, however, at the same time, to have comforted myself in the thought, that in that town, so richly blessed from olden times with spiritual blessings, over whose gates the ineffaceable inscription, " Hospitium ecclesiae Domini," could yet be read, there were not wanting those who gave earnest and decided proclamation to the Word of God. There yet stood in its pulpits, after Menken, that vahant witness for Bible truth, had closed his eyes on this world, such preachers as — not to speak of my own father, who has since departed to glory — the highly- honoiu-ed Treviranus, unweariedly active for the ad- vancement of the kingdom of God ; the energetic and eloquent Mallet ; the deeply earnest Miiller, calmly giving witness to the mighty power of the truth; Mallet's colleague, the enthusiastic and highly-edu- cated Pauli; von Hanfstengel, who especially, by his spirit of gentleness and love, won men's hearts to the Gospel; and many others. But these men were as seldom heard by the majority of those who belonged to the congregation of St Ansgar, as was my father him- will find, very cleai'ly and distinctly ])resented, a portraiture of that noble lady. -Ei). 1 A monk of Corvey, afterwards Arclibisliop of Hamburg, missionary to the Swedes in the middle of the ninth centurv. — Tr. ELBERFELD. 197 self. I entertained the hope, and m this I was not mistaken, that they would be enticed by curiosity for once, to gather together for the purpose of hearing a strancrer. On that occasion I selected as my text the words of the apostle : " But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be ac- cursed."^ The theme of my discourse I announced as " Paul, not a man in accordance with the opinions of our time." Without being, in the remotest degree, led aside into allusions to any persons, I unfolded, with the greatest calmness, the diametrical opposition be- tween the rationalistic sentiments which prevailed in our time, and the ideas of the great apostle. I set forth the great earnestness with which the apostle warned the preachers against preaching to their con- gregations any other Gospel than that which he had preached. Naturally, my sermon was regarded as a direct polemic against the rationalistic clergy, although it was so only in an indirect way. Dr Paniel, in a brochure overflowing with bitterness and gall, was the first who threw down the gauntlet, because he thought my sermon particularly directed against him. A great many other pamphlets followed this one, published at Bremen and elsewhere, on both sides of the contro- versy. Two of these were from my own pen ; the latter, and the more extended, under the title, " Der scheinheilige Rationalismus vor dem Richterstuhl der heiligen Schrift."^ That the violent hatred with which I was assailed from many sides did not fall easily upon 1 Gal. i. 8, 9. ^ " The pretended Rationalism before the Tribunal of the Holy Scrip- tui-e.s." 198 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DE KRUMMACHER. me may be readily imagined; but it was as little able to cause me to rej^ent of my sermon at Bremen, as was that expression of the King to some one who was standing beside him : "I wished to call Krummacher to Berlin, but for the present this cannot be done." The consciousness that I spoke that word, not " of en^^y and strife," but with a good intention, and for the honour of that Gospel which is dearer to me than all other things besides, imparted to me consolation in the midst of all this. The congratulations also with which I was welcomed on my return to Elberfeld, helped me patiently and without injury to bear the ignominy with which I was assailed. Meanwhile it appeared, the longer the more manifest, that this eccle- siastical controversy was so far not without blessed fruits to many, inasmuch as by means of it they learned accurately to distinguish between biblical Christianity and the empty, effete form of doctrine which had hitherto been oifered to them under all kinds of pious representations ; and among the journalistic stones which were hurled at my head, there also reached me many a" " macte virtute esto ! " ^ even from many hitherto unknown friends, which inwardly quickened me. I do not advise any of my brethren in office to enter too rashly on a declaration of theological warftire ; yet, at the same time, let there be no changing of sides, or proposals to capitulate, in opposing unbelievers. The injunction, " endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ," is addressed to every herald of the Gospel. But persuasion is better than condemnation ; and an undermining process, by means of calm, clear arguments, is generally more successful than a tempestuous assault. ^ " Well done ; be of good couraqe." ELBERFELD. 199 A war, such as I then carried on, is not brought to a conclusion, even for the representative of the just cause, without a " full and overflowing measure " of many kmds of annoyances and sorrows. Even the most glorious victory — and it is obvious that I gained such a victory, in so far, at least, as I had unanswerably proved that the Word of God was on my side — is bought at a costly enough price, by many sad hours and sleepless nights spent in prayers and sighs. To hear one's sermon stigmatized before all the world as a " curse-and-condemnation sermon," and one's-self de- clared to be " a raving fanatic," is certainly not agreeable. But that can be borne, if the enmity one is exposed to does not pour itself, like a fructifying dew, over the weeds of sin, bitterness, and hatred and envy, and other dark and hateful passions, which remain concealed in our own nature, so as to make them grow up more luxuriantly within us. One who aims the lance of truth against sinners is immediately, and indeed with justice, ranked among sinners themselves. But even this may be a gain to him. Another excursion, undertaken from Barmen to the old Hanse town,^ at that time divided into two ecclesiastical camps, had a happier and more harmoni- ous issue than that last named. It brought me into the dear land of Wlirtemberg, where I enjoyed the ^ Bremen. In the middle ages, certain commercial towns in the north of Europe entered into a league or Hansa (a corjioration) for promoting their common interests. The number of these Hanse towns varied at different periods. At one time there were as many as eightj'-five joined together in this confederacy. These towns enjoyed great pri\'ileges, and rose to high jxilitical importance. The Hanse League was dissolved in 1630, when the last general diet was held at Lubeck. Since that time the title of Hanse to^vnis has been cou&ied to Liibeck, Bremen, and Hamburg. — Til. 200 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DR KRUMMACHER. opportunity of fellowship with men whom I number among my dearest and most valued friends I have met on my journey of life. The Suabian j3eople,^ among whom, at a later period, I frequently sojourned, gained altogether a larger place in my heart than before, and my affection for them has not to this hour decreased. If depth of feeling and heartiness of character, united with a clear, vigorous intellect, and with a fresh, lively imagination, under the most amiable and unassuming simplicity of character, are the essential characteristics of the German people, then among all who belong to the German family the Suabians are the most German. If I were asked to point out persons in whom these features of character appeared to me to be displayed with special clearness, I would name, among crowned heads, the first Duke of Wtirtemberg, " Eberhard im Bart," who, in that contention of princes as to who among them was most to be envied, declared that it was he, because he could pass the night safely in the thickest forest, under the shelter of any one of his subjects ; among philosophers, Schelling, who formed an era in the kingdom of ideas ; among the poets of ancient times, the Minnesingers,^ and their exact counterpart in modern times, Ludwig Uhland ; among artists, Dannecker,'^ the unassuming sculptor of the ^ Swalna or SuaLia is one of the original ten circles into whicli Germany was divided. It was so called from the Suevi, a German tribe which settled there. It was a dukedom from the fifth to the thirteenth century, when, the reigning family becoming extinct, it was divided among neigh- })ouring princes. The chief portion of Swabia now forms the kingdom of Wiirtemberg and the grand-duchy of Baden. — Tr. - The name given to the German minstrels, " the nightingales of the Middle Ages," who, near the close of the first half of the twelfth century, began to sing of earthly love and sorrow. Tlicy transferred to tlie whole ft;male sex the ordinary feeling wdth whicli men tlien regarded the " Holy Virgin."— Tr. 3 Juhann Heinrich Dannecker, born ul Stuttgart IToS, died 1841. As a ELBERFELD. 201 most splendid of all the statues of Christ ; and, finally, among theologians, the profound Albert Bengel,^ who has made the field of theology, and particularly that of the interpretation of the Scriptures, fruitful for centuries with the fulness of his great and precious thouMits. In Stuttgart I came into the midst of the ex- citements of a very active Christian hfe. The old pietist. Father Dann — like a veteran hero on the bul- warks, covered with the scars and the dust of battle — still occupied his pulpit. His helpers, the venerable merchants and citizens Hering, Josenhans, and others, acted under him, not only as zealous associates in the work of Missions, and of tract and Bible circulation, but also as earnest and circumspect conductors of religious meetings. They permitted me also to address their meetings, which were very numerously attended. " Love for love " might have been appropriately written over the door of the chamber m which these Christian friends met together for prayer, in confidential mutual affection. The 133d psalm was seen here in its full realization. With what "unity" did the brethren dwell together ! " How good and how pleasant " was their assembly ! It was like " the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even sculptor he occupied one of the foremost places among German artists. '* Sculpture has three great masters to point to, who impressed profound Christian views upon brass and marble. The Italian Canova (died 1822) was the renewer of tliis art. The German Dannecker, inspii'ed by him, excelled his master. His Christ represents the Divine Mediator in a sublhne mai'ble statue, as he beheld Him in vision. But greater than both of these is the Dane, Thorwaldsen." — Tr. ^ Prelate at Stuttgart, died 1752, author of "Gnomon Novi Testamenti," a commentary on the New Testament, "distinguished by pregnancy of expression and depth of comprehension." An English ti'anslation of the " Gnomon " has recently been issued by the publishers of this work, in 5 vols. 8vo. — Tr. N 202 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DR KRUMMACHER. Aaron's beard : that went down to the skirts of his garment ; as the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion." The first excursion I made from Stuttgart ^ was to Kircheim unter Teck, to Albert Knapp, the intimate friend of my brother Emil, and his fellow-student at the University of Tubingen, with whom, till then, I was acquainted only through correspondence. If I ever met a young man, all bright and radiant with the most hopeful promise for the future of his career in life, it was this noble son of the Suabian land, in the cheerful, budding, spring-time of his life, as a pastor and a poet, as well as in the midst of a newly-formed household. The very image of ruddy health, tall of stature, firmly built — his brow, his mouth, his eyes, all reflecting the lively energy of his spirit and unfeigned happiness — he won the affection of all those with whom he became acquainted. Whenever he opened his lips in conversation, one heard from him the richest efflor- escence of genuine old Suabianism. From morning to evening this amiable man sparkled, like a fountain from a rock, with striking thoughts — thoughts gleaming like images of gold, and pervaded with wit and humour. I do not forget the pleasant walk which we had together to Dreien, behind the lofty ruins of the Castle of Neuf- fen. An unfailing flow of surprising ideas, animating thoughts, and harmless, lively incidents, shortened for us the hours into minutes. Having arrived at a lonely house on our way, he bade me accompany him into it to pay a visit to a " dear invalid," who had long lain on her bed of pain, without any hope of recovery. We stepped gently within, and after her pastor had intro- duced me to her, though apparently approaching her 1 In September 1832. ELBERFELD, 203 latter end, she heartily welcomed me in a pleasant man- ner, spoke cheerfully to me, and after I had reminded her of several of the promises of the Gospel, she asked me to pray with her. The request she made met my own feelings; my heart overflowed; from moment to moment the pale countenance of the sick woman seemed brightened with sunny gladness ; and after the "Amen," she reached out to me her thin, trembling hand, and whispered, with the expression of a spirit already raised up to the enjoyment of heaven, that she would leave this world in peace, for she rejoiced in God her Saviour, Deeply moved by what we saw, we con- tinued our journey up the mountain. But when we had arrived at the ancient fortress, and had lain down on the soft, mossy carpet that encompassed the ruins, to refresh ourselves with the bread and wine we had brought with us, friend Knapp suddenly disappeared, but soon afterwards returned, and recited to us from his note-book a poem which he had composed on the spot, pervaded by a spirit of the loftiest poetic enthusiasm. That in Albert Knapp ^ there was a true poetic inborn genius, no one will seriously deny ; and yet he is not generally mentioned in our recent histories of literature as ranked among the " Suabian poets ;" although, without doubt, he would have been named among them, and in the very foremost rank, had he consecrated his harp to the spirit of the world, instead of seeking all his inspiration from the Spirit of God. But worldly fame, to which the way and the door stood wide open for him, he gladly cast at his feet ; and recognised it as his calling, as it indeed was the impulse of his heart, to sing the praises of the 1 Died IStli June 1864. 204 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DR KRUMMACHER. heavenly Prince of Peace, through whom he knew he was redeemed, and ordamed " to the inheritance of the saints in hght." Instead of worldly fame, there was destined for him, so long as a Church of Christ shall remain on earth, the glorious reward of God, that his " Eines wiinsch' ich mir vor allem Andern," "An dein Bluten und Erbleichen," "Abend ist es, Herr, die Stunde," and many other of his hymns, shall never cease to be sung in it. We bless him, m the name of many thousands to whom the melodies of his harp, breathing peace and joy, have lightened their steps on the way to the city of God; and we hope that the people of Stuttgart may long refresh themselves at the " streams of Hving water," which, according to the word of the Lord,^ yet flow for them to this hour, from the life and labours of their highly-gifted pastor. From Kirchheim, which was then the residence of the Duchess of Wurtemberg, the illustrious mother of the then King of Wurtemberg, one of the noblest and most pious of women whose brow a princely diadem ever adorned, and also Knapp's noble and friendly patroness, I went to Calw^ to visit Christian Earth, the noble hermit, but who from his lonely cell em- braced the whole world with the arms of his missionary love, and who continuously exchanged despatches con- cerning the kingdom of God with all the nations of the earth, as perhaps no ruler, diplomatist, or ambas- sador ever did. Who can number the tracts, and the precious books for religious edification, which, like a very flock of spiritual doves bearing messages of peace, with his letters and intercessions, from year to year went forth in all directions from his quiet dwelling ? 1 John vii. 38. 2 A village in WiirteiuLerg, in the circle of the Black Forest. ELBERFELD. 205 I spent happy days also under the roof of this beloved friend, surrounded by numberless trophies of the victories which had been gained in the battles of the Lord throughout the heathen world — bows and clubs, idol images that had been cast down, and amulets. Among these there flitted about also several turtles and parrots, which saluted us with their screams. In Barth I found a normal genuine Suabian, thoroughly original, pure of heart, full of earnest wit, and of lively earnestness. A few months ago, he shook the dust of the pilgrim from off his feet, and now, from his throne in the kingdom above, he surveys with unclouded eye the future, as it shall unfold itself among the nations on the earth here below. I was present at the • anniversary festival of the Free Church colony of Kornthal,^ which is not far from Stuttgart. Its founder and patriarch, the magna- nimous, resolute Hoffmann, presided over it in the full strenofth of his manhood. From all corners of the land hundreds of guests streamed in to the festival, who — when I arrived along with my Stuttgart friends — partook of their breakfast in the open air, partly gathered around long tables, and partly stretched out on the grass. After this, the bells invited them into ^ " There existed in Protestant Wiirtemherg an activity of the religious spirit in the national life as nowhere else. Pietism, Chiliasm, Separa- tism, the Conventicle system, &c., assumed powerful forms ; solid scientific knowledge, pliilosophical culture, and lately also philosophical and criti- cally destructive tendencies, forced themselves upon the clergy of this county from Tiibingen. The dissatisfaction with many of the innovations in the liturgy, hynm-book, &c., drove many from the Established Church. After the adoption of forcible measures had proven fruitless, the Govern- ment allowed (1818) those dissatisfied to establish the congregation of Kornthal, with a peculiar ecclesiastical and civil constitution, after ajjostolic example" {Kurtz). — Tr. 206 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DR KRUMMACHER. the large, well-lighted church, the hymn sounded forth, and the chief of the colony delivered an excellent address with impressive animation. The inspector and the pastor of the place spoke in like manner. On the" afternoon it came to my turn to address the multi- tude. My text was the history of the woman taken in adultery ;^ my theme, " Free grace in Christ." I ex- tolled highly the free grace of God, not knowing that a great part of my audience consisted of Michselians,^ who, in opposition to the Pregizerians,^ whose doctrine of grace bordered closely on Antinomianism, strongly accentuated the doctrme of the personal sanctification of believers, which brought them under the condemna- tion of affirming the doctrine of salvation by works. Thus I had the misfortune of unconsciously throwing the apple of discord among the people assembled there. My situation resembled somewhat that of the apostle at Jerusalem, who, when he spoke of the resurrection from the dead, became the innocent occasion of a vio- lent "uproar" among the Pharisees and the Sadducees, so that " the multitude was divided." The theme for social conversation during the remaining part of that festival day was now given ; yet reconciliation and ex- planations were found, and in the evening we separated from one another in peace, and with our hearts anew animated by brotherly love. But the most precious result of my Wlirtemberg ^ John viii. 1-11. 2 Founded by Michael Hahn (died 1819), a butcher in Wiirteniberg. This system is a product of Spener's Pietism, and the Tlieosoishy of Oetinger, the " Magus of the South." It is esjDecially distinguished as dis- regarding the doctrine of justification in favour of sanctification, and as giving prominence to the doctrines of Clmst in us, to the neglect of the doctrine of Christ /or us. — Tr. ^ Founded by a preacher called Pregizer, of Haiterbach, a toAvn in the circle of the Black Forest.— Tk. ELBERFELD. 207 journey was the experience I gained at the deathbed of Ludwig Hofacker, who was above many richly blessed in his evangelistic labours. He yet to this day preaches to many thousands, and will long con- tinue so to preach, in his widely-spread published testi- monies to the truth. This dear friend, as he lay there so calmly and with such patience, saluted me with his countenance, once beautiful and ruddy, but now white as a lily, and spoke to me with Simeon -like peace of his near approaching departure to his heavenly home. At the same time he addressed to me the ani- mating exhortation : " Let the trumpet of Zion never be withdrawn from thy mouth, so long as there is a breath within thee ! " Soon after this he departed to his reward above, like gold purified in the furnace. ThQ Suabian land lost in him its most powerful preacher. And so early I He was only thirty years of age ; but, as the prophet testifieth, " This also Cometh forth from the Lord of hosts, which is won- derful in counsel, and excellent in working."^ In Stuttgart I also met with the famous sculptor Dannecker, by whose personal appearance I was scarcely less animated than I was by the marble statues of his rich ■ atelier, breathing spirit and life. The man re- minded me, by his simplicity and by his frank honesty of manners, of his German predecessors of art in the Middle Ages. As I conceive of the artist, Peter Vischer^ of Niirnberg, the sculptor of the statues of the apostles in the Church of St Sebaldus, the simple, 1 Is. xxviii. 29. 2 A celebrated old German sculptor, l)om about tlie middle of the fifteenth century. ' His masterpiece is the tomb of St Sebald, in the chui'ch of that saint at Niirnberg, Among other figures sculptured on it are twelve small statues of the apostles. In one part he has also introduced his own. portrait in his working dress. — Tr. 208 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DE KRUMMACIIER. unassuming man, with leathern apron and waistcoat, and with hammer and mallet in his hands, so Dan- necker stood before me, and gave expression, in the fullest and most inartistic idiom of his Fatherland, to the most brilliant flashes of his good-natured Suabian wit, Dannecker was in his art a pious man, for how otherwise could he have made his statue of Christ ? It would have seemed very strange to him if what one, who had seen his colossal bust of Schiller, wrote not long ago, had come to his sight — " I was altogether overcome with devotion before this god ! " (namely, Schiller), " Thou fool," would Dannecker have replied; " depart to the asylum for the insane, which is thy proper dwelling ! " On my journey homeward I enjoyed a happy day in the hospitable refuge of Idyllic poets, artists, and all the world, under the mountain fortress 'of " Weiber- treu," at Weinsberg, in the hospitable vine-covered house of the amiable Justinus Kerner, the poet, physi- cian, and ghost-seeing enthusiast. At that time he stood on the summit of his theurgic eccentricities, whose mystic smoke-clouds were continually agitated by the lightning flashes of an inexhaustible humour. His ex- citing and horrifying tales of the wonderful things he experienced as a somnambuhst were continually accom- panied by anecdotes, which were extremely comical in theu" character. Thus a short time before, a celebrated theologian had been permitted to accompany him to the sick-bed of the prophetess von Prevorst, and after he had asked permission from Kerner, he tried exorcism upon her in his own way. Approaching her couch in a solemn manner, he began his exorcising with this strange formula : "In the name of Reason, to which is given power over all spectres ; in the name of Science, ELBERFELD. 209 before whose light all forms of deception vanish away ; in the name of Christianity, which has purified the air of all wicked spirits, I command thee, demon, who hast no existence, to come out of this sick woman ! " She suddenly interrupted the solemn exercise, and assailed the learned exorciser, in the strong Suabian dialect, with a very torrent of abuse, and among other things, with the delicate exclamation : " Thou human ass, thinkest thou that I am afraid of thy vile chatter- ing ? Away ! begone ! lest there come upon thee some- thing which thou wilt not soon forget ! " How crest- fallen the noble exorcist hastened thence, and how the event had filled many with laughter, which, on this occasion, repeated itself in us when we heard the in- cident, was related to us by Kerner in the most drastic way. In dear Justinus, faith, unbelief, and superstition penetrated each other, in a constant fermentation, in a most wonderful manner. The Holy Scriptures he prized as a vade-mecum on which his all was placed ; and yet its authority was null and void as often as the revelations of his prophetess came into opposition to it. Kerner the fantast, however, did not hide from me Kerner the poet, whose thoughtful and emotional genius expressed itself, during my stay there, in bril- liant flashes, particularly when sitting in his vine- covered arbour, and amid his wine cups, which were daily heard ringing there. In his lyrical poems the innermost and the noblest side of his nature presents itself to us in the most beautifid development. Among the Suabian poets he will always be mentioned side by side with his bosom friends Uhland and Gustavus Schwab. As a man of an altogether different nature, and as 210 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DR KRUMMACHER. one side of it related intellectually to the Weinsberger Kerner, was the poet Hebel, the immortal editor of the " PJiine House-Friend," and also of the incomparable collection of " German Poetry," with whom I became acquainted when in Carlsruhe. At the same time, I became acquainted with liim also as Hebel the prelate and the theologian, and was not a little astonished at the difference which I had occasion to discover between the two aspects m which he presented himself. Who is there that has watched, so narrowly as Hebel the poet has done, even the gentlest sounds of the intel- lectual and spiritual life of a people yet living in comparative innocence ; and who is there that has understood how to touch the tenderest strings, even those that vibrate to religious truth, in our inmost heart, by the magic charm of poetic description, as he has ? But what of Hebel the theologian ? To me, in this aspect of his character, he manifested himself as the most jejune rationalist — as a man of kindred spirit with Paulus of Heidelberg. It appeared to me as a psychological mystery, that, in the same person, heart and head should lie so far separated from each other ! As I discovered, however, at " the latter end," a com- promise was formed by which the former was not placed at a disadvantage. I ventured to visit old Paulus^ also, when on my re- turn journey I touched at Heidelberg. The good- natured Suabian, in whom I found the same contra- diction between the heart and head which I had found in Hebel, received me with true fatherly heartmess, although he was sitting at work surrounded by his huge folios. He at once engaged in conversation with 1 Eberli. Gottl. Paulus died August 1851, at the age of 90 years. He was one of the leading champions of the Vulgar Rationalism. — Tli. ELBERFELD. 211 me on theological questions. Wlien in the course of my observations I expressed the idea, that to him Christ seemed to be nothing more than a mere man, he sprang suddenly from his seat, and replied with great passion, and with glowing cheeks : " That is an unjust statement which people are not weary of repeat- ing against me ! Believe me, that I never look up to the Holy One on the cross, without sinking in deep devotion before Him. No, He is not a mere man as other men. He was an extraordinary phenomenon, altogether peculiar in His character, elevated high above the whole human race, to be admired, yea, to be adored." And much more to a similar intent he spake, with true animation, regarding the person of the Lord. Highly delighted at hearing such an altogether unex- pected effusion from his mouth, I left him, wishing him the peace of old Simeon, which he took in a friendly way, indeed, replying to me, "I heartily thank you." Perhaps in my simplicity I gave too favourable an interpretation to his confession ; yet I read, also, in one of his later writings the words, " Christ is a mu-acle, a meteoric stone which has fallen down between our two ages of the world." We now return to the Wupperthal. One is accus- tomed to think of the Church of this valley as present- ing a sort of muster-roll of all possible sects. But though something of a Corinthian character is found amongst them, and such a saying is heard as " I am of Paul, or Cephas, or Apollos, or Christ," yet there is no foundation for this opinion. If ever congregations felt themselves bound to their Church by their glorious traditions, then it is these. Perhaps, in consequence 212 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DR KRUMMACHER. of the extensive acquaintance with the Word of God there prevalent, a variety of views does exist on this or that point of Christian doctrine, which again leads to this result, that under the general banner of the kingdom — which, as far as the essentials of the Chris- tian faith are concerned, unites all in one — there are gathered together smaller groups of persons sympathiz- ing with one another under diverse party banners. But this " itio in partes " endures only until the signal sounds, summoning all to the defence of the general citadel of the ancient Church confession. Then all stand forth as one phalanx closely knit together. No one among them thinks lightly of separating from the congregation. There have, it is true, been no lack of attempts to build up sects. Gichtehans,^ Methodists, Darbyites,^ Baptists, sent their emissaries, hoping to find, in the rich spiidtual life of the valley, the wished- for materials wherewith to build up their httle sec- tional Churches. But in such expectations they were disappointed ; and only the last-named of these denomi- nations has lately succeeded in gathering a very small ^ The followers of Jolm Giclitel (died 1710), an eccentric admirer uf tlie great mystic Jacob Bolime. " The Giclitelians called themselves Angelic Brethren (]\Iatt. xxii. 30), and strove, in the spirit of their master, to attain to an angelic siiilessness, by tearing loose from all carnal desires, laws, and toils, and to a priesthood, after the order of Melchisedec, to appease the wath of God" (Kurtz).— Tr. ^ The Plymouth Brethren, " related on the one hand with Irvingism, by their expectation of the approaching advent of Christ, and likewise regarding themselves as the Latter-day Saints, formed, on the other hand, the most decided antithesis to Irvingian hierarchism, by their absolute In- de])endentism. John Darby, at first advocate, then a clergyman in the Anglican Chiirch, established a sectarian apocalyptico-independent society at Plymouth ; but he soon emigrated to Paris, and from thence to Vaud, when Lausanne became the chief seat of the sect." This sect is deeply tinged with Antinonuanism. Their religion is a sort of Individualism. Tliey are also, for the most part, Anabaptists and Millenarians. — Tr. ELBERFELD. 213 and feeble band around their standard, promising a stricter discipline, and a closer fellowship of brethren with one another. As we already mentioned, there arose for a time during the Agenda controversy, under Doctor Kohl- brtigge^ (altogether on grounds connected with Church order), a small independent congregation, which, how- ever, did not merit the name of a sect, since in all doc- trines it rested on the foundations of the Reformed Church, and recognised the Heidelberg Catechism as its symbol. Such is the case also with the community wliich has there recently arisen — only that in so far it has more the appearance of a separate schismatical church, that it also affords room in its midst for those who hold the Baptist view regarding the ordinance of baptism. A small portion among those who were awakened caused considerable trouble during my time by their dangerous misconception of the doctrine of free grace, and the relations of the " new man " to the " old man," which brought them close to the borders of the most decided Antinomianism. Among; those who held ex- ^ "'WHien, in 1835, the Prussian government made every preparation to force the introduction of the Union in the Wupperthal, and threatened the resistent Reformed preachers with deposition, there arose an excitement among the Reformed scarcely less violent than that among the Lutherans in SUesia. The clergy, with the majority of their Church members, finally accepted the liturgy of the Union, adding the clause, however, ' so far as it agreed with the nature of the Reformed ritual.' But a portion of the congregations, and of them many of their most excellent members, se- parated, and persistently rejected all overtures of re-union. The royal Act of Tolerance, of 1 847, gave them finally the privilege of organizmg an in- dependent congregation at Elberfeld, which called Dr Kohlbriigge, who was formerly preacher of the restored Lutheran Church at Amsterdam, to be their pastor. This congregation, under the name of the " Dutch Re- formed Church," is the only anti-unionistic, rigidly Reformed congrega- ti(jn in Germany" {Kurtz). — Tr. 214 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DR KRUMMAOHER. treme views, tliey taught that sin coiild hencefoi'th do so little injury to a pardoned sinner, that it rather tended to the glory of the Physician and of the blood of Christ ; and that the old man (which is sinful) assails so little the new man in a reofenerated Chris- tian, that he can give it free scope, and leave it to its lusts without any danger thereby arising to the new man. Fortunately, with the greatest number of the people, this ever remained only a theory ; yet it is to be feared that, in the heat of controversy with their opponents, and in defiance to them, some were led gradually to put the seal of practice to their heresy. Some, indeed, began already, for the sake of a demon- stration against the " proud saints " (as they called their opponents), openly to visit the taverns, and most of them avoided coming to hear our sermons, because they did not wish to hear it preached that a new man, who holds himself as passive against the old, instead of crucifying it, is only a phantom. That heresy was, how- ever, gradually overcome, and it has long since wholly disappeared. They knew nothing of a justification which excluded personal holiness. That word of the Apostle Jude,^ against those " who turn the grace of God into lasciviousness," victoriously extended its in- fluence among them. If any accusation is to be brought against believers in the Wupperthal in general, one might mention first, a certain over- estimation of their individual outward forms of life as the only true ones in which Christian life can manifest itself ; and then, also, a mistaking of the steps of the transition from a state of unbehef to one of faith, and, in consequence of that, a too hasty proceed- ing in conferring the titles, " Christian " and " unchris- 1 Jmle 4. ELBERFELD. 215 tian," on others ; and, farther, a too distinctive refusal of every exegetical interpretation of Scripture which deviates in any way from that which has been handed down to them from their fathers, and has now become naturalized among them ; and, finally, too depreciatory an estimate of the value of theological science. On the part of many also, perhaps, the reality of their con- version was determined on too narrow grounds. In so far as a person came not up to the standard of a recog- nised model, he was at least viewed with mistrust. It not seldom happened, also, that tender attachment to their pastors was, on the part of many of them, con- founded with love to the Lord Himself, and much of the " love of Christ," with which it was supposed they burned, when closely examined, dissolved itself into a mere human party zeal. In other respects, however, I know no place in our Fatherland where there existed so much sound practical Christianity as in that much decried, yet, at the same time, much praised valley. It is, as it has well been called, one of the " streets of Jerusalem," blessed above thousands of others. Like Jerusalem of old, this valley was also, from year to year, the place of resort of vast numbers of the friends of the kingdom of God from far and near, sometimes even from the remotest regions of the earth. What a list of names do I find recorded on the pages of my album of excellent men who were on these occasions my guests ! Of the large numbers of Germans whose names are here inserted, I mention only the follomng : — Dr Tholuck, of Halle ; Dr Kling, who was then in Marburg ; Wilhelm Hofiman, of Basil ; Ludwig von Bulow, of Nisky ; Professor Volkmann, of Leipzig ; the 216 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DR KRUMMACHER. profound and judicious Heinrich von Schubert, of Munich, who taught how to understand the book of nature ; the minister von Theile, the highly honoured Christian of Berlin ; Bunsen, who added these words after his name, " The Word of the^Lord our light and rule of conduct ! " Wilhelm Hofacker, of Wiirtemberg, worthy of great honour, with his brother Ludwig ; Otto Mengelnberg, the painter, who added the motto : " He is the fairest among the sons of men ;" Carl von Zezschwitz, of Dresden, with his son, who is now pro- fessor in Leipzig ; Baron von Wiesenhiitten, of Frank- furt-on-the-Maine ; von Bernstorff of Schleswig-Hol- stein ; Professor Schaff, and Pastors Souchon and Kuntze, of Berlin. Among those from France and Switzerland , were : — Professors Gaussen, author of a work on the Inspiration (Theopneustia) of the Holy Scriptures, and the highly meritorious Colonel Trouchin de I'Avigne, both of Geneva ; PJvier, of Lausanne, and Honnegger, of Zurich ; and Valette and Bost, pastors from Paris. Among the numerous friends who came from the Baltic provinces of Russia, were : — Pastors Huhn, of Reval ; Hunnius, of Narwa ; and Berkholz, of Biga ; Professor Dr Keil, of Dorpat, and Christiani, at pre- sent also Professor of Theology there ; Prince Carl Liven, of Courland ; Pastor Knieriem, and von Wag- ner, of Petersburg ; and from Esthonia, the excellent families, Zoege von Manteuffel, von Stiernhielm, von Glehn, von Sivers, and von MaydelL Of friends from England, I name only Peed, of Lon- don, who is widely known as the author of " Martha," and Lord Boden. Of visitors from Sweden, I find the names of Provost Arrhe'n, of Helsingborg, and Pastor Steenhoflf, of Carlshafen. From the Netherlands, Dr ELBERFELD. 217 Capadose, of the Hague ; the intellectual Nickolaus Bleets, of Haarlem ; and the Baron von Boetzelaer, of Utrecht. Of the large number of missionaries who visited us, I here only mention the names of Leupoldt, from Benares ; Isenberg, from Abyssinia ; Terlinden and his wife, from the Cape of Good Hope ; and Gutz- laff, the "Apostle of China." Many of those whose names I have mentioned have already passed away to their heavenly home. I lay a wreath of loving remembrance on their tombs. With them, though living in the realms of light, I remain still united in spirit, until, as we hope, we shall meet again in glory. Many Americans also visited Elberfeld. Two of these, the venerable Dr Hoffeditz, and the active and zealous Pastor Schneck of Chambersburg, came for the purpose of presenting to me, from the Synod of Penn- sylvania, a call to be one of the professors in the theo- logical seminary of Mercersburg. Their appearance amongst us gave rise to a great commotion in the congregation, and in me to a great conflict of contend- ing feelings in coming to a decision on the matter. I long hesitated what to do, especially as from a high quarter the encouragement came to me that I might accept the invitation, and do so with the assurance that, after a certain number of years, I should again be called back to my Fatherland. Meanwhile God the Lord decided otherwise, and helped me to see, with great clearness of inward conviction, that that was not the sphere of labour to which He had called me. I therefore dechiied the invitation, and so a new bond o 218 ArTOBIOGEAPHY OF DR KRUMMACHER. was formed between me and my congregation. The beloved deputies accepted my declinature, saying mth- out anger, though not without sorrow, " As the Lord will," and prepared for their departure to their distant fatherland. Yet, to my great comfort, their journey was not wholly fruitless. I recommended to them, in my stead, Dr Schaff,^ at that time a privat-docent at the University of Berlin. They visited him, found him suitable for their institution, and, after their return, proposed him to the Synod. He was appointed as professor at Mercersburg, and continues there to the present day, making his influence extensively and beneficially felt. He has taken with him to America the sound German theology, and has already suppHed many congregations there with thoroughly educated pastors. Whether he will succeed in defending the German colonists, as with all zeal he is endeavouring to do, against a gradual passing over into Anglicanism, time will tell. To me it appears doubtful, after all experiments that have been hitherto made ; and this was one of the grounds on which I did not see my way to the acceptance of the call that had been addressed to me. ^ The translator takes the opportunity of inserting here an extract from a hitter with which he has been favoured from Dr Schaff with reference to the above : — " I was called to the professorship in Mercersburg, in Peinisyl- vania, to which Kru.mmacher was first called ; but he errs when he states that I am there still. I moved to New York in 1864, to organize the American translation and adaptation of ' Lange's Commentary on the Bible,' and am there still. Nor did I ever intend to prevent Germans from being Americanized, but simply to save the good elements in this necessary and salutary process of amalgamation of nations, which is going on in America, on an Anglo-Saxon foundation — the best tor any new nationality and country." ELBEEFELD. 219 That the Church of the Lower E,hine, particularly in the district of Berg, is proportionally richer in gifted preachers and zealous pastors than that of all the other provinces of our Fatherland, admits not of question. The constitution of the Church contributes to this re- sult. The right of freely electing their own pastors, which the congregations enjoy, is a powerful stimulus to the candidates to restless efforts after self-improve- ment. But, above all, the pastors are encouraged and animated by the spiritual life, of which none of the con- gregations there are altogether destitute. They feel themselves lifted up and carried, as it were, in the arms of a praying people ; and the rich, clear echo from the congregations, in response to their testimonies for the truth, helps them to open their mouths with freedom, and gives them boldness of utterance. Then' constant spiritual intercourse with the members of their congre- gations supplies them also with suitable material for their sermons, and enables them to speak in a practical and pointed manner, A certain hereditary deeply-rooted custom among them helps them to maintain their pastoral dignity. This surrounds them with the bar- riers of a decorum, the least transgression of which would destroy their whole influence. Hence it follows that no preacher indulges himself in any kind of ex- travagance, or takes any part in the amusements of the men of the world, or ever appears at a ball or a theatre, or even a concert, or is ever seen at a card- table, or armed with a hunting-rifle. Alas, how many of them are there elsewhere, however, who act other - ^\ise, amid general toleration ! In that district, such conduct would inevitably bring to nought all respect for ministers of religion. The sermons preached in the churches of the Lower 220 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DR KRUMMACHER. Khine have been spoken of as being monotonous in their character ; and this has not been without just cause, if a constant reiteration of certain fundamental articles of Christian doctrine, presented in a form consecrated by long use, may be so styled. In no sermon is the great fact of redemption ever passed by unnoticed. In every one the method of salvation by Christ is unfolded. Kepentance, conversion, faith, regeneration, justification, and sanctification — the last-named doctrine, however, less frequently — are the prominent watchwords in all of them. A great many of the forms of expression used by the ministers in treating of the interests of the soul, are stereotyped, and the very tone of voice in which they are uttered bears about it, for the most part, a sort of solemn pulpit pathos. It might be de- sirable for them in general to extend somewhat the circle of the topics they discuss from the pulpit, and enter more frequently into the regions of ethics ; and to make their statements freer, and in a more individual style, and their mode of speech more conversational, yea, sometimes to adopt the form of dialogue. The Hhine pastor, however, appears to have adopted as his motto the words of the apostle to the Pliilippians, " To preach the same things to you, to me indeed is not grievous, and for you it is safe." And the result, so far at least justifying this method, is that one will meet with few congregations which are so well-estab- lished, and so steadfast in the knowledge and confession of the essential doctrines of the Gospel, as are the con- gregations in that district. In the Keformed Churches this result is greatly owing to the sermons preached on the Sabbath afternoons, which are consecrated, the whole year through, to the exposition of the fifty-two heads of the Heidelberg Catechism. The smaller Lutheran ELBERFELD. 221 Catechism may be more easily comprehended by chil- dren, and more pervaded by feeling ; certainly more instructive than the Heidelberg one. Experience proves this. Only very rarely, however, in these regions, where the smaller catechism of Luther is in use, will one meet with that clear, distmct acquaintance with the whole system of Christian doctrine, which is so common in the Khenish Churches. It is to be confessed that, even among these, the knowledge of the way of sal- vation is often confounded with the ivay itself, and perceptions of the truth with jTctiYA ; yet, as a corrective of this tendency, the general well-known expression, according to which there is a sharp distinction drawn between " Christian in word " (buchstitblichen Chris- ten), and the " awakened," is in current use among them. The Christianity exhibited among the congregations of the Lower Khine has been condemned by some as partaking of the character of Quietism. I wonder that it has not rather been described as the Christianity of Industrialism. For where has there been developed a greater activity than there, in behalf of all the interests of the kingdom of God ? Where has there been dis- played such skill in the establishing of societies for their furtherance ? Where is there seen so active a zeal for missions, for Bible and tract circulation, for the cause of young men's associations, and for all kinds of Christian work ? And where is there so unwearied a self-sacri- ficing labour put forth for the promotion of these objects, or for the increase m the number of churches or schools, or other agencies for the spiritual welfare of the com- munity, as is to be met with there ? Let one only look at Elberfeld, for instance, where, amid other labour, within a very short time, two magnificent new churches 222 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DR KRUMMACHER. have been erected, an elegant " Society house" estab- Hshed, and the number of preachers has been almost doubled ; and all this has been accomplished, without any State aid, by the free-will offerings of the congrega- tions, who besides, from their own resources, indepen- dently provide all that is necessary for the maintenance of the churches and schools, and for the support of the poor. And as in Elberfeld, so in the whole of the Wupperthal, and more or less in all the congregations in the surrounding district. I may mention only the congregation in the little town of Langenberg, not far from the Wupperthal, where at that time my brother Emil, and Lange, who is now professor in Bonn, were pastors. Wliat streams of spiritual as well as of material blessings have continuously, for a long course of years, flowed forth from that little town, which almost alone maintains the North American Mission, stands at the head of the Inner Mission for the Rhine- land, sends out itinerant preachers almost wholly at its own expense, and besides contributes richly to all Christian enterprises ! There is, therefore, cer- tainly no foundation for the complaint against them of " Quietism," and of a " dull, dreamy mysticism." Would to God that the spiritual activity mani- fested in these parishes penetrated through thousands of other parishes which are remarkable only for their vis inertice ! For fom- years from the time of my receiving the call from America, the life of my congregation in Elberfeld • proceeded on in its calm and prosperous course. The Agenda controversy was forgotten. The sej)aration of the small congregation under Kohlbrtigge no longer caused sorrow. The last traces of the liturgies that had been forced upon us were banished from the Church. ELBERFELD. 223 The ancient forms of public worsliij), almost, it must be confessed, puritanical in their character, which had been handed down from our fathers as a precious legacy, and were regarded as almost sacred, were again restored to their wonted place. It might be said of the congregation at that time, as was testified of the Church at Jerusalem : " Then had the church rest and was edified ; and walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the coixLfort of the Holy Ghost, was multiplied." Yet it was not long till the waves of the Confessional controversy began to dash against the gates of the Wupperthal. It happened that Feldner, a genuine Lutheran pastor from the province of Brandenburg, was called to Elberfeld. His colleague Jaspis gradu- ally took up a more decided place by his side in advo- cating the same views. Even Sander began also, though in a more pacific and gentle spirit, to give strong utterance to the peculiar doctrinal views of the Lutheran Church. Pastor Hermann Ball, who was born, as it were, with a Calvinistic helmet on his head, manifested the strongest opposition to their teachings. The practice of celebrating the Lord's Supper, partici- pated in by both of the congregations in common, which had existed almost from the time of the Beformation, appeared to be in danger of being set aside. At the same time, also, the intimate fraternal relationship which had existed between the pastors of the two con- gregations was threatened with disruption. Instead of the pure proclamation of the Gospel of peace, a lament- able unfruitful preaching of polemics began to prevail, and murmurs began to be heard, chiefly on the side of the Lutherans, of contemplated changes from one side to another, and of imminent separations. Praise be to God, the storm passed by without accomplisliing any 224 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DR KRUMMACHER. material injury. While the storm was raging in threatening fmy over our heads, I was asked whether I would consent to exchange Elberfeld for another sphere of labour. I listened to this proposal with a lighter heart than I would have done at any other time. CHAPTER X. BERLIN. "DEELIN now became my new home, and the large congregation of Trinity Church my field of labour. The King himself had expressly appointed me as suc- cessor to Marheinecke^ in that sphere. My colleague was a superintendent, who was at the same time assistant preacher, afternoon preacher, a consistorial counsellor, as well as our superior and our inferior, all in one. My introduction to my office here was in a manner which appeared to me to be more suitable for the first ordination of a candidate, than for one who had already been engaged in the labours of the pastorate, and therefore, while it was in some degree humiliating to me, yet it was, on that account, so much the more useful and salutary to me. I entered with deep emotion into the bond connecting me with my new congregation, but was filled with not a little consternation when, after the service had been con- cluded, one remarked to me that it was questionable whether I had really seen my oiun congregation before me, since it was only through official arrangements that the Berhner knew that he belonged to a parish at all. At a later period my relation to the congregation assumed a more favourable form. Yet, at the same 1 Died 1846. 226 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DR KRUMMACHER. time, I cannot deny that the beginning of my official Hfe in Berhn was associated with many bitter disappoint- ments. Thus I knew that a preacher could not be expected to be welcomed to his parish in a city where was the royal residence, in the same way as on the Khine, with a splendid procession of carriages and horses, and amid the peahng of the bells and the firing of guns, and therefore the very simple, plain way in which we were received on our arrival did not for a moment surprise me. It was also not unknown to me that in a city crowded Avith inhabitants, the most of whose houses were filled like very barracks, one might count himself very happy if he could find only a place where to lay his head. Yet the strong contrast in which my official residence in the Tauben Strasse stood to the beautiful, spacious, comfortable parsonage-house which I had just left in Elberfeld, presented itself in so- striking a manner before me, that I could not with any heart take delight in the green blooming garlands with which my eldest son, who was then residing as a candi- date in Berlin, and two beloved friends, had adorned the lintels and door-posts of our house, to welcome us on our first entrance into it. Wlien for the first time I set out, in accordance with our Khenish custom, to visit my congregation, un- expected occurrences presented themselves before me, which greatly threatened to damp the joy of my entrance on my new situation. The discoveries which soon pressed themselves upon me of the great amount of poverty, misery, and starvation — found particularly in the cellars and back-buildings of the houses — strongly contrasting with the splendid descriptions which had been given to me of my parish, as one of the most wealthy and prosperous in the city, which, no doubt, it BERLIN. 227 was, were not directly fitted to exert any cheering in- fluence upon me. Yet I was carried over tlie sorrow which the impression thus made was fitted to awaken, by remembering that word of the Lord, that " the poor have the Gospel preached to them." But that which also next very deeply depressed me, was the dis- covery that there was an almost total want on the part of the people of any interest in the Church, or connection with it as a concrreo-ation. With what astonishment they were wont to stare at the man who visited them, introducing himself to them as their " new pastor ! " As a general rule they were dumb, and I distinctly dis- covered in them that they supposed 'there lay behind my visit no other object than the performance of some piece of work relating to them. Not a few remarked that they had already their " confessor " in this or that parish, often lying at some distance, who had baptized all their children, and would also confirm them. Many announced to me that they would not long remain in that part of the city where I met them to-day, but would in a short time remove to some other ; and of such persons there were so many, that suddenly the whole congregation presented to me the sad spec- tacle of a people always shifting about from place to place. Several also discovered by their whole de- meanour, that " pastor," and " church," and " church congregation," were to them words with which they were altogether unacquainted, as they had long ago renounced all connection with such things. I did not refrain from continuing visits to these families ; but with w^hat sorj^owful amazement was I filled at the ignorance of everything appertaining to Christianity which I there found ! The image of the " city of in- telligence " always remained in my mind, but it hovered 228 AUTOCIOGRAPHY OF DR KRUMMACHER. now indistinctly before me, and at last vanished alto- gether, the more deeply I penetrated into the true state of matters. I had hoped to find in the congrega- tion connected with Trinity Church some distinct traces at least of the intellectual and spuitual activity of Schleiermacher and Marheinecke there. But I found none, and convinced myself that it must have been only the elite of the higher educated classes scattered throughout the city, who had at one time assembled in crowds around the pulpits of these theological notabilities. But although there were many things fitted to fill me with disappointment and sorrow in my visits to the families of the parish, yet it happened also that here and there I discovered Christian families who heartily replied to my salutations, giving evidence that they were in living sympathy with me in faith, and in the disposition of their minds. Such families, however, for the most part dated the beginning of their spiritual life from the labours of the deceased " Father Jaenicke," under whom they had been awakened, and whose sermons they had comprehended. The discoveries I made reached their climax when I began to visit one after another of the churches of the city, and to compare the number of those who attended divine worship with the population of the several parishes. I never saw so proportionally small a number attend the Sabbath forenoon worship as here ; and I arrived at the conclusion, that of the population of Berlin, approaching half a million, not more, after deducting the number of the mihtary attending the garrison church, than thirty thousand persons, and these mostly women, attended the public worship of God. Who will wonder, therefore, that at the begin- BERLIN. 229 ning of my labours in Berlin, I had to fight with a feeling of regret that rose up within me, that I had consented to the change which had brought me hither, and that a sorrowful home-sickness and longing after the church-life, and the delightful assemblies for the worship of God, of the Wupperthal, formed the key- note of my thoughts ? To the already-mentioned discouraging experiences, many of a more insignificant and unessential character were added, but which by no means seemed to counter- balance these feelings. Thus, among other things, it was a difficulty for me to change, at least in the winter time, the hour of the early morning public worship, during which every one had to bring with him his lamp to a cold dark church, from seven to eight o'clock, and after that the principal morning service, from nine to ten o'clock. Moreover, it cost me great trouble to bring about the arranging of a chamber for the service of confirmation at my own residence, and I only gained my object by repeated application to the highest ecclesiastical authorities. Then, ere I was aware of it, a circular from the Consistorium was sent to my house, which was evidently intended for me, directing me to remove the title of Dr, which I had legally acquired, from my name in the Church Register, pubhshing an order, according to which, no clergyman was entitled to make use of his title of Doctor of Philosophy. Shortly after this, the theological faculty of the University of Berlin conferred on me the degree of Doctor of Theology. It made me sorry to be almost compelled to believe that the authorities placed immediately over me did not wish well to me. I surely was mistaken ; for the only groimd for that could be that, without any fault of mine, they were not consulted in my immediate 230 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DR KRUMMACHER. appointment ; and they were surely raised high above such a Httleness as this. Yet it grieves me, even to this day, that I was for a moment constrained to doubt their friendly interest in me. Thus there were many things which conspired to humble me to the dust, and to lead me to prayer. The thought for a long time lay heavy upon me, that in my leaving Elberfeld for Berlin, I had acted in accordance with my own wishes, without having the comfort of thinking that I had the Divine sanction for so doing. But I was not too long depressed by this doubt. God the Lord began to comfort me. I had the longer the greater reason to look upon my new field of labour in a different and a more friendly light. Not only did my audiences perceptibly increase in number, so that within a short time every seat in my church was occupied, and even all available space filled ; but I felt myself sustained by the prayers of my people, and discovered evidences that the Gospel which I preached, with a joyful opening of my mouth, awakened corresponding feelings, and produced blessed fruits. I even saw a small band of beloved men of all ranks, increasing ever in number and in strength of Christian character, gathered around me in more intimate fellow- ship, among whom I often felt as happy as if I had suddenly been placed again amid the much loved circle of my dear friends in the Wupperthal. If the outward appearance of these new friends was some- what different, if their Christianity had more in it of the elements of sentimental] sm, and if the language of their enthusiasm at times approached to the animation of the language of the stage, yet their sincerity, their faith in the blood of Christ, their love to the Lord, were the same as among the more robust and less BERLIN. 231 aesthetic believers of the E/hineland. In the much frequented religious services connected with missions, which I was accustomed to conduct, I found these dear friends always in great numbers around me ; and they will themselves, with me, joyfully call to remembrance the pleasant hours which we then spent in fellowship with one another. Many of the older persons amongst them have already departed to their home above ; others of them I have now and then the opportunity of meetmg with, on the occasion of public festivals, in the neighbouring city of Berlin. It was, moreover, a notable and a joyful experience in Berhn, that the churches of the preachers who adhered to the Bible — and it is ground of thanks to God that now there is no longer a destitution of such preachers — were by far the most numerously attended. I do not also affirm that the number of then- adherents among the population in general far exceeded that of those who had attached themselves to the rational- istically-inclined clergyinen. Without doubt the fact was otherwise. Yet the adherents of the latter, for the most part, showed no interest in the Church, or the Word of God and the Sacraments. Perhaps they sent their children to the clergymen to be confirmed ; but they regarded themselves as having long ago outgrown all need of attendance on public ordinances. It would in any case contribute much to the ad- vancement of the kingdom of God in the capital, if the parishes were not too large, so that the pastors might be able in some degree to give special attention to the spiritual interests of the people. The number of churches and pastors in Berlin ought to be, at the very least, doubled. Hence, in consequence of the large 232 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DR KRUMMACHER. extent of the parishes, the lamentable mechanism in al- most all the official functions of the clergy ; the smnmary way in which the ordinance of baptism is celebrated, when sometimes as many as twenty children and more are presented at once, whose parents and god-fathers may be altogether unknown ; the continual performance of the funeral service (parentatio) beside the coffins and at the graves of departed persons, whose names even may be unknown ; and, above all, the long rows of com- municants, particularly on festival days, who are almost perfect strangers to the body and blood of the Lord — lamentable facts, which cannot be too deeply mourned over. Much has been done during several years past to mitigate the evil ; but all that has as yet been done is but an insignificant portion of what ought to be accomplished. With gladness do I call to remembrance the circle of preachers among whom I was welcomed after my en- trance on my duties in Berhn. Such associations exist everywhere ; but in none can the fellowship be more fraternal and cheerful than that which we enjoyed in the houses of the members in succession every Mon- day evening. The interpretation and elucidation of some book of the Bible naturally formed the founda- tion for our conversation during the first half of the evening, and we seldom separated from one another without carrying away with us some new exegetical or homiletic ideas, which we had gathered from each other during our conversation. After the scientific confer- ence had been closed, there followed a free conversation on all manner of pastoral matters, and a confidential exchange of experiences which had been gained dur- ing the week preceding. The confederation of the Evangehcal Church confession cannot be conceived of as BERLIN. 233 assuming a purer and more perfect outward expression than it did among us. The members of that circle, two of whom have ah^eady shaken the dust of this earth from off their feet, were the following : — Couard,-'^ the senior among the brethren, who was one of the first to open a way for biblical Christianity at a time when from the pulpits of Berlin the coldest rationalism was publicly and boastfully proclaimed ; Bachmann, the pastor of the Church of St James, and himself a James whom the little evangelical church in the distant city of Lisbon boasted of as its founder and first bishop, and who succeeded in building up, from its foundation to its very pinnacle, from the loose and fluctuating materials of the population of the capital — a thing which was apparently impossible — a numerous congregation of in- telligent and steadfast members ; Friedrich Arndt, the anointed and undismayed witness for the Lord on the walls of Jerusalem, who never ceased to glorify Christ, changing not his voice, in accommodation to times and circumstances, to please friends or propitiate foes ; Biichsel, who had the courage, in addressing the most educated and most religious of the people, to presup- pose in them the very lowest measures of Christian knowledge and of the life of faith, and to whom it was given, through "the foolishness of preaching," but in ser- mons charged with the electricity of personal conviction, and richly seasoned with unafiected religious humour, to bring many to the enjoyment of salvation ; Fournier, the French Protestant of the noblest mould, true and clear, of calm, intelligent decision, full of holy zeal, but withal a man of moderation ; Kober, the superin- tendent, who even in the brotherly circle did not for- 1 Died in 1865. P 234 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DR KRUMMACHER. get his official character, using discipline and adminis- tering reproof at the right time ; Souchon, in whom there was seen something of his great ancestor and intellectual relative, Saurin ; Edward Kuntze, the unweariedly zealous and active city missionary to the heathen and the Jews of Berlin. He now rests from his labours, and his works have followed and still do follow him. The last of this fellowship was Briiunig, the gentle spirit, who was snatched away from the altar of the Church militant to that of the Church triumphant, as Moses, the faithful servant of the Lord, formerly was, by the Neschika,^ the kiss of the Lord. Very precious was this fellowship ! Who can doubt it ? That to the present day it continues a beloved circle of friends, the same as it formerly was, although since I was separated from it the divergent elements may have become somewhat more marked, I am glad to believe. I may here refer to Kober, who was then my colleague, and to his function amongst us as moderator. Sometimes his authority was needed at our round-table. Not that at any time our deportment was unbecoming the character of theologians ; yet it appeared occasion- ally to be somewhat more elastic and less restrained within rigid bounds than I was accustomed to in the pastoral conferences which we held in the Wupperthal. A fondness for wit was something quite natural to the Berliner, and it almost seemed as if that propensity remained even after the " old man " had been cast out. If it happened that the flashes of himiour in our circle threatened on any occasion to pass beyond the bounds ^ ni^''^|l i.e. a kiss. Ueut. xxxiv. 5, " Moses, the servant of tlie Lonl, died tliere, m the hind of Moab, according to the word of the Lord" or, as it may lie rendered, " at the mouth of the Lord." The Jews interpret the expression as meaning " with a kiss from the mouth of the Lord," that is, by an easy death, a ivdotvaalcc, a delightful, peaceful death. — Tr. BERLIN. tl3D of moderation, then Kober was wont, as the exorclser of the evil spirit, to stand up, like a true Saxon, among us, and exercise his authority as the inflexible guardian of propriety and the enemy of everything that unneces- sarily went beyond the bounds of consistency. Under his castigatory admonitions, which at such times he addressed to us, everything quickly returned to the proper course again, and good humour and brotherly fellowship prevailed. It was regarded as a proper thing in Berlm that no one of the brethren should in any way interfere with another in the labours of the pulpit, or in pastoral work. Every one had his own parish and congregation, and limited his attention exclusively to it, being con- tented that others should also confine themselves to their own congregations. If I were required to describe in few words the points . of difference between the Berlin clergymen and those of the Lower Rhine, viewed as preachers, then I would grant to the former the preference in this respect, that they lay greater stress on the logical arrangement, the form and diction of their discourses ; that they take in a wider range of subjects, and not only draw within the sphere of their discussions, whatever be the immediate topic they have to handle, the deifications of art characteristic of the times, the prevailing sesthetic mis-education, the su- called " Denkgliiubigkeit," ^ and the phantom of a ^ A Gnostic term — the watchword of Intellectualism, contrasted witli " Bibelglaubigkeit." It was a word commonly appropriated by the ohl Rationalism as indicative of its fundamental principle, that Reason is the measure and rule of truth — that in matters of faith it decides what is true and what false. Schleiermacher regarded the essence of religion as consist- ing in feeling (the feeling of absolute dejjendence), and therel:)y took up a position opposed to that of Hegel, who placed the peculiar essence of reli- gion in the intellect — in knowledge. These two principles, represented by Schleiermacher on the one hand, and by Hegel on the other, were in conflict 236 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DR KRUMMACHER. sentimentalism tinged with religion, bat also more comprehensively touch upon the variety of the condi- tions of life, uncover with more versatility their hidden sores, and place in a clearer Hght the possibility, as well as the necessity, of their Christian transfiguration ; further, that while steadfastly adhering to the Confes- sion, they treat more tenderly the minor points and the manifold shades (Ntiancen) of Christianity, they con- descend in a more friendly way to help by argument and reasoning those who are involved in doubts, and, on the whole, lay greater emphasis on the necessity of proving the existence of faith by a life of holmess. On the contrary, the sermons of the clergymen of the Lower Rhine are delivered more " ore biblico ;" the Holy Scriptures, not only of the New, but in equal measure of the Old Testament, are more fully presented for the spiritual edification of the congregation ; the article of the justification of the sinner through faith alone without works is more thoroughly discussed and placed more prominently before the minds of the people as the central doctrine of the whole Gospel ; the freeness of the grace of God in Christ more distinctly affirmed ; the boundary between grace and nature more shai^ly drawn ; and particularly the nature of the new birth more correctly declared and more absolutely set forth as the foundation of all personal Christianity. No during the age of Illuminism, and of the renovation in Germany. " In a city so excitable and so dependent ujion intellectual impulses as Berlin, Schleiermacher, with his freshness of life, his sympathy for individualities, his intellectual presence, his practical develojiment of thought, and his rhetorical skill, was the man of the moment ; while Hegel, with the granite firmness of his dialectics, with his earnest, manly surrender to the objective ])Ower of life, for a long time attracted only a limited circle of men inquiring more deeply " (Kahnis). Marheinecke, Krummacher's predecessor, was in this controversy on the side of Hegel, whose system was also a " Deiikgliiu- bi"keil."— Th. BERLIN. 237 wonder, therefore, that in these churches more sudden " awakenings," and more powerful " breakings through" into the divine life, should be more frequently met with than among the congregations of Berlin, . where the Word of God is less frequently exhibited with the w^eight and force of the " hammer that breaketh the ■rock in pieces," but reveals for the most part its power only as a leaven gently penetrating the minds of the people, often for a long time imperceptibly. I know not whether in the one place or in the other the danger of spiritual self-deception be more immi- nent. But it is certain that here, in Berhn, one seldomer meets with those lively ebullitions of joy on account of experienced grace, and that confident cer- tainty of divine sonship, which is commonly met with among the congregations on the Rhine. Among the believing members of the Berlin congre- gations there were, at the time of my entrance on my duties there, three men whose names worthily rank with that of the then already departed Baron von Kottwitz.^ The first of these, Samuel Eisner, was the widely-known zealous agent and manager of the Bible and Tract Society. He was always ready to go forth to war, when he was needed, in defence of the honour of his Lord Jesus Christ ; and wherever he went he was unwearied in his endeavours to win others to the standard of Christ. A genuine native of the Athens on the banks of the Spree, he furnished in the whole tone of his life a striking proof that even the Berlin mother-wit might be elevated above the sphere of worldly life, and made subservient to the interests of ^ The leaders of the rising evangelical party at that time in Germany were Neander, Hengstenberg, Tholuck, Olshausen, Baron von Kottwitz, Count Voss, von Bethmann Holweg, and the Gerlachs. — Tr. 238 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DR KRUMMACHER, the kino-dom of heaven. It is true that in standins; forth in its defence he sometimes assumed the reo;al mien which was natural to him. There remained in liim something of an autocratic spirit, which it will be difficult to find named amonor the benedictions of the o Sermon on the Mount, according to which the meek alone will inherit the earth. His pastor Arndt knew how gentleness and meekness were needed in associat- ing with this beloved man ; but he also knew how thoroughly in course of time he became on all points master of his impulsive natural disposition, and with what child-like joy and peace, resting on free grace alone, he at last departed to the eternal sanctuary. The second of the three to whom I refer was a noble Count,^ whose heart was deeply moved at the godlessness and the spiritual destitution of the higher ranks of society. He acted as a missionary among those of his own rank, introducing into their saloons and drawing-rooms his own writings, which, like a kind of spiritual incendiary-letters, failed not to cause an excitement wherever they were carried. I know families which, by their means, received the first im- pulse towards self-reflection, and the entrance on an earnest Christian life. Yea, if at the present time in Berlin, more than in other places, the interests of the kingdom of God have awakened tow^ard them the sym- pathies and the labours of the most distinguished ranks of society, very much of this happy state of things is due to the quiet but penetrating influence of the man of whom I now speak. Moreover, his evangelistic activity, which he carried on both by word and deed, was not confined to these higher circles alone, but manifested itself on all sides wherever the interests of ^ Count Arnim-Llumbers'. BERLIN. 239 the Foreio'ii or tlie Home Missions were concerned. He o understood how to make to himself friends of the un- righteous Mammon ; and he still practises this noble art, for God has to this day spared his life, and will, we hope, long sjDare it.^ The third whom I have in my mind shrinks back into deepest insignificance in the presence of the other two. He was only Eisner's satellite, and the bearer of his shield and helmet ; but yet his name will long be held in remembrance in a wide extended circle. I refer to Dreger, the humble teacher of an elementary school, a man who prosecuted his path through life with meekness, but in whose heart the command, " Feed my lambs," found an echo, and who willingly recognised himself as a messenger whom the Lord sent forth into the highways and behind the hedges, that he might summon and gather in the halt and the lame and the blind, saying, " Come, for all things are ready ! " And he cried, and entreated, and invited men everywhere, and his labour was not fruitless. The number can scarcely be reckoned up of those whom this lowly evangelist has led into the ways of righteousness, almost more by the clear, mild, shining light of his consistent life of faith, than by the thou- sands of Christian tracts which he scattered over the surging waves of the population of the capital, and by the awakening and warning Word which he was wont in simplicity to read at the religious meetings which he conducted. Many from the ranks of the burghers — men equally approved and equally warm at heart for the interests of the kino;dom of God — associated them- selves with him in his work. Amono- such the names of Kampfmeyer, Griese, sen., and Lobeck, are 1 He died in 1866. 240 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DE, KRUMMACHER. still remembered by the older Christians of Berlin, and I might add yet many more to the honoured list. It is true that, in regard to social life, Berlin, as might be expected, offered me many things of a pleasant and attractive kind which no other city had to offer. The Berliners will frankly confess, however, that they are indebted less to themselves, the native- born inhabitants of the city, than to strangers who have congregated there from the whole of Germany, for the fame which their city has acquired as " the city of intelligence." As the seat of the highest schools of learning in Prussia, the city of the first German University, and the nursery of all the fine arts and of the sciences, Berhn contains within itself an over- flowing fulness of the elements of education, and there- fore it exerts upon intellectual capacities, far and near, a powerful attraction. Among the places to which I specially delighted to resort, for the sake of the intellectual quickening which was certainly there to be experienced, I mention first the saloon of Eichhorn, who was at that time Minister of Worship, into which I had the honour of being in- troduced at the very fu"st. Here were generally to be met with all the men who were of authority in the departments of science or art who resided in Berlin, or who might be only passing through the city. As con- stant visitors here, one was, as a general rule, sure to meet with Heinrich Steffens,^ who was always boil- ing over with striking thoughts and strange fancies ; ^ Under the impulse of Sclielling's profound views, an interpreter of the mysteries of nature. He sided with Dr Scheibel, of Breslau, in the re-action of old Lutlicranisni anainst the Union. He died in 1845. BERLIN. 241 Twesten,^ wlio was thoroughly at home in all the regions of knowledge, and always brilliant, through a classic esprit de finesse;'^ Schelling, the hero among philosophers, with a lion's head, and with the friendly, innocent look of a child ; Julius Stahl,'^ the eagle-eyed, always appearing with stretched bow-string, and sur- passing all as a skilful dialectician ; the always animated court-preacher Friedrich Strauss ; the histo- riographer Hanke ; and many more of equal celebrity besides. Eichhorn's saloon was resorted to also by a circle of noble, and for the most part, highly educated ladies ; and one rarely missed there foreign or native musicians and poets, who seasoned the conversation with remarks on musical and aesthetic subjects, while, as a general rule, we, on our part, stood before them with hat in ^ August Detliv Christian Twesten succeeded Schleiermacher in 1834, as Professor of Systematic Theology in the University of Beriin. He had pre- viously occupied from 1814 a similar position in the University of Kiel. As to Church politics, while denominationally a Lutheran, he is free from all exclusiveness and bigotry. He would conserve, though in a conciliatory way, the interests of Lutheranism within the United Church of Prussia. As a theologian, he agrees in the main with Schleiermacher that religion is primarily feeling, " the feeling of absolute dependence" (schlechthiniges Abhangigkeits-Gefiihl) on God ; yet he lays more stress than Schleier- macher did on hnoivledge, esjjecially on the adoption of the views pro- pounded by the Church in her doctrinal standards. Starting from Schleier- macher, he has advanced toward a more positive and orthodox stand-point. — Tr. ^ au