• m 



208 STUDENT LIFE IN GERMANY. 



( 



yielded, by common consent, to JVeander, who seems most completely 

 to have caught the spirit of the inspired writer, and who shows trium- 

 phantly that his interpretation has been the essence of all the soundest 

 expositions upon the passage in every age of the church and substanti- 

 ally comprises them in one. The Professor, who has, in the mean time, 

 seen the basis of his theory gradually disappearing amid the fumes of 

 his knaster, now expresses his cordial assent to the views just expressed 

 and proceeds to take up the next phrase in order. 



Coffee is not an indispensably necessary accompaniment to the exer- 

 cises, but as the pipe is but half a comfort without it, that stimulating 

 beverage is seldom wanting on such occasions. On the evening which 

 I have more particularly had in my eye, beer, as a somewhat unusual 

 substitute, took its place. 



The exegesis over, next in order came the essays. An admirable 

 vindication of the Herrnhuter, (Moravians) by Herman Plitt, is the only 

 one, of which I have any distinct recollection. The subjects generally 

 were historical, often sketches of the condition and wants of the church, 

 in the various sections of Germany where the writers had lived. Braes' 

 picture of the Grand Duchy, of Brunswick, now occurs to me, a sad 

 spectacle, of a dozen evangelical clergy among about three hun- 

 dred rationalistic, with nearly one hundred expectants, i. e., candidates in 

 waiting, a vast majority of whom were of the same stamp ; and Riigge's 

 account of the Temperance efforts in Osnabriick, with their (to them) 

 astonishing success. They took a deep interest in some description of 

 American revivals, church discipline and Sabbath sanctifications and 

 Washington ian reformations, &c., &.c. 



The meetings on Thursday evening were particularly interesting. — 

 So little formality, such frank sincerity, such unaflected piety! 1 was 

 highly delighted. The exercises consisted of alternate prayers and 

 singing, (all standing during prayer and entering so cordially into 

 the praise) interspersed with an exhortation from one of the older mem- 

 bers, and several intervals of conversation raised upon some question 

 of practical piety suggested by the hymns that were read or that rested 

 on the mind of some member, who came to the meeting with the desire 

 of having the opinions of his brethren upon it. An instance of this 

 kind is fresh in my recollection and it is characteristic. It was one of 

 the younger members, who, with some hesitation, started the inquiry, if 

 it might ever be proper, in weighing the opinions of others, to give 

 one-self up, for the time being, to the belief they were true } His idea 

 was that amid so great a variety of theological Richtiingen (schools — sets 

 of opinions,) one would probably not fare so well by attaching himself 



