Louis Harms

“ You would not let them preach in your land—you were free not to do that; but you murdered them; here on these stones you slew them in honour of Woden; your brothers, your friends, your guests, you murdered, who had done you no evil. Since that time the true God, the God of the Christians, has been angry with you. You number as many as the Franks do; you are just as brave as they. Yet Charlemagne, the Frank, has conquered and subdued you. How is that? God fought with Charlemagne; He loved him—he is a Christian. God fought against you, for you have killed his priests; you are murderers. ”

“ Was the blessing of Christianity carried from here into all the region round about, even into the countries on the other side of the Elbe? Why should not Hermann's peasant church preach among the heathen the Saviour who has been their own so long? May such a primeval blessing only make us right thankful, right humble, right kind and loving, only zealous and fervent in spirit. We see well enough that the Lord can use little things; therefore let nobody despise us because we are small, and let us have the joy of serving the Lord with our insignificant gifts and strength, as well as we can. ”

“ Mr. Murray watched the tiny tongues of flame which were darting up round the tea-kettle, where Maggie sat supplying small sticks and resinous pine cones to feed the fire. The scene was as pretty as possible; Meredith roaming hither and thither collecting more fuel, and the shawls and even the worsted lying about, with the gay, young figures, touching up the gipsy view with bits of colour. He watched in silence.
"Mosswood is the most delicious place we have ever seen," Flora went on.
"Almost any place is good in October. How pleasant this veiled light is! What are you about, Maggie?" ”

“ CHAPTER VIII.
"Well," said Maggie, as Meredith paused, "I should think somebody ought to go to those people!"
"Hopeless work," said Flora, stitching away at her worsted.
"No, it is not hopeless work," answered her brother. "As you would soon see, if all the Churches had the matter at heart like Pastor Harms and his Hermannsburg."
"Everybody cannot give himself up to such business," said Flora glancing at him.
"Everybody ought."
"O Ditto!" cried Maggie, "do you think everybody ought to go to Africa?"
"Yes," said Flora; "that is just about what he thinks." ”

“ Those were troubled times!
"'This Breyhan was a childlike good man, whom his parish held in great love and honour, for both in spiritual and in material things there was no better counsellor for them. Like a true father he stood by the bedside of the sick and the dying, to show them how to die happy, and like a good father he comforted the survivors, and by the live and powerful words of his preaching, poured new strength and fresh courage of faith into all hearts. With all that, this man was a singular lover of the sound of the bell. ”

“ From that time forward Heinrich was his faithful helper. All the great influence which until then he had enjoyed as the much reverenced priest of Thor, he used now only for the glory of Christ. It seemed as if the old, grey-haired man had become young again. With all the zeal of a first love, with all a young convert's ardour, he witnessed for the Lord Jesus Christ, the mighty Hero, the Conqueror of Satan and of Thor, who had offered Himself a sacrifice for men and died a hero's death; and in crowds the Saxons came over to him, and by crowds they received baptism from Landolf. ”

“ There comes up an uncommonly violent thunder-storm; the rain pours down from heaven in streams, as if the clouds had burst; so that regular brooks are flowing down the village streets. Then the envious people triumph; there is no mistake about it, the field lying so exposed on the slope of the hill must be thoroughly laid waste. Those two men, it may well be, tremble too, for the storm is too frightful; but lose heart they do not; on the contrary, the need drives them to more ardent prayer: "Lord, help, and do not let the field be spoiled. ”

“ In the Christian army there were twelve priests wearing white garments, who bore a white banner with a red cross; and wherever the fight raged most madly, thither they carried their banner, singing, "Kyrie Eleison, Christe Eleison, Kyrie Eleison;" the Christian warriors dashing after them, joining in the holy song, wielding their hacked swords, and with irresistible force driving the heathen back. In vain the heathen sought to slay the priests and to seize their white banner; every Christian presented his breast as its bulwark against the foe. ”

“ Rarely have I known a house in which the Lord Jesus was so fearlessly acknowledged as in that house. And do you know what of this history I would like to inscribe in your hearts, yea, would like to burn into your hearts with letters of fire? It is this. Let your Christianity be no lip work; let your religion not consist in words; lip-work Christianity is hypocritical Christianity. True religion is a fact. ”

“ Maggie went on.
"If that is true, there must be a reason for it."
"Yes, Uncle Eden, of course."
"And that reason cannot be found, in their Christianity."
"But how is it, Uncle Eden?"
"Human nature is very much alike at all times, my child."
"But the old Saxons were not like the old Romans, Uncle Eden. The word of a Saxon was better than a Roman's oath."
"And the modern Saxons are not like their forefathers," said Meredith; "at least, according to Pastor Harms."
"I have no doubt he is right."
"And Frenchmen are very different from Englishmen," added Flora. ”

“ A little fire was kindled here, for the pleasure of it rather than from the need. The afghan and worsted embroidery came out again under the bright lamplight; but Meredith sat idly tending the fire.
"Ditto," said Maggie, "can't we see about all those Saxon gods now?—or don't you want to?"
"Of course, I want to see about them," said Meredith, springing up and going to the bookcases. "I want to know myself, Maggie."
"Were they different from the Roman and Grecian gods?" Flora asked.
"It is safe for people who cannot keep their ears open, to refrain from questions," Meredith answered. ”

“ A muttered growl from Fenton expressive of extreme disgust was just not distinct enough to call for rebuke.
"Then I suppose, according to that, I am never to buy a silk dress that is at all expensive," said Flora, the colour mounting into her handsome face. "And costly furniture of course must be wrong, and everything else that is costly."
"Your conclusions—not mine, Miss Flora," remarked Mr. Murray good-humouredly. "It is a matter of loving stewardship; and love easily finds its way to its ends, always."
"And Meredith wants to know what he shall do with Meadow Park," said Maggie. ”

“ He loves you so much that He sent His dear Son Jesus Christ to you. Jesus Christ came down from heaven; God's Son became your brother, so little and poor that He lay in a manger in the stall for cattle. When He was grown up, He preached everywhere and said, Sinners, turn, and I will save you. He made the lame to go and the blind to see, and healed the sick, and raised up the dead that lay in their graves. He shed His blood for sinners; sinners put Him to death. He was still kind to them in His death, and prayed for His murderers, Father, forgive them! for they know not what they do. ”

“ See now, thought I to myself, there were Lüneburg people along with him, for they live between the Elbe and the Weser. Or, when others of our forefathers, who were in general called Saxons, boldly sailed over the sea in their ships, and chased the proud Romans, together with the Picts and Scots, out of England, and took the beautiful land in possession and ruled it; then I was glad again and thought with secret delight—"our Lüneburg people were there too, for those ships sailed from the mouths of the Elbe and the Weser." ”

“ In Hamburg alone there were handed over from female friends of the Mission, one hundred and twenty-eight cotton shirts, all finished and ready; from Haide forty striped shirts for the natives; from Lübeck and Mechlenburg, besides beautiful under-linen, all sorts of pictures and little things for the heathen; from some children here came writing boxes, pens, and writing books for the heathen children. Also from here, from Osnabrück, Schaumburg, Lüneburg, Bremen, and neighbourhood, whole rolls of linen cloth. There was a stir and spring of love that moved people's hearts. ”

“ And now Otto took the young Hermann into his court; and soon could perceive that he had not deceived himself when his acuteness discerned the boy's lofty nature. Spirit, daring, and keen intelligence shot in fire from the young man's blue eyes; his uncommonly fine figure had been grandly developed by knightly exercises; and, with all that, he was so humble-hearted, and attached to his benefactor with such grateful, touching devotion, that Otto's eyes rested on him with pleasure, and he often called Hermann his truest friend, even called him "his son." ”

“ The genuine believer is upright and makes no pretence, neither to God nor man. The heartfelt conviction—"Boy, you are no hypocrite"—ought to be forced upon the beholder by the walk and behaviour of every real believer; if that had been the case, the world would present a different aspect from what it offers now. But most people's Christianity is a fashion of speech; and so it is lying and hypocrisy; therefore it can at one and the same time, like Pilate, chastise and set free, pray and neglect prayer, confess and not confess, just as happens to be convenient in the circumstances. ”

“ Even the heathen historian Tacitus says of them, that the word of a Saxon was worth more than the oath of a Roman, and that among them good customs were regarded with more reverence than good statutes among the Romans. From this you can easily imagine in what high honour the god Thor was held by our forefathers, and how sacred was Thor's place of sacrifice. But alas! the full ferocity of heathenism also came out in the worship of Thor; for human victims were slain in his honour whenever, through some failure of faith keeping or breaking of a covenant, a curse rested upon the community. ”

“ After solemn prayers, which were half sung half said, to the two gods Woden and Thor, and the two goddesses Hela and Hertha, the captive men were one after the other laid each upon his back on the altar, so that his head hung down over the edge of the altar.'"
"Oh, stop, Ditto!" cried Maggie.
"Why?"
"It is too horrible."
"It is pretty horrible. But men did it, and men suffered it. Can't you hear it?"
"Men were dreadful!"
"Men are dreadful where the light of the Gospel has not come. 'The dark places of the earth are full of the habitations of cruelty.'"
"Tell me about those gods and goddesses." ”

“ Self-indulgence drives out the noble uprightness that was maintained when people feared nothing."
"But religion—Christianity?" said Meredith. "That ought to have made more difference the other way."
"So it would if it prevailed. But a name is not Christianity; and the real thing is only here and there. The wheat in the midst of tares, as the Lord said it would be."
Maggie drew a long sigh.
"The wheat must show itself for what it is," said her uncle smiling at her, "and bear a fine head of fruit, to rebuke the tares. Your old Saxons, however, were a fine stock to begin with." ”