three hours' length closed with singing and prayer. At seven in the evening two Inindred villagers assembled in the hall of the parsonage, and he preached to them in Low German, after which he held a missionary con- cert, reading letters from his missionaries, dated from Africa, Australia, and the United States. He seemed to have his hand upon all parts of the earth. Evidentl}' the congregation felt responsible for the whole world. At the close of the service he shook hands with each one of the people in turn, saying, " May the Eedeemcr bless you." At ten in the evening the neighbors as- sembled at the parsonage to join with the pastor in family prayer. He recited from the Bible, commenting as before, and offered a prayer which was rich in devo- tion, but distressing to listen to, so great was his fatigue." Besides these enormous labors on each Sabbath, Pas- tor Harms wrote incessantly for his mii-sinnary maga-- zine, pubHshed a large number of books, and sent about three thousand letters a year, mostly to liis missionaries. His method of keeping Ids missionary accounts was to take what money he got and pay what he owed ; nor was he ever troubled, though the expense of his mis- sions was about forty thousand dollars a year. Ke re- cords a hundred instances of the exact amount of money reaching him at just the time he wanted it. For foiu- hours every day he held a levee for his parishioners, who consulted him freely, not only about religious sulj- jects, but upon everything which interested them — the state of their health or the tillage of their land. So crowded were these levees, that often a stranger waited four days fbr his turn to see the pastor. The independ- ence of Pastor Harms was singularly manifested. The king of Hanover, at one time, knowing that his eminent subject was in the city, sent a high officer of govern- ment, with one of the state carriages, to invite him to the palace. " Give mj^ regards to the king," said Harms ; " I would obey his order, if duty allowed ; but I must go home and attend to my parish." The officer was indig- nant as he delivered the message ; but the king said, " Harms is the man for me." Though a rigid monarch- ist, the pastor often preached against the government, and prepared his people to resist it. He often entered into sharp conflict with the government officers, espe- cially in regard to the observance of the Sabbath, and was reported by them sixty-five times, but escaped un- hurt. With characteristic boldness, he warned the churches not to endure unbelieving ministers in the pul- pit, although the ministers held their ]ilaces from the king. He defied the democracy as well as the coiu:t, and publicly advised them, if they were discontented, to go to Africa in a body. He was vehemently o]iposed to the popular amusements, declaring that men " diicd themselves into hell from the theatre, and danced tliom- selves into hell from the ballroom." .The Calvinistic doc- trines and the Congregational polity were objects of his marked aversion. He declared that the Baptists who postponed the baptism of their children were robbers and murderers of those children's souls. Nor would he ever insure his seminary buildings, thinking that God would protect them, and he had an idea that insurance against accident involved a certain defiance of Jehovah. When he catechised the congregation, and children fail- ed in the exercise, he would sometimes punish them in public. He required his missionarj- students to perform a daily task of manual labor, not only for economical reasons, but also " that they might be kept humble, and not be ashamed of their work, any more than Paul was of his tent-making." As he never asked from any one but God, he had^a violent antipathy to beggars, and none were ever fotmd in his parish. Almost adored by his people as a species of rural pope, he maintained the utmost care and watclifulncss to preser\-e his own hu- militv while breathing the atmosphere of their homage. He yielded not a particle of his activity to the very last. When he could no longer ascend his pulpit, he preached standing at the altar; when he could not preach stand- ing, he Reached sitting; when he could no longer sit,
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he pra^-ed that God would take him a-.vay as a burden. He died on the 14th of November, 18G6, at the age of Hfty-seven, and was buried amid the tears of his people on his beloved Liineberger Heath.
It is difficult to form a just estimate of this remarka- ble man. Tlie ke'vnote of Harms's character was his union with (Jod. Yet so rare is any bigh degree of this .(iwlity, that its possession makes the man's character ^tand original and alone, and it seems as though " one of the proplicts had risen again." Another world had laid liold with a strong grasp upon his mind, so real was it to him that he api)eared to walk not by faith, but by sight. He lived among us lilce a being of another race detained here in tlie body, and acted with a moral insight and (hrcctness which no human standard can comprehend. Vet this wonderful spirituality was often marred by big- otry-; sometimes it bordered upon the superstitious; at times liis apostolic fervor was tinged with self-will, and Ave are astonished at the alternate breadth and narrow- ness of his mind. He made his most opposite powers assist each other ; to carry out the moral intention of an angel, he brought a worldly wisdom whicli no one could surpass; in comprehension of detail andfertility of expe- dients he could have taught the ablest men of business. His spirituality acted upon the world through an all- consuming, almost morbid activity. He saw nothing before him but a succession of duties, yet his mind found an unconscious delight in the extent and variety of its own efforts, and his zeal was doubtless enhanced by the continual joy of attempt and success. It is hard to ac- (piit liim of a species of suicide; in spite of every warn- ing of nature, he ovenvorkcd himself incessantly, and j)ressed on to the heavens whither he was tending long before he could be spared by the world below. _ His amazing spirituality, tlic closeness to another sphere with which he lived, woidd have elevated him beyond our sight ; but the eccentricities which slightly marred so grand a character showed that he was human, and lowered him to a point nearer the sympathy of man- kind. To the last, the world must stand astonished at the moral power of a man who could make a little coun- trj- church in a remote part of Germany girdle the earth with its influence, and Harms alone is an answer to the Saviour's question, " When the Son of man cometh, shall lie find faith on the earth V" At intervals God gives such a one to the Church, to sliow to the world the spiritual power of one soul which is really in earnest. Harms has lived, and Germany, Africa, and the East In- dies have felt the consequence. He was one of those blocks from whom, in earlier ages, the Catholic Church would have hewn her saints and her martyrs; he was a I'rotestant Loyola; had he left the world a few centu- ries before, he would assuredly have been canonized as a Donniic or St. Francis; his remains would have per- I'ormcd miracles without end; romantic tradition woidd liave spnmg from and twined around his memory; or- ders of priests and stately cathedrals would havebome bis name; and thousands of devotees might to-day be wor>liii.i,ing at liis shrine. (W. E. P.)