TO the north-east of the kingdom of Hanover extends a plain some sixty miles in length. Its rather tame surface is broken here and there by a hill or a village. The inhabitants are chiefly of the peasant class, and the land they cultivate has been won by unceasing industry from the sand, the heath, and the briars. They are a sturdy race of people, very much Saxon in their origin. Among the villages there is one, containing about 500 inhabitants, whose name finds no place on maps, and which, less than fifty years ago, was hardly known beyond the Lands of Luneburg, of which it forms a part. This is Hermannsburg. On 17th November; 1865, a crowd of some 4000 or 5000 thronged its streets, a deep silence prevailing over all, mourning in every face, tears in every eye, and sorrow in every heart. Hermann Harms, the pastor of the parish, had ended a short but most laborious ministry, full of blessings for tens of thousands, at home and abroad, and this throng was gathered to attend his funeral in the village cemetery from the country around.
Pastor Harms was the son of a minister; he was born in 1808, and lived in Hermannsburg since he was nine years of age, till he went to school at Celle, and to the university at Göttingen. In Göttingen he remained three years, and carried everything before him in the way of scholarly attainments, including Sanscrit, Syriac, and Chaldee, and some European languages.
In Göttingen at that time, as in some other German universities, both before and since, human reason had taken the place of faith, and professors and students alike were almost all bound in the chains of false philosophy, scientific arrogance, and positive unbelief as to the Scriptures, the person and work of Christ, and the soul-saving operations of the Holy Spirit. Though in some respects free from the trammels of rationalistic theories, young Harms was in spiritual darkness. Moral, upright, and consistent in life, he yet needed to be converted to God; but he was apart from all favorable human instrumentality. There was, however, an inward hunger, a soul-craving, for something he did not know what, and there was no one to teach him. He was asking himself anxiously, “What is the truth? What is the end of life? “The answer came in a way he looked not for.
One night, the whole of which he had passed in work, wearied and sad, he opened the Gospel of St. John, and read the seventeenth chapter, the prayer of the Lord Jesus when on the threshold of His final sufferings. Suddenly, light arose in his mind. The prayer of the great High Priest and Sacrifice touched and melted his heart. The crisis was decisive. The change was complete. He was a new man in Christ.
After obtaining high honors at the university, he became tutor in a family at Lauenburg. Ten years were spent in this sphere. In 1845 he became assistant minister to his father, and in 1848, on the death of his father, he became pastor at Hermannsburg. The long years of waiting had not been lost. He arose like a full-orbed luminary, shining with the clear light of the gospel. At once his ministry proved a power. People gathered from far and near, and he threw himself with his whole soul into the work. A Sunday at Hermannsburg meant something for the preacher, and a grand repast of good things for the hearers. The morning service lasted three or four hours, consisting of reading and exposition of the Bible, prayers, singing, and sermon. At three o'clock the church was again full, the service being directed chiefly to the young. The pastor moved about among them like a father, questioning young and old, and conversing familiarly with all. Then came a service in Low German, out of doors, or in a barn or other building. In the evening the parsonage was full of those who wanted advice, counsel, or comfort, or who wished to make his closer acquaintance. Domestic worship, to which all who desired it were admitted, closed up the day.
The year 1848 was a stormy time in almost all European kingdoms, and Hanover felt the revolutionary impulse. In Hermannsburg, however, there were other impulses. The Spirit of the Lord wrought mightily with the people through the ministry of the Word and prayer. There was a deep, quiet, and mighty revival. Weekday services were as well attended as Sabbath gatherings. Laborers had prayer in the fields; plough-boys and weeding girls were singing at their work the grand old hymns of the Fatherland. Hearts were purified and homes were cleansed; quarrels were made up; drunkenness, poverty, and dirt became unknown.
The success of the ministry at home generally results in a blessing for those who are far from God in other lands. So the Psalmist prays, or, rather, prophesies: “God be merciful unto us, and bless us; and cause His Face to shine upon us, that Thy way may be known upon earth, Thy saving health among all nations."
In the midst of the inflow of the living waters, the people thought of the dry and barren lands where no water was known. A mission to the heathen was suggested. They needed not to ask, “Who will go for us?” They would go themselves. A young man gave up his own estate, including house and grounds, to found a missionary college, the sole condition being that he should be one of the first missionaries. A great number offered themselves, and Harms made a careful selection, and the work of preparation went on. All were to be prepared for Christian work, though the major part of them were to follow their respective callings, and so support themselves and families, while one or more of higher culture and training would superintend operations. Two matters were beset with difficulties. First, where were the men to go? and—which was a more serious matter—how were they to be sent out? Where would the money come from? Harms tells us how he overcame this difficulty. He says:
"Then I knocked gently on the dear Lord in prayer; and since the praying man dare not sit with his hands in his cap, I sought among the shipping agents, but came no speed. I turned to Bishop Gobat, in Jerusalem, but had no answer, Then I wrote to the missionary Krapf, but the letter was lost."
A number of young men had been sent to Harms from Bremen, sailors of the German Fleet, and some of them were in the missionary college. One of them said to Harms one day, “Why not build a ship, and then you can send out as many and as often as you will? The proposal was good; but the money! That was a time of great conflict, and I wrestled with God. For no one encouraged me, but the reverse; and even the truest friends and brethren hinted that I was not quite in my senses. When Duke George of Saxony lay on his death-bed, and was yet in doubt to whom he should flee with his soul, whether to the Lord Jesus and His dear merits, or to the Pope and his good works, there spake a trusty courtier to him : `Your Grace, Straightforward makes the best runner.' That word had lain fast in my soul. I had knocked at men's doors, and found them shut, and yet the plan was manifestly good, and for the glory of God. What was to be done? Straightforward makes the best runner,' I prayed fervently to the Lord, laid the matter in His hand, and as I rose up at midnight from my knees I said, with a voice that almost startled me in the quiet room, 'Forward now, in God's Name! ‘From that moment there never came a thought of doubt into my mind."
The ship was built and launched at Harburg, and though it cost 2000 crowns more than was expected, the money was forthcoming, and in no great length of time the Candace was ready for her cargo and passengers.
There was ceaseless activity at Hermannsburg. Smiths, tailors, carpenters, shoemakers, coopers, were all preparing what was necessary in their different lines. Nor were the women idle. There was knitting and all sorts of work done by the mothers and daughters. Nor were the farmers backward. Pigs, fowls, and other provisions were sent in, and the heaths were stripped for brooms. Even a Christmas tree was not forgotten.
The eight candidates were ordained by the Consistory, and all passed their examiners with credit. The captain and crew were chosen, and the leave-taking came. A service was held ; the people thronged in ; a sermon was preached by Theodore Harms, and the men and their wives stood up and sang their parting hymn—Luther's grand old song of triumph.
"Strong Tower and Refuge is our God,
Right goodly Shield and Weapon;
He helps us free in every need,
That hath us now o'ertaken.
The old evil roe,
Means us deadly woe;
Deep guile and great might
Are his arms in fight;
On earth is not his equal.
With our own might we nothing can,
Soon are we lost and fallen;
But for us fights the Righteous Man,
Whom God Himself hath callen.
Ask ye, Who is this?
Jesus Christ it is,
Our sole King and Lord,
As God of Hosts adored;
He holds the field for ever."
On 28th October, 1853, the Candace floated down to Cuxhaven. At Hamburg there was another service on board the ship. The whole harbor population was alive with wonder. The solemn service proceeded, and Pastor Harms preached an earnest practical sermon.
Two things he chiefly insisted on in addressing the mission party: The reading of the word of God, and prayer. “I beg of you," he said,” with my whole heart, that every morning you will pray. You have such high reason to thank the Lord who kept you through the night, who can keep, and strengthen, and bless you through the day. And every evening pray. You would be the most unthankful of men if you did not thank the Lord for all the benefits which He has showed you. You must pray every evening for the forgiveness of sins, for there is not a day without sin, and where there is no forgiveness there is no blessing. Begin all your work with prayer ; and when the storm-wind rises, pray ; and when the billows rave around the ship, pray ; and when sin comes, pray ; and when the devil tempts you, pray. So long as you pray it will go well with you, body and soul."
After eighty days the Candice reached Cape Town, and then steered for Natal, the mission party intending, if possible, to settle among the Gallas, the most depraved and the farthest from God of all the African tribes. This they found to be impossible, so they found another location, and named their settlement "New Hermannsburg," to which place we propose to take the reader in another paper, as well as to notify other matters in the progress of the mission.
R. S.