"Subscribe, subscribe, dear husband, do!
Lest you must from the parish go."
Very many, however, were thrown into the greatest distress of mind, and
could not obey and preserve a good conscience. The Berlin ministers
sought the opinion of various theological faculties and churches on the
crisis.
The Elector, ignorant of the trouble given to the consciences of many
worthy men, viewed this conduct on their part as self-willed, and an
unwarrantable opposition to what appeared to him a needful regulation. He
ordered Lilius and Reinhardt to be removed from office, if they delayed
to subscribe, and gave the others time for consideration. The two former,
failing to obey, were deposed.
Gerhardt, with the three others who were threatened, turned to the
magistracy, and solicited their good offices in intercession with the
Elector. The magistrates represented to the Elector that the Berlin
clergy had observed the edict, but that they objected to subscription;
they begged the Elector not to enforce subscription on those already in
office, as it would tend to compromise them with the people and foreign
churches; they furthermore stated, that obedience rests not so much in
subscription and in the letter, as in the mind and in deed. They begged
him to reinstate Lilius and Reinhardt in office.
The Berlin clergy presented a petition, substantially to the same effect,
at the same time. They stated, in addition, that the Reformed clergy had
not been compelled to sign. The only result of this petition was, that
the Reformed were forthwith commanded to subscribe the edict.
The ministers, in another document, set forth their scruples at large,
but thereby only incurred the further displeasure of the Elector. The
deposition of Lilius and Reinhardt, however, caused such an uproar, that
the Elector issued a declaration on May 4, 1665, setting forth the
seasons of his procedure. Further efforts were made, and the result was,
that time was allowed to Lilius to reconsider his refusal, and in the
beginning of the following year he subscribed. On account of his
compliance, he became the object of the most bitter and galling attacks,
and did not long survive. The last days of the old man were embittered by
the treatment he received at the hands of zealous, but uncharitable
Lutherans, and death was doubtless a welcome event to him. In the case of
Reinhardt, the result was only a more severe sentence. He was banished
from the town, forbidden to maintain any correspondence with it, and the
magistrates were ordered to fill up the vacancy caused by his removal. He
removed to Leipzig, where he was chosen to the pastorate of St. Nicholas'
Church, and was subsequently made Professor of Theology, which office he
held till his death, in 1669.
Paul Gerhardt was the next minister who was called on to subscribe the
edict. The Elector was convinced that, next to Reinhardt, he was the most
vehement opponent of peace between the Lutheran and Reformed. When
Reinhardt was reproached in the Consistory with inciting his colleagues
to resistance, Gerhardt said, with some warmth, that it was not so, that
he had encouraged Reinhardt when he showed a disposition to yield; he was
older in years, and had been longer in office, and he should be sorry to
follow others. It was also said, that during an illness which befell him,
he sent for his colleagues, and earnestly warned them not to subscribe
the bond pledging them to observance of the edict. These things were, at
least, carried to the Elector, and prejudiced him against Gerhardt. On
the same day that Lilius was reinstated in office, Gerhardt was cited to
appear before the Consistory (Feb. 6th, 1666), and called upon to sign.
Eight days were allowed him for consideration, and in the first instance
he accepted the delay, but before the rising of the same session, he
declared that he had had ample time for consideration, and that he could
not change his mind, whereupon he was deposed from office, in the name of
the Elector.
Great as was the agitation produced in the public mind by the deposition
of Lilius and Reinhardt, the sensation occasioned by Gerhardt's was much
more profound. He was the most beloved, as well as most celebrated, of
all the ministers. Measures were immediately taken by the community in
his favour. The citizens and the guilds of the cloth-makers, bakers,
butchers, tailors, and pewterers, united to petition the magistrates in
favour of exemption for Gerhardt. They said that every one knew that he
had never spoken against the faith and the co-religionists of the
Elector, much less vituperated them, but that he had sought to lead every
one to true Christianity, and had never attacked any one in word or deed.
The magistrates, on presenting this representation to the Elector, on the
13th of February, added:--"He has not thought of the Reformed, much less
insulted them; he has maintained a blameless walk, giving offence to no
one, so much so, that his Highness, without any suspicion, had admitted
his songs into the hymn-book for the Mark, in 1658. Should a man so
pious, so intellectual, so celebrated in many lands, leave the town, it
was to be feared that grave thoughts would be excited in the minds of
foreigners, and that God would visit them for it. If he refused
subscription, it would not be imputed to disobedience, but to scruples of
conscience, seeing that before the publication of the edict he had
fulfilled its object by his modest behaviour." The Prince, in reply,
stated that he had sufficient grounds for enforcing the provisions of the
edict, and that Gerhardt must comply with them, or bear the penalty.
A second petition was got up in his favour, in which, in addition to the
above guilds, the carpenters, cutlers, armourers, and coppersmiths
joined. As this petition also was unfavourably received, the States of
the Mark took up the cause of the deposed. "The dismissal of Gerhardt,"
they informed the Elector, on the 27th of July, 1666, "excited great fear
in the country for religion, for this man is recognized by the adherents
of both confessions as a pious, exemplary, and, without doubt, a
peace-loving theologian, against whom no charge can be brought save his
refusal to subscribe the edicts."
The Elector yielded at length. After his return from Cleve, he summoned
the magistrates to appear before him, on January 9th, 1667, at three
o'clock in the afternoon; and through the Lord President, Otto von
Schwerin, in presence of several privy councillors, made the desired, but
hardly expected announcement, that as there was no complaint against Paul
Gerhardt, save that he refused to subscribe the edicts, his Electoral
Highness must believe that he has misunderstood the purport of them; he,
therefore, restored him to his office, and absolved him from the
necessity of subscription.
Immediately after the audience, the Elector sent a private secretary to
Gerhardt, to convey the intelligence to him, and to say at the same time
that his Highness cherished the confident expectation that he would act
conformably to the edicts, without subscription, and continue to manifest
his known moderation. Next day the magistrates, delighted with the grace
of the Prince, hastened to inform Gerhardt of his unconditional
restoration to office, and on the 12th of January, the joyous event was
announced in the _Sunday Mercury_, a weekly paper very much read in
Berlin at that time. But the private message from the Elector threw
Gerhardt into fresh distress of mind. He felt hampered by the condition
still attached to his restoration to office, and he applied to the
magistrates to aid him in discovering the exact terms of his restoration.
In his letter to the magistrates, he expressed his earnest desire to
spend the remainder of his life among his flock, if he could do so with a
good conscience, saying how wretched a thing it was to hold office with
an uneasy conscience. He knew the anxieties incident to the faithful
discharge of the pastoral office, and said, that he would be the most
wretched man on earth if to them were added the reproaches of a guilty
conscience. His desire was not in the very least to appear to depart from
his previous mode of teaching, and from the customs of his church, which,
as a Lutheran clergyman, he had sworn to maintain. Referring to the
moderation which had been so commended in him, he said, "I have never
understood it, and never can understand it otherwise, than that I shall
be permitted to remain faithful to my Lutheran confessions of faith, and
especially to the 'Formula Concordiae,' and that I am not required to
regard any of them, or permit others to regard any one of them, as a
dishonourable, injurious, or blasphemous book."
The magistrates sent him a copy of the decree reinstating him in office,
hoping thereby to remove his scruples. He made a further representation
to the magistrates on the 26th of January, 1667. In this he pointed out
how the decree ascribed his refusal to a misunderstanding of the edicts,
and that, though absolved from subscription, he was bound by them still;
that he could only understand the edicts literally; that he could not
re-enter his office with any other conscience than he had first entered
it with; he could not inflict on himself the wound on re-entrance into
office which he had, in the strength of the Holy Ghost, patiently and
silently endured a year's suspension to avoid; that if his conscience
permitted him to yield obedience he would subscribe the edicts, "for,"
said he, "what I can do with a good conscience, I can easily consent and
promise to do." He begged them to intercede for him with the Prince, that
he might be absolved from obedience to the edicts on resuming office. In
everything else he promised all possible hearty and humble obedience. He
begged that he might be permitted to adhere to his Lutheran Confessions
and "Formula Concordiae;" that he might so instruct his flock, and pledge
himself to no other moderation than was rooted in these confessions. Only
on these terms, he said, could he consent to preach. Gerhardt also wrote
to the Elector to the same effect.
The magistrates resolved once more to apply to the Elector. They briefly
stated the case, and begged his Highness to relieve Gerhardt's scruples.
The Elector, on the very same day, returned their statement to the
magistrates, with these words written on the margin:--"If the preacher,
Paul Gerhardt, will not resume the office so graciously vouchsafed to him
again, by his Serene Electoral Highness, for which he will have to answer
to the Most High God, let the magistrates of Berlin, at their earliest
convenience, invite some other able and peace-loving persons to preach as
candidates; but let them not call any one until they have first humbly
made known his qualifications to his Serene Highness.--Cöhl-on-the-Spree,
Feb. 4th, 1667.--(Signed) Friederich Wilhelm."
Gerhardt resigned his office, and so ended his ministry in Berlin. So
great was the love his former flock bore to him that they still continued
to contribute to his support.
It is commonly believed, that after his deposition in Berlin, he was
invited to Saxe-Merseberg by Duke Christian, and that, on refusing the
offer, the Duke granted him a pension. Otto Schultze, one of his
biographers, and seemingly the most careful and thorough of them, says
that he was unable to find any certain testimony to either of these
facts. It seems strange that he should refuse to go to Saxe-Merseberg,
when, a short time after, he unhesitatingly accepted an invitation from
the magistrates of Lübben, which was in the territories of Duke
Christian; and in his correspondence with the magistrates of Lübben there
is no reference to such an invitation from the Duke. The fact of his
refusal, in the first instance, and his ready acceptance in the second,
might be accounted for, however, by the death of his wife, which took
place in March, 1668, whereby one very strong tie that bound him to
Berlin was severed.
A story is told about this period of his life, and was for a long time
received as an undoubted fact, which is so romantic that we could almost
wish it were true. It is said, that having no certain dwelling-place, he
set out with his wife and family to return to his fatherland, Electoral
Saxony; that one evening his wife was sitting in the hotel where they
were staying for the night, bemoaning her hard lot. Gerhardt in vain
endeavoured to console her, and quoted Psalm xxxvii. 5, to her. Touched
by the words himself, he went and sat down on a garden seat and wrote the
song,
"Commit whatever grieves thee," &c.,
and came and read it to his wife, who was immediately comforted. Later in
the evening the Duke of Saxe-Merseberg's messengers arrived, bearing a
letter to Gerhardt, offering him a pension, till he was otherwise
provided for. They were glad when they found out who Gerhardt was, and
handed him the letter, which he in turn handed to his wife, saying, "Did
I not tell you to commit your ways unto the Lord?" Unfortunately for this
story, the hymn in question had been published in 1666, and the story is
otherwise inconsistent with the known facts of his history.[5] The story
is equally groundless, that this hymn was the means of procuring him an
invitation from the Elector to return to Berlin.
The magistrates of Lübben, hearing of him, invited him to preach there,
as a candidate for the vacant archdiaconate. He went thither and preached
before them on October 14th, 1668. The next day he was informed as to the
income, inspected the official residence, expressed his willingness to
accept the appointment, and was assured that it would be offered to him.
He then returned to Berlin. He did not take up his residence in Lübben
until June in the following year, owing partly to domestic affliction,
and partly to the vexatious delay in preparing his official house for his
reception, arising from the dilatoriness and indifference of the
magistrates in the matter. He had expressed hope, when he saw the house,
which was unfit for any minister to live in, and not large enough for his
family, that a more convenient one might be provided. He was assured that
a deacon's house adjoining wonld be added to it. A friend visited Lübben
some time after his appointment, and the work was not begun, nor even at
a later period, when he himself went over. No sympathy was manifested
towards him. He was asked if he wished to recede from his promise, and
whether he wished a house _pro dignitate_; and was told that they did not
know he had so large a household, and that what had been good enough
before might be good enough still. All this must have been exceedingly
annoying and humiliating to Gerhardt. Other points were raised with
reference to the details of his ministerial duties; but leaving them for
friendly settlement after his entrance on his office, he simply claimed
that a house, not _pro dignitate_, but _pro necessitate_, should be
prepared. A full statement of the case, addressed by him to the
Government President, Alex. von Hoymb, at length produced the desired
effect.
He took the oath of religion before the Consistory on the 6th of June,
and entered on the duties of his office on the third Sunday in Trinity.
Gerhardt, in these transactions, appears to great advantage, in the
reasonableness of his demands, and the manner he dealt with the
ungenerous imputations made upon his motives and character. He would have
removed to Lübben sooner had there been a suitable house to be got; but
there was none. He laid stress, in his correspondence, on the want of a
study in the Archdeacon's house, and insisted on the necessity of having
a place for meditation and prayer, if he was to discharge his duties
aright.
There are no written records concerning his work in Lübben. Dim tradition
says, that he was often melancholy, that in these moods he would betake
himself to the church, and kneeling before the crucifix, seek strength in
fervent prayer. Feustking (who was almost his contemporary), General
Superintendent in Anhalt-Zerbst, says, in the preface to his edition of
his songs,--"Along with his piety Gerhardt had the devil, the false
world, and the enemies of religion continually on his neck, with which he
had to contend on the right and on the left, day and night. He also
prayed very diligently, as earnestly as one pleads with his father. At
the close of his life he had pious Arndt's 'Prayer and Paradise Garden'
continually before him, and so highly did he esteem it, that he wrote
several hymns on its contents."
Many of Gerhardt's songs appeared in the first instance in various
hymn-hooks. The first complete edition was published by J. E. Ebeling,
Director of Music in the chief church in Berlin, in ten folio parts, each
containing twelve songs, in 1666-67. It seems that Gerhardt never derived
any pecuniary advantage from their publication. Tradition says, that
after a warm conflict with the enemy he wrote the hymn "Wach auf mein
Herz und Singe," in proof of which the second verse is quoted. But he
wrote no song after leaving Berlin. Schultze mentions that there is no
song bearing his name that had not been printed in 1667.
His will, and the rules of life, written before his death, for his son
Paul Friedrich, are worthy of quotation, revealing as they do the piety,
simplicity, purity, integrity, and also the narrowness of his
character.[6] After expressing his gratitude to God for all the goodness
and truth shown him from his mother's womb till that hour (he had then
reached his seventieth year), his hope of speedy deliverance from this
life and entrance into a better, and praying God when his time came to
take his soul into His Fatherly hands and grant his body quiet rest till
the last day, when he should be reunited with those gone before as well
as those left behind, and behold Jesus face to face, in whom he had
believed though he had not seen Him, he goes on to say:--
"To my only son I leave few earthly possessions, but an honourable name,
of which he will have no special reason to be ashamed.
"My son knows, that from tender infancy I gave him to the Lord my God as
His own, that he should be a servant and preacher of His Holy Word. Let
it be so, and let him not turn aside because he may have few good days
therein, for God knows how to compensate for outward trial by inward
gladness of heart and joy in the Holy Ghost. Study sacred theology in
pure schools and incorrupt universities, and beware of Syncretists, for
they seek the things of time, and are faithful neither to God nor man. In
thine ordinary life, follow not bad company, but the will and commandment
of thy God. In particular
"1. Do nothing evil in the hope that it will remain secret,
'For nothing can so small be spun
That it comes not to the sun.'
"2. Never grow angry out of thine office and calling.
"If thou findest that anger hath inflamed thee, be perfectly silent, and
do not utter a word until thou hast first repeated to thyself the Ten
Commandments and the Christian Creed.
"3. Be ashamed of sinful, fleshly lusts; and when thou comest to years
that thou canst marry, do so seeking direction from God, and the good
counsel of pious, faithful, and judicious persons.
"4. Do people good whether they can requite you or not, for what men
cannot requite the Creator of Heaven and earth has long ago requited, in
that He created thee, hath given thee His dear Son, and in holy baptism
hath received and adopted thee as His son and heir.
"5. Flee covetousness like hell. Be content with what thou hast acquired
with honour and a good conscience, though it may not be too much. Should
God grant thee more, pray Him to preserve thee from any hurtful misuse of
temporal possessions.
_Summa_; pray diligently, study something honourable, live peacefully,
serve honestly, and remain steadfastly in thy faith and confession. So
wilt thou one day die and leave this world willingly, gladly, blessedly!
Amen."
He died on the 7th of June, 1676, as the Lübben church-book testifies,
after he had been seven years in Lübben and twenty-five in the ministry.
It is said, that he died with the words of one of his own hymns on his
lips. "Death can never kill us even," from verse 8th of the Christian
Song of Joy.
"Why should sorrow ever grieve me?"
He is buried in the chief church, probably near the altar, though the
precise spot cannot be determined. A portrait in oil, hung up in the
church, testifies to the estimation in which he was held by the
congregation, for besides his, there are only the portraits of a few
General Superintendents, and none of any of his predecessors in office.