FarewelltotheOldWorldBy

AdolphFuchs

ATranslationbyLanaRings,Ph.D.

TheUniversityofTexasatArlington

August,2010

with

Introduction

OriginalPamphlet

Translation

Notes

Commentary

Bibliography

Introduction

Whatmakesamanandawomanleavetheirhomeandtheirhomelandandtravelfardistancestocreateanewlife?WehavebeenbroughtuptobelievethatpeoplecometoNorthAmericaseekingabetterlife:freedom,opportunity,andeconomicsecurity,andwhile that may often times be the case, conditions in their own place of birth aresimilarlyoftentheimpetusforeventhinkingofleavinghome.Ifyoustoptoconsideramoment,whowould leave their homelandandnever comeback, if theyhad the lifetheywantedthere,wheretheintimacyoftheirnativetongueallowedthemtoexpressthemselvesandunderstandothersinwaystheymightneveragaininanewlanguage?Wheretheirchildhoodmemoriesmadethesurroundingsohso familiar?Wheretheirfamily and friends, and all the community they ever sought, made their own lives?Wherethehillsandvalleys,streams,rivers,andlakes,trees,animals,andplants,andthehighwaysandbywayswereasfamiliartothemasagoodfriend?

Certainly,somepeoplehavewanderlustandwanttoseenewvistas,andsomelookforopportunityand it is tobe foundinnewplaces,butmanywanttogohomeagainatsomepoint.Immigratingtoanewplaceandneverlookingbackisoftencausedbysadcircumstances, by something gone awry in one’s own homeland, whether it bewar,unrest,overpopulation,poverty,familyproblems,orthelackoffreedom.Asoneofmystudents said, whose family willingly chose to emigrate from Rumania when theopportunitypresenteditself,onemustthinkcarefullyaboutleavingbehindallthatoneloves:“…Ithinkitisverydifficulttoimaginewhat‘toimmigratetoanothercountry’means,toliveinanotherculture,toleavefamilyandfriendsbehind,andespeciallytoabandon one’s own heritage. … I also think that our culture, our identity is veryimportant,andwemustnotleaveourcountrysofast,onlybecausewewanttomakemoreandmoremoney.Moneyisnoteverything,but it istruethatweneeditto live.However,wemustalsobecareful,whenwemakethedecisiontoleaveourcountryandfamily…. Forme family comes first. Andalthoughmyparents and I have legal visashere in America, it is still hard. We live in a country where there are so manyopportunities,butwearealsovery far fromwherewegrewup.Tobehomesick is, Ithink,themostdifficultfeelingthatonecanhave.”Thus,evenifonemaywanttoleave,oneisleavingsomuchbehind.

SowhataboutusorourancestorswhomovedtoTexas?Whatweretheirreasonsforcoming?ImyselfcamefromKansasviaMissouriandCalifornia followingmycareer,forTexaswaswherethegoodjobwas.AsfarasTexans’ancestorsareconcerned,thereare many reasons people came to Texas, given that we all have many direct lineancestors.Dependingonthetimetheycameandthecircumstancesthatledthemtodoso, some left their countrybecause they soughtabettereconomic life, somebecause

theywantedmorefreedomofexpression,somebecausethecrowdingofhumanlifeinthecitiesandtownswasstifling, somebecausewardrove themaway, somebecausetheywere captured and brought to the Americas, some because they left heartacheandafamilyinshredsbecausetuberculosisorotherdiseaseshadkilledtheirmothers,sisters, and brothers, some because they were adventurers and wanted to “see theworld,”andsomebecausetheyweretoldtheycouldlivebetterinthenewplacethantheoldandwereencouragedtobuyuplotsinwhatwouldlaterbeNewBraunfelsorsomeothertown.Somecameforanumberofthesereasons.

AdolphFuchswasjustsuchanimmigrant.ALutheranminister,heleftMecklenburg­Schwerin, in present­day northeastern Germany in 1845 and came to Texas. In ourlibrary’s Special Collections here at UT Arlington we have a pamphlet that waspublishedinSanAntonioafterhecametoTexas,renderinginprinthislastsermontohiscongregationintheoldcountry.Inthissermonheexplainedwhatmadehimmakesuchamomentousdecision,forhecamebringinghiswifeandsevenchildren,andtheymade theirhome inTexas for the rest of their lives.What follows is the text of thatpamphlet,translatedintoEnglish.Notesandcommentaryfollowthetranslation.

August21,2010

FarewelltotheOldWorld

AFarewellSermon

heldinKölzowinMecklenburg‐Schwerinonthe

TwentiethSundayafterTrinitatis[TrinitySunday],1845

by

ADOLPHFUCHS,

Preacherattheevent

ThespeakerhasalreadyemigratedviaBrementoTexas.Hehadplannedforalongtimetogiveuphisparishandmakethe journeyacrosstheseato theNewWorld.CompareFuchs,A.,“TheNewCountry:ASongwithAnnotations.”Rostock,1836.

Theclergymanisoftenboundtothenatureofhiscongregation’sbeliefsandviews.Therefore,innowaydoesitredoundtoacriticismoffalsenessorinsincerityinhimifhe, in thecourseofhisofficial functionsasaclergyman,speaksagainsthisownview in accordance with a different view; it will much more readily be verypretentiousofhim,toforceonlyhisperspectiveonthecongregation.Tofollowthedifferentview,withoutcirculatingitasone’sown,isthusbyallmeansnotcontrarytoone’sduty.However,forastraightforwardandingenuousminditmustlingerasvery oppressive and offensive to administrate such an office, while deviatingsignificantlyinone’sownconvictionfromtheofficiallysanctionedview.

Fries,Ethics.§69.

___________________________________

PrintingbyNicTengg,SanAntonio,Texas.

PeaceBeWithYou!

___________________

More than ten years have nowpassed, my dear friends, since Ibecame your preacher; and today isthelastdaythatIwillspeakwithyou.–Howcansuchadayasthisnotgripmetothecoreofmysoul?Andforyou– this I believe! – it will not be acompletelyindifferentdayeither.

Itwason thesecondSundayafterEaster in the year Eighteen HundredandThirty‐Five,thatIwasintroducedasyourpastor.TheGospelof thedaywas the Gospel – of the GoodShepherd! That was a touchinglybeautiful omen for me. I imagined awonderfullife,adelightfulinteractionbetween shepherd and flock. Was itthen only a dream? Well, this veryGospel also spoke – of the hireling,yes,of thehirelingwhodoesnot lovethe sheep,who leaves themand fleeswhen the wolf comes, the wolf thatcatchesanddispersesthesheep.

Am I such a hireling, a faithlesshireling?Thatwouldindeedbeamostpainful,distressingjudgment.

By a hireling, dear Christians, Imean a shepherd whose heart iswithoutlove,whoisindifferenttothefate of his flock, a person who caresmore for that which is of the earththan thatwhich is of heaven and thespirit, more about money andproperty than that which has trueworth, more for the salary of aChristian preacher than of Christiantruthandvirtue.Haveyoueverknownme tobe suchaman? If so, callmeahirelingafterall,forthenIdeserveit.

‘But if you are not such a person,then why do you want to leave us?’youask.

My beloved congregation, if I hadpromisedyouthatIwouldneverpartfromyou, thenIwouldnot leaveyou.Now however, I believe it could wellbethecase,thatmanyashepherdwhodoes not leave his flock, nor everwantstoleave,inrealitymightyetbenothing other than a hireling.Shouldn’t the inverse of that also betrue?

And furthermore, if I really hadreason to fear that through myleaving,anevilfatewouldthreatenmyflock, or that thewolf, as Christ says,weretocatchandscattertheflock,oh,thenIwouldalsonotleaveyou.Buttofear thatwould be contemptible self‐importance.No,mydearpeople, Iamnotdoubtfulthatyouwillbelesswellcounseledby thegentleman,whohasbeenappointedmysuccessor,thanbyme – and I pray God, that your lifewith him may be as beautiful, asgenuinely Christian, as I have everwisheditwithme.

‘Butwhymustyougoawaytoalifeofuncertainty?’

Indeed, you are not driving meaway from you; instead, I prefer tobelieve your assurances, given mehere and there, that you would havegladlyretainedme.‐‐Indeed,wehavealways lived inpeacewitheachother–IbelievethatIhardlyhaveanenemyamong you. – And not just in peacehave we lived, even love it was that

you have always shown me. Irecognizethatwithathankfulheart.

‘Andevenso,’yousay,‘evenso,youintendtogo?’

Yes, even so, dear friends, I intendtoleaveyou.–Youcanrightlydemandofme, that I giveyouanaccount–atleast in essence – of the reasons,whichdrivemefromhere;andthatiswhat I want to do now, with God’shelp.

Withthatinmind,Ichoosemytextfrom the Old Testament, and namelyfrom the twelfth chapter of the firstBookofMoses,wherethewordsinthefirst and second verses read asfollows:

‘AndtheLordspokeuntoAbraham:Go forth from thy country and thykindred and thy father’s house to theland that Iwill show thee. And Iwillmakeoftheeagreatnation,andIwillblessthee.’

Ifweaskthereasonswhythenobleancestor of the tribe of the Jewishpeople left his Mesopotamia andjourneyed across the Euphrates intodistantPalestine,ofcoursetheanswerremains complex, and we have tosatisfy ourselves with the little thatthe Holy Word tells us about it:namelythat ‘theWordofGodbecameloudinhisheartandspoketohim:Goforth from thy country and thykindred and thy father’s house to theland that Iwill show thee. And Iwillmakeoftheeagreatnation,andIwillbless thee.’ Specifically, however, hisreasons, like his hopes and desires,mayhavebeenmany.Heprobablyhadhis internal and externalconsiderations in that regard. His

internal reasons would perhaps havebeen of a religious nature, but theexternal ones would most probablyhave been none other than the factthattherewasnotenoughroomintheold country for his herds andshepherds. He would have sought acountry where the population waslessandthespacethereforegreater.

With me it is essentially nodifferent. I too havemy external andinternal reasons or, in other words,my lower andmy higher, my earthlyandmyreligious,reasons.

OftheEarthlyReasonsFirst

There arepeople enough,who stilldonotwanttobelieve,thatinourowncountry, as probably once inMesopotamia, there are too manypeople, or that we, as one isaccustomed to say, suffer fromoverpopulation. And of course stillmorepeoplecouldlivehereamongus,if,namely,somethingsweredifferenthere than they are; if, for example,property were not so unevenlydistributed. However, things are notdifferent at all, and – it is difficult tomake thingsdifferent fromwhat theyhave been for hundreds of years;difficult, I say, to achieve that in justways.And inunjustways?–Throughrevolt and the shedding of blood? –Oh,dearheaven,preservemycountryfromthehorrorsofrevolution!

No,mybelovedfriends, if itcannotbe denied that it is, from day to day,made more difficult for theinhabitants of our country, andespeciallythefathersoflargefamilies,to give life and sustenance to theirfamilies by honest means, becausenamely the rush to every kind of

acquisition shamefully grows fromday to day—and that is exactly thesign of overpopulation; ‐‐furthermore,whenitcannotbedeniedthat in this way poverty – andimmorality – are bound to take theupperhandevermoreandmore;thenitisvalidtopursueone’sownwaystoremedy these grievances. And one ofthesewaysistocreatemorespace,tomakeroomfortheother,andgivehimthe opportunity to obtain his dailybread. Our people have alsorecognized this for a long time.Therefore,everyyearmanythousandsmove away from this overpopulatedcountrytosuchcountriesastherearefew people, but there is much fertileland.–Yes,indeed,howwoulditstandwith our German country if, forhundreds of years, so many millionshad not left their old native land?Thenwhy do youwant to reprimandme,whenIdothesame?

But perhaps you mean to say:‘Aren’tyoutheonewhosooftencalledonusbysaying:Donotworry!Beholdthe fowlsof theair; for theysownot,neither do they reap, nor gather intobarns;yetthyheavenlyFatherfeedeththem. Are ye not much better thanthey? Consider the lilies of the field,how they grow; they labour not,neither do they spin. Yet not evenSolomoninallhisglorywasclothedasoneofthese.Whythengosofaraway?Doesnottheeartheverywherebelongto the Lord? And is your resignationyour humility?’ – Yes, indeed I haveoften called upon you, and with anhonest heart, saying: ‘Do not worry!Look at the birds in the sky and thelilies in the field;’ but never have Isaid: ‘Let your hands rest inactive inyour laps, just let everything happen

as it may, and wait until the Lordprovidesforyou.’Rather,Ihaveoftenreminded you of the Lord’s will thatman should earn his bread by thesweatofhisbrow. ‘Andwhyadistantland,’ you say, ‘as everywhere theearth is of the Lord?’ Well, just that,becauseeverywhereisoftheLord,onthat side of the ocean, as well as onthis; yes, because everywhere on theearth it is the same sun that shines,and the same heavenly Father whoblesses those who fear Him, so itcannot depend on theWhere and ontheFaror theNear. Finally youwantto admonish me about giving in toGod’s will, about humility? Oh, dearfriends,itiscertainlynotGod’swilltoleave us to wither away in anoverpopulatedcountry,whiletherichlands of the earth are not populated.AndwhentheChristiantrustshisGodwithajoyfullypiouscourageandfreshdaring, that is also called beinghumble.

Of course, whether the Lord willreally be with me – in other words,whethertheLord’swordtoAbraham,‘And I will bless you,’ will really bevalid for me, of course that rests inGod’s hands. – Maybe you aredoubtful,butatleastIknowthatyourblessings accompany me and mine;and I – I hope and I pray. But myhopes are also, as you know, notdirected toward great treasures.Wealthhasneverbeen,andwillneverbe,myaspiration. Ifmymottonowis‘hope and pray!’ then in the future itwill be ‘work and pray!’ Yes, dearfriends in Christ, I would rather eatmybreadbythesweatofmybrowinthe future than—to be taken care ofhere, for goodness sakes, by thesurpluses of the rich, and by the

miserablyattainedmoneyofthepoor.In temporal, earthly things I want tobedependentonGodratherthanman.

Do you call that an exaggeratedpursuit of freedom or independence?A false ambition, a perverse pride?Then I admit to you that I am notashamed of such pride and suchambition.

And so now I come to naming foryou, also, the interior reasons thatmovemetoleaveyou.

Dearfriends, if Iweretosay it thisway: ‘I intend in physical, temporalthingstobedependentonGodratherthan man,’ then that pertains evenmoreformeinregardtothespiritualand ministerial reasons for myleaving. Now, however, this is mybelief – although not just mine, butthat of many thousands of Christiansinourday–thatourpublicreligious–that is, our church – life lies indisarray in theentireway inwhich itissetup,thatit isextremelydifferentfrom the Church which Christ hadcome to establish, and that it hashardly a trace of the freedom which,asHesaid,shouldcomethroughtruth.In its human manifestations thefreedom of the Church has runaground–inhumanterms,moreover,which have not emanated at all fromthewillofthewholeChurch,thatisofall believers, but only from theindividual powerful people in it, whoaspriests or kings imposed theirwillon the religious life of all the rest.However then, a genuinely ChristianChurch can only survive in a placewhere no enforcement of conscienceand beliefs is to be found;where thecongregation,thatis,thetotalityofall

believers, fully freely, through theirelected representatives,organizes itspublic religious life according to bestunderstanding. Such religiousfreedom, indeed not outwardly, butprivately inwardly, is what the firstChristian Church possessed with itsOldest Director. And if we do notreturn to it, then our church life willsurely ever more decay, and theparticipation by Christians inChristianitywillevermoredisappear!

Oh, truly, in that it has already gonefarenough!

And how it is with you, dearChristians?Sinceamongyoureligiouslife is tobe found in thebreastof theindividual, I am entitled to nojudgmentabout that,here leastofall.You yourselves will of course knowhow you stand with your God, andwith your Savior. But that the publicreligious life among you enjoys nogreat participation, that I alreadypainfully experienced on the day ofmy first sermon, which had no morethan fourteen listeners. Now, ifhowever, in more recent times thenumber of thosewhoworshipedGodherewasoftennot larger,moreoftenfrequentlyevensmaller,–wasitthennotperhapsmyownfault?Yes,indeedI openly admit that often at timesduring the preparation for Sunday,cheerful courage and holy zeal failedme,whenIagainwouldhavetoexpecttopreachinanemptyHouseofGod.–Or was I not perhaps guilty foranother reason? Maybe what I gaveyou here as my viewpoint was notsomething which could gratify you,because it – yes, because it was notwhat you understood by trueChristianity?No,thereinIamwithout

guilt. Because itwas truly impossiblefor me to give you something as mytruth that would be different fromwhat I myself understood as trueChristianity or the essential elementof the Gospel. Should that not havebeensatisfactorytoyou?Perhaps,thatI always placed a higher value ongettingoutofbedinthemorningandon transformation‐in‐a‐new‐life thanon the resurrection of the Savior? Ahighervalueonthe transformation inheaven than on His Ascension intoHeaven? Or that for me His pure lifeandardor forGodwerealwaysmuchmore important thanall themiracles,which happened with and throughHim?That forme theWord: ‘Youaremy friends, so do what I ask of you’wasmore important than that of theLambwho takes away the sinsof theworld? The Word of love moreimportantthatthatofbeliefandhope?–Inallofthatwouldyouhavebeenofadifferentopinion?Now,as I said, inthis instance I would be guiltless,because itwas impossibletogiveyousomething that Iwouldcall the truth,thatwasdifferentfromwhatIthoughtwasthetruth.

Sothatdoesnottroubleme.

But something else has troubled,aggrieved, tormented me a thousandtimesover–andnowdrivesmeawayfrom here. If namely I have alsoalways honestly given you only thatwhichwasmy trueperspective–yes,ifIhaveneverliedtoyou,stillIhadto– conceal my innermost convictionsfor thousands upon thousands ofreasons;Ihadtodoitforpurereasonsof prudence which affected you aswell as me. That is what I could nolonger endure! – Dear Christians, if

not once in religion, not once in theHouseofGod, thepureunadulteratedtruth–that is,whatman,thespeakerrecognizes as the pure unadulteratedtruth – is supposed and is allowed tocount,where then?Willwe theneverinlifebedonewiththelie?Orperhapsshouldandmusteverypreacheragreeexactly in his religious views withevery single person in hiscongregation? To attain that islikewise impossible: the religiousoutlook of people will always differ,even if theyareunited intoone flock,yes, even if everywhere on earth aShepherd and a Flock should existagain.Itcannotbeotherwise,becausecertainly the cultivation ofunderstanding and the fates ofindividual human beings will alwaysdiffer.

But for that very reason one shouldalsoalloweveryindividual,andeverycongregation, and every party theirbelief, their conscience, and theirworship of God. – That is religiousfreedom! – And it is not supposed tomean, one must unite all people’sminds under one umbrella. – That isservitude! – And that gives birth topersecutionandhypocrisy.

Andexactlyforthatreason,too,everypreacher is not suitable for everycongregation, at least not for themajority (in a congregation), whomust naturally always decide. Dearfriends, you can use neither areformedpreachernoraCatholicone,noraGermanCatholicone,nor–me.It must be a preacher, who in hisreligious views agrees as precisely aspossible at least with the majorityamong you. And such a one, I hope,youwillhaveelectedinmysuccessor.

Oh, may God bless your venerableassociationwithhim!

But may there also now be noneamong you who misinterpret mypublic avowals and their motives, noone specifically who, given what Ihave said, would believed that I,becauseIgiveupmypresentposition,despise the profession of a Christianpreacher,oreventhatIdonotrespectChristianity itself, that I am ashamedof the Gospel, that it is thus not realearnestness – or, even more, thatthere is nothing to all my previousteachings and admonishments –nothing at all!Oh,mayGodkeep youfrom such a misconception! It coulddogreat incalculableharm tomanyasoulamongyou,becauseitcouldlead,intheend,tomakingsomeone’sheartfully indifferent not just to all our –church life, but even to all Christianbelief and all Christian virtue. Ofcourse, such a way of thinking couldhowever only be found in thatshallow,superficialknowledge,whichin any case already believes little ornothing, and has already beenashamedoftheGospelforalongtime.

ListenthentowhatIsay:Ihaveneverbeen ashamed of the Gospel andwillalsoneverfeelashamedof it,becauseIreallyandtrulybelievethatapowerofGodiscontainedthereintomakeallblessed who believe in it, that is, allwhounderstandhowtofreethelivingkernelfromthedeadrindoftheletter;and therefore I respect Christianity,too, and respect the Christianpreaching profession, yes, if such anassurance is necessary. Although Inow relinquish this profession, evenon the other side of the ocean I willalso not stop preaching truth and

working for the kingdom of God onearth,asmuchasIamable.

‘Anddo youhope,’ you say, ‘thatGodwillblessyouthere,inthephysicalasinthesehighestthingsaswell?Anddoyou even perhaps hope that He willmake you, like Abraham, into a greatpeople and not simply into anumerous, but also into a spirituallygreat, civilized, pious, just people?’ –Yes, truly Ihopethat.And if Ididnothopeforit,couldnothopeforit,thentruly I would not leave my oldcountry.

You see, I thus also hope then, thatthere, where indeed no longer theoffice and the dress, but rather onlythe human being inmewill be takenheed of; I hope, so certain God liveseverywhere in theheartsofmen,andnot just in temples that aremade byhumanhands;Ihope,Isay,thatthere,where in fact that which we do notknow, religious freedom, is to befound, a congregation will beestablished in the course of time,which is worthy of being comparedwith the beautiful original model oftheChristiancommunity.

ThatiswhatIhope!

Andyet,dearfriends,partingfromyou is difficult. Separation hurts! – Itwould be different, if I did not loveyou,noryoume.

Oh, do not condemnme! I cannotdootherwise!

Retainyourloveforme,whichyouhavealwaysshown.AndItoowillnotceasetorememberyou,even fromsofaraway.

In farewell Iwishyouall thebest.For the littleones,whoreceivedHolyBaptismfromme,Iwishthattheymaythrive, to the joyof theirparents andthe glory of God. To the youths anddamsels, young men and youngwomen,who,bygivingmetheirhand,vowedeternalloyaltytotheirGodandSavior – that they may never inunfaithfulness break their solemnpromise. To the married couples,whoseunion I blessed, that theymaypreservetheirloveandloyaltytoeachother! To those who sought comfortand strength here at the table of theLord–thattheymayhavefoundboth

and continue to find them! To thosewho are the fortunate and the richamong you I wish – humility. To theunfortunate and the poor – joyouscourage!Toyouall,menandwomen,old and young, I wish peace and joyand, when the time comes, a blessedend,throughJesusChrist!

Amen!

Notes

The 20th Sunday After Trinity Sunday. According to information found on theinternet regardingdates, itmaybe that thedateofPastorFuchs’ farewell sermonwasSeptember7,whichcouldmakesense,sinceFuchsandhis familysailed fromBremerhaven on November 13, 1845 If so, then they had from September toNovember to prepare andmake the trip from Kölzow in to Bremerhaven, wherethey set sail for Galveston and arrived on January 10, 1846 (Information fromFuchs).

Dashes.AdolphFuchsusesdashestoslowthereaderdownbeforeemphasizinganidea.Ihaveleftthedashessothatthereadercanseewherehewantedthereadertostopandponderthenextword,phrase,oridea.

Ihr.Thisword,usedbyAdolphFuchstoaddresshiscongregation,istranslatedintoEnglishas‘you.’IncontemporaryGermanthegeneralruleisthatitisusedwithtwoormorepeoplewhomyouknowverywell,withfamilymembers,orwithpeopleofthesameageoroccupation,whileSie is reserved forpeopleyoudon’tknowwell,peopleofhigherstatusthanyou,adults(ifyouareachild),andsoforth.However,itisalsothecasethatpreachersoftenaddresstheircongregationwith‘Ihr.’

Fries, Ethics. Jakob Friedrich Fries was a German philosopher, physicist, andmathematician,who livedandtaught in Jenabetween1816andhisdeath in1843(Hermann). It could well be that Adolph Fuchs knew him. He had possibly readFries’work,asthereisaquotefromFries’EthicsinthefrontofthepamphletintheTexasversion.ItispossiblethatFuchschosethisexcerptforthepamphlet,althoughtheTexasprintingwasdoneafterhisdeath(Fuchs).(Iftheearlierversion,printed

inHamburg justbeforehe leftEurope,contains itaswell, thenquitesurelyFuchschoseit.IdonothaveaccesstotheHamburgversion,soIdonotknow.)

Ihr Lieben. In the United States a pastor might address the members of hiscongregationas‘dearfriends’or‘mydearfriends.’Indeed,thatisthecaseinsomeofthesermonsofthenineteenthcentury,andsoIhaveusedthattermhere.AsforIhrLiebentoday,Germanswillusethisformofaddressinanemailasasalutationwhenaddressing colleagues they like. For sermons today, ‘Liebe Gemeinde,’ or Dearcongregation, is sometimes used. For example, a sermon by a Pastor LudwigSchmidtbeginswithit,whereasanothersermonbyWilhelmHüffmeierbeginswith‘LiebeMitchristen,liebeGäste,’orDearFellowChristians,dearGuests.’Asfor‘friend,’Germansnormallyreservetheuseoftheword‘friend’(Freund,Freundin) forwhatU.S. Americans would call close friends. In the U.S. ‘friend’ can well be whatRaymonde Carroll calls a “verbal shortcut” to denote “acquaintance, vagueacquaintance, buddy, pal, chum, roommate, housemate, classmate, schoolmate,teammate,playmate,companion,co‐worker,colleague,childhoodfriend,newfriend,oldfriend,veryoldfriend,familyfriend,closefriend,veryclosefriend,bestfriend,girlfriend,boyfriend,etc.”(77).

Mensch.InGermanthisworddenotesahumanbeing,aperson.Althoughwemightnotdosotoday,Ihaveattemptedtoremaintruetothetimebytranslatingitthewaythat itmight havebeen translated then,with ‘man’ rather thanpeople, e.g.,whenAdolph Fuchs states: “In temporal, earthly things Iwant to be dependent on Godratherthanman.”

NicTengg.Thenameofthemanwhoprintedthepamphlettowhichwehaveaccesscanbefoundontheinternet.Accordingtowhatisonthewebnow,NicTenggwasanAustrian,bornin1847andcametoSanAntonioin1852.In1874heboughtthebusiness of Julius Berends, a bookseller and stationer, in which he had worked(Tengg).AccordingtoKennethFuchs,adescendantofAdolphandLuiseFuchs,thepamphletwasreprinted in the1890’s,whichwouldhavebeenafterPasterFuchs’death.

‘Protestant.’ Adolph Fuchs uses the German word evangelisch to talk about hisreligion.Ittranslatesas‘Lutheran’or‘Protestant.’IntheGerman‐speakingworldofthattime,thetwoweremoreorlesssynonymous,asProtestantismwasessentiallyLutheranism.Contrastthatwiththeuseof‘Protestant’today,whichistheumbrellaterm for non‐Catholic Christian religious affiliations: Lutheran, Baptist,Methodist,Presbyterian, Church of Christ, etc. I have translated evangelisch as ‘Lutheran,’‘Protestant,’ or ‘Christian,’dependingon theway the concept ismeantandhow itwouldreadasanoldertext inEnglishtoday.The latterterm‘Christian,’ isusedinthe phrases ‘Christian preacher’ and ‘Christian virtue and worth,’ as I thought‘Lutheran’wouldrenderittoonarrowinmeaning,and‘Protestant’isnotnormallyusedwhen talkingabout ‘virtueandworth.’ Inotherwords,peoplewouldbe lessready to say ‘Protestantvirtueandworth’andmore likely to say ‘Christianvirtueand worth.’ In other contexts I use ‘Protestant’ as the term for non‐CatholicChristianity. While ‘Lutheran’ would be more acceptable in Germany, as today

peopleare(mostly)stillCatholicorLutheran,intheU.S.thatissimplynotthecase.(There are, of course, small minorities of other Protestant denominations inGermany, and other non‐Christian denominations, but Germans often speak intermsofkatholischorevangelisch[lutheranisch]).OneshouldnotethattheGermanwordevangelischdoesnothavetheconnotationsthattheEnglishword‘evangelical’does, although they are etymologically related. This discussiondemonstrateswhyone cannot simply translatewords in another language into one’s own.Onemust(attemptto)translatemeaningandunderstandingaswell.

QuotationMarks.AdolphFuchsdidnotusequotationmarks.However,Ichosetousesinglequotationmarks,astheywerecommonlyusedinEnglishinthepast,anditiseasierforthereadertofollow.

SentenceLength.ThewrittenGermanlanguageallowsforsentencesthataremuchlongerthanthoseinAmericanEnglish,anditallowsforwhatwewouldcallseparatesentencestobelinkedby,forexample,acomma.IhavetriedtoadheremoretotheU.S.Americanstandardforlength,asIthinkthesentencesseemmorenaturaltoU.S.earsandeyes.However,whereIdidnotthinkitmademuchofadifference,IleftthelengthasitwasintheGermanoriginal.

CommentaryandDiscussion

IfyoubeginupnorthinLübeck, informerWestGermanyandheadeastonHighway20,onyour leftyouwillbypass turnoffs to the townsofWismarandRostockupneartheBalticSea.Thenyouwillcometoanotherturn,whichwilllead you north on 110 and then east on Sülzer Straße or L19. Just pastDettmannsdorf you’ll “hang a right,” heading south for a short distance to thevillageofKölzow,todaypartofDettmannsdorf‐KölzowintheoldimperialregionknownasMecklenburg,orMecklenburg‐Schwerin,anareabeholdenonlytotheEmperorduringthetimesoftheHolyRomanEmpire.Thereisanoldcastle,builtin the early 1840’s, that has beenmade into a restored hotel. A little, ancientchurchgracesthetown.Ongoogle.demapsit lookslikeasleepylittlehamlet–but thriving. For instance, its church, being so old and historical, has its ownextensivewebsite,andonthewebonecanfindsomepicturesofthechurchandthetown.

ItwasinthislittleancientchurchinthisverysmallvillagethatCarlAdolphFriedrich Fuchs was pastor for ten years before leaving his homeland andsettling in Texas. In order to understand his farewell sermon better, it is

important1) tounderstandatleast some of the political,religious,andeconomic issuesof the areawhere he lived, inthe time he lived, and 2) toreadhis sermonmore closely,looking for the specific issuesthat he wished to addresspublicly,andwhichdrovehimfrom his homeland, with hiswife and seven children.(PhotographbyJ.Brodhagen.)

Fuchs,HisTimes,andHisBeliefs

AdolphFuchswasindeedactuallyoneofthosewhocametothenewworldfor the main reasons we always associate with immigrants to this land:democracy, freedom of religion, and economic opportunity, all three. He livedduring a time when the winds of political change were blowing, and whenMecklenburg‐Schwerin,longanareaofimmigration,wasbesetbytheresultsofeconomic hardships and population growth. A close reading of his sermonrevealsthattherewereanumberofconcernsandproblemsthatdrovehimandhisfamilytomoveacrosstheseatoacompletelynewland.

ThePoliticalSituation

ThepoliticalreasonsforAdolphFuchs’departureconcernedthesituationintheGermanlandsatthetime.Hesawthattherewasanunevendistributionofwealth, and that therefore the overpopulation problem he perceived wasexacerbated by it. He felt that more people could live there if things weredifferent:“Andofcoursestillmorepeoplecouldlivehereamongus,if,namely,somethingsweredifferentherethantheyare;if,forexample,propertywerenotso unevenly distributed.” Yet he felt that change would not happen: “[I]t isdifficult to make things different from what they have been for hundreds ofyears;difficult, I say, toachieve that in justways… .”Hebelieved in the liberalideasofthetime,thosewindsofchangethathadbegunwiththeAmericanandFrench Revolutions. But what he also feared was upheaval if change were tocomeaboutin“unjustways:”“Throughrevoltandthesheddingofblood?–Oh,dear heaven, preserve my country from the horrors of revolution!” His fearswere justified, for that upheaval came to fruition in the (failed) Revolution of1848,threeyearsafterheleftEurope.

The ideas supporting political changewere known to Adolph Fuchs, as hewas a friend or good acquaintance of people like August Heinrich vonFallersleben,themanwhowrotetheGermanNationalAnthem.Alittlehistoryofthe anthemwill help set the ideas of the time into their proper context. Thisanthem is the very same one that Hitler misappropriated for his own uses.However, when Fallersleben wrote “Germany, Germany over everything” –“Deutschland, Deutschland über alles,” his intention was not to take over theworld.Rather, therewasnotaunifiedGermany. Indeed, therewas“notastatebut at best a nation with a blurry claim to a territorial homeland based onlinguisticandculturalaffinities,…aso‐called federation(theDeutscherBund),which consisted of thirty‐five independent political entities and four freecities…”(Geisler,69‐70).People likeFallerslebenthoughttheythesethirty‐fiveseparate entities and four cities should be one Germany. In other words,“Germanyaboveall,”meantaunifiedGermanywouldbemore important thantheseindividualprincipalities,whichatthetimewererunbytheirown“lessermonarchs,dukes,andprinceswhohadeverythingtolosebynationalunificationandnothingtogain.Againstthisbackdrop,Hoffmann’sexhortation[was]toputthestruggleforGermany(i.e.unification)topmostontheagenda…”(Geisler,70).

Moreover,AdolphFuchshad received an education andwas a teacher andminister.HehadstudiedatJena,Halle,andGöttingen.IfitisnotknownwhenhestudiedinGöttingenandJena,atleastitmustberecognizedthatheknewaboutthe liberal ideas thathadbeen floatingaround in these towns;andatHallehemost probably knew of the controversies there which led to the firing of oldLutheran and rationalist professors. In other words, he was cognizant of andtookpartintheintellectualthoughtanddebatesoftheday.

Furthermore, the word ‘democracy’ and ‘freedom’ were on the lips of theliberals. Think, once again, of his statement that more people could live in

Mecklenburg‐Schwerinifresourceswereallocatedmorefairly.Furthermore,theword‘freedom’wasimportanttoAdolphFuchs,andwherehesawagreatneedforfreedomwasinreligiousfreedomofthought.

Religion

Beyondfearingthathecouldnotmakeitfinancially,beyondfeelingthatthesystemdisadvantagedthepoor,thereissomethingthatdeeplybotheredAdolphFuchs,andthesearehis“internalreasons”forleaving.Theyhavetodowithhisdiscontentwith the Lutheran Church andwith hisministry, and they are tiedtogether.But,first,itisworthwhiletotakealookathiscorebeliefs.

AdolphFuchswaswhatonemightcalla“liberalChristian.”Notethatinhissermonhesaysonemustdrawthelivingkerneloftruthfromthedeadletter,meaningthattheBiblecontainswords,butthetruthmustbedrawnfromthosewords‐‐inotherwords,itmustbeinterpreted.Heislessamanofthe“letterofthelaw”thanofthe“spiritofthelaw,”forhesaysthathehasbeenmoreinterestedinhowChristiansbehaveandinwhatisintheirhearts(transformingoneself,leadingapurelife,demonstratingenthusiasmforGod,doingasJesusasked,focusingonlove)thanindogma(theResurrection,theAscensionintoHeaven,themiracles,theLambthattakesawaythesinsoftheworld,andbeliefandhope[versusthehighervirtueoflove]).Inotherwords,hewasoneofthosewhomonestillfindstoday,whosaythatone’sessence,howoneloves,andhowonepresentsoneselfspirituallyarewhatoneshouldconcentrateon,ratherthanthesupernaturalhappeningsoftheBible,andthathowonelovesismoreimportantthanhowonebelieves.Healsofindstheimportantthingsoflifetobe,nothowoneisregarded,basedonwhatkindofjobonehasorwhatkindofclothesonewears,butwhooneisasahumanbeing.Inotherwords,heisnotinterested(heevensaysso)inwealth(“Wealthhasneverbeen,andwillneverbe,myaspiration”),butratherthetruthofone’sbeing.Theessenceofahumanbeingisthemostimportantthingthereis,andhelooksforwardtobeingrespectedforwhoheisratherthanforwhatwealthorpositionhehasinthecommunity,“there,whereindeednolongertheofficeandthedress,butratheronlythehumanbeinginmewillbetakenheedof….”

AdolphFuchs’ core spiritual issue inhis sermon iswith theChurchas it isand the lackof full freedomtoexpressone’sreligiousviewsasonereallyseesthem.Whenoneopensupthepamphlettohisfarewellsermon,thereisapagewithaquotefromFries,whichessentiallysaysthatitisokay–andnothypocrisy–tostatetheofficialchurchbelief,evenifsomewhatdifferent fromone’sown.But, Friesopined, “for a straightforwardand ingenuousmind itmust lingerasvery oppressive and offensive to administrate such an office while deviatingsignificantlyinone’sownconvictionfromtheofficiallysanctionedview.”

AdolphFuchsmusthavefelthimselftobeoneofthoseforwhomitwasverydifficult. From Fuchs’ words it is quite easy to see that the freedom he mostsoughtwas the freedom to speakhis truth ashe saw it, and far and away themostimportantreasonhehadforworryingabouthisChurchwasthisneedfortruth,andforthefreedomthatallowsonetoseekthetruth.Asaministerhefeltstifled by the Church “powers that be.” He felt he could go only so far inexpressinghistruebeliefs.Hewasquitevehementinhissermonaboutthis.Firstofall,hewascriticaloftheChurchingeneral,statingthatthereisnofreedom–nofreedomtoseekthetruth:

Ourpublic religious– that is,ourchurch– life lies indisarray in theentirewayinwhichit issetup,…it isextremelydifferentfromtheChurchwhichChrist had come to establish, and … it has hardly a trace of the freedomwhich,asHesaid,shouldcomethroughtruth.

Rather, he believed in the freedom of each individual, and of eachcongregation,toseektheirowntruthanddidnotthinkthattheChurchallowedit:

[A] genuinely Christian Church can only survive in a place where noenforcement of conscience and beliefs is to be found; where thecongregation, that is, the totality of all believers, fully freely, through theirelectedrepresentatives,organizes itspublicreligious lifeaccording tobestunderstanding.Suchreligious freedom, indeednotoutwardly,butprivatelyinwardly, is what the first Christian Church possessed with its OldestDirector.And ifwedonotreturnto it, thenourchurch lifewillsurelyevermoredecay,andtheparticipationbyChristiansinChristianitywillevermoredisappear!…InitshumanmanifestationsthefreedomoftheChurchhasrunaground– inhumanterms,moreover,whichhavenotemanatedatall fromthe will of the whole Church, that is of all believers, but only from theindividualpowerfulpeopleinit,whoaspriestsorkingsimposedtheirwillonthereligiouslifeofalltherest.

Related to this, Adolph Fuchs felt that he could not openly tell hiscongregation what motivated his beliefs, not only because of the need torepresent the officially sanctioned views, but also because he did notwant tocompletely alienate his congregation who, he believed, had views that weredifferent from his own. This belief, however, put him at odds with his owncongregation,becausehecouldnotbecompletelyopenwiththem:

IfnamelyIhavealsoalwayshonestlygivenyouonlythatwhichwasmytrueperspective – yes, if I have never lied to you, still I had to – conceal myinnermostconvictionsforthousandsuponthousandsofreasons;Ihadtodoit for pure reasons of prudencewhich affected you aswell asme. That iswhatIcouldnolongerendure!

Thus, he came to the conclusion that he was the wrong pastor for thisparticularcongregation:

Dear friends, you canuseneithera reformedpreachernoraCatholicone,nor a German Catholic one, nor – me. It must be a preacher, who in hisreligious views agrees as precisely as possible at least with the majorityamongyou.

Hisdisappointmentmustwellhavebeenprofound,becausehehadsuchhighexpectationswhenhebeganhisministryinKölzow:

Iwas introducedasyourpastor.TheGospelof thedaywastheGospel–oftheGoodShepherd!Thatwasatouchinglybeautifulomenforme.Iimaginedawonderfullife,adelightfulinteractionbetweenshepherdandflock.

Finally, it seems thathis relationshipwithhis congregationwas loving,butambivalent. He was very disappointed in the attendance at church, whichseverelydampenedhisenthusiasm:

IopenlyadmitthatoftenattimesduringthepreparationforSunday,cheerfulcourageandholyzealfailedme,whenIagainwouldhavetoexpecttopreachinanemptyHouseofGod.

And he stated that he wished that his successor would have a goodrelationshipwithhiscongregation,whichhehadwishedforhimself,butdidnotindicatethathehad:“IprayGod,thatyourlifewithhim[Fuchs’successor]maybeasbeautiful,asgenuinelyChristian,as Ihaveeverwished itwithme.”Notethathedidnotsay:“IprayGod,thatyour lifewithhimmaybeasbeautiful,asgenuinelyChristian,asithasbeenwithme.”

Certainly,hemusthavefeltbadbecausethechurchattendancedidnotgrowwhile he was minister, and his ministry was not satisfactory for economicreasonsaswell.

Economics

The economic situation in Mecklenburg‐Schwerin was making it moredifficult for Adolph Fuchs, a father of seven, and people like him to fare welleconomically.

[I]tis,fromdaytoday,mademoredifficultfortheinhabitantsofourcountry,andespeciallythefathersoflargefamilies,togivelifeandsustenancetotheirfamilies by honest means, because namely the rush to every kind ofacquisitionshamefullygrowsfromdaytoday—andthatisexactlythesignofoverpopulation; ‐‐ furthermore, … it cannot be denied that in this waypoverty–andimmorality–areboundtotaketheupperhandevermoreandmore….

Furthermore, Fuchsbelieved that theoverpopulationproblemwouldnothavebeensobad,hadmaterialwealthbeendistributedmoreevenly.Togivecontextto Fuchs’ statements, I’ll let historianWolfram Siemann describe, throughmytranslation,someofwhatwasgoingonwhereAdolphFuchslived:

Ifonesurveysthespatialpatternsandtemporalstructureofpopulationdevelopment in Germany in the 19th Century as a whole, three timeperiodsstandout.Thefirstphasefromabout1806to1840wasmarkedby an "agrarian population wave" (Jürgen Kocka). Growth wasconcentratedintheagrarianlandscapesinWestandEastPrussia,Posen,Pomerania andMecklenburg. In the 1840s, these areas were graduallytransformed from immigration into emigration areas. ... As the secondphase of population development, the 1840s and 1850s werecharacterizedbycropfailures,faminesandepidemics,sothatbecauseofthemthepopulationgrowthstagnated,evenpartiallydeclined.Withthe1860stheindustrialpopulationwavebegan,…”(89‐90).

(ÜberblicktmandasräumlicheMusterunddiezeitlicheGliederungderBevölkerungsentwicklung inDeutschland im19. Jahrhundert insgesamt,sohebensichdreiZeitperiodenab.DieerstePhasevonca.1806bis1840wargeprägtdurcheine “agrarischeBevölkerungswelle” (JürgenKocka);dasWachstum konzentrierte sich auf die agrarischenGroßlandschaftenin West‐ und Ostpreußen, Posen, Pommern und Mecklenburg. In den1840er Jahren verwandelten sich diese Gebiete almahlich vonZuwanderungs‐ in Auswanderungsregionen. … Die 1840er und 1850erJahre als zweite Phase der Bevölkerungsentwicklung waren geprägtdurchMißernten,HungerkatastrophenundEpidemien, sodass in ihnendasBevölkerungswachstumstagnierte,teilweisegarzurückging.Seitden1860erJahrenbegandieIndustrielleBevölkerungswelle,”…)

Thus, Adolph Fuchs lived in an area of population growth during the firstforty years of the century. Then in the 1840’s people began leaving. WhatSiemanncalls the secondwavewasbeginning,markedbyhungeranddisease,whichAdolphFuchsmayhavealreadybeenseeing.By1845AdolphFuchshaddecidedtoleaveaswell.Heevensaidthatamajor“externalreason”forleavingwasoverpopulationandtheneedtomakeroom“fortheother,andgivehimtheopportunity to obtain his daily bread.” All in all, about one quarter of theMecklenburgpopulation left in themid‐nineteenthcentury (“Zeitsprung indas19.Jahrhundert”).

Yet of course, itwashis own financial situation that also ledhim, togetherwithdissatisfactioninotherrealms,togotoTexas.Itseems,fromthehistoricalinformation located on the Kölzow Church website, that Adolph Fuchs washaving a very difficult timemaking endsmeet, and he had attempted to get asecondparish. In 1839had applied for a secondposition in his place of birth,Güstrow,aboutthirtymilesfromKölzow.However,hedidnotgetthisjob.Inthe

Hamburgversionofhisfarewellsermon,publishedjustbeforeheandhisfamilylefttheOldWorld,hestateditquitevehementlyandcolorfully:

I am fed up with eking out my existence in a beggarly fashion from thesurplusoftherichandthesweatofthepoor.ToyoupoorIpreachcourageandtoyourichhumility.MyaxonmybackandmyLuise(Lieschen)atmyside, I go frommycountryand frommy friends, to the landacross the sea(“Daserstehalbe19.Jahrhundert”).

(IchhabeessattmitdemÜberflussderReichen,demSchweißederArmenmeinDaseinkümmerlichzu fristen.EuchArmenpredige ichMutundEuchReichenDemut.MeineAxtaufdemRückenundmeinLieschenanderHand,gehe ich ausmeinemVaterland und ausmeiner Freundschaft, in das LandjenseitsdesWeltmeeres.)

Whatisinterestingisthatthelaterversionislesscolorful:

Yes,dear friends inChrist, Iwouldrathereatmybreadbythesweatofmybrowinthefuturethan—tobetakencareofhere,forgoodnesssakes,bythesurplusesoftherich,andbythemiserablyattainedmoneyofthepoor.

Thereisanothertellingexamplethat ledsonetotheconclusionthatPastorFuchswas feeling theresultsofeconomichardship. InKölzowheevidentlytoldanacquaintance,“Myfaithfulflockdecreases,asmycreditorsincrease”(“Daserstehalbe19. Jahrhundert”). (This sentence isaverycleverplayonwords in German that is impossible in English: “Meine Gläubigen nehmenimmermehrab,meineGläuubiger immermehrzu,”wheremeineGläubigenreferstohisfaithfulbelievers,meineGläubigerhiscreditors,andnehmenabmeans‘decline’/’decrease’andnehmenzu ‘increase.’Hemusthavesaidthatwithawrysenseofironyandwryhumor.)

ButAdolphFuchs, unlike some,must at least havehad thewherewithal tocrosstheAtlanticwithawifeandsevenchildren.

TheNewWorld

If you travelalongFarm‐To‐MarketRoad949 towhere it crossesNewbergandTrackRoadsaboutanhourwestofHoustonandslightlytothenorth,you’llcome toa little town–hardlya town, rathera fewstreets– calledCatSpring.Boasting a post office, a volunteer fire department, Carol’s Restaurant, and St.JohnLutheranChurch,thiswastheplacewhereAdolphFuchsbroughthisfamilyin1845,according toanarticlebyLotaSpell inTheHandbookofTexasOnline.Fromwhathesaidinhissermonandfromwhatthisarticlesays,Rev.Fuchswasconvinced that freedom was the key, in religion as well as in political andeconomic life: freedom of the congregation to say its truth, and political

democracy so that therewould not be such a divide between thosewhohaveandthosewhodonot.

In his farewell sermonAdolph Fuchs also stated that hewas giving up hisministry. Butwhatmust he have been feeling, deep inside, once he got to theNewWorld,giventhathewasnotexperiencedinfarmingoranimalhusbandry,thathewasa“manofthecloth,”andthathewasathinker,ashehadpursuedthelife of the mind through his education, through his ministry, and through hisrelationshipswith “moversand shakers”of theday?Be that as itmay,AdolphFuchsandhisfamilycametothissmallplaceinTexasandsufferedthehardshipsofpioneerlife.Hefoundoutthathewasstillmuchbettersuitedforthelifeofthemind than that of farming, and he “became amusic teacher at Baylor FemaleCollege in Independence. He was given credit for founding the first state‐supportedpublicschool inTexas”(Spell).HeevidentlywrotemusictoGermanpoemsandwrotehisownsongsaswell.Soheweatheredthechangeverywell.

AdolphFuchsisoneofthosewethinkaboutwhenwethinkthatpeoplecametoNorthAmericatofindpoliticalandreligiousfreedom.ForhimNorthAmericawas indeed the “land of opportunity,” as he saw overcrowding and fewer andfewerchancesforhimselfandhischildrenintheOldWorld,andhecaughtthespirit of progressive political and religious ideas in mid‐nineteenth century“Germany.”

Soespeciallyforeconomicreasons,andforreligiousfreedom,AdolphFuchslefthiscountry.ForhimtheNewWorldwasindeedthe“promisedland.”Fuchs’descendants live on, and I think Adolph Fuchs would have, perhaps on hisdeathbed at the age of eighty, thought that God had indeed blessed him andcarriedoutforhimthesamepromisethatHehadtoAbraham,thatPastorFuchshadquotedonthatSundayinearlySeptember,backin1845.Hehad“goneforth”andfound“thepromisedland,”andintheenditwasverygoodforhimandhisfamily: personally, professionally, emotionally, spiritually, politically, andeconomically.

OratoricalStyle:Repetition.

Itisenjoyabletoreadthroughthissermonandlookatthepastor’soratoricalstyle (“the art of swaying an audience by eloquent speech”) which preachersoften still use. Adolph Fuchs used biblical allusions and appealed to theemotions,asdiscussedinthisdefinitionof‘oratory:’

In the 19th cent., the rise ofMethodism and evangelical religions producedgreat preachers like JohnWesley and GeorgeWhitefield who addressed awide audience of diverse classes of people. Their sermons, replete withbiblical allusions and appeals to the emotions, profoundly influenced theoratoricalstyleofmanypoliticians(“Oratory”).

NotealsothatPastorFuchsusedrepetitionquitealottoemphasizeanideaoreffecthewantedtocreate.Takethefollowingparagraph,forexample:

Byahireling,dearChristians,Imeanashepherdwhoseheartiswithoutlove,whois indifferenttothefateofhisflock,apersonwhocaresmoreforthatwhichisoftheearththanthatwhichisofheavenandthespirit,more aboutmoney andproperty than thatwhichhas trueworth,morefor thesalaryofaChristianpreacher thanofChristian truthandvirtue.Haveyoueverknownmetobesuchaman?Ifso,callmeahirelingafterall,forthenIdeserveit.

In this sample paragraph, the structural style is clear to see. AdolphFuchsdefinesahireling,thenasksifthecongregationthinksheislikethedescription,thenlogicallyconcludesthatifheislikethattheyshouldcallhimahireling.(Ofcourse, thenhegoeson toshowthathe isnot.)Note therepetitionofphrasesand of clauses, aswell as contrasts that are set up. I have set it up in amorevisuallyaccessiblewaybelow:

Byahireling,dearChristians,Imean ashepherdwhoseheartiswithoutlove whoisindifferenttothefateofhisflock apersonwhocaresmoreforthatwhichisoftheearth thanthatwhichisofheavenandthespirit moreaboutmoneyandproperty thanthatwhichhastrueworth moreforthesalaryofaChristianpreacher thanofChristiantruthandvalueHaveyoueverknownmetobesuchaman?Ifso,callmeahirelingafterall,forthenIdeserveit.

Whatisespeciallyinterestingisthedescriptionofahireling.Ahirelingis“ashepherdwho”and“apersonwho:”“ashepherdwhoseheart is”and“whois,”and“apersonwhoisindifferent”(togood)and“whocaresmore”(forbad).Notealsothecontrast:thedesiredversustheundesirable.Thenwhendescribingthisperson, Pastor Fuchs sets up three “more/than” scenarios, also in contrast:“moreforthatwhichisoftheearth,”“moreaboutmoneyandproperty,”“moreforthesalaryofaChristianpreacher,”versus“thanthatwhichisofheavenandthespirit,”“thanthatwhichhastrueworth,”“thanofChristiantruthandvalue.”

Epilogue

Finally, lest the reader think that I have idealizedPastorAdolphFuchs toomuch, I want to address that issue here, by discussing the topics ofoverpopulation,AmericanIndianrights,andwomen’srights.

It is perhaps surprising that overpopulation was on Adolph Fuchs’ mind.After all, he did not live in a big city, but he evidently felt the increase inimmigrationthatwasintheregionwherehelived.Healsowasquiteeducated,sohemayhavebeenmoreintunewiththethoughtandknowledgeoftheday.One could criticize him and say that his family contributed to the populationgrowth, sinceheandhiswife,whenallwas said anddone,hada total ofninechildren.(TheycametoTexaswithseven.Onediedyoung,andonewasborninTexas.) So onemight wonder what his rationale was, seeing overcrowding inEurope,whilecontinuingtohavechildren.Ontheonehand,birthcontrolwasn'twhatitistoday.Ontheotherhand,hedidnotseemtothinkthatthislandcalledTexaswasoverpopulated,somaybethatwasthecontextofhisthinking.Itwasindeed a great contrast: Europe was very settled, with huge cities, lots ofbuildingsthatreflectlargepopulations,andlotsofagriculturallandsbeingusedto produce food, as well as a long history that included famine, wars, andpopulation displacement, whereas many of the Indian tribes were morenomadic, and people did not know their history. So the lack of buildings andbiggerestablishedcitiesmayhavemadetheAmericanMidwestandSouthwestseemprettymuchcompletedunpopulatedtotheEuropeans.

Thereadermayalsohavebeenreminded,onreadingthis,thatPastorFuchsdidnotaddresstheplightofthenativeAmericanpeopleswhowereoriginallyonthis land that he bought. He also spoke of “his” decisions, not of “my andmywife’s” decisions, to leave their country. In his defense, Adolph Fuchs, at thispoint,wasamanoftheearlynineteenthcentury.Wetoowouldnothavethoughtoftheseissuesbackthen,beforetheCivilRightsandWomen’smovementsofthemid‐nineteenthandmid‐twentiethcenturiesraisedawareness.

HowwouldPastorFuchshaveviewedourpresentsituation?Noneof theseproblems have gone away. One need only do an internet search to see thatpeopleareconcerned,andwhiletherearedifferentperspectivesonthematter,neverthelessthehumanglobalpopulationcontinuestoincrease.Asampleoftheconcerns about overpopulation can be found onwebsites or even on youtube(http://www.metacafe.com/watch/621146/cia_predicts_the_future_2015_overpopulation/).

Relative to the issue of overpopulation, some people are searching forsolutionsbyarguingformoresustainableeconomies,ratherthannever‐endingeconomic growth, as they believe that at some point there simply won’t beenoughtogoaroundanymoreandtheearth’sresourceswillbemoreandmoreexhausted (e.g., Bill Mckibben’s ideas at http://www.uta.edu/uac/one‐book/deep‐economyorhttp://www.billmckibben.com/).

As forNativeAmerican Indian rights, andwomen’s,work is being done toaddress those issues. There are, for example, websites that explain the lawspertaining to American Indians since the white peoples began making lawsabout them (see, for example,http://rtc.ruralinstitute.umt.edu/Indian/Factsheets/AIDLHistory.htm), as wellas websites that help address their rights and resources(http://www.airro.org/main.html).Asforwomen,thereisaccesstoinformationthat addresses women’s rights and issues globally, through groups(http://www.cedaw2010.org/) and individuals(http://www.globalissues.org/article/166/womens‐rights), and locally in theUnitedStatesaswell(http://www.wic.org/misc/history.htm).

Idobelieve,however,thatwithhissenseofjusticeandfairness,hadAdolphFuchslivedtoday,hewouldhavebeenonthesideofthedowntrodden,hewouldhave championed American Indians’ and women’s rights, and he would havesupportedtherighttothinkourownhonestthoughts,especiallywhenitcomesto religious freedom. I also think that he and hiswifewould not have had somany children, as may many of our grandparents or great‐grandparents nothave done, had they lived today. Althoughwe are gladwe are here, I believe,nevertheless,thefinancial,emotional,andphysicalburdenofhavingfive,seven,orelevenchildrenormore,wasenormous.Certainly,thechildrenhelpedoutonthe farm, and certainly there may have been community (as well as familyfeuds),buttheburdenthatwasputonthewomentobearthemwasenormous,and many women died in childbirth with the last child or had deterioratedhealth because of bearing so many children. And today many people in ourcountry opt not to have so many children, given all the considerationsmentionedabove.

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