en to his progress in the kingdom of God,
not to have been brought up in gentle and refined manners from his
childhood." Although a faithful and devoted teacher his life-work was
not forgotten. He constantly sought to widen his knowledge and
experience, was made assistant secretary of the local Bible society, and
formed friendships which led to his appointment to the pastorate at
Kaiserswerth. This was a Catholic town formerly of some importance. The
ruins of an imperial palatinate are still to be seen there, but in
Fliedner's time it had become a little village of workmen dependent on
a few manufacturers. On January 18, 1822, alone, and on foot, to save
his poor society the expense of his journey, Fliedner entered the town
where his life was henceforth to be centered. He was to share the
parsonage with the widow of a previous pastor, and his sister was to be
his housekeeper. His income was one hundred and thirty-five dollars a
year. Only a month after his arrival the great firm of velvet
manufacturers who provided the work-people with employment failed, and
the little church community seemed about to be dispersed. The government
offered him another and better appointment, but he felt that he must be
a true shepherd, and not a hireling, and would not leave his people. He
decided to make a journey to collect money to form a permanent endowment
for his church. A journey over sixty years ago, to a young German of
quiet habits, was a very different matter from a similar trip taken in
this day of railroads and steamboats. To Fliedner it seemed a very
important matter; and so it was in its results, which reached far beyond
the little congregation he served. With great hesitation he began at
Elberfeld, a town near at hand. A pastor of the city, to encourage him,
accompanied him to friends, and on parting gave him a friendly
suggestion that, in addition to trust in God, such work required
"patience, impudence, and a ready tongue." Before starting on the longer
journey to Holland and England he returned to his congregation and
encouraged them by the sum of nine hundred dollars that he had so far
secured. He was now absent for nine months, and during that time
obtained an amount sufficient to put the little church in a position
where a certain, if modest, annual allowance was assured. The pastor had
also, in serving others, greatly strengthened and broadened his own
faith. As he says, "In both these Protestant countries I became
a