lmost continuous voyages and journeys. A number of poems
relating the adventures of the traveler are reminiscenses of his own
experiences.

But his work of visiting the churches constituted, of course, only a part
of his duties. He had to preach in the cathedral at Odense at least every
Wednesday in Lent and on all festival Sundays; examine the work and
conduct of all pastors within the diocese; act as an arbiter in disputes
between them and their parishioners; make sure that the financial affairs
of the church and its institutions were honestly conducted; attend to the
collection of church taxes; and superintend all schools, hospitals and
institutions of charity. The efficient accomplishment of all these tasks
might well test the strength and ability of any man.

His manifold duties also engendered numerous occasions for friction,
especially with the civil authorities, whose rights and duties often
overlapped his own. And he did not escape the danger of such bickerings
with their resultant ill-feeling. There is nothing to indicate that he
was contentious by nature. But he was no doubt zealous in defending the
prerogatives of his office. His temper was quick and somewhat martial.
"One could very well," one of his biographers declares, "envision him as
a knight in full armor leading a troop in the charge." With the exception
of his active enemies, most of his contemporaries agree, however, that he
was commonly more than patient in his dealings with others.

Kingo was an able administrator, and the institutions and finances of the
diocese prospered under his care. But it was as an earnest Christian and
a tireless worker for the spiritual improvement of his people that he won
their respect. He was known as an "eloquent man, mighty in the
Scriptures." One of his contemporaries said of him: "Were we not forced
after hearing him preach to say with the disciples, 'Did not our hearts
burn within us when he opened the Scriptures to us and, like a son of
thunder, published the sins of the house of Jacob, or, like Barnabas, the
son of comfort, bound up our wounds and comforted us with the comfort
with which he had himself been so richly comforted by God.'" The few
extracts of his sermons that have come down to us verify the truth of
this statement. They show us a man firmly grounded in his own faith and
zealous in impressing its truth upon others. His preaching was strictly
orthodox and yet fiery and practical. The poetical langu