usly, Neander assisting with pastoral duties, and preaching
occasionally, although he was not ordained as a clergyman. Later,
however, he fell under the influence of a group of separatists, and began
to imitate their practices. He refused to receive the Lord's Supper on
the grounds that he could not partake of it with the unconverted. He
induced others to follow his example. He also became less regular in his
attendance at regular worship, and began to conduct prayer meetings and
services of his own.

In 1676 the church council of Duesseldorf investigated his conduct and
dismissed him from his office. Fourteen days after this action was taken,
however, Neander signed a declaration in which he promised to abide by
the rules of the church and school, whereupon he was reinstated.

There is a legend to the effect that, during the period of his suspension
from service, he spent most of his time living in a cave in the beautiful
Neanderthal, near Mettmann, on the Rhine, and that he wrote some of his
hymns at this place. It is a well-established fact that Neander's great
love for nature frequently led him to this place, and a cavern in the
picturesque glen still bears the name of "Neander's Cave." One of the
hymns which tradition declares was written in this cave bears the title
"Unbegreiflich Gut, Wahrer Gott alleine." It is a hymn of transcendent
beauty. One of the stanzas reads:

Thee all the mountains praise;
The rocks and glens are full of songs of Thee!
They bid me join my lays,
And laud the mighty Rock, who, safe from every shock,
Beneath Thy shadow here doth shelter me.

Many of Neander's hymns are odes to nature, but there is always a note of
praise to nature's God. Witness, for instance:

Heaven and earth, and sea and air,
All their Maker's praise declare;
Wake, my soul, awake and sing,
Now thy grateful praises bring!

"Here behold me, as I cast me," a penitential hymn by Neander, has found
favor throughout all Christendom.

In 1679 Neander's spiritual friend, Pastor Under-Eyck, invited him to
come to Bremen and become his assistant in St. Martin's church. Although
his salary was only 40 thalers a year and a free house, Neander joyfully
accepted the appointment. The following year, however, he became sick,
and after a lingering illness passed away May 31, 1680, at the age of
only thirty years.

During his illness he experienced severe spiritual struggles, but he
fou