he Rector of the university, Francke,
requested the use of the manuscript, which the author refused to grant.
Influence was brought to bear against Wolff at court; and when it was
represented that if his teachings were propagated any further they would
produce defection in the army, Frederic William I. issued a decree of
deposition from his chair, and banishment from his dominions within
forty-eight hours, on penalty of death. This occurred in 1723. After
Frederic the Great ascended the throne, and began to countenance the
increasing skeptical tendencies of the day, he recalled him, in 1740, to
his former position. He was received, it is true, with some enthusiasm,
but his success as a lecturer and preacher had passed its zenith. Of his
reception at Halle after his long absence he thus writes, with no little
sense of self-gratulation: "A great multitude of students rode out of
the city to meet me, in order to invite me formally. They were attended
by six glittering postillions. All the villagers along the roadside came
out of their towns, and anxiously awaited my arrival. When we reached
Halle, all the streets and market-places were filled with an immense
concourse of people, and I celebrated my jubilee amidst a universal
jubilee. In the street, opposite the house which I had rented as my
place of residence, there was gathered a band of music, which received
me and my attendants with joyous strains. The press of the multitude was
so great that I could hardly descend from my carriage and find my way to
my rooms. My arrival was announced on the same evening to the professors
and all the dignitaries of the city. On the following day they called
upon me, and gave me warm greetings of welcome and esteem. Among all the
rest I was received and welcomed by Dr. Lange, who wished me the
greatest success, and assured me of his friendship; of course I promised
to visit him in return."

Verily this was an epoch in theological history. It proves how
thoroughly the Wolffian philosophy had impregnated the common classes.
They had learned its principles thoroughly, and the lapse of more than a
century has not fully disabused them of its errors. The philosophy of
Kant was the first to supplant the Wolffian in learned circles; but Kant
has had no such popular interpreter as Wolff was of Leibnitz, and hence
his influence, though deep where prevalent, was felt in a more limited
sphere. Wolff cannot be termed a Rationalist in the common accep