ould congratulate himself upon the prospects of humanity. He still felt
the rich glow of youth when, in his last days, he could say: "The
morning light has broken, and already gilds the mountain-tops, and gives
promise of the great coming day."

After independence had been achieved and the downfall of Napoleon had
become a fact, there appeared evidences of new evangelical life. When
the German soldiers recrossed the river which their ancestors had loved
to call "Father Rhine," and felt themselves the proud possessors of free
soil, not only they, but all their countrymen living in the Protestant
principalities, manifested a decided dissatisfaction with that
skepticism which had paralyzed them. Moreover, the memory that France
had been the chief agent in introducing Rationalism was not likely to
diminish their hatred of all infidelity. The masses breathed more
freely, but they were still imbued with serious error. Restoration was
the watchword in politics; but it was soon transferred to the domain of
religion and theology.

But great as was the influence of the wars of freedom in bringing back
the German heart to an intense desire for a more elevated nationality,
we must not be unmindful of the great theological forces which were
preparing for a thorough religious renovation.

They met in Schleiermacher. When quite young he was placed, first at
Niesky and afterward at Barby, in the care of the Moravians. It was
among these devout people that he became inspired with that enthusiastic
love of inner religious feeling which characterized his entire career.
The traces of Moravian piety are perceptible in all his writings. His
own words concerning his early training are very touching. "Piety," says
he, "was the maternal bosom, in the sacred shade of which my youth was
passed, and which prepared me for the yet unknown scenes of the world.
In piety my spirit breathed before I found my peculiar station in
science and the affairs of life; it aided me when I began to examine
into the faith of my fathers, and to purify my thoughts and feelings
from all alloy; it remained with me when the God and immortality of my
childhood disappeared from my doubting sight; it guided me in active
life; it enabled me to keep my character duly balanced between my faults
and virtues; through its means I have experienced friendship and love."

He became a student at Halle, and thence removed to Berlin, where he was
appointed chaplain to the _House of