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Life of Pastor Fliedner, Tr. by C. Winkworth
Life of Pastor Fliedner Tr by C Winkworth Author:Theodor Fliedner General Books publication date: 2009 Original publication date: 1867 Notes: This is a black and white OCR reprint of the original. It has no illustrations and there may be typos or missing text. When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million book... more »s for free. Excerpt: CHAPTER III. FLIEDNER IN THE SCHOOL OF LIFE AND SUFFERING. The time had now come when our Fliedner was summoned to bid adieu to his native Nassau, and to become a Prussian subject. Why he should have been called thither is easily understood by all good Prussians who love their church ; but at first Fliedner had no liking for his new post. Two appointments were offered him, one in Augsburg, the other in Cologne, and his own wishes inclined strongly to Bavaria, partly from its nearness to Switzerland, which he had a great longing to visit . He himself said afterwards that he scarcely knew why after all the choice had fallen on Cologne, ' it was the guiding hand of my faithful Saviour who here once more chose the right path for me.' In September, 1S20, accordingly, he entered a wealthy merchant's family in Cologne, as private tutor. Here he was transplanted into quite a new sphere of life, for the luxury and refinement of manners which prevailed in these circles had been unknown in the simple country parsonage, and Fliedner naturally found himself sometimes at a lossamid these novel circumstances. He used to tell afterwards, with a smile, how he began by seating himself close beside the lady of the house on her sofa, instead of taking a chair at a convenient distance; but he had too much good sense to take it amiss when she kindly and gently made him aware of this and other similar mistakes. Many years later he writes with reference to this time: ' It is a great hindrance to a man, even to his progress in the kingdom of God, not to have been brought up in gentle and refined manners from his childhood.'...« less