Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1883-05-16
KRAUTH.
By G. E. M. in ChreStOmathean.


character, are too well known to nee(
repetition here. For all the manly an
noble qualities, it is true, Krauth wa!
widely known; but when the presen
generation shall have passed away ant
the wide circle of his admiring friend
is no more, when time (Which steal
our all away" shall have erased from
Christian minds the memory Of DIR
Krauth as man, his writings shall
still stand as living monument tt
brave the tide of times destructive
course.
Krauth does not belong thai
class of authors who labor for fame OF
wealth Nobler objects ever prompted
him to write. He saw the minds O
his fellow men laboring in the darl
| shadows OF doubt and uncertainty. He
saw the unwrought mines of theology,
and knew their worth to Christian
posterity. He weighed bis mind care
fully, then chose his life's vocation
He wrote, and the world justly placed
him at the bead Of all theological writers
of the nineteenth century. His writ
ings are not the careless work which
the necessity of the present moment
prompted. A wide research and an
extensive knowledge supplied material
for that powerful mind which evinces
itself in every line he wrote. His
memory was so we'll stored. that il
needed but a slight call of necessity
and all the faculties of his great mind
were in active motion.
When the Lutheran Church was
agitated by what is now known as
New Measures" DR.. Krauth was YET
a young man. He had just entered
his chosen profession. The bursting
clouds of dissension were dashing in
showers of strife and contention all
around him. What was to be done
He was necessitated in taking part in
the great dispute. He acted with de.
liberation and caution, and produced
for future generations his renowned
"History of the Conservative Refor-
mation"-a work which if not perfect
has never been proven faulty by its
enemies In it, Krauth gave COM
plete sketch of the great Reformation
as it centered in Luther and embodied
Lutheranism. 1t was a work that the
occasion demanded, and that the world
had long needed. Neither party spirit
nor distorted views of prejudice could
prevent its popularity. People read,
admired, and could not bet believe.
When the clouds of dispute and dissen-
tim had cleared away, it took its stand
on every book shelf, as model Of
truthfulness, and as an authentic stand
ard Of the Lutheran doctrine, written
and prepared for all classes.
In 1868, Dr. Krauth was appointed
Professor of Moral and Intellectual
Philosophy in the University of Penn
sylvana To prepare himself for this
work, he edited an edition Of "Berk-
ley's Principles of Knowledge" and
"Flemming's Vocabulary of Philoso-
phv," and also translated Ulrici's
"Strauss as Philosophical Thinker"
To each of these be added lengthy pre-
faces and many valuable notes The
elaborate prolegomena prefixed to
"Berkley's Principles of knowledge" :"
paves the way to that lofty ascent of
human reason. For over q century
and half the original work had been
neglected. 1t seemed too precipitous
an activity for the average student of
philosophy, But Krauth, turning the
philosophic telescope upon it, displayed
it's real beauty and grandeur. The
notes he placed along the way are
guide boards to direct the student up
that strange ascent of human thought
and reason.
Among DR.. Krauth's minor works
are number of essays, poems, "The
English Mass and the Romish Mass"
"The two Pageants on the Death of
Lincoln, "Sketch of the Thirty Years.
War, and several transalations from the
German. Although the time at which
they were written could hardly be
specified, yet they seem to be the pro-
duct of years of deep research and
careful study. Perhaps since the time
of Luther, no single individual has con-
tributed so much to the welfare of his
church, as did DR. Krauth. His writ
| ings are valued not only on account of
their deep theological researches, but
also for the amount of ecclesiastical
history which he has blended with
them.
The style of DR.. Krauth is plain and
simple, and his diction is pure. His
language is like a transparent sub
stance through which his ideas always
are seen in perfect reality. We may
be entertained and delighted for hours
by his beautiful imaginings, all uncon-
scious of the medium through which
they appear. In his sermons, he did
not lead US into a flower garden to
worship, where the thought has a tend
ency to cling to the beauties of earth,
rather than to "cleave the vault OF
of heaven" 1t was the weight and
beauty of his thought that attracted the
mind, and not the tinsel polish of his
words. 1t is this that makes such q
wide distinction between a natural and
a home made genius. 1t requires a
superior thinker to captivate the mind
by thought alone. Magniloquently
sounding and huge, bombastic senten-
ces may amuse the mind, but they can
never move the soul. Nature, may, in
some places, be beautified by art, but
it does not excite the same feelings Of
awe and reverence. 1t was Krauth's
idea that a sermon should be natural
and not artificial; that it should be the
result of diligent study, and not {
series of detached thoughts, polished
simply to dazzle the mind. And it i:
this, again, that forms such wide dis
tinction between him and his host o
imitators.
Ia Krauth's style of writing we fnd