Fichte died in 1814; but it was at a time when, Simeon-like, he
could 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.
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