Gerhard, Paul--1606-1676--native of Gräfenhaynichen, in the circle of

Haynichen, in Erzgebirge, and son of the minister of that place. He studied theology, in distressed circumstances, at Leipzig, but his bad health did not allow him to preach. He lived at Leipzig, and gave lectures (first as a master of arts and afterwards as extraordinary professor) on eloquence and moral philosophy, and gained as universally the reputation of an author and a pattern of pure taste, as he did love and esteem as a man and a Christian, by his integrity of conduct, and his unaffected piety and humility. Composing hymns was his favourite employment, in which, together with prayer, he spent the happiest hours of his life of suffering. All his hymns speak the simple Christian poet of the people, and many of them have lasting classic merit. His death, as was his life, was worthy of a Christian. When, in his last illness, his friends told him, in answer to his question, that the struggle between life and death might probably last an hour, he lifted up his hands with a cheerful countenance, exclaimed, "Now, God be praised, only an hour!" turned on his side, his eyes gleaming with joy, and gently breathed his last.

the Electorate; a zealous preacher of the gospel, and a devout Christian. That personality of expression which stamps his hymns, represents most completely the character of the German people; profound and cheerful, firm and full of repose; for which reason his hymns are the most popular. If the Church had to select only one psalmist, it must be Paul Gerhard, whose hymns are so numerous, that they would almost alone form a hymn-book.