German composition

Section 141 Hero Worship. — II

Blessed⁠1 and ennobling is the feeling which gathers round a wise teacher or⁠2 a great statesman all the more earnest, high-minded, pious youths of his generation⁠3; the⁠4 feeling which makes⁠5 soldiers follow the general whom they trust, they know not why or whither, through danger⁠6, hunger, fatigue, and⁠7 death itself; the⁠4 feeling which, in its highest perfection, made⁠8 the Apostles forsake all and follow Christ⁠9, saying (S. 111, N. 6): “Lord, to⁠10 whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life,” and which made them⁠11 ready to work⁠12 and to die for Him whom the world called the Son of the carpenter, but whom they, through⁠13 the Spirit of God bearing witness with their own pure and noble spirits, knew⁠14 to be the Son of the Living God.—Charles Kingsley, “The Water of Life.”

Notes

1 Beglückend.

2 Repeat here the prep. ‘round’, um.

3 generation = time.

4 jenes.

5 to make follow, folgen heißen, which verbs must be placed after the rel. clause; folgen requires the dat.; to trust a person, einem vertrauen.

6 Use the pl. with this noun.

7 yea, even unto death.

8 ‘to make’, here again heißen (to bid), str. v. tr.; which place after ‘follow’ according to App. § 19.

9 Jesus Christ has retained its Latin declension, thus: N. Jesus Christus; G. Jesu Christi; D. Jesu Christo; Acc. Jesum Christum. Use the dat. Christo, since folgen governs the dat.

10 ‘to whom’, here wohin (whither), which appears in the German text of the Bible.

11 ‘to make ready’, here = to enable, befähigen.

12 wirken is more appropriate here than arbeiten, considering the elevated style of the whole speech.

13 through — spirits, kraft des göttlichen Geistes, der in ihren reinen, edlen Herzen Zeugnis ablegte.

14 knew to be, als (followed by the Acc.)... erkannten.