From Ezra Keller's diary entry for December 29, 1844:
"[W]hen I think of the importance of the work, the promise of God’s aid, and the success which has crowned similar efforts elsewhere, I take courage. Last night, after dark, I returned from a visit to the country. It was a beautiful starlight night. All was calm, and no sound was heard, save the low rippling murmurs of a stream, which seemed to be the last note of nature’s evening hymn. The sky was crowded with pure twinkling luminaries. They all smiled in their ethereal residence, their unearthly brilliancy. As I thought of their number, their magnitude, their velocity, their undeviating obedience to their Creator, and perhaps their myriads of unfallen and perchance justified spirits, I was overwhelmed with a sense of my utter insignificance. I exclaimed aloud, in the language of the Psalmist,
“O Lord how manifold are thy works! In wisdom thou hast made them all. When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars which thou hast ordained, what is man that thou art mindful of him and the son of man that thou visitest him?’
"May I move in the course assigned to me as steadily and exactly as they; and at last shine with the brightness of the firmament and as the stars forever more, in the kingdom of glory."
Source: Michael G. Diehl, "December 29, 1844", The Biography of Ezra Keller, 1859
About The Project
With Wittenberg now celebrating its 175th year, and the University unable to hold regular in-person classes as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, Professor of History Thomas T. Taylor has started circulating several pieces on Wittenberg's history. Some originated in earlier series, either This Month in Wittenberg History or Happy Birthday Wittenberg. Others have their origin in the Wittenberg History Project or in some other, miscellaneous project. Sincerest thanks to Professor Taylor for connecting alumni, faculty, staff, and students through a historic lens.