# Der Lutheraner_St. Louis Missouri_1851 10 28_S38
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

38

M. Johann Matthesi Öikonomia oder Bericht vom christlichen Hauswesen.
(found in the appendix to his Catechismus-Predigten.)

Conclusion.

Yet thou, Christian husband, look,
Live godly with thy wife,
Who is entrusted to thee in honor,
And whom God Himself hath built for thee.
Although thy wife was at the first
Miserably seduced by the serpent,
And is a weaker (as Peter saith)
Vessel, yet despise her not;
For God will make her with thee together
An heir in His kingdom.
If she be weak and frail,
Bear with her, think that thou art
Her bedfellow, hast also much guilt,
So she can also have patience with thee.
Therefore love thy Dorothea,
As Jacob his bleary-eyed (weak-sighted) Leah;
Bear thyself kindly toward her always,
Be no cuckoo, woodpecker or raven.
In thy office be earnest and diligent,
Yet in the house friendly withal.
Thou must not turn everything to bolts,
Sometimes also look through thy fingers.
What thou canst not remedy in the house,
See that thou bear such patiently.
So did Joseph and Socrates
And the meek Moses.
For he is not fit at all to rule,
Who at times doth not shut one eye.
Yet let thyself be made no Mister-She,
After His image God hath created thee,
And willeth that thou shouldst be a man,
Thy wife shall be subject unto thee.
Though she be thy crown and ornament,
Yet shall she obey thee.
But thou shalt be kind to her,
Vinegar dispelleth a fine pearl.
Thus love also often is extinguished,
Where one doth not kindly refresh it.
In bed there shall be no quarreling at all,
Peacefully shall one fall asleep there.
When one sharpeneth the law too much,
Violence is often done to many a poor servant.
Children, they are a gift of God,
Therefore take good heed of them,
And bring them up in the fear of God;
A pious child obeyeth the sooner,
When thy house is like a temple,
Adorned with a good example.
As soon as parents are godly,
They bring up also pious little children.
They say, as the old ones sang,
So afterward the young ones twitter.
If thy son hath misdone (offended) in something,
Then punish him with reason and measure;
For a father's wrath should be gracious,
The child perceiveth that he meaneth it faithfully,
And can afterward trust the father,
When he hath brewed (suspected?) something evil.
Thus one can often with timely counsel
Forestall many a disgrace and harm.
Therefore be not too hasty
And tyrannical toward thy child.
Keep thy daughter at home in the house,
Let her not walk about much abroad;
Accustom her to work and to the distaff,
That she play not always with the doll.
Idleness seduceth many,
So that she doeth what becometh her not.
In due time give her a husband;
But that she may keep house first.
Deal with her in the kindliest manner,
That she may obey thee without constraint.
Also measure in all things is good,
Happy the father who doth hit it.
Care for the house is a heavy burden,
Yet God hath laid it upon thee.
So direct thy servants to work,
On thy life let none of them go idle.
Look to what is thine and keep it together;
For he who holdeth fast, he hath.
The penny that one often saveth,
Profiteth more than that which was earned.
Spend not more than thou earnest,
Else thou wilt soon be ruined to the ground.
Take heed how large thy coverlet is,
According to it turn, lie, wend and stretch.
He who often keepeth St. Martin's Day,
Can raise neither goose nor hen.
In the end house, farm, field and meadow
Must go into the bird and upon the roasting-spit.
Not too hard thy menservants
Hold, think that they also are Christians,
And have yet a Lord in heaven,
Who seeth it and taketh their part.
There shall be neither lord nor servant,
He who here trusteth in Christ is righteous,
And shall see God in His kingdom;
Servant or lord is all one to Him.
Therefore be friendly, gentle, mild, kind,
Violent wrath maketh men furious.
With neighbors be of good concord,
In need and poverty stand by them.
And shouldst spare nothing for honor,
It would else go to the devil.
What one in need for honor's sake
Scrimpeth, cometh to shame and scorn.
Thy authorities hold always in honor,
Also the churches and schools,
As the pious centurion (captain) did,
As it standeth in the Gospel.
When God taketh thy dear wife,
Thou art yet young, strong, sound of body,
Follow the patriarch Abraham,
Who himself took another wife.
For Paul saith that it is better
To marry than to burn, therefore marry.
Although in former times at Locris
One did not suffer a second wife to be taken;
They would not allow it for the children's sake,
For stepmothers seldom prosper,
And stepchildren mean it with faithfulness;
Also many a father repenteth it
When he must see with vexation,
That one doeth evil to his children,
And he findeth no mother's heart at all,
That maketh bad blood and great grief,
And doth a father cruel hurt;
In the end there cometh of it an evil marriage.
Therefore I for my own person also advised,
Who hath children, let him not marry;
But if it can by no means be otherwise,
Then take of thine own sort a maiden.
A hard nut, a blunt tooth,
A young wife, an old man,
Do not rhyme well together,
Each should take his like.
Of an old wooer everyone
Maketh sport, would have a fool of him.
Yet to be wretched and a widower
Hath also its cross, anguish, need and pain.
Therefore let every man examine himself,
That he may take it in hand best.
Nothing better can befall thy children,
Than that thou leave them a good name.
With a pure heart serve God,
And have His commandment before thine eyes.
With strong faith build upon Him,
With a good conscience trust in Him.
When now thy time is at hand,
That thou shalt into the true fatherland
Depart hence out of this life,
Thou shouldst give God something of thy goods,
For the furtherance of God's praise and honor,
And for the maintenance of pure doctrine.
Or provide it by a testament,
Before other hands seize it.
Else it cometh into the clutches,
Where Christ must go quite hungry as to his share.
Live as though thou shouldst die tomorrow,
On the other hand thou shouldst teach and strive,
As if thou wouldst live eternally.
Let thyself be found in God's Word;
For without His gracious help and favor
Our doing is all in vain.
Our flesh accomplisheth very little,
Where God Himself doth not keep the house.
Through Him all harm is warded off,
All that we have, He giveth of grace.
Field, house, farm, goods, money, wife, child,
All are His gracious gifts.
His goodness alone can make rich,
Those who trust Him and to whom He giveth it.
Afterward do like Simeon,
Who departed in peace and joy,
In strong faith he laid hold on Christ,
Wherefore he fell softly asleep in the Lord.
Happy he who also thus falleth asleep,
Saith: O Lord Christ, have mercy on me,
Let me have my rest in Thee,
When now mine eyes close;
So comfort me in my last end,
And take my soul into Thy hands.
For Thy blood hath washed me
From all sin and misdeed.
When I to my fathers
Am gathered and buried in the earth,
Graciously forgive me all my sin
And grant a joyful Urstend (resurrection).
This is the true art of dying,
Which grant us, Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Church News.

Declaration.

The undersigned, who until now stood in connection with the Evang. Luth. Synod of Indianapolis, withdrew from its connection at its sixth session, held on the 5th of September of this year near Manchester, Ripley Co., Ind., and feel constrained to announce this their withdrawal hereby publicly, and also to give the grounds for it.

The Rev. Synod of Missouri appointed at its last session in Milwaukie a delega-