one else had composed hymns for
the occasion, Grundtvig could not doubt that this new ruling was aimed
solely at him, and this new evidence at the length to which his enemies
would go for the sake of humiliating him appeared to him like the last
straw. He had long suffered under the difficulty of serving a church
which honored the law-breaker and persecuted the law-abiding and thought
of resigning. But he had a family to support. And while he himself would
gladly bear the poverty his resignation would inevitably bring him, he
doubted his right to impose such a burden upon his family. The difficulty
was finally solved for him by his wife, who one day came into his study
and said: "Father, I know what is troubling you. You wish to resign and
hesitate to do so for our sake. But I want you to do whatever you think
is right. The Lord will provide for us."

And so it was settled. His resignation was handed to the authorities a
few days before the festival, and it was accepted so quickly that he was
released from office before the following Sunday. When the festive Sunday
came which he had looked forward to with so much pleasure, he sat idly in
his study across from the church and watched people come for the service,
but another pastor preached the sermon, he had earnestly wished to
deliver, and other hymns than his own beloved songs served as vehicles
for the people's praise.

Public sentiment regarding Grundtvig's resignation varied. His friends
deplored the action, holding that he should have remained in his
pastorate both for the sake of his congregation and the cause which he
had so ably championed. But his opponents rejoiced, seeing in his
resignation just another proof of an erratic mentality. For who had ever
heard of a normal person withdrawing from a secure and respectable
position without even asking for the pension to which he was entitled?

The six years during which Grundtvig remained without a pulpit were among
the busiest and most fruitful of his life. He published his
_Sunday-Book_, a collection of sermons which many still rate among the
finest devotional books in Danish; made extended visits to England in
1829-1831, for the purpose of studying the old Anglo Saxon manuscripts
kept there, an undertaking that awakened the interest of the English
themselves in these great treasures; wrote his splendid _Northern
Mythology or Picture Language_, and _The World's History after the Best
Sources_, works in which he