ment a wide
circulation. The collection, nevertheless, failed to satisfy the need of
the church. Dissatisfaction with it was so general that the pastors'
conference of Copenhagen appointed a committee consisting of Grundtvig,
Prof. Martensen, Mynster's own son-in-law, Rev. Pauli, his successor as
Provost of the Church of Our Lady, and two other pastors to prepare and
present a proposal for a new hymnal. It was an able committee from which
a meritorious work might reasonably be expected.

Grundtvig was assigned to the important work of selecting and revising
the old hymns to be included in the collection. He was an inspiring but
at times difficult co-worker. Martensen recalls how Grundtvig at times
aroused the committee to enthusiasm by an impromptu talk on hymnody or a
recitation of one of the old hymns, which he loved so well. But he also
recalls how he sometimes flared up and stormed out of the committee room
in anger over some proposed change or correction of his work. When his
anger subsided, however, he always conscientiously attempted to effect
whatever changes the committee agreed on proposing. Yet excellent as much
of his own work was, he possessed no particular gift for mending the work
of others, and his corrections of one defect often resulted in another.

The committee submitted its work to the judgment of the conference in
January 1845. The proposal included 109 hymns of which nineteen were by
Kingo, seven by Brorson, ten by Ingemann, twenty-five by Grundtvig and
the remainder by various other writers, old and new. It appeared to be a
well balanced collection, giving due recognition to such newer writers as
Boye, Ingemann, Grundtvig and others. But the conference voted to reject
it. Admitting its poetical excellence and its sound Evangelical tenor,
some of the pastors complained that it contained too many new and too few
old hymns; others held that it bore too clearly the imprint of one man, a
complaint which no doubt expressed the sentiment of Mynster and his
friends. A petition to allow such churches as should by a majority vote
indicate their wish to use the collection was likewise rejected by the
Bishop.

Grundtvig was naturally disappointed by the rejection of a work upon
which he had spent so much time and energy. The rejection furthermore
showed him that he still could expect no consideration from the
authorities with Mynster in control. He was soon able, however, to
comfort himself with the fact t