also of the leaders of the General Synod. But, though fully aware of the
difficulties ahead, nothing was able to daunt the courage of the men of
the West, or shake their faith in the truth and final success of their
cause. And their faith did not fail them. Throughout the United States
and far beyond its bounds the fact of Missouri's powerful rise was felt
as an encouragement and incentive to true Lutheranism everywhere.
Indeed, the confessional influence of the West on the East was much
greater than is usually acknowledged. As early as 1846 Dr. Walther felt
justified in stating in the _Lutheraner_ (Sept. 5): "No doubt but God
has arisen in order to remove the rubbish under which our precious
Evangelical Lutheran Church was buried for a long time, also here in
America." (3, 1.) The _Observer_, reporting on the organization of the
Missouri Synod in 1847, ridiculed: "This new Synod is composed of
genuine Old Lutherans, the true, spotless orthodox ones, whose theology
is as strong and straight as the symbolical books can make it, and whose
religious usages are as stiff as such thoroughbred old-school men can
wish them." (_L._ 4, 30.) But while B. Kurtz and his compeers indulged
in mockery and ridicule, the men of Missouri were clear-sighted,
serious, and determined. The consequence was that a decade later the
hearts of the General Synod's anti-confessionalists were filled with
fear and consternation. Schmucker's chief object in writing the Definite
Platform, as appears from this document itself, was to stem the tide of
the confessional wave coming from the West, and to make the General
Synod immune against Misouri. [tr. note: sic!]

89. Cloud, like the Hand of a Man, in the West.--Admitting the
tremendous influence of the Lutherans in the West, the _Observer_,
February 19, 1864, wrote, in his usual subjective fashion: "There was a
time when our Church had peace. From 1830 to 1840 she enjoyed a
universal peace and flourished greatly. This flourishing condition
extended far into the following decade. In these days, and already
somewhat earlier, the transition from the German into English caused
some friction. Nevertheless, it was a time of revivals and of great
bloom. The number of our churches increased. Our seminary at Gettysburg
was filled with students.... Between 1845 and 1850 a change took place
with a part of our Church. A little cloud, like the hand of a man,
appeared in the West. The Germans came in ever greater mult