But these points were of minor importance. All that is cardinal
was precious to him. With peculiar fidelity did he cling to the Head,
which is Christ, and was full of that faith which conquers the world and
saves the soul.
His last days, as described by his friends and pupils, were in marked
keeping with his whole career. On Monday, the 8th of July, at 11 o'clock,
he lectured at the University. But he had been for some time back much
feebler than usual, the weather was sultry and debilitating, and his
system was out of tune. His voice failed him two or three times in the
course of the lecture, and it was only by a desperate struggle that he got
to the end; his strength barely sufficing to bring him home. The
impression upon his class was such, that one of the students, turning to
his neighbor, said: "This is the last lecture of our Neander." Immediately
after dinner, which he scarcely tasted, his reader came. He dictated on
his Church History three hours in succession, repressing by force of will
the rising groans, his debility all the while increasing. At 5 o'clock the
symptoms of a dangerous illness appeared; but he would not abandon his
work.
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