He was extremely industrious, and never wasted even a minute; knew
admirably how to use every spare moment. He was cheerful, kindly,
talkative; plain-spoken when he had to find fault; not very
enthusiastic, but somewhat dry and very practical. In his earlier years,
in Germany, he was witty; and to the last he was ready and apt in
speech. His conversation centered always upon religion and the conduct
of life; and no matter with whom he was speaking, or what was the
character of the person, Rapp knew very well how to lead the talk to
these topics.
The young people were very fond of him. "He was a man before whom no
evil could stand." "When I met him in the street, if I had a bad thought
in my head, it flew away." He was constantly in the fields or in the
factories, cheering, encouraging, or advising the people. "He knew every
thing--how to do it, what was the best way." "Ah, he was a _man_; he
told us what to do, and how to be good." In his spare moments he studied
botany, geology, astronomy, mechanics. "He was never idle, not even a
quarter of an hour." He believed much in work; thought hard field-work a
good cure for spiritual as well as bodily diseases. He was an
"extraordinarily eloquent preacher;" and it is a singular fact that,
dying at the great age of ninety, he preached in the church twice but
two Sundays before his death; and on the Sunday before he died addressed
his people from the window of his sick-room.
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