after the middle of the seventeenth century the theology of Hesse-Kassel (or Hesse-Cassel) had adopted the strict predestination of the Reformed. In Die Gegenwart und die Zukunft der niederhessischen Kirche (1867), he urged that the struggle against impending union be begun with the strongest emphasis on Lutheranism; and the failure to follow this counsel of Vilmar proved a fatal error in the conflict between the Hessian churches. In 1848-50 Vilmar exercised a profound influence on political affairs. Essentially a conservative and devoted to his sovereign, he not only supported his elector manfully, but also made the Hessischer Volksfreund, which he founded in 1848 and edited alone until the middle of 1851, a center for all the loyalists of the land. A number of his contributions to this periodical were reprinted by Vilmar himself under the title Zur neuesten Kulturgeschichte Deutschlands (3 parts, Frankfort, 1858-6?). Vilmar has rightly been characterized as preeminently acquainted with his native land and as a fervent admirer and protector of the relics of her past. His researches into Hessian history are embodied in his Hessisches Historienbüchlein (1842) and Hessische Chronik (1855), and he was also the author of the admirable Idiotikon von Kurhessen (1868). But dearer to him than all else was his church, of which he was acting superintendent, as already noted, from 1851 to 1855. His power as a preacher may still be seen in his Predigten and geistliche Reden (1876), while his visitation of churches in the discharge of his duties gave rise to many official communications of importance. Professor of theology at Marburg On the death of Superintendent Ernst, Vilmar was elected his successor. The election was subject, however, to the approval of the sovereign, and this the last prince-elector of Hesse refused. Vilmar, though elected superintendent, was now appointed professor of theology at Marburg (Oct. 27, 1855). Unwillingly he entered upon an office which he would have welcomed a quarter of a century before. Yet he became the most influential professor in the university. His program was set forth in Die Theologie der Thatsachen wider die Theologie der Rhetorik (1856), and four times, in the spirit of practical religion there propounded, he conducted his theological pupils through a three-years´ course which covered the entire Bible. This course of lectures was edited by his pupil C. Müller under the title Collegium Biblicum (6 vols., Gütersloh, 1879–83); and most of his other lectures