HESS: The name of several ministers and theologians of Zurich, of whom the more noteworthy axe the following:

1. Johann Jakob Hess: B. at Zurich Oct. 21,1741; d. there May 29, 1828. He was the son of a watchmaker, and from 1748 was brought up by his maternal uncle, Heinrich Gossweiler, pastor at Affoltern, near Zurich, a man of great piety and wide culture. From 1755 to 1760 he studied in Zurich. As a youth he showed considerable poetical talent; and, encouraged by Mopstock and Wieland, both of whom he had met in Zurich, he thought seriously of abandoning theology for poetry, but in 1760 he became assistant to his paternal uncle Kaspar Hess, pastor at Neftenbach. In 1767, having inherited considerable property from his father, he was able to retire to private life and devote himself entirely to study. For several years he worked upon his life of Christ. In 1777 he was called to the Liebfrauenkirche, Zurich. Despite the fact that Zurich had at that time several famous preachers, Hess attracted crowded congregations. His sermons, which he soon began to publish, were transcribed and circulated widely

in manuscript, and thus his influence extended beyond his congregation, and his sermons came to serve as models for hundreds of ministers in Switzerland and even in other countries.

In 1795, quite unexpectedly and against his will, Hess was elected superintendent (antistes) of the churches of the Canton of Zurich. It was with a heavy heart that he entered upon the duties of this responsible office, now made doubly difficult by the political conditions of the time. However, Hess proved the right man, and his wisdom and strength of character safely piloted the Church through the tempestuous weather of the succeeding years. His leadership in the conflict with the enemies of the Church was recognized in other cantons, and his methods were adopted there. A thorn in the eye of the civil authorities, he was even threatened with deposition and deportation. In 1815 he wished to retire to private life, but the ministerium declined to consider his resignation. The Reformation-Jubilee in 1817 brought him honorary doctorates from Tübingen, Jena, and Copenhagen. He was a prominent figure at the secular celebration of the Reformation held in Zurich in Jan., 1819, when he received a large gold Zwingli-medal from the government, and another large gold medal from the king of Prussia. Shortly after the celebration he was taken ill, and henceforth had to entrust the duties of his office to his official representatives. He made his last public appearance in 1820, at a meeting of the Zurich Bible Society, of which he was the founder and president.

In the history of Protestantism in Zurich Hess occupies a very important position. He avoided fruitless speculation, and made himself the champion of historical and Scriptural Christianity. His favorite idea was that of the" inner union,"or"the inner community of Christ," which with him represented not merely an ideal, but an actuality. All followers of Christ, he held, are year by year being gradually united in spirit into a single great brotherhood. He himself did much toward the realization of such a brotherhood. He was held in universal reverence; and it was largely because of this fact that he was able to make his influence so potent. In the world of theological scholarship Hess has exerted his greatest influence by his studies in the life of Christ. In this field he was a pioneer. His principal works are Geschichte der drei letzten Lebensjahre Jesu (6 vols., Zurich, 1768-73; 8th ed., 3 vols., 1822-23), which was translated into Dutch and Danish, and also adapted to the use of Roman Catho lies; Jugendgeschichte Jesu (Zurich, 1773); Von dem Reich Gottes(2 vols., 1774); GeschichteundSchriften der Apostel Jesu (2 vols., 1775); Geschichte der Israeliten vor den Zeiten Jesu (12 vols., Zurich, 1776-91); Ueber die Lehren, Thaten and Schicksale unseres Hewn (2 vols.,1782; 3d ed., enlarged, 1817); Bibliothek der heiligen Geschichte (2 vols., 1791-92); Der Christ bei Ge/ahren des Vaterlandes (3 vols., 1799-1800), a collection of sermons; and Kern der Lehre vom Reich Gottes (1819). Before kis death Hess published a collected edition of his works under the title, Biblische Geschichte (23 vols., 1826).

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2. Felix Hess: B. in Zurich 1742; d. there 1768. He studied in Zurich and entered the Protestant ministry, was an intimate friend of J. K. Lavater and J. J. Hess, and a theologian of great promise. His early death was generally deplored. He wrote Priifung der philosophischen and moralischen Predigten (Berlin, 1767), and made a translation of John Taylor's Scheme of Scripture-Divinity, which was edited by J. J. Hess, J. Taylor's Entwurf der Schrifttheologie (Zurich, 1777).

3. Salomo Hess: B. in Zurich 1763; d. there 1837. He was a nephew of Johann Jakob Hess. He became a deacon at St. Peter's in 1792, where J. K. Lavater was pastor, and succeeded Lavater in 1801. His historical works are lacking in exactness, and should be used with caution. The more important are Erasmus von Rotterdam (2 parts, Zurich, 1790); Lebensgeschichte Dr. J. (Ekolampads (1791); Geschichte der Pfarrkirche St. Peter (1793); Geschichte des Zürcher-Katechismus (1811); Das Reformations/est (1819); Anna Reinhart, Gattin and Wittwe von Ulrich Zwingli (1819); and Lebensgeschichte M. H. Bullingers (2 vols., 1828-29).

4. Hans Caspar Hess: B. 1772; d. 1847. He received his theological training in Zurich and entered the Protestant ministry there. As in f orma tor in Geneva he wrote La Vie d'Ulrich Zwingli (Paris and Geneva, 1810; Germ. transl., Zurich, 1811; Eng. transl., London, 1813).

(P. D. Hess.)

Bibliography: 1. L. Meister, Berfihmte Ztlrcher, ii.146-147,

Basel, 1782; G. Gessner, Blicke auf das Leben and Wesen des . . . J. J. Hess, Zurich, 1829; H. Fechet, Johann Jacob Hess . . Skizze seines Lebens, ib. 1837 (reliable); Am dem Briefwechael zwischen Antiatee Hess and Kaplan Franz Romer (of Pennsylvania), in TheologiSchs Zeitschrift der Schweiz, 1899; P. D. Hess, Der Zurcher Vernunftprediper Kaspar David Hardmeyer,177.f!183,2, in Zureher Taschenbuch, 1905. Consult further: Ziardaer Taschenbuch, 1850, 1895, 1901, 1907.