Adelaide L. Fries

“ Even the most aristocratic voyager was forced to be content with accommodations and fare little better than that supplied to a modern steerage passenger, and those who could afford it took with them a private stock of provisions to supplement the ship’s table.
And yet the spell of adventure or philanthropy, gain or religion, was strong upon the souls of men, and thousands sought the New World, where their imagination saw the realization of all their dreams. ”

“ Had the Trustees exemplified their much-vaunted religious toleration by respecting the conscientious scruples of the Moravians, there were enough members of the Savannah Congregation who wanted to stay in Georgia to form the nucleus of the larger colony which would surely have followed them, for while they were willing to give up everything except religious liberty, they were human enough to regret having to abandon the improvements which they had made at the cost of so much labor and self-denial. ”

“ That they, who had gained their name from their advocacy of the need for personal piety, should have been foremost in opposing a man whose piety was his strongest characteristic, and a people who for three hundred years, in prosperity and adversity, in danger, torture and exile, had held “Christ and Him Crucified” as their Confession of Faith, and pure and simple living for His sake as their object in life, is one of the ironies of history. ”

“ The Lutheran Church was in no way endangered by the preaching of the missionaries, for their instructions were explicit: “If you have an opportunity to preach the Gospel to German or English residents use it gladly, but receive none into your congregation, for you are sent expressly to the negroes.” “You will probably find some of the so-called Salzburgers there, with their ministers. With them you will in all fairness do only that to which you are invited by their pastor. You will do nothing in their congregation that you would not like to have another do in yours.” ”

“ Love Divine, may Thy sweet power Lead us all for Thee to live, And with willing hearts to give Thee What to Thee a man can give; For from heaven Thou dost give us Peace and blessing, full and free, And our miseries dost bury In the vast, unfathomed sea. ”

“ But the men who emigrated to Georgia had undertaken to support themselves and carry on a mission work, and Spangenberg, with his keen insight, grasped the idea that a common purpose warranted a community of service, the labor of all for the benefit of all, with every duty, no matter how menial, done as unto the Lord, whom they all, in varying degrees, acknowledged as their Master. ”

“ Oglethorpe, it is stated that “nothing is lacking for their conversion to the Christian faith except a knowledge of their language, for they already have an admirable conception of ‘morals’, and their conduct agrees perfectly therewith. They have a horror of adultery, and disapprove of polygamy. Thieving is unknown to them. Murder is considered an abominable crime, and no one may be killed except an enemy, when they esteem it a virtue.” ”

“ On the following day two more Indians visited the Moravians. Their faces were adorned with streaks of red paint, and they seemed very friendly, rejoiced over the gift of two pewter mugs, and on leaving made signs that some one should go with them, an invitation that could not then be accepted.
The 10th of April, the first Sunday in America, Spangenberg attended service in the English Church, and heard a sermon on the text, “Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good,” well fitted to be the watchword of the Moravian settlers in the trials that were before them. ”

“ The Moravians chose their places in the center of the ship, on either side of the main mast, where the ventilation was best, and there would be most fresh air when they reached warmer latitudes. “The number of people on the ship is rather large, for we are altogether one hundred and fifty who are going to Georgia, but besides ourselves they are all Englishmen.” “Many of them are like wild animals, but we have resolved in all things to act as the children of God, giving offence to no one, that our purpose be not misconstrued.” ”

“ Zinzendorf wrote a letter from Herrnhut to Tomochichi, commending his interest in their message, and urging its full acceptance upon him; the Indians gave some five acres of land for a garden, which Rose cleared and planted, and everything looked promising, until the influence of the Spanish war rumor was felt. True to their nature, the fighting spirit of the Indians rose within them, and they took the war-path against the Spanish, for the sake of their English allies, and perhaps more for the pure love of strife. ”

“ A more poetic expression of the same thought is given by Spangenberg in a poem written during the voyage, and sent home to David Nitschmann to be set to the music of some “Danish Melody” known to them both. There is a beauty of rhythm in the original which the English cannot reproduce, as though the writer had caught the cadence of the waves, on some bright day when the ship “went softly” after a season of heavy storm.
“Gute Liebe, deine Triebe Zuenden unsre Triebe an, Dir zu leben, dir zu geben, Was ein Mensch dir geben kann; Denn dein Leben, ist, zu geben Fried’ und Segen aus der Hoeh. ”

“ As the alarm concerning an immediate invasion by the Spanish had died away, the inhabitants of Savannah had regained their composure, and the wild outcry against the Moravians gradually ceased. The wagon and oxen which had been taken for work on the fort had been returned to their owners, after seven or eight weeks of hard usage, and the hope that starvation would shake the resolution of the non-combatants had signally failed of fulfillment. The ship which was to bring the town supplies had been twelve weeks late in coming, and the stock in the store-house was almost exhausted. ”

“ Still the Moravians stood firm in their position, indeed they could do nothing else without stultifying themselves. The instructions from Zinzendorf and the leaders of the Church at Herrnhut, with the approval of the lot, were definite,—they should take no part in military affairs, but might pay any fines incurred by refusal. To Oglethorpe and to the Trustees they had explained their scruples, making freedom of conscience an essential consideration of their settling in Georgia, and from them they had received assurances that only freeholders were liable to military duty. ”

“ The Church at large shared this feeling, and for many years watched and waited for an opportunity to re-open the work in Savannah, but without result. If the Trustees had even permitted the Moravians to stay as missionaries it might have saved the settlement to Georgia, for within a decade the English Parliament passed an Act granting the Moravians the very exemption for which they now asked in vain, and had there been a promising work begun among the Indians during the intervening years it would inevitably have drawn more laborers, as it did in Pennsylvania. ”

“ Although Spangenberg had hoped it would not be necessary for the Moravians to leave Georgia, he had sent the Trustees their request for permission to go, adding, “Nor indeed is there any reason why they should be detained, since it is their full intention and design to pay every farthing of their debt before they stir a foot; and they have never yet sold their liberty to any man, neither are they bound to any man by any writing or agreement whatsoever. ”

“ Scarcely had they lifted anchor when the Moravians began to arrange their days, that they might not be idly wasted. In Herrnhut it was customary to divide the twenty-four hours among several members of the Church, so that night and day a continuous stream of prayer and praise arose to the throne of God, and the same plan was now adopted, with the understanding that when sea-sickness overtook the company, and they were weak and ill, no time limit should be fixed for the devotions of any, but one man should pass the duty to another as circumstances required! ”

“ On the 19th of June, the Moravians held a meeting to determine whether the time had come for them to take up the Indian work in earnest. The “lot” was appealed to, and the answer being that the language should be learned, Seifert, George Neisser and John Boehner were appointed to make diligent use of Ingham’s instructions. The frequent visits of Tomochichi and his people to Savannah gave them an opportunity to practice speaking, for the Moravian house was always open to the red men, and food and drink were theirs at any time of day, a fact of which the visitors were not slow to take advantage. ”

“ Benjamin Ingham was born in Yorkshire, and met the Wesleys at Oxford, where he joined their Methodist society. He, too, had been ordained in the English Church, and now, at the age of twenty-three, had yielded to John Wesley’s persuasions, and agreed to go with him “to the Indians”. Charles Delamotte, the son of a London merchant, met the Wesleys at the home of James Hutton, shortly before they sailed for Georgia, and was so much impressed by them, and by their object in seeking the New World, that he decided “to leave the world, and give himself up entirely to God,” and go with them. ”

“ In Savannah their views were well known, and to yield to orders from a Magistrate, who openly declared that promises made by the Trustees, who had put him in office, were not worth regarding, and who threatened them with mob violence, would have been to brand themselves as cowards, unworthy members of a Church which had outlived such dire persecution as that which overthrew the ancient Unitas Fratrum, and recreant to their own early faith, which had led them to abandon homes and kindred in Moravia, and seek liberty of conscience in another kingdom. ”

“ Two days were spent with Oglethorpe, who promised to give them ground containing a good bed of clay, where they could make brick, which should be sold to the Trustees’ agent at 15 shillings per 1,000, two-thirds of the price to be applied on their debt, and one-third to be paid them in cash. Moreover several English boys should be apprenticed to them to learn the trade. Hemp and flax seed should also be given them, and he urged them to weave the linen, for they had men who understood the art, and cloth was scarce and dear in Georgia. ”

“ During the service the ship was covered with a great wave, which poured in upon us, and on the deck there was a great cry that the wind had split the one sail which was spread. There was great fright among the people who have no God; the English clergyman was much aroused, ran to them, and preached repentance, saying among other things that they could now see the difference. ”

“ When we in Herrnhut heard of Georgia, of which much was being published in the newspapers, and when we realized the opportunity it would give to carry the Truth to the heathen, several Brethren, who had the Lord’s honor much at heart, were led, doubtless by His hand, to think that it would be a good plan to send some Brethren thither, if it might please the Lord to bless our work among the heathen, and so to bring those poor souls, now far from Christ, nigh unto Him. ”

“ All the conditions in Georgia were so different from what they were accustomed to in Germany that it took them some time to adapt themselves, and longer to become really acclimated, and they noticed that the same was true of all new-comers. All of the Moravians were sick in turn, many suffering from frosted feet, probably injured on the voyage over, but Spangenberg, Toeltschig, Haberecht and Demuth were dangerously ill. ”

“ Toeltschig. “That may happen, but we can not help it, it is against our conscience to fight.”
Causton. “If you do not mean to fight you had better go and hide in the woods, out of sight of the people, or it will be the worse for you; and you had better go before the enemy comes, for then it will be too late to escape, the townspeople will certainly kill you.”
Toeltschig. “You forget that Gen. Oglethorpe promised us exemption from military service, and we claim the liberty he pledged.” ”

“ Of the Indians the Moravians had seen a good deal, but no start had been made toward teaching them, except that some of their words had been learned. Spangenberg decided that the only way to master their language would be to go and live among them, and this Rose professed himself willing to do as soon as he could be spared. With Tomochichi they were much pleased. “He is a grave, wise man, resembling one of the old Philosophers, though with him it is natural, not acquired. ”

“ On April 22nd, Ingham sent an invitation to Toeltschig to visit him, and this was the beginning of a close personal friendship which lasted for the rest of their lives, and of such a constant intercourse between Ingham and the Moravian Church, that he is often supposed to have become a member of it, though he really never severed his connection with the Church of England. Toeltschig speaks of him as “a very young man, about 24 or 25 years of age, who has many good impulses in his soul, and is much awakened.” ”

“ At this time there was no thought of separating from the State Church and establishing a distinct denomination, and Zinzendorf believed that the Unitas Fratrum could exist as a ‘society’ working in, and in harmony with, the State Church of whatever nation it might enter. This idea, borrowed probably from Spener’s “ecclesiolae in ecclesia”, clung to him, even after circumstances had forced the Unity to declare its independence and the validity of the ordination of its ministry, and many otherwise inexplicable things in the later policy of the Church may be traced to its influence. ”

“ One company, which sailed direct from Scotland, had landed in January, and begun a settlement at New Inverness, on the north bank of the Altamaha, and a second was now to be established on St. Simon Island, and was to be called Frederica. Oglethorpe had expected to take the Salzburgers who came on the ‘London Merchant’, to the southward with him, but nearly all of them decided that they preferred to join those of their number who were preparing to move to New Ebenezer, and the General did not insist, contenting himself with his English soldiers. ”

“ In order to avoid any danger of creating trouble between the Governments, the Moravian colonists carefully said nothing in London regarding their difficulties in Saxony, or the persecutions in Bohemia and Moravia, and instead of proclaiming themselves exiles for the Faith as they might have done with perfect truth, they appeared simply as Count Zinzendorf’s servants, sent by him to cultivate the five hundred acres about to be given to him, and by his orders to preach to the Indians. ”

“ To employ them as missionaries to instruct the Indians would be a reflection on our country, as if it could not furnish a sufficient number of pious men to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Therefore your people may continue among the Indians, only so long as they are citizens of the colony.”
This was the death-blow to the Moravian settlement in Georgia. ”

“ While the exile of the Schwenkfelders was the immediate cause which led Zinzendorf to open negotiations with the Trustees of the Colony of Georgia, the impulse which prompted him involved far more than mere assistance to them. Foreign Missions, in the modern sense of the word, were almost unknown in Zinzendorf’s boyhood, yet from his earliest days his thoughts turned often to those who lay beyond the reach of gospel light. ”