Allen Anders Seipt

“ The preface is scholarly and the arrangement admirable. There is a three-fold index, of melodies, festivals and first lines. The index of hymns arranged according to the festivals not only indicates hymns proper to be sung on every Lord's Day in the year, but also for many saints' days which are not ordinarily observed by Protestants, and for six annual days of fasting and prayer. * * * Notwithstanding certain imperfections, the Schwenkfelder hymn-book is, in our opinion, a publication of a very superior order, and a credit to the community that produced it. ”

“ All the editions of the Schwenkfelder hymn-book contain hymns by Martin John. The Saur edition contains thirty. As far as we know there has not been found a collection of his hymns that purports to be complete; and hence a full account of his activity as a hymn-writer must be deferred until additional information concerning him has been disclosed. There exists a manuscript of ninety-seven hymns by Martin John, of which about one-third are translations of Latin hymns, chiefly by Aurelius Prudentius. [14] Of the hymns of this collection, a number are metrical versions of Psalms. ”

“ As a hymn-writer, he was honored by his contemporaries and is ranked high by modern writers on hymnology. Grammatically, his poetry is not infrequently defective, but it will be remembered that his linguistic traditions were Low German. Schneider says: "Sudermann always chose good models, in Dutch, French and Latin as well as in German. Schwenkfeld's flow of language, Reissner's brevity and Tauler's fervour are reflected in his writings." ”

“ George Weiss, the first minister of the Schwenkfelders in America, has been reduced to the minimum, both in order to save space, and also because the sources cited in the footnote below will furnish the reader a sufficient life-sketch of the subject of our study in this chapter. As already noted, he was the son of Caspar Weiss, whose work on behalf of Schwenkf elder hymnology we have just considered. He was born at Harpersdorf, in Silesia, 1687, and died within the present limits of Lower Sal ford township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, on the eleventh of March, 1740. ”

“ According to a Schwenkfelder chronicle written in Silesia in the Seventeenth Century by Hans Seibt, and supplemented and extended in America, Melchior Dehnst, a pious Schwenkfelder writer and transcriber was occupied (1660 ca. ) with the revision of a number of hymns in the Bohemian hymnal—his aim being to adapt them to Schwenkfeld's Confession of Faith. Balthaser Hoffmann also records, in a document which we shall quote in our next chapter, that this hymn-book was still in common use among the Schwenkfelders at the opening of the Eighteenth Century. ”

“ It is our purpose to treat here in brief the matter of how the Schwenkfelder hymn-collection, founded by Caspar Weiss and enlarged by George Weiss, came to undergo a thorough rewriting in point of arrangement, but a few years before it was chosen as the basis for the printed hymn-book. In this connection it will be necessary to discuss the relation of three immigrant Schwenkfelders to the evolution of the Saur edition. They are: Rev. Balthaser Hoffmann, Rev. Christopher Hoffmann, his son, and Hans Christoph Hubner. ”

“ Upon his safe arrival in Philadelphia, he did not long remain in the city, but went into the country and, in accordance with the custom there, founded a home, since God had again blessed him so that he and his family could once more live peaceably. Moreover, his study of the Scriptures and Christian doctrine he at no time neglected, but devoted himself to them with the utmost diligence. ”

“ It may be well to remind ourselves that Schwenkfeld was in Strassburg during the period 1529-1535; and it was during his sojourn in Strassburg that Reissner made the personal acquaintance of Schwenkfeld. Henceforth he remained a loyal adherent and friend of the Silesian Reformer, as he himself said, "despite all opposition and affliction." The duration of his stay in Strassburg is uncertain. For some years he pursued the profession of the law in Frankfurt-am-Main, but seems to have spent most of his life after leaving Strassburg, in his native town of Mindelheim. ”

“ Furthermore, we shall see that some of the hymn-writers themselves served the sect as copyists. Thus Adam Reissner and Daniel Sudermann compiled large folios of hymns written by their own hands. A century later Caspar Weiss produced a compilation of hymns in two volumes in manuscript, in which he has perpetuated hymns written by Adam Reissner, Daniel Sudermann, Raimund Weckher, Valentin Triller, Antonius Oelsner, George Heydrich, Martin John, Jr., and other Schwenkfelder hymn-writers. ”

“ To be sure, the early Schwenkfelders could not. like those who settled in America, as a sect establish churches, adopt an order of worship and prepare a hymn-book for general use. In these matters each community of Schwenkfelders was usually independent of all others, because of the state measures decreed to prevent religious conferences and public worship among them. ”

“ In 1583, the elder Martin John, grandfather of the subject of this sketch, adopted the faith of Schwenkfeld, and in 1584 bought property in Harpersdorf and settled there. Soon after, he began to work as a lay evangelist, holding public services at his own house. Persecution followed, and he and his associates became the victims of violence and incivility. ”

“ However, previous to the appearance of the first edition of his hymn-book, some of his hymns had been printed as Schwenkfelder hymns. Again, the early manuscript collections contain hymns by Triller, and these are retained in the larger collections compiled in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries. The Saur edition, also, contains fifteen of Triller's hymns. Daniel Sudermann, [9] in whom the cause of the Middle Way received both a fresh, a timely and powerful impetus, was the scion of an old and honored family. ”

“ Christopher Schultz and the Printed Hymn-Book.
We have seen that the Schwenkf elders were early aware of the importance attaching to the problem of a hymn-book ; and that their activity in the collecting of hymns dates from the sixteenth century. We have traced from its inception to its final form, the manuscript hymn collection which is entitled to the distinction of having been the first Schwenkfelder hymnary used in America. We have also observed in connection with our narrative of the manuscript collection, the presence of a well-defined continuity of development. ”

“ This standing the aged man was scarcely able to endure, though he was quite willing and prepared to make his confession. A rational person will draw his own inference of the disposition indicated hereby on the part of the said Pastor."
For the information we possess concerning the origin of the hymn-collection of Caspar Weiss, we are indebted to the pen of Rev. Balthaser Hoffmann. The latter also recorded, in a historical manuscript still extant, an account of the sources of the collection, as well as a statement of the method pursued by Weiss in arranging and editing the individual hymns. ”

“ The earliest of Sudermann's poems which still exist were written in 1568. His poetic activity during the period 1572-1580, was limited for the most part to the production of motto-hymns and acrostic poems, the latter in praise of his patrons of noble birth. Beginning with the year 1584, he seems to have been occupied for some years chiefly with the publishing of Schwenkfeld's works. ”

“ The study of hymns was for Balthaser Hoffmann an employment which he loved. Occasionally on "Gedächtnisstag" [2] he would present the study of a favorite hymn. His analyses of numerous hymns have been preserved. They reflect both intensity of method and an amazing wealth of meditations. They are worthy of a close homiletic study. Rev. Christopher Hoffmann made a selection of these studies, of which the list follows: [3]
Title Page of Hymn-Book. ”

“ Neither the editor's name nor the place of publication, Strassburg, appears in any of these editions. It will be remembered that the Sixteenth Century was the great age of the German "master-singers" and their "Singschulen," and for a few years (1589-91 ) Sudermann practiced the Meistergesang—the writing of lyric poetry according to the strict rules of the guild of the Meistersänger. Many of his poems of this period are included in his manuscript collections of later years, and are usually indicated by the marginal note: "Disz ist ein Meistergesang." ”

“ Kommen si aber Imande vor, der ihm einen Nutzen daran ersihet, der sage Gott Lob und Dank darum; weil Gotte für alle Gaben zu danken ist, si sind natürlich oder geistlich; und lasse sich um den Author unbekümmert, weil er si nur für sich und die Seinigen, welche es auch hertzlich verlanget haben ausgegeben hat. Gott wolle uns seinen Geist, den Geist der Gnaden und Andacht, um Jesu Christi seines liben Sohnes willen geben und verleyen, dass wir si singen, betrachten und gebrauchen, zu seinem Lob, Preiss und Ehren, und uns zu unsrer Seelen Heil und Seeligkeit. ”

“ In the Sixteenth Century, followers of Schwenkfeld were found, not only in Silesia, but in many parts of Germany and in Moravia, Switzerland and Holland. Strassburg, Augsburg and Ulm were leading centres. ”

“ During these years he wrote many poems in praise of his high-born patrons and friends. In 1585 he assumed the charge of the instruction of the sons of the nobility at the Bruderhof in Strassburg. In 1594 he was made vicar of the Bruderhof, where he lived until near the close of his long life. As early as 1585, reprints and new editions of Schwenkfeld's works began to appear, issued under the direction of Sudermann, but not until 1594 did he announce his participation in the views of Schwenkfeld. ”

“ The temptation proved too great for their vigilance, and a day of festivity was proclaimed. Picture their satisfaction when the feast already in progress is augmented by an abundance of the choicest wine. ”

“ Dieser Caspar Weiss ist gebiirtig gewesen von Deutmannsdorff, im Fürstenthum Jauer in Schlesien, sehr schlechter [1] und armer Ankunfft; hat das Leinweber-Handwerck gelernet; und sich in Harpersdorff (im Fürstenthum Liegnitz) mit Anna Andersen, George Anders dess Aeltern, Tochter, vertrauet; und also in Harpersdorff in einem schlechten [1] Haüsslein gewohnet; Und hat also seine gantze Lebens-Zeit in Armuth zugebracht. Gott hat ihm Zwey Söhne und eine Tochter bescheret. ”

“ In the course of the present work, however, it will be seen that Schwenkfelder hymnology is entitled to more than mere mention, and that the statement, "it contains no hymns written in this country," is certainly without foundation. In 1904 appeared the Schwenkfelders in Pennsylvania, a historical study of the Schwenkfelders since their exodus from Saxony. [3] This contains a partial list of the Schwenkfelder hymn-writers whose hymns were admitted into the hymn-book printed in 1762. ”

“ His illness was chiefly of the nature of exhaustion, with some pleurisy (it was said to be gastric fever) . He had no desire for food and suffered intense pains in the abdomen. And thus on the eleventh of March, 1740, in full possession of his faculties and in the fifty-third year of his age, he was called away, and his body was conveyed to its interment. He is buried at Schippach on a plot of ground belonging to George Yeakel."
The relation which George Weiss sustains to the hymnody of the Schwenkfelders is three-fold: First, as a writer of hymns; second, as a reviser of hymns ”

“ We give below the complete "Verzeichniss der Artickel" or table of contents of the manuscript hymn-book of 1758, first because this volume seems to have been compiled solely for the sake of the classification already discussed, and second, to anticipate the fact of the similarity in arrangement between this volume and the printed hymn-book: [9]
I. Von Gott, Oder von der Heilgen Dreyfaltigkeit. II. Von Jesu Christo, seiner Person und Ammte; folget also:
III. Vom Heiligen Geiste. IV. Von der Schopffung. V. Von den Engeln. VI. Vom Fall des Menschen. VII. Von den Zehn Gebotten. ”

“ Vater, den Anfang dazu [5] gemachet; und ist er dazu verursachet worden, durch einen alten einfältigen Schwenkfelder seiner Zeit, mit Nahmen Mertin Mentzel (war des alten Melchior Mentzels [6] Vater) . Der hat einmahl zum Caspar Weiss gesagt: Du kontest wohl das Gesang-Buch (war das gedrukkte Gesangbuch [7] , wi es noch im grossen Format ist) etwas ordnen, wi sich di Gesänge zu den Evangelien fügten (denn es war alles in Unordnung und Einfalt) , dass man si ein wenig nach Ordnung singen konte: Denn du hattest Verstand und Wissenschaft dazu. ”

“ The additional fact has also been disclosed that this continued activity is marked from its beginning to its close by a well-defined progression,—each compiler after the originator, having operated with the completed work of his predecessor as a basis. ”

“ Welches aber ohne des Geistes Gottes Wiirkung und Beystand nicht geschehen kan, so wolle derselbige aus seiner Gnade verleyen und geben, dass wir si zum Lobe Gottes und zu unserer Erbauung, singen, betrachten und üben! ”

“ All titles are reproduced in German, with their original orthography. The description of all the numbers in the list is given in English. Those numbers which are not described as "manuscript" are collections which have been issued in print. ”

“ The Hymn Collection Compiled by George Weiss. (Manuscript.)
"George Weiss war gebührtig von Harpersdorfr, einem Dorffe im Fürstenthum Lignitz in Schlesien; sein Vater hat geheissen Caspar Weiss, von Deutmanns-Dorff gebührtig; seine Mutter Anna, eine gebohrne Andersin, gebiihrtig von Harpersdorff, alle beyde schlecht, [2] arm und unansehnlich vor der Welt. George hatte einen Bruder mit Nahmen Caspar, und eine Schwester mit Nahmen Maria; sind alle beyde in bester Jugend in Schlesien gestorben. ”