USA > Pennsylvania > Lancaster County > Ephrata > Chronicon ephratense : a history of the community of Seventh Day Baptists at Ephrata, Lancaster County, Penn'a. > Part 18
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ascendancy over him. Being brought into such a wine press, and deprived of all hope of living, he proposed to lay down the office. . But the Superintendent soon had a spiritual in- timation of this, and warned him to take care, that there was danger of life connected with it. He, nevertheless, at last was brought to the determination by these temptations, to pack up everything belonging to the vesture of a Prior, which had been handed over to him, and with it to pay a visit to the Superintendent. He then represented to him in a proper manner, how strange a life he had led thus far, though it had been more like dying than living; that after close inquiry he had found that all his misfortune was contained in this dress, therefore he de- sired to return it to him; then he went his way. After this the Superintendent took counsel with three Brethren, and these, in company with the Superintendent, communi- cated their decision to the Prior, namely, that he should be freed and be again an ordinary Brother; to which he re- plied that he thanked God for their decision, if he were but permitted to remain in the Settlement, for he did not know whether any guilt was resting on him, because he had had a hand in the overthrow of the Eckerlins. After these events the Superintendent was attacked by severe sickness, which almost sent him to eternity, and which was coin- inonly supposed to be the consequence of the dissension which had occurred between him and the Prior. When able to go out again he summoned him into the new Prior's dwelling, and after he had talked with him about this and that concerning his release, he commended him to God, and then turned his attention to the new Prior. Thus it happened that this Brother, after having enjoyed this dignity for six months, became an ordinary Brother. This was the divine comedy, which had to be learned with such pains in the Settlement, namnely, that you must learn to be both high and low, rich and poor, etc., without a change of mind. But the hardest for him was, that access to the Superintendent's person was prohibited him except by perinission of the new Prior; and because the new Prior stood so much above him by virtue of his office, he endeavored again to gain the fel-
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lowship of the Superintendent. For that purpose he com- posed a hymn about the virtues of his spiritual guide, (to be found among the Brethren's hymns, and commencing: "Come, come' soon my friend," etc.,) which, after having enclosed it in a letter, he sent to the Superintendent through the above mentioned Prior. It produced its desired effect, for when the Superintendent read it to the latter, and the flattery it contained, his countenance paled, and he began to doubt whether he would ever inaster his office. Some time after this the Superintendent came into the Brethren's writing- school, nodded to this Brother, led him aside, addressed him in a very friendly way, said that he had received his holy remembrance in the song, and that he would stand up for him. Thus was the union of spirit again established between him and the Superintendent and lie advanced to a higher school, in so much that he was afterwards freed of all subjection to the Prior, and entrusted with more iniport- ant work. It is yet to be mentioned, that no Prior of the Brethren (with exception of the first) was ever clothed with tlie honors of priesthood; the Superintendent himself admin- istered the mystery of the altar and holy baptisin, and only permitted a Brother to have a hand in it in extraordinary cases.
After the departure of the Eckerlins, an awakening took place among the English nation in the region of French Creek and Brandywine, in Chester county, to which the Set- tlement in Ephrata extended its hand. Anno 1746, the following households joined the Community, namely, Jere- miah Pearcol, John Derborough, Job Stretch, etc., likewise somne single persons, as: Abel Griffyth, Thomas Peascify, David Roger, Israel Seymour, his sister Hannah Hackly, and several others. Israel Seymour, his sister, and Abel Griffyth lived in the Settlement for some time, but because, according to their allegations, they could not stand the confined way of living, they left it again. Of these Israel Seymour was a man of special natural gifts; the Su- perintendent, therefore, baptized him again after he had entered the Settlement, and ordained him to service among his nation. His nation afterwards accepted him as teacher,
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and as such, in companionship with the Brethren, he held a meeting every three weeks at Bethany, in West Nantmill. But there was reason to believe that this work inight deliver him into the hands of the tempter, because he was still a nov- vice and rising, as the end proved. He soon took offence at many things in the Settlement, especially at the person of the Superintendent. The Brethren, therefore, erected a her- mitage for him at the above mentioned West Nantmill, for his way of life was greatly admired by his people and he was daily overrun with various visitors. A young girl among the Sisters, who most likely had found little pleasure in her convent, moved to the above mentioned Seymour, in his her- initage, under pretence of learning the English language from lıim; but her actual desire was to cut off the locks of this saint. Another visit was inade after this by some from the Set- tlement, to see these people, because there was bitter com- plaint against their teacher in all the houses, that he could not preach so forcibly since the Sister lived with him. Then he was notified by authority of the Community, that if he wished to get rid of the Sister, he should come to then, they · were ready to extend their hands to him; but if lie desired to marry her, they had nothing to say against it. The Sab- bath following he came to the Settlement with a long letter of divorce, which he had read to her in both languages in presence of all the Solitary; she tlien gave her assent to everything, and promised to renounce her right to him for- ever. Knowing people said: "Now they have published their engagement." And so it was, for the next week their wedding was celebrated.
A married life thus commenced in fraud and hypocrisy could not bear good fruit, for he liad not learnt to descend from his spiritual height and priestly dignity, and to take upon himself the burden of a household. And she, as a spiritual virgin, was not accustomed to submit to a man. After this he left the service of the Congregation and his hermitage, where the tempter had inocked him with false sanctity, and the Brethren erected for liim another dwelling house. But the tempter did not rest. He breathed into him very suspicious thoughts towards the Superintendent, namely, that the same
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had envied him his gifts, and that this female, therefore, had been made use of to bring about his fall. All this caused him to lose his senses, and he was for some time a victim of madness. For all this he had to thank his having with 1111washed hands engaged in so important official duties. After he had regained his reason he engaged in such cunning frands that neither magistrate nor jurist could get behind his artifices, whereupon he left the country and fled to South Carolina. From that time on nothing was heard of him for fifteen years, until at last a letter from him was received in the Settlement, in which he gave the following suspicions account of his affairs. He had not expected to hear anything of the Community in Ephrata before the day when he would have to appear before the judgment and be condemned by them. After he had committed all kinds of wickedness he had added the folly of taking part in the Iroquois war. But when in battle he had seen men and horses fall down, and his own horse had been shot, he earnestly prayed to God, and made a vow that if God would save him out of this danger he would mend his life; then, after victory was won, he had retired front service, intending to return to his Community in Pennsyl- vania, but weakness had prevented him from getting further than to Little River, where he had since lived as a settler. This letter was followed by another, Anno 1783, signed by him and more than forty members of the Congregation, which shows that God afterwards made use of him to build up an English Congregation according to the plan he had projected when still living a Solitary in the Settlement. And since he put his hand to the plough again, according to his vow, and returned to his former faith, the preceding narrative will not be prejudicial to him, for the ways of God are incompre- hensible, and all of us will fall, although it were better we fell into the hands of God than into the judgment of the world.
At the same time there lived in Philadelphia a Pietist, W. Y. 1 by name, who was accustomed to ingratiate himself with the pious and to raise money by all kinds of frands. He is said to have done the same in Germany, and in Germantown
1[William Young].
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he practiced the same with the Separatists. This man wrote a letter to the Superintendent, September 26th, 1746, and requested of him to read it to the whole Community. The contents of the letter were, that he had bought a house for £300, but that he still needed £40 or £50, which he requested the Community to lend him. Besides this he also related much of his career, which had already com- menced in Germany, and that there already he had deter- mined to become a Capuchin, but that he was prevented from carrying out this holy design. He thought now he might attain his end in a different way, for after having paid for the house he had bought, he intended to set up therein a shop for his wife, and then to set out for Ephrata with his three children, and by these ineans to escape from his captivity. Two Brethren were sent to him, in consequence of this request, who in the name of the Community, inade the following known to him, namely: As regards the money, they could not assist him this time, but in regard to the separation from his wife, they advised him to desist from it, because experience had taught that it would not be accom- plished. For there had happened in Ephrata not a few matrimonial separations in times past, and on that account letters of divorce had been executed; but when the Ecker- lins had lost the management of affairs, and the Superin- tendent had again assumed it, he stopped these disorders, ordered the letters of divorce to be burnt, and obliged the married couples to live together again. This unexpected answer greatly disturbed him. But nevertheless he sent another letter to the Superintendent by those two Brethren, in which he renewed his request for £40 or £50. The Su- perintendent, who, according to the doctrine of Jesus Christ, "Give unto him that asketh of you," could not easily refuse anyone who applied to him, at last, after two months, procured the money for him as a loan. The Superintendent hereby found an open door in the spirit to get further acquainted with the man by letter, and several long and important letters were sent to him at the time, which had such a powerful effect that he submitted to baptism in Ephrata, February 28th, 1747. While still standing in the water lie delivered an
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address, in which he called the water, trees, etc., to witness that he had betrothed himself to Jesus Christ. And because at a future time he wickedly broke the covenant entered into by water, it is to be believed that this innocent element will bear witness against him on that day.
But the baptism did not bring him to himself, for soon after the same he commenced an unnecessary war with the friends of the Separatists in Germantown, and drove them into sore straits by means of the Community; lie always took care first to send the letters which he wrote to them to Ephrata for sanction. But after lie had discovered the good nature of the Community, it was clearly to be seen that the sole motive of his conversion was to obtain money. Many people pitied the Brethren at the time, that they had been deceived by so great an impostor; but they did not under- stand the guidance of God, which had for its object to make manifest the innermost depths of the human heart. The next year he again demanded £30 to pay on his house. This greatly enraged the Brethren. It was strongly conjec- tured that the Superintendent used this opportunity to reduce the Brethren to their blissful state of poverty, for it is sure, that from that time on inany refused to put their money into the treasury, under the pretence that they could themselves expend it more profitably on the poor. However, respect for the guidance of God was still so great at the time that some Brethren in the paper mill made up the money in a short time, and satisfied him. But in the autumn following he bought two shoemakers with that money, the trade which he followed, and permitted the Community in Ephirata to take care of the debt on his house. Soon another letter of his arrived in the Settlement, in which he again wanted to borrow the above mentioned £30. Everybody 110w saw quite plainly that the inan was a cheat; the Superintendent alone did not allow any suspicion against him to enter his mind, for he stood under an extraordinary guidance, totally in opposition to the general doings of man; and he, therefore, did not yield until the wishes of the man were in this case also complied with.
This man, being thus thrown into the lap of the whole
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Community, became so intoxicated with spiritual affairs that powers of inspiration appeared; for once in a letter to the Community he prophesied of the awakening in Virginia, Maryland, etc. He was, besides, possessed of such an acute feeling that he could tell to the minute when Brethren arrived in Philadelphia, and usually reprimanded them if they did not at once report to him. When the Superinten- dent became aware that the inan was pregnant with priestly buffoonery, he felt impelled to grant him full fellowship, most likely in order to bring to light the mystery hidden in the man. And now he commenced to win recruits for the Community, and to proclaim himself their representative. For this purpose he demanded for himself a complete suit of a Solitary in Ephrata, as also for his daughter the garb of a spiritual virgin, and all of the finest cotton, which was also granted to him.
In general, whenever he sent such new recruits to the Settlement, he did not forget to mention that their needs would have to be supplied, and thus he at once transmitted his impudence to thein also. The first one recommended by him who arrived in the Settlement was the wife of a shoe- maker, John Mayer. She was baptized October 16th, 1747. In the year 1748 he again sent two single Brethren, Henry Sangmeister and Anthony Höllenthal by name, who were baptized on the very same day, and the first received the name Ezekiel. John Mayer and Peter Schmidt were bap- tized on April 9th, 1748. Soon after he also brought his sister to the Sisters' convent, where she was called Seraphia.
Here I have to introduce several things, on account of the order of time, although they have no connection with the subject itself. There lived a fallen woman in the Settlement, Blandina by name, for whose conversion they had good hopes for some time, but when she was accused before the Superin- tendent of attempting to seduce young Brethren, of which he had already a spiritual monition, the spirit flamed up in him so violently that she had to quit the Settlement at once, although the house-fathers offered to go bail for her conduct. Because the house which formerly had been the residence of the Eckerlins was under suspicion of similar disorders, it was,
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by common counsel, torn down and cut up for fire-wood. Meanwhile a love-feast and breaking of bread was announced to be held in Philadelphia at the house of the before inen- tioned W. Y., to which the Superintendent went with twelve Solitary Brethren and Sisters, June 2d, 1747. This love-feast was kept at the expense of the Community, and cost then a great deal, for not only flour, butter, and whatever else belongs to it had to be sent from the Settlement, but all the necessary tinware, window-curtains, tables, etc., were also bought on account of the Community, which amounted to a large sum of money, since the tables alone cost fio. I observed that during this whole journey the Superintendent stood entirely under the influence of this man. Thus he would not permit the poor Sisters to drink water on the way, merely because the same had written to him he should take care that the Sisters did not suffer any injury from drinking too much water on the journey. And when after the festival was over everyone prepared for the journey home, he requested the Su- perintendent to stay yet another day, which had to be done, notwithstanding it was hard for the company to be confined for a whole day and in such hot weather, in so small a place. On this journey the powers of eternity manifested them- selves anew through the person of the Superintendent. When entering the city, the concourse of people was very great; for just at the time when the whole country hoped the Community would go to ruin, he unexpectedly appeared in Philadelphia. Moreover his people were better drilled in the rules of a Solitary life than ever the royal troops under- stood their. military exercises; they all appeared in white dresses of mnost scrupulous cleanness. And although it could be seen from their lean and pale faces that they lived in a region where they had to suffer inuich for the sake of the kingdom of God, they understood to hide their afflictions so well under the mask of a serene countenance, that 110 one could read on their foreheads what transpired in their hearts. When they entered the house so great a number of people followed that if a stop had not been put to it the house could not have held them all. And when they com- mienced to sing in the house, you could see through the
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windows that people were sitting on all the roofs. I almost forgot to mention, that as the visitors crossed a street in Philadelphia an Irish woman followed the people and said: "These persons should be left in peace, because she knew them well; they were holy persons;" for she had for a time led a strict life as a Sister in the Settlement, but was now fallen off. When the Brethren heard of it they sent after her, whether she would not like to be saved again out of the snares of Satan; but she sent word to thein that she knew very well that the way of the Brethren was the right one, bist she would not dare again to appear before their eyes.
After the visit at the above mentioned house and to the other friends in Philadelphia had, through God's assistance, found a blessed end, preparations for the homeward journey were made, although various other church-work was yet done. On the journey he visited his old friend Conrad Matthei, not far from Germantown. He alone was left of a venerable society, which the celebrated John Kelpius had founded, which, after his death, however, was again scattered, as has been mentioned. At this visit, when they embraced each other, a difference which had existed between their spirits, was removed. They had formerly been good friends; but after the Superintendent had permitted himself to be instrumental in this new awakening in Conestoga, a separation of their spirits took place, which was healed again by this visit, as just mentioned. Therefore he wrote a favorable letter to him as soon as he returned home and likewise exhorted John Wüister, in Philadelphia, who was also his benefactor, not to with- draw his hands from him. This journey was one of the most important the Superintendent ever undertook, on account of God's mighty presence. It was executed only through the power of the spirit, for the meagre manner of living had crushed nature in such a way that without spiritual assistance the journey could hardly have been performed. Therefore, whenever he saw their spirits yield to the weakness of nature, he used to scold them until they were revived again.
During the whole of the visit the Superintendent was. entirely beyond the realın of sense and took little care of his. outward life, or of the weakness of his companions, especially
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those of the females, who were already quite faint on account of previous severe exercises. When in hopes that they would soon reach the Settlement they were obliged to turn off from the road and go to West Nantmill, to the English congregation there, where a love-feast was held with the above-mentioned Israel Seymour. The visitors arrived at night, but the love-feast lasted till midnight, because the Superintendent talked much with them through an inter- preter of the falling and rising again of inan. The spirit pervaded his human nature to such an extent that lie knew very little of fatigue. Early the next morning, the visitors started for the Settlement. This whole journey was made without the help of any creature.
On May 18th, 1748, a large number again visited the above mentioned W. Y. in Philadelphia, on account of a love-feast, which was held on the following 22d of May, the management of which the Superintendent put into the hands of a Brother, Jabez by name. By means of such movements this good man got so much to do that he at last imposed his whole household upon the community; for whenever he was in want of anything for his household he, without hesitation, applied for it, and he was mostly satisfied. Therefore every- thing had to be provided for him, flour, butter, flax, linen, bed sheets, table covers, etc. At last he made the attempt to put even his debts, amounting to £200, on the Brethren in Bethany. He wrote to the Superintendent that it was iinpos- sible for him, loaded as he was with his debts, to assist at the spiritual building up of the church, and asked to be entirely freed from them. After the Superintendent had read this letter to the Brethren, a very important work was the con- sequence, for they declared this demand of the man to be the greatest injustice. But the Superintendent pressed them very hard to grant it, so that they at last perceived that this man was sent to them for their humiliation. They finally held a council about the debt, and it was resolved to request a merchant in Philadelphia to advance the siin to them. Because the Brethren had thus humbled themselves under God's decree, tlie game was wonderfully turned; for on August 9th,. 1748, three Brethren, namely, Lamech, Jethro
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and Gideon, were sent to him in the name of the Community with the order to take his household again upon his own shoulders. Of these Brother Jethro spoke to him thus: "We came to you in the name of the Community at Ephrata, to make known to you that we are done with your household; for we have no more money in hand wherewith to manage it any longer. Therefore we advise you to attend to your household affairs yourself, and be responsible for them and leave us. For we are not able to do this for. you, because we live not for such purposes; for being an outcast people, the thing you ask us to do for you, ought to be done for us." To make it quite sure, and prevent him from abus- ing the goodness of the Superintendent in the future, he handed him a short letter from the same, which was couched in sharp language.
This aroused the original evil disposition of the man; and. because an evil will was stirred in him he began to turn all the good he had enjoyed from the Community into evil. For instance, since the Community had an account of £123 against him he brought in a bill of the same amount for losses he had sustained during the time of his connection with the Community, which losses he chiefly attributed to . his inability to attend the weekly markets in Philadelphia, on account of the Sabbath. Many to whom he formerly had given great offence, because of the support received from Ephrata, were reconciled again and were seen with him. But because none in the temporal world can live up to the princi- ple of wrath all the time, he also turned back on himself after he had foamed forth all his badness against the Community. Accordingly he wrote to the Superintendent, and accused himself of having offended the children of God, but at the same time petitioned to have his debt of £123 cancelled, in order that after his death his children might not be held responsible. This was granted him. These are about the most important facts connected with this man. He at last tore loose again from the fraternal bond of the Brethren, and because by his actions he extinguished the few sparks of his conscience; it can be said with certainty that he was a perfect
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