USA > Pennsylvania > History of the Church of the brethren of the Eastern district of Pennsylvania > Part 4
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To bring out important lessons and results and funda- mental principles of action, may be regarded as sufficient reason for devoting much space to a description of these events, which had a significance far beyond their local set- ting. Here are characteristics of the church that have made history; elements of strength, and principles of action, adopted in Germany, and here reestablished, that have di- rected the progress of the church ever since. Alexander Mack was an evangelist of note before he organized the Brethren Church, and there are many evidences of the mis- sionary activities of the church while yet in Germany. This tour, after the organization in America, was the first step in that missionary enterprise which has been such an im- portant factor in the life of the Brethren Church. The immediate result was, two churches were organized, and the foundation laid for several more and both of these became prosperous and important in a few years. It is remarkable how large a part of the District was covered by this tour, and how many present day congregations are the result of this early missionary endeavor.
CHAPTER VII.
CONRAD BEISSEL.
Introduction .- In order that we may understand the asso- ciation, and historic relation, and later antagonism, to the Brethren, it is manifestly necessary to give some biograph- ical account of Conrad Beissel; and sketch, briefly, some of the moulding influences of his erratic life. As the " Chron- icon Ephratense " is the official record of the Superintendent, and his communal life, its facts and dates, as relating to him, are made the basis of this sketch.
Birth .- He was born in April, 1690, at Eberbach, a small town on the Neckar, in the Palatinate, and received the family name of John Conrad Beissel. His father, a baker by trade, died two months before the child was born. Hav- ing spent all his means by his dissolute habits, the widow was left destitute, and with a numerous family. Under this burden of care and great responsibility the mother, a devout person, only lived seven years.
Environment .- It would seem that now almost his last blessing was gone, and " from that time on he led a sorry life, after the manner of the country, until he was old enough to learn a trade," when the local authorities appren- ticed him to a master baker to learn the trade. It seems from the account that these years were spent in the most wretched poverty, without cheer or comfort to lighten the darkness in his miserable life.
Education .- He seems to have had no school advantages whatever, but there were evidences of natural gifts, for we are told, " He showed a wonderful facility in learning many things without any instruction, merely by his own reflection;
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CONRAD BEISSEL.
so much so that his oldest brother often said to him, 'Your studying will make a fool of you yet.'"1
Apprenticeship .- The choice of a master for the young apprentice was most unfortunate, and now to the life of former misery and wretchedness was added unrestrained frivolity. His master was a musician, and he soon learned to play the violin, and assisted his master at weddings, "at which, when exhausted with fiddling, he would betake him- self to dancing, and from this again return to the former."2 This life of pleasure and excess seems to have brought con- victions of sinfulness; and "the awakening Spirit knocked so loudly at his conscience that his whole being was thrown into the utmost perplexity, and so the foundation was laid for his conversion."2
Wanderings .- Having finished his apprenticeship, he started out on his wanderings as a journeyman, according to the custom of the country, first going to Strasburg. After remaining here some time, he finally entered the serv- ice of a man in Mannheim. Here he fell into a quarrel with his employer's wife, and for her violence he called her Jezebel, on account of which he was obliged to leave the house. From Mannheim he returned to Heidelberg, and for a time matters spiritual and temporal were very favor- able and prosperous. He gained the confidence of the master bakers, and they made him treasurer of their guild. But when Beissel criticised them for their idle practices at their banquets, they had the city council put him under arrest and in jail,-and so closes this epoch, as the curtain falls upon the journeyman baker when the jail door closes behind him.
Religious Struggles .- There is an entire change of scene. The conflicts now are of a religious character. In order to have a full understanding of his religious convictions and theories, it is necessary to trace the teaching and experiences
1 The " Chronicon."
2 Ibid.
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THE CHURCH OF THE BRETHREN.
of these years, that made such a lasting impression, and moulded his future life. As noted before, from the ex- cessive frivolity, he fell under strong conviction of sin; and, though temporarily brought low in the spirit, he earn- estly sought for a higher spiritual development. "It was at Strasburg that Beissel was first introduced into Inspira- tionist and Pietistical circles. The chief spirit of the latter was one Michael Eckerling, a cap-maker by trade, whose four sturdy sons were destined to play so prominent a role in the Ephrata Community."3
When he arrived at Heidelberg, he found many Pietists; but he attended, for some time at least, the regular services of the Lutheran church, and heard several prominent preachers of the times.
" He also made the acquaintance of a learned mystic and theosophist, named Haller, who was a friend and corre- spondent of Gichtel. Through him Beissel obtained an in- troduction to, or was initiated in, the local Rosicrucian chapter held under the name or guise of a Pietist conventicle, which organization counted many of the most learned and distinguished men in the community among its membership. But, being under the ban of the secular as well as religious authorities, they were forced to hold their meetings in se- crecy, in an almost inaccessible fastness of the forest. Here, within the tiled precincts of the weird, rocky chasm (Felsen- schleugt), by the fitful light of resinous torches, Conrad Beissel followed his guide, was brought to the true Light, taught the first steps of the Brotherhood, and received in- struction in the rudiments of the secret rites and mysteries of the Fraternity of the Rosy Cross."4
The "Chronicon" states : "He was astonished beyond measure when these dear people the first time called him Brother. He often said that he had passed through three awakenings, in which he always had to deal with newly
3 " German Sectarians," Vol. I, p. 37.
4. Ibid., pp. 39-40.
CONRAD BEISSEL. 142653285
awakened ones; but he must confess that the greater part of his heart remained at the first awakening at Heidelberg. Therefore, his references to these precious souls never passed off without tears, particularly as in after times so much bitterness and gall were served him by his followers." As noted before, he was lodged in jail by the instigation of his own bakers' guild. Once more in con- flict and trouble. "Meanwhile his trial took place, and there it appeared that the charge was not sufficient to have him kept under arrest. His accusers, however, knew how to help themselves, and declared that he was a Pietist. This brought the matter before the ecclesiastical court. The clergy of the three dominant religions took him in charge, and gave him the choice, either to join one of the three dom- inant religions, or to leave the country," says the "Chron- icon." He refused to join either of the churches, and so he was banished. His friends interceded for him, but all efforts were in vain.
He was now an outcast, not merely a wanderer. He bade farewell to his Brethren in Heidelberg, whom he never saw again; and, then departing, went to his home town of Eberbach, to say farewell to his relatives. He hurried away, but had barely gone when soldiers arrived to arrest him.
The experiences of this banishment brought him to such severe trials and suffering and deprivations that he came: near retracting, and was nigh unto death. He fell into excessive penitence-labors, suffering such violence thereby that he contracted consumption. His declining strength, from his severe penance, excited public attention, and made of him an object of pity, for it seemed that the thread of his frail life was about to be severed. He wandered about from place to place, ekeing out a miserable existence by wool-spinning, and similar employments. He sojourned for a short time with the Brethren at Schwarzenau, and then joined the Inspirationists. He soon invoked their dis-
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THE CHURCH OF THE BRETHREN.
pleasure, and the "Chronicon" states that they wished to transfer him from the Adults' to the Children's meeting, on account of which he withdrew himself from them.
A Retrospect .- Born of a godly mother, but a worthless drunken father-at the age of seven the mother also dead- he grew up an object of public charity or neglect, living in wretched poverty and misery ; apprenticed to a master baker from whom he learned unrestrained frivolity in dancing and fiddling; under conviction of sin, he sought spiritual com- fort and light in all sorts of ways, and through all kinds of experiences, from the regular services in the Lutheran churches, individuals, the Pietists, Separatists, and down to the Rosicrucian mystics; as a journeyman baker, he wan- dered about, quarreled with his employer's wife, and driven from the home; criticized the bakers' guild, whose treas- urer he was, who had him arrested and put in jail; brought to trial, he was charged with being a Pietist, and was ban- ished from the country; wandering about almost starving, and under violence of severe penance, contracting consump- tion, he visits the Brethren at Schwarzenau, joins the In- spirationists, and after violent disagreements withdraws from them; thus were the thirty years of Conrad Beissel's life in Germany spent.
His two intimate friends, Stiefel and Stuntz, now induced him to journey to America. He resolved to go to Pennsyl- vania, and join the chapter of Perfection under Kelpius, called the " Woman in the Wilderness," on the Wissahickon, and there spend his life in solitude. When the Pietists heard of this, they tried their best to persuade him not to go. Stuntz offered to pay his way, and so in the year 1720 he left the fatherland, the scene of so much history, accom- panied by his aforesaid friends, Stiefel and Stuntz, and others, as traveling companions.
The Arrival .- They arrived at Boston the same autumn. What the name of the ship was, or where she sailed from, or who commanded her, in which Beissel and his friends
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CONRAD BEISSEL.
came to Boston, we are not told, neither do we know in what manner they transported themselves from Boston to Phila- delphia. We are simply informed "that the party arrived well and in good spirits at Germantown toward the close of the autumn of the year 1720." It is impossible to realize their sore disappointment upon their arrival, nor appre- ciate the vast difference between their expectations and the real conditions of things as they found them. They had endured the hardships of a long and tedious ocean voyage, only to find that the community they sought to join had ceased to exist some years prior to their departure from the Fatherland, but for some reason this news had not reached that part of Germany. So it was necessary to change the whole plan and purpose of their coming, because of the changed conditions. According to "German Sec- tarians ": " Beissel and his companions expected to find here an ideal spiritual community, whose chief interest centered around the Tabernacle in the primitive forest, where the time was spent in prayer and a nightly watch was kept to obtain the first glimpse of the harbinger in the skies, who should appear to announce the coming of the celestial bride- groom : a community where the world with its allurements was secondary to the state of spiritual regeneration."
"In place of this expected elysium they found the taber- nacle deserted, the nocturnal watch upon the tower long since abandoned, Magister Kelpius dead, while of the other leaders, Köster, had returned to Europe, and the Falk- ner brothers were itinerating in the adjoining provinces."
Commenting upon this condition, the "Chronicon " states, " After their leader died, the Tempter found occasion to scatter them, as those who had been most zealous against marrying now betook themselves to women again, which brought such shame on the solitary state that the few who still held to it dared not open their mouths for shame."
"In such times the Superintendent (Beissel) arrived in Germantown; but kept very quiet as to his projects for a
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THE CHURCH OF THE BRETHREN.
solitary life, for many, who had maintained a very proper walk in Germany, had here hung up their holy calling on a nail; and, what was worse, would give no one credit for zeal or diligence. Among these were several who in the Palatinate had let themselves be driven from house and home, but had left great wealth behind them after their death. All this caused him much concern; for he every- where saw the pious sitting at the helm and exercising mag- isterial offices."
BEISSEL IN THE NEW WORLD.
Religious Aspect .- In tracing the religious experiences, and struggles, and conflicts in the life of Beissel, in his fore- going biography, we see the religious conditions and ex- cesses of his times that constituted such a powerful influ- ence over him, and prepared him for such tremendous acts, that made him the central figure of so much dramatic history.
Beissel indeed found himself now in a new world. He had hoped for speedy realization of mountain-tops of spirit- ual ecstasy on the Wissahickon Heights, but instead he was down in the valley of disappointment and humiliation. In- stead of things wholly spiritual, he found his feet on hard terra firma, and so face to face with the stern necessity of physical subsistence. He perhaps remembered the condi- tion of starvation in Germany, and he once more turned to the Brethren for material comfort.
A New Start .- The Brethren had preceded Beissel by more than a year, as already noted in their coming in 1719. Peter Becker had already established himself as a master weaver of Germantown. Beissel, seeing that his baker's trade would be of no use to him, in this new country indentured himself to Peter Becker, as an apprentice, to learn the weaver's trade, and so his whole purpose had to undergo a complete change.
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CONRAD BEISSEL.
New Environments .- With his plans and purposes changed, he indeed found himself in new environments. Beissel now became a member of a busy industrial com- munity, self-supporting, and a producing factor in the inter- ests and welfare of his fellows. He became a part of the social life of his immediate surroundings, and, it is to be hoped, he added his share to the religious tone and atmos- phere, that tended to the uplift of the settlement. As an apprentice, he entered the home of Peter Becker, and be- came a member of his household; and, as such, we are assured, by the "Chronicon," they were on most friendly and intimate terms in their religious discussions. Under these conditions, he was in constant association with the Brethren, and entered fully into all their social and religious life. He knew much of the Brethren at Schwarzenau, had sojourned among them for a time, knew their history and their persecution, and, in part, had been a fellow sufferer. The Brethren at Germantown, with whom he now associ- ated, had come from Crefeldt, on the Rhine, which had been for some time a general asylum for persons of all shades of religious belief, who had fled from their persecutors. Mys- ticism in all shades was to be found among some of these refugees at Crefeldt. Such diversity of religious belief influenced some of the early Brethren, and they brought some of it to Germantown. Beissel had every opportunity to know every phase of religious tendency at Germantown, and his familiarity with all conditions enabled him to see where he could find some sympathy, as a foundation for antagonizing the Brethren's doctrines. It is not surprising, therefore, that, in years after, his inroads were to a con- siderable extent successful in disrupting the Germantown Church. For a time, it seems, Beissel was able to adapt himself quite well to his new environments, but the change must have been so great that he could not long endure the strain. In less than a year he broke his contract of ap- prenticeship, and left Germantown.
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THE CHURCH OF THE BRETHREN.
In the Wilderness .- The unexpected surely once more has happened. History is silent as to the developments that bring about so great a change from the home of Peter Becker, in the busy industrial village of Germantown, to the wilderness Solitude. But no doubt the year at Ger- mantown was one of thoughtful preparation and planning for his future work. He had carefully examined the soil where were growing some prospective adherents.
We are indebted to the official " Chronicon " for an intro- duction into the very midst of the new scenes, and that without ceremony, or knocking at the cabin door, and wait- ing for an invitation. The " Chronicon " says : " In order to carry out his purpose, he went, in the autumn of the year 1721, into the upper country known as Conestoga, now Lancaster County, which at that time was inhabited by but few Europeans; and there, with the aid of his traveling companion, Stuntz, erected a solitary residence at a place called Muehlbach, where they lived happily for a while. A young Hollander by the name of Isaac Von Bebern soon after joined them, with whom he also made a journey to Maryland, probably to visit the remnant of Labadists, who lived there." The rapidity of change of scenes and the development is now truly remarkable. Perhaps there is no better way to show the diversity of teaching in the midst of which the Brethren had to labor, and the religious excesses against which they had to contend, than to note, briefly, how these conditions influenced Beissel, and how he finally be- came a conglomeration of social and political conditions of society, and religious doctrine with which he came in contact.
These Labadists had located on the Bohemian Manor, in Maryland, about forty years before, living a communal life, and had become prosperous and wealthy. The young Hol- lander desired to visit his near of kin, perhaps his father and his uncle, who had left the Mennonites and joined the Labadists. Beissel was interested in this mystical com-
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CONRAD BEISSEL.
munity, and we shall see that what he saw and learned on this visit was a moulding power on his whole future career.
"There can be but little doubt that, although the com- munity at the time of Beissel's visit was already in a state of dissolution, it was due to his visit to Bohemian Manor and the conferences with Sluyter, together with a number of books and papers, both printed and in manuscript, of Laba- die and Yoon Von, which Beissel obtained, that we owe many of the peculiar features of the Ephrata community. Not the least important one was the separation of the sexes.
"This visit was made none too soon, for soon after the two pilgrims had departed, Peter Sluyter died, and, there being none to replace him or wield the necessary authority, the few remaining members separated, and the community passed into history."5
It is plainly apparent, from the time of this visit, that Beissel was now a convert to the fundamental teaching of the Bohemian Labadists. Soon after the return of Beissel and Van Bebber from their pilgrimage to the Bohemia Manor, to their hut on the Mühlbach, they were joined by George Stiefel, a traveling companion, as noted before, on the voyage to America. These four enthusiasts now re- solved to dwell together in a brotherly and communal man- ner. About this time, or soon after, Beissel commenced to express views in regard to the observance of the Sabbath. He paid visits to the Sabbatarians in Chester County, at Providence and Newtown. He soon after made a public announcement that he would observe the Sabbath. This caused a disagreement with his companions, but they finally acquiesced.
The "Chronicon " relates the effect of this new order of things as follows : " He declared himself to his brethren that now he would observe the Sabbath, and work on Sunday, which did not suit them very well. This strange mode of life aroused much attention among the few settlers, of
5 " German Sectarians," p. 59.
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THE CHURCH OF THE BRETHREN.
whom some were continually coming and inquiring what it meant." Thus matters continued for some time, until the severity of the discipline and the short rations commenced to tell on his companions. Finally Stiefel and Van Bebber declared that they could not live that way, and took their departure. Stuntz finally sold the cabin, and thus in part re-imbursed himself for the money he had advanced to Beissel as passage money.
Trials Without and Within .- Homeless and alone, Beissel, smarting under his recent treatment, penetrated deeper into the forests, and determined to make a new start. By the end of the summer of 1723, he had built with his own hands a small log cabin, about one mile distant from the former one. Here he was soon joined by a new companion, and, because of the importance of this new fellowship, we quote from the "Chronicon," as follows: "There it came to pass that Michael Wohlfahrt, on his journey to Carolina, visited him for the first time. He was a Pietist, born at Memel on the Baltic Sea, but had grown cool in his faith, and had lost much of it on his many travels. He had come to the Super- intendent while Stiefel and Stuntz were still with him, and had so fallen in love with his life that he promised to settle there with him when he should return from Carolina. Meanwhile, when in the year 1724 he came back to him, they had left him. As he laid before him his whole con- dition, the Superintendent received him in faith. In this man the latter found abundant exercise for his patience, and gained much profit through him in spiritual things. Indeed he fared better with him than he had with his former com- panions; for, though at times they disagreed, yet Michael Wohlfahrt had such high respect for him that he always confessed himself in the wrong." This companionship con- tinued until broken by death.
While outward conditions were once more adjusted so far as home and companions were concerned, there was a growing inward conflict. There was a remarkable struggle
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CONRAD BEISSEL.
between his self-exaltation and conceit, on the one hand, and his growing conviction, on the other, that he should bow in humble submission to the divine command. The "Chron- icon" expresses the whole matter and condition in very candid language, as follows: "Now also we arrive at the reason why God obliged him to again renounce this seraphic life, and to enter into a communion with others. Accord- ing to this, the life of a hermit is only something granted for a time, but not at all the end itself; since no solitary person can be fruitful. Accordingly, however innocent his walk before God and man at that time was, it was not yet right in itself; for with all his renunciations he still had not re- nounced himself. What was needed was a soil into which he might sow his grain of wheat to die, so that it should spring forth and bear fruit to the glory of God. It has before been mentioned how baptism, as a transplanting into the death of Christ, was again brought to light; now he had become abundantly convinced on that subject, but at that time he knew neither of a congregation according to his own mind, nor of a man who would have been worthy to baptize him. Once he made an attempt to baptize himself in the waters of Mill Creek; but his conscience was not satisfied; nor was the transaction valid, since there were no witnesses present. He was to obtain it through men, and that was difficult for him. How, at last, he humbled himself under the ordinance of God, and became a child of the new cov- enant, this shall be shown forth in the following chapter, although another excursion from the subject will be neces- sary, in order to trace the matter to its origin." So we leave, for the time, Beissel and the religious conditions of these times as a separate and distinct subject, and turn now to the consideration of how all these were related to the Brethren and their work.
CHAPTER VIII.
GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT. TRIALS. SECOND EMIGRATION.
We are in the midst of years that are full of history. Events of importance are crowding each other in rapid suc- cession. Amazing changes come like a flood. For the most part, the labors of the Brethren at Germantown, Cov- entry, and other places, were blessed, " and the Lord added to the church such as should be saved." Acts 2:47. Meet- ings multiplied, and the influence spread into new fields. In a few years a great change had been effected in America by the infant church, for the Lord strengthened the hearts of his people. By the close of 1724, there were three con- gregations organized, all in less than one year : Germantown, Coventry, and Conestoga.
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