USA > Pennsylvania > The German Pietists of provincial Pennsylvania : 1694-1708 > Part 16
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Among the learned men then in Nuremberg whose atten- tion was attracted to the young philosopher's writings was one Magister Johann Jacob Zimmerman, late Diaconuis at Bietigheim, in Würtemberg, a pupil and follower of the noted M. Ludwig Brunnquell, and who in addition to his sacred calling was one of the best mathematicians and astronomers in Europe. So great was the esteem in which Magister Zimmerman held the young Transylvanian, that when he subsequently organized a Chapter of Perfection or Col- legium Pietatis for the purpose of emigrating to the New World, there to meet the great Deliverer, we find Johannes Kelpius, as we will now call him, the second in command, or Deputy Master ; and upon Zimmerman's untimely death at Rotterdam on the eve of embarkation (1693) he became Magister of the Chapter.
It was under the guidance of Kelpius that the journey to the New World was safely accomp- U RE lislied, where they expected to witness the Millennium, which, according to STUTTG Zimmerman's astronomical calculations, was to take place in the fall of the year of grace 1694.246
Martin Kelp, our Magister's elder
246 Hartmann, Magister-buch, 1477-1700, MS. folio, 499, Königliche Bibliothek, Stuttgart.
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brother, also became known for his learning. 247 He finished his education under the patronage of Elias Ladiver and Magister Schnitzler, and studied at Hamburg and Leipzig, where lie received the degree of Magister. He too died at an early age, the year after his brother left the Fatherland for Pennsylvania.
The remaining brother, George Kelp,248 also received a liberal education, and subsequently became Burgomaster of Schässburg, the chief city of his native district. He inar- ried into the noble Sternberg family, and afterwards, together with his sons, was knighted, since which time the family has been known as Kelp von Sternberg. It is from this fact that Johannes Kelpius, the Magister on the Wissa- hickon, in the later Moravian records is alluded to as " Baron Kelpio."
For some reasons unknown, Kelpius, after he came to Philadelphia, failed to keep in touch with his family in Germany. The Transylvanian chronicler, in closing his
217 Rector Martin Kelp was the author of the celebrated work,-
" Natales Saxonum Transylvanice, Aposciasmate Historico collustrati. Resp. Joach. Christiano. Westphal, Neo-Rupin-die 22 Mart., 1684. Lipsiæ. 4to.
248 Uffenbach in his Memoirs gives the following interesting information about George Kelp, the brother of our Magister, who then seems to have · been living at Lüneburg, in Hanover :
"January 23, 1710, I learned from a resident pastor that a certain person here, named Kelp, had purchased the library of Herr Horn, and then sold the books at auction. The sale of the Manuscripts, however, had been forbidden by the Magistrates, as there were many of local interest among them. My informant further assured ine that Kelp, who had married a daughter of the " Stern" family, was wont to gather together many good things, but afterwards sold them dear enough.
"January 30, 1710 .- Called again on the above Herr Kelp and pur- chased from him, at a high price, various books and manuscripts. He is a young, pleasant but capricious man, and notwithstanding the poor ap- pearance of his house, acts big and does not urge one to purchase from him .- Uffenbach Reisen, vol. i, 483, 506.
THE PIETISTS OF PROVINCIAL PENNSYLVANIA.
Li
Kelu
Johannes Kelpins
FROM THE ORIGINAL CANVASS BY DR. CHRISTOPHER WITT, NOW IN THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF PENNSYLVANIA.
The Diary of Kelpius. 225
biographical sketch, adds: "Afterwards he journeyed to Pennsylvania, and his Fatherland heard nothing more of him."
This statement may be true so far as his immediate family is concerned, for a regular correspondence was main- tained between Kelpius and the leading representatives of similar convictions to his own in England and Germany.
This is shown by copies of a number of letters entered in the back of his Journal-one of the two manuscript books in his handwriting that have come down to us.
This Journal, as it is usually called, contains 101 closely written pages, in addition there is a note upon two of the fly leaves. The first is apparently a quotation from Seneca, and is headed " Seneca de refor."
['Translation. ]-" I cannot go beyond my country : it is the one of all ; no one can be banished outside of this. My country is not forbidden to me, but only a locality. Into whatever land I come, I come into my own : none is exile, but only another country. My country is wherever it is well ; for if one is wise he is a traveller ; if foolish an exile. The great principle of virtue is, as he said, a mind gradu- ally trained first to barter visible and transitory things, that it may afterwards be able to give them up. He is delicate to whom his country is sweet; but he is strong to whom every single thing is his country ; indeed he is perfect to whom every single thing is his country ; indeed he is perfect to whom the world is exile."
The next leaf may be called a title, and sets forth that the following are "Literal copies of letters to friends in and out of Pennsylvania, sent from the Wilderness by Johanno Kelpio, Transylvania. 1694-1703-4-5-6-7."
The first seventeen pages of the book proper contain a Latin diarium of his journey to America. It represents
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however, but a small portion of the voluminous correspon- dence which he is known to have maintained with the Theosophical Fraternity in Europe.
The contents of this Journal are as follows : Diarium, 17 pages ; 249 German letter to Heinrich Johann Deichmann in London, dated September 24, 1697, four pages ; another to the same, dated May 12, 1699, 13 pages; with a seven- page postscript by Seelig. Then follows the well-known English missive to Stephen Mumford, December 11, 1699, seven pages ; a Latin letter to Rev. Tobias Eric Biörck, 13 pages ; a twenty-two-page German letter to Maria Elizabeth Gerber in Virginia, dated October 10, 1704; one in German of five pages, dated July 1, 1705, to his old tutor, Prof. Fabricius, who was then at Helmistadt ; another to Deich- mann, of two and a half pages, dated July 23, 1705 ; and, lastly, the English missive of eleven pages to Hester Pal- mer, in which he describes the "Threefold Wilderness State." 250
The Latin missive addressed to Rev. Tobias Eric Biörck unfortunately bears no date, but as it is inserted between the Mumford letter (December 11, 1699) and the Gerber missive (October 10, 1704) it was undoubtedly written during the period when Rudman and Justus Falkner were active in New York, and appealed to Kelpius and his party for pecuniary assistance.
'The allusion to money evidently relates to the repayment of a loan inade to either the struggling Dutch congregation in New York or the Swedish churches on the Delaware.
The first page of this letter is reproduced in fac-simile, together with a translation. A spirit of the true religion
249 The first page of this diary is reproduced in fac-simile on page 14 of this work.
250 Letter in full, pp. 180-191, ibid.
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Greeting to Biörck.
pervades the whole letter, and the allusion to the pious Rudman illustrates the intimacy between the mystical Pietists and the Orthodox clergymen in the Province.
[TRANSLATION.] "TO REV. MAGISTER ERIC BIORCK, "PASTOR AT CHRISTIANNA. "IMMANUEL.
"May Jehovahi remember thee, that thou mayest see the good things of his elect; may he remember thee for the sake of his favor toward his people, that thou mayest rejoice in the joy of his nation. May he visit thee in his salvation, that thou mayest glory in his inheritance. Amen!
"Psalın cvi. 4 and 5.
" Very reverend Sir and Friend, Master and friend in Jesus our Saviour, ever to be regarded by me with fraternal love :
"In your beloved letter, written on January 10, and received on January 17, through Mr. Jonas B- -, I got a twofold proof of your fraternal love, the epistle and the money. Would to God I were truly such as you have out- lined, or such as you have judged me with my mnost beloved Rudman. By day and by night I attend, indeed, that I may cleanse myself from every blemish both of body and of soul, and I perform my rites in the fear of the Lord, and that I may obtain, by grace alone, that which is my pattern by nature, through sincere imitation of Him; to wit, the adoption as a son, the redemption of our body (Rom. viii, 23. Compare I John iii, 1-2; Phil. iii, 11-15; Gal. iv, 5 ; Apoc. xix, 8; 2 Tim. iv, 8). How many parasangs 251 as yet
251 Parasang is a Persian measure of length, which, according to Hero- dotus is thirty stadia, or nearly four English miles. But, in different times and places, it has been 30, 40 or 60 stadia.
+
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A Quo. On' Eric For & Sautorem as (limitinam
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Letter to Magister Fabricius.
I may be distant from the scope (aim) prefixed for myself, becomethì known to the fellow-soldiers (Associates) of those crucified and buried with (in) Christ (Gal. ii, 20), and whom God, rich in mercy through Christ, kept secret (in silence) and awakened and placed in the heavenly [places ] in Christ Jesus (Eplı. i, 20). Better than myself no one knows [my shortcomings ] save alone the searcher of hearts and minds ; for that which our beloved Rudman bore witness concern- ing me, is to be attributed rather to himself (Rudman) and to divine charity, wherewithal his heart was affected : these things also, Paul being a witness (I Cor., xiii). He en- dureth all, believeth all, hopeth all, sustaineth all."
[End of the first page. ]
Another interesting missive in this old diary, and one of the most important, is the German letter written by Kel- pius to his former tutor, Magister Fabricius, then at the head of the Helinstadt University. It runs thus,-
[TRANSLATION.]
"July 23d, 1705. " To Dr. Fabricius, Prof. Theol. at Helmstadt :
YOUR MAGNIFICENCE :- The joy your letter afforded me I am unable, at present, to describe. I did behold in it, as in a mirror, the sincerity & uprightness of my good old mastor, Dr. Fabricius. What dear Mr. Ingelstätter, ex- rettore dei Falkein, reported, is true, so far as appertainetli to the principal point, namely, that I have not become a Quaker. Such an idea hath never come into my mind, albeit I love them from my inmost soul, even as I do all other sects that approach & call themselves Christ's, the Paptists even not excluded, &, with Peter, I have found out, in deed & truth, that God regarded not the person,
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but in all sorts of work & religion. He that feareth Him, & doeth what is right, is agreeable to Him. I could report of magnalities (if space permitted) which this great God hath wrought even amongst the Indians, whereof there is some printed notice in the Memoirs of the Phil. Soc. in London, & how they are brought to grief now & then by blind-mouthed Christians. Yet one instance I will report, as abashed Sir W. Penn, when he was here last, Anno 1701 (if I remember rightly) wlien he wanted to preach to them of faith in the God of Heaven & Earth, at their Kintika (thus they call their festivity). After having listened to him with great patience, they answered : 'You bid us be- lieve in the Creator & Preserver of Heaven & Earth, thoughi you do not believe in Him yourself, nor trust in Him. For you have now made your own the land we held in common amongst ourselves & our friends. You now take heed, night and day, how you may keep it, so that no one inay take it from you. Indeed, you are anxious even be- yond your span of life, and divide it among your children. This manor for this child, that manor for that child. But we have faith in God the Creator & Preserver of Heaven & Earth. He preserveth the sun, He hath preserved our fathers so many moons (for they count not by years). He preserveth us, and we believe & are sure that He will also preserve our children after us, & provide for them, & be- cause we believe this, we bequeath them not a foot of land.' Whenever we shall be made worthy to see the many and varied dwellings in our Father's house (for who would be so simple, to say these dwellings were all of one sort), it is my belief we shall then see that the same Architect cared little about our common formula & systematic architecture. And, I trow, many disciples of Moses & Christ, when in want or dying, might be glad if they shall be received in
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" Restitution of all Things."
any of the huts, described above, by him, whom they per- haps accused of heresy in this life. I hope that God, who maketh happy both man and beast, & hath mercy on all his children, will, at last, make all men, as died in Adam, alive in the other. But life & death are further distinguished from change, so that those that have been made to live in Christ, must be delivered from the second death. I know that some cranks, spiriti Divines,, trouble & crucify themselves con- cerning this Lexion theologie (as they call it), but espe- cially the Reprobratites, because these (Restitution of all things) 22 cancel & crucify their dogmas so very frequently. Meseems, however, their little faith hath its origin in the misunderstanding of the word Eternity, which neither in Greek nor in Hebrew denoteth a time but an end, but rather the contrary as they have botlı singular & plural numbers, & Paul even speaketh of the birth of Eternities. But just as the luminaries of the firmament are the dimen- sions of our time, so it seemeth that the Eternities have, also, their dimensions, which, however, those (sensual Man's having not the spirit) cannot well see, wherefore allowance must be made, if they, perchance, judge hereof as the blind do of colors. But if the Lord from out His infinite plentitude should give them the spiritual mind, they will, no doubt, judge otherwise. How wroth I for- merly would wax toward those who would not accept the sayings of Schertzer or Calov 233 as Oracles. And I trust in
252 The doctrine of " Restitution of all Things" is still adhered to by the German Seventh-day Baptist Church in Pennsylvania, and who are the direct descendants of the secular congregation of the Ephrata Com- munity. They believe in " The full restoration of all things to the prime- val condition, as it was before the fall, by Christ, that they may be one as we are."
This is based on the following passages in the Holy Scriptures : Jolin xvii, 2; I Cor. xv, 28 ; Eph. i, 10.
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the infinite mercy of God (& your Magnificence also had great patience with me & to me, indeed, publicly, whereof I have since often been ashamed, but admired your Mag- nificence's humility & prudence), why should I then look with evil eye upon my blind neighbor, because God hath, perchance, showed me beforehand the abundance of His Mercy, by opening mine eyes before theirs ? Not to speak of, that I see but little fragments of the fraginentary work & the men of the creation as trees ! But, especially, because I hope to beconie one in God through Christ both with those who do not yet see as I do, and with those that see much better and farther than I.
" Although I proffer this common love in the brotherly love, yet the brotherly love, the Philadelphiac, remains with me on a firm foundation ; whence I was wronged, if I have been called a Quaker on account of the former (common love), or even furthermore, a Papist, as has been done by the Quakers in this country, as I was unwilling to enter the married state, however advantageous the connection, wherefore I was either a Jesuit or an Indian Deitist, although, by the grace of God, it is easy for me to be judged from a human standpoint. Nevertheless I have mercy on such untimely judges and condemners, who are oblivious of the express prohibition of Christ & Paul, though professing to be his disciples; therefore I can har- monize as little with the canon of the Anglical Church (Confession), as with the anathema of the Council of Trent,
253 Abraham Calovius (Kalau), born April 16, 1612, was one of the most celebrated divines of the 17th century, and a native of Morungen, in East Prussia ; died February 25, 1686, while General Superintendent and Pro- fessor of Divinity at Wittenberg. He was one of the leading controver- sional writers of the period, and as the representative of the scholastic and zelotic Luthierdom opposed the union of the Protestant Church, in consequence of which his followers were called Calovians.
THE PIETISTS OF PROVINCIAL PENNSYLVANIA.
D.JOANNES FABRICIVS Altdorfinns PORTRAIT OF MAGISTER FABRICIUS, TUTOR AND FRIEND OF KELPIUS.
FROM AN OLD COPPERPLATE AT HELMSTADT.
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The Anglican Faith.
though having no part in the errors mentioned. To the honor of the Anglical Church, I must confess, that they practice the Doctrine of universal grace much better than the Lutherans.
"Their 39 Theses, or Articles (I had almost said 40 less one) are so mild and general, that they can be accepted by any one, who is not too narrowminded and of too little faith. If any one amongst them have but a private view, as, for instance, concerning the universal restitution, the Millennium, the Metemptosis,256 etc., he is, on that account, not excommunicated forthwith, especially, if he make them but serviceable to the practice of piety, not for the instituting of Sects, although they deem the Quaker Sect the last, & that the Lord would now soon come to His Temple, forasmuch as the opinion concerning the Millen- nium is quite correct both amongst them and the Presby- terians, or Calvinists, both in Old and New England, as well as here, and even amongst the Quakers themselves a few years ago. It is consequently wrong to place all these into one category. The majority of them are just as worldly in their opinions, as any of the great divisions may be, & if all their members should be subjected to a particular examination on some points of Religion-the result would be, as amongst others-so many heads, so many opinions, as I have found out in mine own experience." [Here the letter ends abruptly. ]
Most of the letters in this volume are somewhat rhapso- dical, and filled with obscure illusions to mystical subjects and scriptural quotations.
A vein of true piety, however, pervades every missive, the whole being an evidence of the survival of superstition at that late day, strangely mningled with the observed facts
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of science, which, as a late writer states,234 is one of the curiosities of spiritual development in all times.
This unique book is now in the possession of Mr. Charles J. Wistar, of Germantown. Well-founded traditions state that some years after Kelpius' death the book was given to Johannes Wüster, an ancestor of the present owner, either by Seelig or by Matthai; most probably the latter, as Wüster cared for the old recluse in his declining years.
The other book contains a number of liymus, written botlı in German and English, and in most cases the musical score of the melody is neatly written at the commencement of the hymn, showing that Kelpius was a practical musician as well as a poet and philosopher. This hymn-book is about 5 x 71/2 inches in size, and is a specimen of Seelig's proficiency in the bookbinder's art. It was for many years in possession of the Warmer family of Germantown, and eventually passed successively into the hands of William W. Leibert, who gave it to A. H. Cassel, of Harleyville, Montgomery County, from whom it finally came into the collection of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, where it has now found a permanent resting place.
This unique volume of seventy pages contains twelve hymns and melodies. It is evidently a duplicate of a simi- lar manuscript collection, or else it is a compilation from loose sheets upon which were originally written such hymns as were in common use in the services at the Tabernacle. The hymns are written in German on the left hand pages, while on the opposite pages is an attempt at a metrical translation in English. The musical score as well as the hymns are all in the peculiar handwriting of Kelpius, and, like his diary, the book affords us an insight into his religious fervor.
254 Francis Howard Williams.
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Knorr von Rosenroth.
Most of the hymns are written somewhat after the style of the celebrated Cliristian Knorr, Baron von Rosenrotlı, 255 whose name is quoted in connection with the melody of several of the compositions.
Kelpius became acquainted with Knorr during his so- journ at the university, and it is supposed that he first intro- duced the youthful student into the secrets of Cabbalistic philosophy.
The title, together with a specimen page of the' Kelpius hymn book, in both German and English, is reproduced in fac-simile. An additional value is imparted to this quaint little book from the fact that it is evidently the first book of hymnology or German poetry and music that was com- posed and written in the western world. It is, however, just to state that Kelpius was not the only poet and com- poser among the original party of Theosophical emigrants ; Köster, as well as the Falkner brothers, also composed hymns that have survived until the present time, as will be shown in a future chapter.
The English translations are mere paraphases, and fail to convey the full fervor and meaning of the German original.
255 Christian Knorr, Baron v. Rosenroth, was born at Altrauden, in Silesia, July 15, 1636. After studying at the universities of Leipzig and Wittenberg, he made an extended tour through France, England and Holland. At Amsterdam he became acquainted with an Armenian prince ; with the chief Rabbi, Meir Stern, from Frankfort ; a M. Dr. John Light- foot, Dr. Henry More, and others, and as a result devoted himself to the study of Oriental languages, of chemistry and of occult and Cabbalistic philosophy. He edited various Rabbinical writings, published several Cabbalistical works, notably his Kabbala Denudata (2 vols. Sulzbach, 1677). He, however, is chiefly known by his hymns, published in Nurem- berg, 1684, under the title " Neuer Helicon Mit Seiner Neun Musen ; das its, Geistliche Sitten Lieder, &c." A number of these hymns were incor- porated in the Halle Hymnal, 1704 (Geistreicher Lieder), since when they have been translated into different languages, and are now used by nearly all Protestant denominations throughout the world.
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J. N.g The Lamenting :Voice of the Hidden Love, at the trine When the lay in Miery & for Jaken; and opres by the multitude of Her Eneries Composed by one In Kumber.
Mich: VII 8 9. 10
Rejoyce not against me C nune Every where I fall. IMall arife; when I fit in darkness, the Ford hud be a light unto me. I will bear the indignation of the LORD, Because I have finned agatyt kim until he plead my calfe, & exe- cute judgment for me: he will bring me forthe to the light, & I shall behold has righteousness. Then why She that is mine every hall feest. and home hall cover her which said unto me, Where is the LORD thy God? mane eyes full behold her : now Shall The be trodden down as the wire of the Streets
Hafter Liquifies Secret, or Hidden, & Hamon, multitude of troubles.
Pennsylvania in America 1705
19. That Cumber is, fre above, freld with a , i not with a C, has its peculiar Reason.
ENGLISH TITLE OF THE KELPIUS HYMN BOOK.
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Voice of the Hidden Love.
This applies to the titles as well as to the poetry. The titles are therefore given here in both languages :
The German title reads,-
"I. N. I. | Die Klaglige Stimme | der | Verborgenen Liebe || zur zeit da Sie | Elend und Verlassen | darnieder lag || und von | Der Menge ihrer Feinde gedranget und geanchstiget | Wurde von einemn in Kummer Schwebenden. | Entworfen."
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