USA > Pennsylvania > The German Pietists of provincial Pennsylvania : 1694-1708 > Part 4
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The party did not tarry long in the city ; the early Sab- bath morn, even before the sun rose in the east, found them on their way to "Germanopel," as Germantown was then called. Their path led up Second Street, then a mere country lane, due north to Fairhill ; thence northwest to the German settlement under Pastorius, where the "town" consisted of a few houses on a single street.
It took the party almost four hours to reach their goal, and the sun was well up on the horizon on that double holiday-" St. Johannis Tag," June 24th, (St. John the Baptist's Day) and Sunday-when the company filed into the village of their countrymen and inquired for the house of one Jacob Isaac Van Bebber,38 a native of Ciefeld on the Rhine, near the borders of Holland.
Here the weary travelers found a haven of rest. Their arrival had been long looked for by their host, and he forthwith secured for them shelter and sustenance.
Much anxiety had been felt by Van Bebber and his friends in Germantown on account of the non-arrival of
when brightly blazing, flowers, pine boughs and bones were thrown into the fire, and the esoteric rites and incantations were performed : these were for the purpose of allaying any possible pestilence or disease. The embers were then rolled down the hillside, indicative of the waning of the sun's power. The rites on the eve of the winter solstice consisted mainly in lighting resinous pine boughs giving an upward flame, denoting the grow- ing power of the sun. The custom of the present day of lighted tapers on the Christmas tree is a relic of this ancient rite. The object of this ceremonial was believed to be a sure safeguard against many evils. The practice still survives in some parts of Germany and may occasionally be witnessed in Pennsylvania.
38 Daniel Falkner, in his "Sendschreiben," notes : "We have here in Germantown a man by the name of Jacob Isaac, a native of Crefeld on the Rhine, near Holland. He was formerly a Mennonite, but he desires to depart with his whole house to acknowledge and abandon the follies, scandals, shortcomings and stains of his former religion."-" Penna. Mag.," vol. xi, p. 440.
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The Pietists of Provincial Pennsylvania.
this party. The long and uncertain ways of communica- tion at that early day precluded any news reaching them as to the causes of the delay before or after their embarka- tion. On account of the prevailing war with France, great fears were entertained that the party might have been captured and fallen into the hands of the enemy, or succumbed to the elements. But now all uncertainty was removed. The joyful feeling, however, was not confined to the residents of Germantown. Doubly thankful were these weary pilgrims that they had arrived safely at the end of their long and eventful journey on the natal day 39 of the Saint whose example they strove to follow by words and action.
39 In the whole calendar there are but two natal days, viz., St. John the Baptist's Day, June 24th, and Christmas Day, December 25th. All other saints' days are memorial days, which mark the day of their supposed martyrdom or deatlı.
21
C
SYMBOL FROM THEOSOPHICAL MS.
לִהרָח
全
PRIMA
MATERIA
THE CHAPTER OF PERFECTION.
e HIS party of emigrants-so different from the general mass of settlers who were then flocking from Germany to the Province of Pennsylvania- were not Quakers or Friends, although they are so considered in some of the old records ; but SYMBOL OF THE ESSENES.40 they were a company of Theoso- phical Enthusiasts-call them Pietists, Mystics, Chiliasts,41 Rosicrucians, Illuminati, Cathari,42 Puritans,43 or what you
PRIMA MATERIA, a Theosophical symbol from Rosicrucian MS., on folio 12, descriptive of " Eternity and the uncreated inscrutable" PRIMUM MOBILE (Primordial Motion, the first life-impulse ).
A Theosophical authority defines Materia Prima (primordial matter) A' Wasa, as a universal and invisible principle, the basic substance of which all things are formed. By reducing a thing into its prima materia and clothing it with new attributes, it may be transformed into another thing by him who possesses spiritual power and knowledge. There are several states of matter, from primordial down to gross visible matter ; some of the early philosophers therefore distinguished between materia proxima, materia remota and materia ultima .- Dr. Franz Hartmann in "Cosmology," Boston, 1888.
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The Pietists of Provincial Pennsylvania.
may-who in Europe had formed what was known accord- ing to their mystical dogmas as a "Chapter of Perfection," and then came to the western world to put into execution the long-cherished plan of founding a true Theosophical (Rosicrucian) community ; going out into the wilderness or desert, after the manner of the Essenes# of old, as also did
40 The serpent was not at first a personification of evil, but of wisdom and salvation, and was used as a symbol of immortal life. The symbol here reproduced is frequently met with in ancient sculptures, and sym- bolizes eternity, or a world without end.
41 Croese's "Quakeriana," p. 551 .- (Latin Edition.)
42 Cathari,-a mystical sect which dates back to the tenth or eleventh century ; the name is derived from the Greek, and signifies " the pure." It is from this name wlience came Ketzer, the German word for heretic. The Cathari regarded the exaltation of the soul over the moral nature, so as to become wholly absorbed in mystical contemplation, as the highest stage in the religious life of man.
Deep devotion of the heart in prayer and a life of purity connected with abstinence from carnal pleasure and from the use of stimulating food, were their exercises of piety.
It is claimed by somne writers that the Waldenses were an outconie of the original Cathari.
43 Puritans is here but another term for Cathari.
44 The Essenes,-a mystical Jewish sect, not mentioned in the Jewish or Christian scriptures, and concerning whom the only original sources of information are passages in the works of Joseplius, who lived about the time when the Essenes had reached their highest point of development. The notices of them ascribed to Philo are of doubtful authenticity. Even Hippolytus appears to have drawn liis account of them from Joseplius. They lived an anstere life in the solitudes on the western side of the Dead Sea, where they held their property in common, wore a white robe, prayed and meditated continually, made frequent ablutions, for the most part renounced marriage, and often practised medicine. According to Beller- mann (Berlin, 1821) the creed or chief doctrine of the Essenes was con- tained in the word "Love" (charity). This was divided into the "Love of God," the "Love of Virtue" and the "Love of their Fellow-man." > Especial stress was laid upon obedience to the law or governinent (obrig- keit), as all law emanated from God. Prayer, abstinence and labor were the chief features of their life. St. Jolin the Baptist is said to have been an active member of this Jewish sect of Mystical Theosophists.
39
The Theory of Mystic Numbers.
Moses, Elijah and other biblical characters, to perfect them- selves in holiness, thus preparing themselves for the millen- ium which they believed to be approaching ; or in case that their calculations should have misled them as to the ending of all things terrestial, the community would prove a nucleus from which the individual members would be qualified to come forth among men again as holy men, to convert whole cities and to work signs and miracles.
This party of religious enthusiasts, who were led by the noblest impulses, and whose hearts were filled with the sole desire to live a godly life and serve their fellow countrymen, as well as the aborigines, was under the leadership of Mag- ister Johannes Kelpius, with Heinrich Bernhard Köster as deputy magister, and Johann Seelig, Daniel Falkner, Daniel Lütke and Ludwig Biedermann as wardens or assistants, together with thirty-four brethren, all men of learning, making a total of forty, the symbolic number of "Per- fection."
[ In the theory of mystic numbers, unity is called the Monad, and is no number. It is the first ring in the chain of existence, and one of the qualifications which the ancient philosophers have given the Deity. Its symbol is the mathematical point. The figure 2 consists of repeated unity, which is no number, and is represented by the mathematically straight line, consequently is not perfect. The figure 4, however, is known as the equal perfect num- ber," and has been held in high esteem by all schools of mystic philosophers. This is explained by the fact that the simple figure not only represents the square of the re- peated unity (2X 2 == 4), and the product resulting from the
45 The number 4 derives its sacredness from concrete and material rela- tions, from external perceptions, and lias its application in the objective and phenomenal world .- " The Origin of Sacred Numbers."
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The Pietists of Provincial Pennsylvania.
addition with itself (2+2=4), but also the potential decade 1+2+3+4=10; it also forms the enclosed figure known as a true square, whenever 2 and 2 parallel lines are placed at right angles to each other. It is from these facts- properties which are not found in any other number-that the numeral has for ages past been held in reverence,46 and been the visible symbol of the Deity, and is constantly recurring in the symbolismn of every religious cult. It is also identified with justice, because it is the first square number the product of equals. Thus the name of the Deity is represented by four letters in all languages, the English language being the exception.
Whereas 4 represents the perfect Deity,47 the mysterious numeral 3, figured as the Triad by the equilateral triangle, · is the emblem of the attributes of God only, as it reunites the properties of the first two numbers.
40, the decade of the perfect number, is known as the number of perfection, to which the greatest importance has always been attached both in religious and esoteric lore. This is partly explained in the symbolical chart here re- produced. It forins the seventh folio of the Theosophical MS.]
46 Daniel G. Brinton, M.D., LL.D., in the "American Anthropolo- gist," April, 1894, states that among the aborigines throughout America the tribal mythologies, rites, ceremonies, beliefs are constantly and pro- foundly governed and moulded by this sacred number.
" As a type of Deity, we all know of the famous Hebrew title Tetra- grammaton, or incommunicable name, Jehovah, IHVH ; this name was disclosed by the Kabbalistic Rabbis as a blind to the populace and to hide their secret tenets.
" Almost all the peoples of antiquity possessed a name for Deity consist- ing of four letters, and many of them considered 4 to be a divine number." -W. Wynn Westcott, in "Numbers, their Occult Power and Mystic Virtue," p. 22.
The Theory of Mystic Numbers.
4
41
S
Ort der Wunder Baht 4.
Fftlich: Darum ROSE der herr, der erften Welt dien maht Fursig Fahr , Sas find 120. Jahr Stift und Soit his Wife gegeben ? 4 Endfil am 6.
to : Lus dem alten und neuen Seflament : Am alten Feltament':
Om neuen Fellament:
40' Sage mino Machte regnet 5, barbie Fund. 40. Vodou Strefie wie alle Storchen, in tutta fines auf was hin . Leibe gebildet 40. Jago banach, da die Funfun verlusten, 40.Tomat Ser Der auf Gren geprega un .? office of an Safter. Winter, gathan.
40. Sage und Nachte war Mlofco auf dem 'in 4-0. Farge und nachte in der Bulten gofalta und nr. Sinai.
Lucht worden.
40. Jahr waren die Kinder Sfrad in der Mi 40. Bundan or Mar Dinfue in Frale gelegar.
+0. Tige und Michice hotel lias C 40. Tage nach finer Mirforlidrung auf einer gerne.
for unblut in verflatenhabe - faxn Laßen 4.0. Tage hatte die Stan Linie Seit uno tain + O Jahr nach Christi Himmelfahrt ift Sice Start Sur Sprite. Jerusalén Safiohra vorder
Simona 3. mahl A jabl 40 ift die geheimbe
4
che mir, ich vergebe denn ich bin unreiner Sippen , diegeheim riffen aussufprechen. Csaia. 6.
SEVENTH FOLIO OF ROSICRUCIAN MS.
6
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The Pietists of Provincial Pennsylvania.
TRANSLATION.
Firstly .- Wherefore the Lord God vouchsafed to the first world 3 times 40 years; that is, 120 years of respite and time for repentance .- Genesis vi, 3.4
Further .- From the Old and New Testament.
IN THE OLD TESTAMENT.
40 days and nights it rained, as the deluge spread over the face of the earth.
40 days after the deluge the waters subsided, and Noah opened the Ark.
40 days and nights Moses sojourned upon Mount Sinai.
40 years the Children of Israel wandered in the desert.
40 days and nights were spent by Elias in fasting and prayer.
40 days were granted to the city of Nineveh for penance.
IN THE NEW TESTAMENT.
40 weeks Christ, like unto all inen, was forined in his mother's womb.
40 months the Lord preached on earth and performned miracles.
40 days and nights He fasted in the desert and was tempted. 40 hours Christ lay in the grave.
40 days after His resurrection He spent upon earth, and showed Himself in His glorified body.
40 years after Christ's ascension the city of Jerusalem was destroyed.
Result .- 3 times 4 times 40 is the secret interpretation.
Woe unto ine, I perish, for I am of too unclean tongue to proclaim the mystery .- Isaiah vi, 5.49
48 Ich will ihnen noch frist geben hundert und zwanzig Jahr (i.e., “zu leben und busse zu thun," Martin Luther) .- Basel Bible, ed. 1753.
19 An allusion to the sanctification of Isaiah for his prophetic station .- Basel Bible.
A & -2 Rom. I
PHISICAMETAPHISICA,
ET
HYPERPHISICA,
GERARD CROESE.
UT little is known from their ownl writings as to the immediate causes which led tliese men to take tlie monientous step, and for- sake their home and friends to come to America. A contemporary account in Latin, published at Am- sterdam in the year 1696,50 or two years after their de- parture, gives us a little in- ARMS OF HOLLAND, 1693. formation about this Chap- ter of Pietists. This record is of the greatest importance, as it shows the fact that the party were assisted on their journey by the Friends or Quakers then in Holland,-a fact
A & 22 (Alpha and Omega.)-The beginning and end of all things ; i. e., the beginning and end of all manifestation of activity and life in the Cosmos.
Phisica, Metaphisica et Hyperphisica, from title page of Theosophical Manuscript.
50 The first edition of Croese's "Quakeriana" was published in 1695. This edition is exceedingly rare: the only copy met with by the writer is
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The Pietists of Provincial Pennsylvania.
which was afterwards brought up to the detriment of some of their number at the yearly meeting at Burlington in 1695.51
A part of this account was evidently written before the company left England, while the concluding part dates froin some time in 1695, shortly after the receipt of the first letter or information from the Theosophical community in America.
The chronicler, Gerard Croese,52 a Protestant divine of Amsterdam, in his " Historia Quakeriana," Liber iii,53 states (translation, London, 1697) : "Among these new mystical Men there was HERZOGE ZVWVRTENIERG. one John Jacob Zimmerman, 54 pastor of the Lu- in the Dutchy a Man skilled in and, saving that ted of these ions, had all endowments of may be added ance of his Life, inferior to none, ARMS OF WURTEMBERG, A.D. 1693. considerable theran Church of Wirtemburg, Mathematicks, he had contrac erroneous opin other excellent mind, to which the temper wherein he was and who was of fame in the world ; Who, when he saw there was nothing but great danger like to hang over himself and his Friends, he invites and stirs up through his own hope about sixteen or seaventeen Families of these sort of Men, to prefer also an hope
in the archives of the German Society in Philadelphia ; it bears the im- print "Apud | Henricum & Viduam | Theodore Boom, 1695." Of the second edition (1696) there is a copy in the Historical Society of Pennsyl- vania, and another in the library of the writer.
51 Pemberton MSS., Smith's " History of the Province," Hazard's Reg- ister, vol. vi, No. 23.
52 Gerard Croese, a Protestant divine, born at Amsterdam in 1642. He studied at Leyden, whence he went with a son of the celebrated De Ruyter
45
John Jacob Zimmermann.
of better things, tho it were dubious before the present dan- ger, and forsaking their Country which they through the most percipitous and utmost danger, tho they suffered Death GERAR'DI CROESI HISTORIA QUAKERIANA, for the same, could not help and relieve as they supposed, and leaving their Inheritance, Sive De vulgo dićtis QUAKERIS, Abortu illorum ufque ad recens natum fchifma, LIBRI III. which they could not carry along with them, to depart and betake themselves into other parts of In quibus præfertim agitur de ipfo-' rum præcipuis antecefforibus & do- gmatis (uut & fimilibus placitis aliorum hoc tempore ) Factifque , accafibus, ' memorabilibus the world, even to Pensilvania, the Quakers Country, and there divide all the good and EDITIO SECUNDA Indice locupletior. evil that befell them between themselves, and learn the Lan- guages of that People, and Endeavour to inspire Faith and Piety into the same Inhabitants by their words and examples AM-STELODAMI, ANNO M. DC. IVC. which they could not do to these Christians here.
" These agree to it, at least so far as to try and sound the way, and if things did not go ill, to fortify and fit them- selves for the same.
" Zimmerman, having yet N. Koster 55 for his Colleague,
to Smyrna, and on liis return home became pastor of Alblasserdam, near Dort, where he died in 1710. He wrote the " History of the Quakers," printed in Dutch, 1694, and translated into English in 1696. It was answered by a Quaker work entitled " Dilucidationes quædam valdé Necessaria in Gerardi Croesii, Hist.," Svo. Croese wrote also a singular book, with the title of " Homerus Hebræus, sive Historia Hebræorum ab Homero," 1704, 4to. The intent of this work is to prove that the Odyssey contains the history of the Jews in the patriarchial ages, and that the Iliad is an account of the siege and capture of Jericho. He is chiefly known by his history of the Quakers, which went through several editions in Latin, English and German.
.
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The Pietists of Provincial Pennsylvania.
who was also a famous Man, and of such severe manners that few could equal him, writes to a certain Quaker in Holland who was a Man of no inean Learning, and very wealthy, very bountiful and liberal towards all the poor, pious and good :
" That as he and his followers and friends designed, (They are the very words of the Letter which is now in my Custody). To depart from these Babilonish Coasts, to those American Plantations, being led thereunto by the guidance of the Divine Spirit, and that seeing that all of them wanted worldly substance, that they would not let them want Friends, but assist them herein, that they might have a good Ship well provided for them to carry them into those places, wherein they might mind this one thing, to wit to shew with unanimous consent, their Faith and Love in the Spirit in converting of People, but at the same time to sustain their bodies by their daily Labour.
"So great was the desire, inclination and affection of this Man towards them, that he forthwith promised them all manner of assistance, and performed it and fitted them with a Ship for their purpose, and did out of that large Portion of Land he had in Pensilvania, assign unto them a inatter of two thousand and four hundred Acres, for ever of such Land as it was, but such as might be inanured, im- posing yearly to be paid a very small matter of rent upon every Acre, and gave freely of his own and what he got from his friends, as much as paid their Charge and Passage, amounting to an hundred and thirty pounds sterling; a very great gift, and so much the more strange, that that
53 P. 539, et seq. (English translation, vol. ii., p. 262, seq. ).
54 Zimmermann, p. 563, ibid, original edition.
55 This should be Henry Bernhard Köster.
47
The German Pietists.
same Quaker should be so liberal, and yet would not have his name mentioned, or known in the matter.56
" But when these Men came into Holland, they Sailed from thence directly for Pensilvania ; 57 Zimmerman sea- sonably dies, but surely it was unseasonable for them, but yet not so, but that they all did chearfully persue their Voy- age, and while I am writing hereof, I receive an account that they arrived at the place they aim at, and that they all lived in the same house, and had a publick Meeting three times every week, and that they took much pains, to teach the blind people to become like unto themselves, and to conformn to their examples."
Croese, in explanation, further states (English trans., vol. ii, p. 256) : "Moreover, there was in Germany, as it were, three sorts of Pietists (pardon the expression). One, which I have described, consists of those who sought, and pressed nothing else, but sincere Religion and true Piety; and the greatest part of those are among the Learned and better sort of men, through Saxony and all Germany.
"[Second. ]-Another sort of them was that cryed, That the Church was much Corrupted, and loved Piety; but such, who themselves on the other hand, stagger not a little in the Faith and True Religion, and these same are commonly less moderate and more violent in Celebrating their Assem- blies together.
"['Third. ]-The third sort of them was that which may be called Behmists or Teutonists ; 58 these called back, as it
56 Everything goes to point to Benjamin Furley as this charitable friend, who was also the agent of Wm. Penn at Rotterdam.
57 This an error ; the party went from Rotterdam to England, thence to America. Vide, p. 15, supra.
58 They were also known as Gichtelians or Gichtelianer, who were conspicuous for their silent, virtuous and benevolent life.
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The Pietists of Provincial Pennsylvania.
were, Jacob Behman,59 the Shoemaker of Garlingen in Si- lesia, from the Dead, who was called Tutonick, and did both Broach those Opinions, which had been really delivered by him, as also those Errors that had been falsely laid upon him, and ascribed to him, yea, and horrid and hellish Blasphemy, and cried them up as worthy of all Esteem and Glory."
59 Jacob Boehme, or Belimen, was one of the inost renowned mystics of modern times. Born in 1575 at Altseidenberg, a village near Görlitz, of poor parents, he remained to his tentli year without instruction and ein- ployed in tending cattle. He was then apprenticed to a shoemaker, and in 1594 he became a master shoemaker in Görlitz, married and continued a shoemaker all his days. Several visions and raptures led him to take up the pen. His first work appeared in 1616, and was called " Aurora." It contains his revelations on God, man and nature. Perhaps his most im- portant work is his " Description of the Three Principles of Divine Being." His works contain many profound and lofty ideas. He died, after several prosecutions and acquittals, in 1624.
Several complete sets of Boehme's works (Amsterdam edition, Gichtel, 1682, 10 vols. ) were brought over to America by Kelpius and his followers.
ONCORDIA RESPARVE CRESCUN
$ 3
ARMS OF THE UNITED NETHERLANDS, FROM AN OLD COPPERPLATE.
THE PIETISTS OF PROVINCIAL PENNSYLVANIA.
O
ROODOH
FR
XPO
LXXXVIKY IVRIL OFRICH OMJULIOO
EFFIGY OF JOHANNES TAULER IN THE FORMER CHURCH OF THE DOMINICANS AT STRASBURG, FROM A SKETCH MADE IN 18.10.
THE PIETISTS IN GERMANY.
J MIT was in the second ORE IS half of the sevenl- teenth century, dur- ing a marked period of 10 spiritual unrest which per- vaded Germany, that an h.AchtEPI.@ agitation was caused in German theological circles by the well-known divine Philip Jacob Spener, " who advocated a system of per- ANCIENT EPISCOPAL SKAL OF ERFURTH. sonal and practical piety, having for its central principle "That Christianity was first of all life, and that the strongest proof of the truth of its doctrine was to be found in the religious experience of the believing."
Organizations were formed which became known as "Collegia Pietatis," and the individual members as " Pie-
Greek monogram of Christ and symbol of salvation.
60 Philip Jacob Spener, born in Alsace, January 13, 1635 ; died in Ber- lin, February 5, 1705. As early as 1680 he formulated the dogma that only persons inspired by the Holy Ghost could understand the Scriptures, which produced many enthusiasts. For a time he lived in Dresden, afterwards in Berlin, where he held some ecclesiastical dignities.
7
50
The Pietists in Germany.
PHILIP JACOB SPENER, FROM AN OLD ENGRAVING IN THE FERD. J. DREER COLLECTION.
5I
The German Pictists.
tists," 61 and as Spener obviously based his dogmas upon the writings of Johannes Tauler, 62 these " Collegia" through- out Germany soon became homes for the mystics of all sorts-religious and speculative-with which continental Europe swarmed at the time.
Kl. Octubre. by6 May. Res. J. apull. @ pieces of official aulichfing Philips Inerlug Sponsored
AUTOGRAPH OF PHILIP JACOB SPENER, FROM DREER COLLECTION.
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