USA > Pennsylvania > The history of Pennsylvania : from its discovery by Europeans, to the Declaration of Independence in 1776 > Part 51
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In 1694, a sect of German pietists, forty-two in number, who were denominated " the society of the woman in the
* Endress's Account of the Tunkers. Mem. Penn. Hist. Soc. 73
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HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA.
wilderness," settled at the Ridge, not far from Germantown. They were principally men of education, whose peculiar and wild views of religion drove them from the universities of Germany, to seek among the American wilds some immediate and strange revelations. They believed in the near approach of the millenium: that the "woman in the wilderness," mentioned in Revelations, was prefigurative of the great de- liverance of the church of Christ, then about to be displayed: that, as she was " to come up from the wilderness, leaning on her beloved," so the beloved, becoming hermits, and laying aside all other engagements, should prepare for her reception, by adorning themselves with holiness; and should observe the signs of the times, if, peradventure, the " Harbinger" might appear. They taught that there was a threefold wilderness state of progression in spiritual holiness; the barren, the fruit- ful, and the wilderness state of the elect of God : the last of which, the highest degree of holiness, was to be attained by dwelling in solitude, or the wilderness. Thus Moses ac- quired his holiness by a preparation of forty years in the desert; and thus St. John was qualified, and Christ himself was prepared by his forty days' temptation in the wilderness: whence it was inferred, that holy men might be qualified to come forth again, to convert " whole cities," and to work "signs and wonders." With more good sense than usually accompanies such vagaries, these holy men waited for some satisfactory evidence of their apostolic qualifications, which not receiving, they were content to instruct such only as sought their haunts.
These enthusiasts retired to the woods, where they led the lives of hermits. This abstraction did not continue long with the major part of them. They returned to a communion with the world, and many of them abandoned all hopes of solitude and silence, wedding women who were not of the wilderness. A few, however, persevered; among whom were John Kel- pius, their leader, and John Seelig, his companion and pupil, and Conrad Matthias, a Swiss, who joined them in 1704.
Kelpius was a scholar, and, tradition says, a noble of an eminent family of Siebenburgen, or Transylvania. He was
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HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA.
well versed in the Hebrew, Greek, Latin, German, and Eng- Jish languages, in the last of which he wrote with a freedom and purity of style rarely attained by foreigners. And upon all topics, save his peculiar religious opinions, he reasoned acutely and soberly. He died in 1708, at the early age of thirty-five.
After the death of Kelpius, his faith was continued for many years by Seelig, who was remarkable for the firmness with which he resisted the temptations of the world, and for wearing a very coarse garment, similar to that worn by his predecessor. He was succeeded by Matthias, who was the last of the hermits, and who died about the year 1745. Though withdrawn from society, these men did not altogether aban- don the business of the world, and waste their lives in pious idleness. They devoted themselves gratuitously to the edu- cation and instruction of the poor, and many of the oldest deeds of conveyance in the neighbourhood are of the hand- writing of Seelig. These ascetics appear to have been all tinctured with judicial astrology and magic, and perhaps were known and feared as conjurers. Kelpius kept his diary by the signs of the zodiac, and Seelig told fortunes by casting nativities. Doctor Christopher Witt was also of the "so- ciety of the woman of the wilderness." He arrived in Penn- sylvania, with Conrad Matthias, in 1704, was distinguished as a practitioner of medicine, and as a magus, or diviner, or, in grosser acceptation, a conjurer. He was a student and believer in all the learned absurdities and marvellous preten- sions of the Rosie Crusian philosophy. His practice as a physician was extensive and profitable; but the ignorance and. superstition of his neighbours, probably rendered his profession of necromancy the more lucrative. His art was frequently employed in lifting for them the veil of futu- rity, discovering the secret depositories of stolen goods, de- tecting the thieves, and relieving the disorders and spells created by witchcraft. He lived a full century, and died in Germantown, in 1765. His doctor's cloak, and magician's wand, became the property of his apprentice, named Frai-
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HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA.
ley, whose reputation it is believed was never so great as his master's. *
Of the eccentric religious sects which Germany has en- gendered, none have been more distinguished than the Mora- vians, or " unitas fratrum." This society, by its services, and its relations with the Indians, has connected itself inti- mately with Pennsylvania history. It is indebted for its formation and success to count Zinzendorff. He, in early youth, was deeply impressed with religious sentiments, and was ambitious to become the founder and director of a reli- gious community. Soon after attaining his majority, in 1721, he collected a number of persons on his estate at Berthelsdorff, in Upper Lusatia. He was joined here by some Moravian families, led by Christian David, who, it is said, left their homes with the design of settling in Pennsylvania, but stopped at Berthelsdorff, under, the assurance that they might there enjoy religious freedom. In 1732, the society at that place had increased to six hundred. From the name of an adja- cent hill, called Huth-berg, they styled their dwelling "Herrn- huth," interpreted, the "guard of the Lord," and the members received the appellation of Herrnhutters. But, as a large proportion of the brethren were from Moravia, the count claimed for his society Moravian parentage, and boast- ed its descent from those Bohemians and Moravians, who, long before Luther, opposed the Roman church, and who were originally from the Greek church, and afterwards con- nected with the Waldenses.
The declared faith of the unitas fratrum was Lutheran: but its discipline, religious practices, and forms of worship, were peculiar to itself. The fraternity was divided into classes of married men, married women, widowers, widows, bachelors, maids, and children. Each class had its director, chosen by the members, whose duty was to examine and re- port daily to the elders the religious and temporal state of its constituents. Frequent assemblies were holden by each
* For the foregoing account of the " society of the woman of the wil- derness," I am indebted to the meritorious collection of Mr. I. F. Wat- son, in the possession of the Pennsylvania historical society.
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HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA.
ass, and by the society. The overseers or directors had so private meetings, for the instruction of each other in he guidance of souls. The classes were severally divided nto such as were spiritually dead, awakened, ignorant, will- ng disciples, and disciples who had made progress; proper ssistance was given to all, especially to those who were spi- itually dead. Great attention was paid to the nurture and ducation of youth; and meetings were holden for children carce able to walk, at which hymns were sung and sermons preached.
The society was governed by the elder, co-elder, and vice- elder, over whom count Zinzendorff, by various titles, con- ferred at different times, held almost uncontrolled influence. He exercised clerical functions, and, for a short season, was their bishop. That'office, however, gave no authority; and the difference between the bishop and other ministers, consisted only in the power to give ordination. Claiming for himself and the superiors of the fraternity, a mysterious connexion with Christ, whose will, in relation to the society, was com- municated through them, he required and received implicit obedience from the members. This will was ascertained among the rulers, on doubtful occasions, by casting of lots. To the elders belonged the sole right of making marriages, which they also determined by lot. Whilst the tunkers of Ephrata looked only to a spiritual marriage with the Saviour, and prohibited a carnal union with each other, the Moravian brethren taught, that marriage was not only permissible, but was a duty of the highest obligation; that all souls are of the feminine gender; and the sex of the male an office imposed in this probationary state. "Jesus," they said, "is the spouse of all the sisters, and the husband, in the most proper sense, his procurator: the sister is conducted by him to Jesus, and the husband thus becomes her saviour in this world, and is therefore, as the representative of Christ, entitled to all honour." Their enemies have, we believe, falsely, charged the brethren with celebrating their marriages by grossly im- pudent exhibitions. *
* See Rimius.
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HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA.
A great part of their worship consisted in singing. Their hymns, like those of the tunkers, contained many passionate expressions and sensual images. They had great faith in the efficacy of prayer : persons were appointed, who, by rotation, continued to pray for the society through all the hours of the day and night. The devotion of the society was frequently revived and enlightened by agapes, or love-feasts.
The community professed adherence to the confession of Augsburg; but they admitted to their communion Calvinists, and every other sect willing to conform to their discipline. They denied the lawfulness of oaths, and the use of arms; but, after having obtained an act of parliament to protect them in these scruples in America, they in 1764 assumed arms to defend themselves against the savages.
The society grew rapidly, and established churches in Ger- many, the United Provinces, the British European dominions, in Greenland, in several of the West India islands, and in Pennsylvania. In 1749, it had thirty thousand members, and employed one thousand missionaries, who were indefati- gable in spreading the light of the gospel and the blessings of civilization among the heathen.
The Swenckfelders, who settled in Pennsylvania, originally proposed to establish themselves in the province of Georgia. Upon the abandonment of their plan, the lands designed for them were offered to, and accepted by, the Moravian brethren, who, in 1734, sent out a colony, by the way of London, to found a settlement on the Ogeeche river. In the succeeding summer, another colony, led by David Nitschman, was esta- blished at Savannah. But, in 1738 and 1740, being required by the government of Georgia to take up arms against the Spa- niards, the brethren abandoned their flourishing possessions, and removed to Pennsylvania. In 1739, they obtained an act of parliament, permitting them to substitute an affirmation for an oath, and granting them immunity from military service, on the payment of a rate assessed. Those who first arrived in Pennsylvania, seated themselves, by invitation from Mr. Whitfield, on a tract of land he had purchased for the esta- blishment of a negro school, and to which he had given the
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HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA.
name of Nazareth. This they were compelled to leave in 1740, by the discontent of the Indians. Soon after, on the arrival of the remainder from Georgia, under bishop Nitsch- man, the brethren purchased a tract of about four thousand acres on the Lehigh river, where, in 1741,* they laid the foundation of the present town of Bethlehem. Two years afterwards, they also purchased of Mr. Whitfield the tract at Nazareth.
In December, 1741, count Zinzendorff visited Pennsylva- nia, and commenced his missionary labours at Germantown. He invited the governor to send to his meetings, witnesses, understanding the English and German languages, who might report their true character. He preached with great success, and received a call, as a Lutheran minister, to the church in Philadelphia, on the nineteenth of May, by the name of Mons. De Thuernstein, a divine of Turbingen. He assumed this name, belonging to the counts of Zinzendorff, and a few days after laid down his title of count, in presence of the governor, and a respectable assemblage of citizens, " that his rank and title might not be maltreated, to the disadvantage and dissatisfaction of his family, through the reproach and calumnies, which he, as a servant of Christ, neither could nor would avoid." His call was not an harmonious one. Divi- sions grew in the church, and his adjunct, Christopher Pyr- lous, was dragged from the pulpit of the reformed Lutherans, in Philadelphia. The count presided at several conferences, at which he endeavoured, not very successfully, to unite the several German sects in Pennsylvania. And he displayed great zeal and industry in visiting and converting the Indians; but · the number of his converts was inconsiderable. In this la- bour, Conrad Weiser served him as interpreter. In 1643, he returned to Europe, having animated the zeal of the bre- thren for the propagation of their faith.
The industry, economy, and morality of these pious men, tended greatly to promote their increase in numbers and wealth. Beside the towns of Bethlehem and Nazareth, settlements
* March 9th.
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were commenced at several places in their vicinity: at Gna- denhutten, Gnadenthal, Friedenshal, Christiansbrun, and else- where; they had a church and congregation at Philadelphia, another at Lancaster, and a fine establishment, called Litz, in the neighbourhood of the latter city. They had colonies also in New York, New Jersey, and North Carolina. Their town of Bethlehem consisted of private houses, in which the mar- ried members of the fraternity resided; quoir houses, large and spacious, for the several unmarried classes of the commu- nity, and the congregational inn, reputed one of the best in the province. Music was the chief amusement of the bre- thren, and their principal medium of devotion, and they ac- quired great skill in that delightful art.
The great success of the society in the education of youth of both sexes, occasioned them to be extensively employed in this delicate and important trust, at Bethlehem and Litz; public schools having been established by them at both places.
The Moravian labours for the conversion of the Indians, though unremitted, have not been very successful. In 1772, not more than seven hundred and twenty Indians had been baptized, after the exertions of thirty years. But several tribes have been instructed by them in the arts of civilization, and we would fain hope have been improved in their moral condition.
IV. The financial system of Pennsylvania was simple in its construction, and inconsiderable in the amount of its pro- duct. The population, in 1776, was estimated at above three hundred thousand souls. The annual expense of the govern- ment, the burdens arising from the war and county and town- ship expenses not included, was 32907. currency, equal to $8774 66; imposing a contribution of less than thirty cents on each inhabitant, for the ordinary charges.
The extraordinary charges were temporary, and were oc- casionally considered heavy, and produced some murmurs. The war of 1756, with the French, and that of 1764, with the Indians, created a large debt, exceeding 500,0007., which required a long continuance of taxes to discharge. The an- nual provincial income may be stated at 42,1207., which, after
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HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA.
deducting the necessary sum for the ordinary expenditure, was appropriated to the reduction of the debt, by the redemp- tion of the bills of credit which had been issued for tempo- rary purposes. Taxes for county and township objects, were levied at the discretion of the inhabitants of those districts respectively .*
* The following statement of the provincial charges and income, was made by governor John Penn, in 1767, in a letter to the earl of Shelburne, and is entered on the minutes of council:
Ordinary charges:
Lieutenant-governor's salary,
£1000
-
Chief justice, do. 200
100
Attorney-general,
75
Clerk of council,
15
1390
Assembly,
800
Do. for extra services to sundry members, principally for preparing bills,
150
Provincial agent, 350
Clerk of assembly,
200
Printing,
100
Postage,
70
Keeper of great seal, for affixing seal to laws,
15
Clerk of governor's council, on account of warrants,
15
Master of rolls, for recording laws,
30
Barrack-master at Philadelphia,
50
Do 'at Lancaster,
40
Clock-maker, for care of clock,
50
Doorkeeper to council,
5
Do. to assembly,
25
-1900
£3290
Provincial receipts:
Interest on loan of 150,000l., at 5 per cent.,
£7,500
Excise on wine, spirits, &c. at 4d. per gallon,
5,000
Tax on real and personal estate, and polls,
28,000
Duty on negroes,
650
Duty on tonnage, at 6d. per ton, specially appro- priated to the maintainance of a light and buoys in the bay, 970
€ 42,120
74
Puisne judges of the supreme court,
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HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA.
V. The tonnage of Pennsylvania was estimated, in 1774, at 46,972 tons; and there were entered and cleared at the port of Philadelphia in the preceding year, four hundred and twenty-six square rigged vessels, and three hundred and seventy sloops and schooners. Her exports, consisting of the produce of the colonies generally, and of articles from the West Indies, Madeira, and Canary Isles, amounted, on the average of three years, ending with 1773, to 712,000/. ster- ling, of which only about 37,000l. was directly to Great Bri- tain. Her imports, on a like average, amounted to 600,0001. per annum, of which 426,448l. were from Great Britain. The chief articles of export were grain, flour, flaxseed, timber, iron, in pigs and bars, beef and pork. The balance in favour of Great Britain was paid by the proceeds of shipments to the West Indies, Portugal, Spain, and the Mediterranean, made in vessels built in Pennsylvania; the latter were frequently sold with their cargoes, and formed a large item of the export trade, not included in the custom house reports. In 1772-3, there were exported, of flour, three hundred and twenty-five thousand barrels; of bread, forty-eight thousand one hundred and eighty-three; of wheat, one hundred and eighty-two thousand three hundred and ninety-one bushels; of Indian corn, one hundred and seventy-nine thousand two hundred and seventeen bushels; of beef, pork, and hams, nine thou- sand six hundred and forty-nine barrels; of iron, one thousand five hundred and sixty-four tons; of flaxseed, eighty-eight thousand two hundred and ninety-five bushels, &c .*
The restrictions of Great Britain on American com- merce were many and burdensome. So early as 1621, an order of the king in council declared that no tobacco or other productions of the colonies should be carried into any foreign ports, until they were first landed in England, and the duties paid thereon. In 1651, the celebrated navigation act, to which England owes much of her commercial and maritime great- ness, was passed. This act, confirmed by the 12 Charles II.
* The reader may find in 2 Proud, 271, some instructive statistical tables, of exports from the province. We have given above the chief articles which were of Pennsylvania origin.
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HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA.
1660, restricted the trade with the plantations, as well as with other parts of the world, to English built ships belonging to English subjects; with the exception of such articles of mer- chandise as should be imported directly from the original places of their growth or manufacture in Europe, only. The latter act directed, that sugars, tobacco, cotton, wool, indigo, ginger, fustic, and other dye-woods, should be carried only to England, Ireland, or Wales, or to other British planta- tions; and subsequent acts of parliament, included in the list of prohibited commodities, most other articles of commerce. Not contented with thus confining the colonial export trade to the parent country, parliament, in 1663, limited their im- port trade in the same manner, declaring " that no commodity of the growth or manufacture of Europe shall be imported into any of the king's plantations, which are, or shall be, in Asia, Africa, or America, but what shall have been shipped in England, Wales, or town of Berwick, and in English built shipping, whereof the master and three-fourths of the marines are .English, and carried directly thence to the said planta- tions."
The policy of establishing colonies is declared, by the pre- amble of that act, " that they might be beneficial and advan- tageous to England, in the employment and increase of English shipping and seamen, the vent of English woollens, and other manufactures and commodities, rendering the navi- gation to and from the same safe and cheap, and making this kingdom a staple not only of the commodities of those plan- tations, but also of other countries and places supplying them." More effectually to enforce this act, the governors of the colonies were required to take an oath to do their utmost to cause the same to be obeyed; and if, after having taken such oath, they failed in the duty imposed by it, they were not only to be removed from office, and be rendered incapable of governing any colony, but were to forfeit one thousand pounds. These acts still left the trade and intercourse be- tween the colonies free; but this privilege remained to them for a short period only. In 1672, duties were imposed on many commodities transported from one colony to another.
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HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA.
The same jealous spirit which confined the commercial energies of the colonies, restricted their advancement in manu- factures and the arts. The handicrafts, which were indispensa- ble for the supply of agricultural implements, the purposes of simple architecture, and other primitive wants, took vigorous root in Pennsylvania immediately on the foundation of the city. Many of the first settlers were mechanics, who found ample employment in supplying the wants generated by the rapid progress of the infant city. The Indian trade supplied furs for hatters, and skins soon became abundant for the work- ers in leather. The wood of the country, its walnut, maple, oak, ash, and cherry, furnished material for carpenters, joiners, wheel-wrights and wagon makers; and in the skill of their imported servants, especially the Germans, the colonists soon found the means to supply almost all their wants of first necessity, with many of the comforts and some of the luxu- ries of the mechanic arts. So remarkable was the industry and success of the colonists in these branches, that complaints were made to parliament by interested individuals, that their progress was detrimental to Great Britain. The parent state, with great maternal kindness to her children at home, but with the indifference of a step-mother for those abroad, readily adopted measures to check their envied prosperity. So early as 1699, the wool, yarn, and woollen manufactures of the colonies were forbidden " to be shipped there, or even laden, in order to be transported from thence to any place what- ever." And in 1719, the commons declared, "that the erecting manufactories in the colonies tended to lessen their . dependance on Great Britain." In 1732, hats were subjected to the same restrictions as woollen manufactures, and hatters were forbidden to employ more than two apprentices at once, or any black or negro, at their trade, or to make hats, unless they had served an apprenticeship of seven years. In 1750, whilst pig and bar iron were allowed to be imported, duty free, to Great Britain, the colonists were denied the privilege of erecting any mill or other engine for slitting or rolling iron, or any plating forge to work with a tilt hammer, or any
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HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. " 1
furnace for making steel, under the penalty of two hundred pounds. The restrictions on the manufacture of iron were grievous, and were frequently complained of; but the prohi- bition to export manufactures of wool and fur, were not onerous in a country which consumed much more than its own labourers could supply, and did not at all interfere with domestic manufactures, properly so called. In Pennsylvania every substantial farmer, and most of his labourers, manufac- tured their ordinary clothing; strong linen shirts, striped linseys, and coarse, but strong and durable cloths, left them in no want of foreign aid, except for the holyday suit. Among the exports of Pennsylvania, immediately prior to the revo- lution, loaf sugar, soap, candles, beer and starch, in conside- rable quantities, are enumerated ; and we may also mention again, the noble manufacture of ships, which distinguished the city. The extensive manufacture of ships includes many accessaries. The smith, the rope-maker, sail-maker, carpen- ter, joiner, &c. must have possessed skill and capital to attain the distinguished reputation they enjoyed.
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