Quaker meeting-house. It is kept beautifully clean.[82] Opening out of it
is a kitchen, furnished with the apparatus for cooking and serving the
simple repasts of the love-feasts. Among these Baptists, love-feasts are
held not only, as I understand, in a similar manner to the other Dunkers,
but upon funeral occasions,—a short period after the interment of a
brother or sister. Rupp speaks of their eating lamb and mutton at their
paschal feasts. In the old monastic time, it was only at love-feasts that
the celibate brothers and sisters met.
Here I was shown a wooden goblet made by the brethren for the Communion.
It has been said that they preferred to use such, even after more costly
ones had been given to them.
After attending the religions services in the chapel, three or four of
us—strangers—were supplied with dinner in the brother-house, at a neat
and well-filled table.[83]
I afterward sat for an hour in the neat and comfortable apartment of
Sister Sarah in the sister-house. Here she has lived twenty-two years,
and, though now much advanced in life, has not that appearance. She
seemed lovely, and, I was told, had not been unsought. One of her
brothers has been thirty-three years at the Snow Hill community.
Sister Sarah produced for me a white cotton over-dress, such as was
formerly worn by the sisters. It was a cap or cowl, with long pieces
hanging down in front and behind nearly to the feet; and, if I remember
it right, not of the pattern described in the Chronicle. But fashions
change in fifty to a hundred years.
She also showed me some verses recently written by one of the brethren at
Snow Hill. They were in German, of which I offer an unrhymed version:
“Oh divine life, ornament of virginity!
How art thou despised by all men here below!
And yet art a branch from the heavenly throne,
And borne by the virgin Son of God.”
I was surprised to find such prominence given to the idea of the merits
of celibacy, for I had not then seen the _Chronicon Ephratense_.
One object which especially attracted my attention was an upright clock,
which stood in the room of Sister Sarah, and which was kept in very good
order. It was somewhat smaller than the high clocks that were common
forty or fifty years ago.
All that I heard of its history was that it had come from Germany. It had
four weights suspended on chains. Above the dial-plate hovered two little
angels, apparently made of lead, one on either side of a small disk,
which bore the inscription “Hoeckers a Creveld,”—as I interpret, made by
the Hoeckers at Crefeld. Crefeld,—historic town! Here then was a relic of
it, and standing quite disregarded,—it was only an old German clock!
When the Dunkers were persecuted in Europe, soon after their
establishment, some of them took refuge in Crefeld, in the duchy of
Cleves; and I have lately read that in Crefeld, Mühlheim, etc., William
Penn and others gained adherents to the doctrine of the Quakers.[84]
We also find in the American Cyclopædia that at Crefeld (Ger. _Krefeld_),
a colony of Huguenot refugees in the seventeenth century introduced the
manufacture of silk—Dunkers and Quakers; perhaps also Huguenots fleeing
from France when Louis XIV. revoked that edict of Nantes which had so
long protected them. (Crefeld is now in Rhenish Prussia.)
Who were the Hoeckers, or who was the Hoecker that made this old
clock?[85] Who bought it in historic Crefeld? Who brought it from Europe,
got it up into Lancaster County, and lodged it in the monastery or
nunnery at Ephrata? What, if anything, had Ludwig Hoecker or Brother Obed
to do with it—he who taught the early Sabbath-school? What tales could it
not tell! But it is well cared for in the comfortable apartment of the
kindly sister.
The Snow Hill settlement, I presume, is named from the family of
Snowberger,[86] one of whom endowed the society. It is situated on the
Antietam, in Franklin County, Pennsylvania; where a large farm belongs
to “the nunnery” (an expression that I heard at Ephrata). There were,
until lately, five sisters and four brothers at Antietam, but one of the
brethren has died.
The brethren have sufficient occupation in taking care of their property;
the sisters keep house, eating in the same apartment at the same time
with the brothers. Under these circumstances I could imagine the comfort
and order of the establishment, and think of the brothers and sisters
meeting in a cool and shaded dining-room. What question then should I be
likely to ask? This one: “Do they never marry?”
I was told that marriages of the brothers and sisters (celibates) are
not unknown; but I also understood that such a thing is considered
backsliding. Persons thus married remain members of the church, but must
leave the community, and find support elsewhere.[87]
In an article by Redmond Conyngham (Hazard’s Register, vol. v.) will
be found the statement that the “President of the Dunkers” says, “We
deny eternal punishment; those souls who become sensible of God’s great
goodness and clemency, and acknowledge his lawful authority, ... and that
Christ is the only true Son of God, are received into happiness; but
those who continue obstinate are kept in darkness until the great day,
when light will make all happy.” According to Dr. Fahnestock, however,
the idea of a universal restoration, which existed in the early days, is
not now publicly taught.
The observance of the Seventh day as a sabbath must always be onerous, in
a community like ours. Hired people are not required by the Siebentaeger
(or Seventh-Day men) to work on Saturday; and, unless of their own
persuasion, will not work on Sunday.
It has been said that the customs at Ephrata resembled the Judaic ones;
and Endress says that they consider baptism similar to purification in
the Mosaic law,—as a rite which may be repeated from time to time when
the believer has become defiled by the world, and would again renew his
union with Christ. But Miller says (1790), “Our standard is the New
Testament.”[88]
Fahnestock says that they do not approve of paying their ministers; and
it seems that the women, or at least the single sisters, are at liberty
to speak in religious meetings.
In the correspondence of one of our Lancaster papers of 1871, there
was given the following account: “Ephrata, May 21.—The Society of the
Seventh-Day Baptists held their semi-annual love-feast yesterday, when
one new member was added to the society by immersion. In the evening the
solemn feast of the Lord’s Supper was celebrated, the occasion attracting
a large concourse of people,—only about half of whom could obtain seats.
The conduct of a number of persons on the outside was a disgrace to an
intelligent community.”
The article also mentions preachers as present from Bedford, Franklin,
and Somerset Counties. However, the whole number of the Seventh-Day
German Baptists, in our State, is very small.
* * * * *
The foregoing article is published nearly as it appeared in the second
edition of this volume. In the present year, 1882, Mr. Adam Konigmacher
Fahnestock, of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, has lent me a little memorial
which he had prepared of his own family. A passage in it seems to
elucidate the history of the clock at Ephrata, which bears on its face
“Hoeckers a Creveld.” On St. John’s day, November 13, 1753, Diedrich
Fanestuck writes to his brother in Prussia. (The letter is said to have
been written near Ephrata.) He writes that his son, who is going to
Europe, will stop at Crefeld, “where he is to have some clocks made for
us.” He adds, “I pray you to write again. You may send the letters to
Crefeld, there are three brothers living there, Wilhelmus, Christophorus,
and Lucas Heckers, to them you might send them.”
In a foot-note A. K. Fahnestock says, 1878, October 17: “I had the
pleasure this day of seeing one of those clocks (seven feet high), still
showing the time of day. It is in the ‘sister-house’ at Ephrata.” (The
preposition a on the clock, Hoeckers a Creveld, would seem to indicate
that this Hoeckers were French refugees. Perhaps with a translated name.)
* * * * *
In this year, 1882, the writer of this volume again visited Ephrata. One
of her acquaintance spoke to her of the community at Snow Hill, on the
Antietam. She said, “It’s a large nunnery, and the rooms are all empty;
there’s hardly any one there.” She added, however, that there are a good
many married Seventh-Day Baptists at Snow Hill.
The old buildings at Ephrata, the brother- and sister-house, are still
kept in sufficient repair to make inmates comfortable, and are occupied
by unmarried women, widows, and families; not all Seventh-Day Baptists.
The farm belonging to the Baptists contains about eighty acres.
As I drew near one of these buildings on Sunday, I saw washed clothes
hanging out. Saturday is the Sabbath of these Baptists, and like the rest
of the world it appears that such begin their week with washing.
The little community at the time of my visit was grievously exercised
over a lawsuit among the members. The matter had been referred to a
master in chancery, who thus speaks of them in his report: “At the
time of the commencement of the differences from which has sprung the
present controversy, and for some years previously, the members of the
society in regular attendance at its meetings, and habitually observant
of its religious ordinances, were in number about thirty, of whom not
less than three-fourths appear to have been women. They seem to be an
uneducated or but slightly educated people, in narrow circumstances as
to property, the male members being in general mechanics and laboring
men, resident in and about the village of Ephrata, in this county, and a
considerable proportion of all the members, male as well as female, being
dependent for subsistence either wholly or partially upon the funds of
the society. They do not appear to have formulated specifically articles
of faith or rules of discipline, but profess to take for their guidance
simply the Bible and New Testament, and the distinctive features of their
practice are, their observance of the seventh day of the week instead of
the first as the Sabbath; the administration of the rite of baptism by
trine immersion, with forward action, in a stream of flowing water; and
by the love-feasts held annually at their communion, and lasting from
Friday evening until Sunday morning, at which food is provided for all
members, as well as all strangers who may choose to attend the meeting;
and by the washing of each other’s feet by the members, previously to the
breaking of bread at the communion.... The church at Ephrata, it should
be mentioned, is one of four branches, as they are called, of the society
of [German?] Seventh-Day Baptists. The other three being established,
respectively, at Snow Hill, Bedford, and Alleghany, in this State.”
BETHLEHEM AND THE MORAVIANS.
On August 22, 1873, as I stood upon the tower of Packer Hall, Lehigh
University, I saw spread out before me the whole of Bethlehem, with
furnaces, railroads, bridges, churches, schools; and the rolling country
and cultivated fields of Northampton and Lehigh Counties. Pointing to a
wooded hill, my little guide said, “That is Iron Hill, where iron ore
comes from.”[89]
In the first house built at Bethlehem, on the 24th of December, 1741,
Zinzendorf and his companions celebrated their first Christmas Eve in
America. I saw in the town a picture, by Grünewald, of the house in
which they met,—a long, one-story log house, with overhanging eaves,
the unbroken forest behind admirably expressing the loneliness of the
situation. In the beginning, one end of this building was for cattle, as
in Switzerland and other parts of South Germany.
When this first house was newly erected, Zinzendorf visited it, and on
Christmas Eve he went with others into the stable and sang,—
“Nicht aus Jerusalem, sondern Bethlehem
Aus dem kommt, was mir frommt.”
or, in prose,
“That which is profitable to me comes not from Jerusalem, but
from Bethlehem,”—
and thus the new-born _town_ was named Bethlehem.
“The material treasures of the Lehigh valley,” says a Moravian bishop,
“the national rage of hastening to be rich, will, I fear, too much
overgrow the spiritual interests of the people.”
Since Zinzendorf entered the log cabin of Bethlehem one hundred and
thirty years have passed by, and four or five generations of mortal men.
Other changes too have befallen the Moravians. For twenty years they
lived in an _economie_, or associated like one family. That strict rule,
which afterwards kept the unmarried in brother- and sister-houses, has
since been annulled, and no vestige of it remains here but in the custom
of sitting in church, the brethren on one side, and the sisters on the
other. And this is not universal: families sit together.
In like manner has disappeared here the custom of appealing to the lot,
which formerly prevailed even in matters so solemn as marriage.[90]
The plainness of apparel which distinguished the Moravians has
disappeared also. Once even the young ladies who studied at the
boarding-school were obliged to wear the peculiar Moravian dress.
In the Historical Collection at Nazareth are preserved thick muslin caps,
such as the women once wore, with peculiar pieces, like a scallop shell,
to cover the ears. Those tasteful little caps now worn by the young women
in the choir, and the neat ones worn by the sisters who serve at the
love-feasts, can scarcely keep up the memory of those of olden time.
Once the Moravians did not take oaths, but obeyed literally the command,
“Swear not at all;” but now judicial oaths are permitted.
Formerly, the bulk of the real estate belonged to the church, and
none could buy who were not members; but this rule has been broken,
and _foreigners_ have been allowed to buy land in Bethlehem and other
Moravian towns.[91]
One trait, which has hitherto remarkably distinguished them, still
exists, namely, a great missionary zeal. In 1873 a gentleman gave
the numbers of the Moravians at seventy thousand baptized missionary
converts, to twenty-three thousand home members in Europe and America. On
this estimate the missionary converts are more than three to each of the
members in the other lands.[92]
At Bethlehem a considerable landed estate belongs to the Church,
whence is drawn an income of about eighteen thousand dollars. All
the institutions of learning here, including the Young Ladies’
Boarding-School, belong to the Church, and the teachers are its salaried
officers.
The different provinces of the Church, the American, English, and German,
are like separate States of our Union, their general head meeting or
residing in Saxony. This general synod still, in some respects, gives
rules to our Pennsylvania Moravians; and one of the bishops says that the
Moravian is the only Protestant Church which is a unity throughout the
world.
FESTIVALS.
My first visit to Bethlehem occurred at Whitsuntide,—Whitsunday or
Pentecost falling upon June 1. As early as half-past seven there was
music from the steeple of the large Moravian church, from a choir of
trombone players. This instrument, which is of the trumpet kind, is much
in use among the Moravians for church music,[93] the choir generally
consisting of four pieces.
In the morning I went to the large church, in which English services are
held. In this church there were no pews, or rather, there were “open
pews” without doors. Soon after the opening of the services, passages
of Scripture were read alternately, a verse by the preacher, and one
by the congregation. Afterwards the Apostles’ Creed was repeated in
concert. Also a litany was read; for the Moravians, if in some things
they resembled Quakers, were very far from them in discarding outward
forms.[94]
There was in the morning no public extemporaneous prayer, nor any prayer
in the printed service, except the litanies.
Notice was given that the anniversary of the Female Missionary Society
would be celebrated in the afternoon by a love-feast, and that the
Communion would be held in the afternoon in the German language, and in
the evening in the English.
The love-feasts of the church, which are numerous,—fifteen in the course
of the year,—are religious meetings accompanied by a simple refection of
coffee, and rusks or buns. They are founded, it seems, upon a passage
in Jude, and are intended to set forth by a simple meal, of which all
partake in common, that there is no respect of persons before the Lord.
The religious services upon the present occasion consisted of singing and
prayer, and some remarks were made by a gentleman who had formerly been
a missionary in Jamaica. In a calm manner, mothers were urged to devote
their children to the missionary service, rather than to active business
(worldly) employments.
The love-feast coffee is celebrated. As it was brought in, diffusing its
odor through the church, there was singing in the German language. It was
handed in white mugs by one of the brethren, and the rusks, which were
light and good, were presented in a basket by a sister.
After the address was over, neatly dressed sisters, as well as brethren,
passed among the congregation and collected the coffee mugs upon wooden
trays.[95]
* * * * *
In a manner similar to this just described, the Moravians celebrate upon
the 25th of June the anniversary of the founding of Bethlehem.
* * * * *
The services on Easter morning are described in a familiar manner by Mr.
Grider, in his “Historical Notes on Music in Bethlehem.”[96]
About three in the morning the band of trombone players begins to pass
through the streets, to awaken the members of the congregation. The
spacious church is usually filled at an early hour, and the Easter
morning litany, which embraces the creed of the Church, is repeated. At
the passage, “Glory unto him, who is the resurrection and the life,” the
minister announces that the rest of the litany will be repeated on the
burial-ground. A procession is formed, and it is so timed that as it
enters the grounds it is met by the glorious beams of the rising sun, an
emblem of resurrection.
The services are continued in the open air, the singing being led by
the instrumental performers. It is said that on a fair morning “about
two thousand persons usually attend this really grand and impressive
service;” the grounds, which are always kept neat, being especially
attended to before Easter.[97] Their first service on Easter Sunday took
place at Herrnhut, Saxony, in the year 1732. The “Young Men’s Class”
repaired before dawn to the graveyard, and spent an hour and a half in
singing and prayer.[98]
The same manner of observing Easter seems to be world-wide. From
the Mission Report, we learn that Brother A. Gericke, writing from
Fredericksthal, Greenland, says, “At Easter it was so beautifully mild
that we could read the Church litany, according to the custom at home, in
the burial-ground.”
* * * * *
The celebration of Christmas Eve is spoken of by Mr. Grider, who says,
“The services last about two hours, during which the Rev. J. F. F.
Hagen’s ‘Morning Star, the darkness break!’ is sung alternately by the
choir in the gallery and the children in the body of the church. This
anthem,” he says, “although simple, and intended for children only, has
taken deep root in the hearts of the congregation, who seem never to tire
of its performance.”
Other musical compositions are performed, such as,—
“For unto us a child is born” (_Handel_).
“Sey willkommen” (Welcome) (_Haydn_).
“Lift up your heads, O ye gates!” (_Handel_).
“Gloria,” 12th Mass (_Mozart_).
Mr. G. tells us that at this time the church choir numbers sixteen female
and eight male singers. The accompaniment consists of the organ, two
first and two second violins, viola, violoncello, double bass, two French
horns, two trumpets, trombone, and flute. This is certainly a remarkable
variety of instruments in a church choir.
* * * * *
A lady of Nazareth tells me that Christmas Eve is celebrated among the
Moravians by a love-feast in the church. After the cakes and coffee,
little wax-candles, lighted, are brought in upon trays, and distributed
to the children, while verses are sung. “This,” says she, “is to give
them an impression of the Sun of Righteousness.” The following lines were
sung for several years (and may still be in use):
“Geh’ auf mit hellem Schein,
Und leucht ins Herz hinein,
Leucht über Gross und Klein!
Du Sonne der Gerechtigkeit!
Verbreite Wonn’ und Seligkeit,
Und flamme jedermann
Yetzt und fortan
Zu brünst’ger Liebe an.”
Of which I offer the following version:
“Rise with clear lustre,
And shine within the heart,
Shine over great and small,
Thou Sun of Righteousness!
Spread joy and blessedness!
And kindle every one,
Henceforth as well as now,
To warmest love.”
A lady of Bethlehem says that the Moravians there follow the German
fashion, not of having a Christmas-tree merely, but a _Putz_, or
decoration; in which they usually represent a manger with cattle, the
infant Jesus and his mother, and the three wise men. At the young ladies’
seminary she says that the _Putzes_ are often very fine. The people go
around to see the decorations. Christmas is a great festival.
* * * * *
The New Year is thus celebrated. At half-past eleven, on New Year’s
Eve, the congregation assemble for “watch meeting.” I condense Mr.
Grider’s description: “After the officiating minister enters, the choir
sing Bishop Gregor’s solemn composition, ‘Lord, Lord God,’ and then the
congregation sing; after which the text for that day is read from the
Text-Book, and is the subject of the discourse which follows. Meanwhile
the musicians in the choir watch the progress of the night, and assemble
before the organ; and the organist sits with his feet poised, ready to
begin. When the year expires, the new one is welcomed by a loud crash
of melody from the organ, and a double choir of trombone players. The
congregation rise and join in singing, followed by prayer, etc.” These
services are always largely attended.
I have just spoken of the text for the day. A friend says, “These texts
for the day are published in a little annual volume, ‘Doctrinal Texts
of the Unitas Fratrum,’ prepared in Saxony and sent to the Moravians
the world over,—in Africa, Asia, Australia, and America. The first text
is selected by lot, the remainder by a committee at Herrnhut. This is a
relic of the old times, when the Moravians used the lot in many religious
ceremonies,—even in marriage.”
Another says, “The Text-Book consists of a selection of verses from
the Bible, for each day, with appropriate collects taken from the
Hymn-Book. It has been issued since 1731. The first verse, or ‘daily
word,’ contains a short sentence of prayer, exhortation, or promise. The
second, or ‘doctrinal text,’ is intended to enforce some doctrinal truth
or practical duty. The Text-Book is printed in English, German, French,
Dutch, Swedish, Danish, Esquimaux, and in the Negro-English of Surinam,
S. A.”
Birthdays were formerly celebrated among the Moravians, and still
are in some families, as a citizen of Bethlehem tells me, by little
home parties, called _vespers_, where the friends of the family are
bidden between two and three P.M., and where they partake of coffee
and sugar-cake; a cake used not only among the Moravians here, but by
the people of Northern Germany. Birthdays were formerly celebrated
by serenades. Record was also kept of the birthdays of friends, of
distinguished members of the church, etc.
The Birthday-Book and Text-Book, says Mr. Grider, were placed on the
breakfast-table each morning. After the text was read, and while the
family were being served, the record was generally consulted to see whose
birthday it was. This custom served as a bond which held the inhabitants
in social union.[99]
When a death occurs in the Moravian congregation at Bethlehem, the choir
of trombonists plays several tunes from the steeple of the large church.
Any Moravian can tell from the tunes played to which choir or band the
deceased belonged, whether to the married men’s or married women’s, to
the young men’s or young women’s, to the children’s, or to any other of
the bands into which the congregation is divided,—divisions which were
formerly of more importance than now.
At funerals the same choir of trombones heads the procession.
THE GRAVEYARD.