galleys to the Turkish war. “In taking the castle Gran, in 1593, they
were obliged to go before the soldiers, through a narrow street; but they
never killed a Turk, nor stained their hands with the blood of men (as is
proper for the soldiers of Christ).”[135]
Another sufferer, old Martin John, tells how, when he lived at Kaufig, he
beheld the lives of the priests, how they loaded themselves with eating
and drinking, avarice and gaming, dancing and debauchery, and produced
uproar in the beer-houses, and made a nine-pin alley, and played together
in the parsonage yard. “And I thought that I could not any longer approve
their godlessness. I was thus induced to stay at home, and read to my
wife and children, and call them to repentance. Then the priest ran to my
landlord,[136] and complained of me, but he would not listen, and I was
left in peace for a year. Then my old master died, and his son, to please
the godless preacher, drove me from my paternal inheritance.” The priest
was named George M., and this was in 1584.
Martin John also says that the priest made jest of the Holy Ghost,
saying, “Thou wilt have to wait long before the Holy Ghost will come and
teach thee.”
Martin tells further, that he found a property cheap at Armenruh; but
there he saw the same manner of life. “I did not have to go far, but
heard in my own yard how the priest fiddled, and the rest danced and
cried out, and found it much worse than in my own (former) home. So I
stayed at home, and read, prayed, and sang, and other people came to
hear. Then the priests ran to our landlords, and we were put into prison,
where I was kept over four years, and the others over a year, and to
these nothing was given to eat nor to drink.”
These cases of persecution all took place within fifty years after the
death of Schwenkfeld, and seem to have befallen those who lived around
the Spitzberg, in Lower Silesia; but in Upper Silesia, and in the
district of Glatz, there was repose; and toward the end of the sixteenth
century persecution appears to have declined, for _we do not find that
any one writes letters from prison_.
During the Thirty Years’ War the Schwenkfelders, like others who opposed
the Romish Church, did not remain undisturbed. Once during this period
complaint was made of them to the prince at Liegnitz, but they sent to
him one of Caspar Schwenkfeld’s books, which he graciously received, and
permitted them to hold meetings in their houses. Meetings in the open air
were forbidden by the emperor.[137]
At the close of the war they were again persecuted, the preachers
complaining of them to the nobility. But the prince at Liegnitz set them
all free, and allowed them to worship again in their houses.
Simple religious services, formerly held among the Schwenkfelders, are
thus described.[138]
If any one had books and read on Sunday, the others went and listened.
But this was the order: in the morning, after each prayed when he rose,
they came together. (Elsewhere it is stated that they were generally
fasting.) They sang morning songs standing; afterward prayed out of a
prayer-book; then all, standing, sang prayer-songs, especially to the
Holy Spirit; they also sang sitting, and prayed, and then read several
sermons; then prayed again and sang a couple of songs; then ate dinner.
Afterward prayed again standing, and sang prayer-songs; afterward read
till toward evening; then standing prayed and sang. That was the order on
Sunday.
And if, in week-time, the people came together at a spinning (_beym
spinnen_), then there was almost always singing, and when they would go
home they knelt down together and prayed.
In coming down to the year 1730, we read that there being no longer any
great persecution, the zeal of most began to be extinguished; the young
people liked to go to church, especially at Harpersdorf, where there was
beautiful music. Some dreaded contempt; some, it is said, found freedom
to live in sin, for if they only went to the Supper they might live
as they pleased, and receive a beautiful funeral sermon; many left on
account of a marriage. Thus the Schwenkfelders greatly declined.[139]
It was somewhat before the date above given, or in the year 1719, that
the celebrated Jesuit mission came among the Schwenkfelders; that is,
by imperial decree, there arrived two missionary priests. In 1721, the
Schwenkfelders sent delegates to the emperor, craving further indulgence.
While the missionaries were trying to make them Catholic, the Lutherans
offered protection to those who should join them; but a few (“a little
heap”) remained true, without falling off on either side. Of the
delegates sent to the emperor, two remained in Vienna five years, and
found him not ungracious. He ordered that time should be taken for
further consideration.
During this time the mission was taking severe measures, with fine and
imprisonment. No Schwenkfelder was to be buried in the churchyard, but
upon the cattle-paths (highways?), and none should accompany them to
burial (but this they could not prevent).[140] None should be married
who did not promise their offspring to the Catholics, which none would
do; therefore many marriages were postponed for long years. On the
contrary, when the new Lutherans (converts) were buried there was a great
parade and procession, and a great throng at weddings. At length, in
1725, a severe edict was issued to oblige old and young to attend the
mission teachings, and the Schwenkfelders were threatened with being
fastened to wheelbarrows (_Schübkarren_), and with having their children
taken away.
Now when affairs had come to an extremity, they heard that they might
flee for a while to an honorable senator in Gorlitz, and also to his
excellency Louis, Count of Zinzendorf, and Lord of Berthelsdorf;[141]
and in 1726, and afterward, several families broke off by night, and in
great danger, leaving their estates and property behind. More followed,
and as they could better earn a living in the villages,[142] the greater
part went to Berthelsdorf, and enjoyed protection there for eight years.
But while living here in all stillness, in 1733, Zinzendorf informed them
unexpectedly that they were no longer to be tolerated in Saxony. In this
matter they suspected the influence of the Jesuits with the elector.
(Zinzendorf himself was banished from 1736 to 1747.[143])
One year was allowed them before removing, and, after looking elsewhere,
they concluded to come to Pennsylvania. In 1733 a couple of Schwenkfelder
families had come hither,—and, as they say, “Our faithful friends in
Holland advised us strongly to go.” About forty families, therefore,
began the journey in the latter part of April, 1734, and cast anchor
at Philadelphia on the 22d of September. “There, by the praiseworthy
constitution of the country, we were made citizens, and partakers of all
civil and religious freedom.”
After this flight the missionaries continued their efforts in Silesia,
and several more families fled and came to Pennsylvania. In 1740 an
imperial command was issued, that the Schwenkfelder heresy must out.
Now were they greatly urged to join the Lutherans for their protection;
and now, in houses, two were against three, and three against two, and
a man’s foes were those of his own household. At last, the greater part
went over to the Lutheran Church. However, in the following autumn,
the emperor died, and Silesia was soon after conquered for Prussia by
Frederick the Great.
All the Roman Catholic offices were then vacated, and Pater Regent, one
of the mission, “retreated after us into Saxony; and other instruments
sought shelter out of the country. The books of which we were robbed by
the doctors and their followers were, we heard, taken to Liegnitz; and
as for the homes and goods we had left behind, they had helped themselves
to them, which is all one to us. We hope their enjoyment of them will be
as profitable to them as the abandoning of them has been to us.”
In 1742, or eight years after the principal migration to Pennsylvania,
the King of Prussia published an edict in favor of freedom of conscience,
inviting the exiled Schwenkfelders to return to his duchy of Lower
Silesia, or to dwell in any other part of his possessions. No further
persecution afflicted these people, but they have become extinct in
Europe, the last having died in 1826.
THE JOURNEY TO AMERICA.
When these wandering people no longer found a place of refuge in Saxony,
in April of 1734 about forty families began that journey to Pennsylvania
already spoken of. This was completed in September, in a period of about
five months. An account of this long voyage is given at the close of the
book already often referred to, the _Erläuterung_, or Explanation.
In Altona (near Hamburg), during a stay of eleven days, they received
great hospitalities from the Herren v. Smissen, father and son.
On arriving at Haarlem (from some of whose citizens they had received
contributions while still in Saxony), they could not enough admire the
common joy and proofs of love with which they were received. The brothers
Abraham, Isaac, and Jann v. Byuschanse were especially kind, entertaining
them with flesh, fish, all kinds of vegetables, beer, coffee, and tea,
and besides the children were daily presented with all kinds of baked
gingerbread and such things.[144]
As regarded the journey of the exiles to America, the Herren v.
Byuschanse had made an agreement with the captain at their own expense.
Two days’ journey from Holland, Gregory Meschter was presented with a
healthy little son. Fifteen days they lay at Haarlem, and at Rotterdam,
on the 21st of June, they went on board the English ship “St. Andrew,”
Captain Stedman commander. While they lay still one week on board this
vessel, “God gave David Schubert a young son.”
On the 28th they left Rotterdam. On the 16th of July, six Palatinate
women and two men fought each other, and she who began it received her
deserts.[145]
At Plymouth, England, which they left on the 29th, a rich woman gave the
whole ship’s company one hundred and twenty-five shillings, and when it
was divided each person received four and a half stivers, English. (The
stiver is a Dutch coin of the value of one English penny, or two cents in
our money.)
On the 9th of August a Palatinate mother and daughter fought each
other. On the 10th a great fish was seen, which spurted water on high
powerfully, as if out of pipes. (Our inland Silesians were not familiar
with whales.)
A number of children and several grown persons died upon the sea. On
September 22d, “God be forever thanked,” the anchor was happily cast
before Philadelphia, and guns were fired. On the 23d, all males over
sixteen had to go to the court-house to take the oath of fidelity to the
King of Great Britain. “We Silesians, as on account of conscience we
could not swear, were readily excused, and were allowed to promise faith
by giving the hand” (_mit einem Handschlage_).
THE ANNIVERSARY OR YEARLY MEETING.
I asked a Schwenkfelder, “What are the exercises of your commemorative
festival?” He answered, “It is a day of thanksgiving to God, that we
live under a free government, where we can serve him according to our
conscience.”
An animated description of the day has been given by the Rev. C. Z.
Weiser, in the _Mercersburg Review_. This article, although apparently
not quite true to history, and though written in a peculiar style, has a
sprightliness which interests the reader.[146]
Mr. Weiser tells us, that whoever is not providentially prevented is
bound to attend their yearly reunion. Nor has it been found necessary
thus far to enter an urging statute to secure the presence of the
fraternity. The “seeding” is done, the corn stands in shocks, and the
farm-work of September is timely put aside, in order that all may
participate in the memorial ceremonies of the 24th with a light, gay,
and thankful heart.[147] It is on the day and day before that you may
feast your eyes on many a well-laden carriage, the horses all in good
condition, moving on toward one of the Schwenkfelder meeting-houses,
selected in rotation, and one whole year in advance. The aged and infirm
of both sexes stay not behind. The young men and women are largely and
promptly there. The fathers are similarly enough clad to be considered
uniformed. So too are the mothers arrayed in a manner very like to one
another, with snow-white caps and bonnets that never vary. The sons and
daughters do indeed not love the habits of their elders any the less, yet
only the wicked world’s a little more.[148]
The morning service opens at nine o’clock, and is filled out with
singing, praying, and recitals of portions of their ancestral history.
All is gone through with in the Pennsylvania German dialect, but withal
reverentially, solemnly, and earnestly, just as though it were newly and
for the first time done.[149]
At twelve o’clock, the noonday feast is set. This is the feature of the
day. It consists of light and newly-baked rye bread, sweet and handsomely
printed butter, and the choicest apple-butter.[150] Nothing beyond these
is set, but these are of the first water. The bare benches, but lately
occupied by devout worshippers, serve as tables, along which the guests
are lined out. Not in silence, nor in sullenness, do they eat their
simple meal, but spicing it with cheerful talk, they dine with hearts
full of joy. Still, you need fear no profane utterance or silly jest.
They are mindful of the spirit of the occasion, of the place in which
they congregate, and of the feast itself, which the singing of some
familiar hymn has consecrated. If any one thirst, let him drink cold
water.
And now think not that they feign simply to eat and drink,—that the meal
from first to last is but a poor pretence. A full and hearty dinner is
“made out” there. It is a bona fide eating and drinking that is done
in the meeting-house of the Schwenkfelders on their _Gedächtniss Tag_
(Remembrance Day). They are all hard-working men and women,—farmers and
farmers’ wives and farmers’ children. They are sunburnt, healthy, and
hungry besides. And why should they not relish the sweet bread, with
their sweet butter and apple-butter, then? Even strangers who attend and
are hospitably entertained by the society show that one can make a full
hand, even at such a table.
At two o’clock the tables become pews again, and the afternoon exercises
are conducted according to the programme of the morning. These concluded,
a general invitation is again extended to partake of the baskets of
fragments gathered up and stored away in the rear of the meeting-house.
A fraternal hand-shaking closes the anniversary for the year. The
reflection that many part now who may never meet again on earth causes
tears to trickle down some furrowed cheek, which generally prove more or
less contagious, as is always the case in a company of hearts, when those
tears flow in sincere channels. Hence, though all were happy all day
long, they now feel sad.
To appreciate the meaning and spirit of this apparently homely scene, it
is necessary to know that it is a memorial service all through. It was on
this very 24th of September, 1734, that some seventy [forty] families of
Schwenkfelders, who had landed on the 22d, and declared their allegiance
on the 23d, held their thanksgiving service, in gratitude to God for a
safe deliverance to the colony of Pennsylvania. They had arrived in the
ship “St. Andrew,” at Philadelphia, as fugitives from Silesia.
Poor, but feeling rich in view of their long-sought liberty, they blessed
God in an open assembly. We may judge their store and fare to have been
scant and lean indeed; and to perpetuate the original service of their
forefathers from generation to generation, they statedly celebrate their
_Gedächtniss Tag_.
The poor fare before them is finely designed to impress the sore fact
of their ancestors’ poverty indelibly upon their minds, memories, and
hearts. They eat and drink in remembrance of former days,—the days of
small things. They join thereto at the same time a gladsome worship, in
thankfulness for the asylum opened up for them from their former house
of bondage, and which proved so fair a heritage to their people ever
since.[151]
CUSTOMS.
A lawyer of Norristown tells me that he taught a subscription school
among the Schwenkfelders, some thirty years ago, and a day or two before
the school closed he sent out his bills by the scholars. Every cent of
the money due was paid in on the next morning,—and as he was then poor
this was a delightful and memorable circumstance.[152]
Further, I find it laid down as a rule of their community that members
must see to it that their debts are paid without legal proceedings.
Another instance of exactness in money matters is given in their history,
namely, that while they were sojourning with or near Zinzendorf, some of
their well-wishers in Holland sent to them a considerable contribution
in money, of which they knew nothing until the merchants of Gorlitz
announced and paid it to them. By their diligence in labor, and their
skilful use of this money, they were able to supply the pressing wants
of their poor, and to pay the expenses of the same to Altona. On their
arrival at Haarlem, a little that remained was laid at the feet of their
noble benefactors.[153]
I met with a young Dunker woman, in the neighborhood of the Schwenkfelder
community, who said, “The poor always find their way to the
Schwenkfelders;” and on my mentioning this subject at one of the houses
which I visited, my host told me of persons having come to his house
asking “how far they had to the Schwenkfelder _Thal_” (or valley).
The language spoken at two of the houses which I visited was almost
entirely the Pennsylvania German; but my ignorance of the dialect
forbids my knowing whether these Silesian emigrants speak it differently
from the South German Palatines.
My power of talking German was perhaps never more exercised in the same
length of time than during my visit here; the women and children in the
houses alluded to speaking no English. In the second, the mother, who was
in delicate health, had been reading German books, but was unable to read
English. A like circumstance is certainly very uncommon, if not unknown,
among the “Dutch” of my own county.
Neither does there appear to be the same objection to education there
that exists among some of our people here. One of the Schwenkfelders said
to me that he told his boys to learn as much as they can; “I’d not seen a
man yet that had been too wise; and the girls may do the same.” He also
told me that they do not neglect to teach the children in their family
to read and write German, a custom which tends to preserve the purity
of the language. But the Schwenkfelders find it difficult to preserve a
knowledge of German, since the language is no longer taught in the public
schools in their neighborhoods.
Like Quakers, Dunkers, etc., the Schwenkfelders have an unpaid ministry.
One whom I met, who had been a preacher, cultivated fourteen acres of
ground, and joined to this labor the mechanical occupations of making
brooms and cigar boxes. I said to one of the society, “You do not pay
your ministers?”
“No,” he answered, “but they are excused from all church expenses, such
as the treasury for the poor, and building and keeping in repair our
meeting-houses. Then, as one minister will be a farmer and another a
mechanic, and one is called upon to leave his shop and the other his farm
to attend funerals, we generally make such a one a present.
“It has been at times the case that presents have been offered to men in
good circumstances, who would answer, thanking the giver, but they had no
need of the gift; if at any other time it should be necessary they would
accept it.”
Candidates for the ministry are elected by ballot; the votes being
collected in a hat. Women do not vote, and of course they do not preach.
If the candidates when elected prove to be “men of able tongues,” they
are confirmed. Formerly the Schwenkfelders did not vote for preachers,
but it seemed to them that the right kind did not come forward, and those
who did come forward were not always desirable persons.
The sacraments of baptism and the supper have never been held among
them.[154] A modern custom, originating in this country, and established
in 1823, has thus been described: After the birth of a child, it is
brought by the parents into church, and a preacher prays for the
happiness and prosperity of the child, and admonishes the parents to
bring it up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, according to the
will of God. Then there is prayer, and the singing of some appropriate
verses. If the child or mother is delicate, this service is sometimes
performed at their house.[155]
Not only are the Schwenkfelders forbidden to become soldiers, but also to
train in military exercises. Upon this point, however, the late rebellion
seems to have tried some of their members, as it did some Quakers.
“Do you bring lawsuits?” said I to a member.
“Not if we can help it. I never brought a lawsuit, nor had one brought
against me, and hope I never shall.”
DOCTRINES.
In plainness of speech, behavior, and apparel, in opposition to war, to
oaths, and to a paid ministry, in a belief in the teachings of the Divine
Spirit and in the inferiority of the written word to the indwelling
Spirit, in discarding religious forms, in opposition to priest-craft or
a hierarchy, and, although not practising silent worship, yet in their
desire to live “in the stillness,” the Schwenkfelders resemble Quakers.
We might almost say that they are Quakers of an older type (Quakers it
may be of whom George Fox had never heard). They differ from Quakers in
employing stated prayers, in electing preachers, in not acknowledging the
spiritual equality of women, and in their peculiar doctrine of the “glory
of the manhood of Jesus Christ,—how it is no creature.”[156]
We give from the _Erläuterung_, or Explanation, some striking extracts
upon some of these points. Upon the word of God, Schwenkfeld and
Illyricus had a violent contest. Schwenkfeld holds that the tables upon
which God writes, and the book or paper upon which man writes, are
entirely two kinds of thing: between all printed and written books in
the world and the true word of God a fundamental difference is to be
maintained. The word is a living, internal, spiritual word, and can only
be contained in the book of the believing heart.[157] Faith existed many
hundred years before the Scripture. It proceeded from the eternal Word or
Son of God, Jesus Christ, and from God, the All-powerful.[158]
Against what are called “the means of grace” Schwenkfeld preached.
(Spiritual things, it is said, come not through canals.) Schwenkfeld
maintained that Christ is only to be sought above with the Father, and
thence we must all draw that which will make us upright and blessed. This
was also recognized by the leaders who came out from the papacy; but
there came a time when they taught that Christ and salvation were to be
found below in external works and worship. But Schwenkfeld neither could
nor would admit that Christ and the Holy Spirit were in outward works
of preaching and hearing and in elements of this earthly existence, in
water, bread, and wine.[159]
On baptism we find the following: The first and most eminent work of the
sacrament of baptism is, the internal grace of inworking faith in the
love of God, which moves, glows, and lives through the outpouring of the
heavenly waters which flow from the Word of God, which is Christ. The
other point is the external word and water which is outwardly poured upon
and washes the body outwardly as the internal does the soul.
John the Baptist says, “I baptize with water to repentance, but he who
comes after me will baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire.” Here
he distinguishes the work of the minister from the office of the Lord,
and the visible water from the Holy Spirit.
Ambrose says, “Peter has not purified, nor Ambrose, nor Gregory, for ours
is the ministry, but thine, Lord, are the sacraments. It is not the work
of man to give divine things, thine is it, Lord, and the Father’s, who
says through the prophets [prophet,] I will pour out my Spirit upon all
flesh.”