WE LEAVE THE HERMITAGE
In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct
thy paths.
--Bible.
Thus our souls came closer and closer to each other, day after day, and
grew into a love that bound us together as one for life. It seemed as
though the father and mother love he had lost were all given to me; for
children must turn their love toward somebody or something, as surely as
the rivers run to the sea whence they come. As for me, I doubt not that
the love which is in every man, more or less, saint or sinner, turned me
so strongly toward this pretty little fellow, with all his taking ways,
as if he had been my own flesh and blood.
In this sweet companionship we drank in together the springtime splendor
all about us, when the brook flashed bright as silver and the wooded
hill in the rear of my hut was gay with the songs of the little birds,
their delicate harmonies frequently emphasized by the harsh cawing of
the crows flying in a thin line overhead, while from the deep recesses
of the forest came now and then the long drum call of some proud
partridge calling to himself with lordly air, so I imagined, his
numerous wives, or, perchance, bidding indignant defiance to some
intruding brother partridge.
But the glory of the spring soon merged into the glowing beauty of
summer, and all too soon for me and Sonnlein, who like the birds and the
beasts were ever out of doors, came the fall, with its magnificent
coloring of hill and woods; but none the less the shortening days and
the keen air were portentous of the dying year and the cold, dreary
winter that ere long would shut us off still more from my followers from
whose visits I received such great comfort and delight.
But the inevitable, inquisitive mischief makers also came all too
frequently, and these, especially they that held me as a heretic,
presuming on my meekness of temper could find no sneer or taunt or
insult too mean not only for me but even for my innocent boy, who the
malicious ones pretended to believe was a child of mine and some
nameless woman's.
Had my persecutors known how my soul raged within me, the chains of my
will being scarce stout enough to hold my wrath, when they thus
insulted Sonnlein and spat even on him as being the "devil's spawn,"
just as they oft spat on me, they had not been so bold; for though I
always have had the heart of a priest my Maker saw fit to give me the
strength and stature of a warrior, so that it had been no great task for
me to pick up my tormentors bodily and hurl them headlong into the
brook--and at times I wondered whether I had not been justified had I
done so. But my wise father had early impressed on me that any weakling
can resent injury, while only a truly great nature can forgive; that the
more we learn to forgive, the more we grow like Him who suffered
everything and forgave all. So in all the afflictions mine enemies
heaped upon me, especially through my boy, the chains, I rejoice to say,
always held, though greatly strained, and instead of revenging myself I
merely uttered an inward prayer for my tormentors, and in the long years
allotted to me--so wonderful is God's wisdom--it hath fallen to me more
than once that they who treated me so vilely came to see the error of
their ways and were glad thereafter to hold me in their esteem and
friendship. Truly, time and loving patience conquer all evil.
As the fall advanced I found though I had left the world, the world had
not left me, and the melancholy temptations which troubled me every day
did prognosticate to me misery and afflictions, so that Sonnlein not
infrequently seeing me in this gloomy state would confide to his
playmates, the birds and flowers, that I was cross. Indeed, I came to
the conclusion that under the pretense of holiness, I was doing nothing
but nourishing my own selfishness, and I knew full well that selfishness
cometh only from the Evil One.
But while I was in this state matters were shaping themselves for my
redemption from this narrow, hermit's life; for when I withdrew from the
world a number of brethren and sisters were living the solitary life
dispersed in the wilderness of the Canestogues; but strangely enough and
yet perhaps not so strange--for the right human heart leaneth toward the
companionship of others--during the summer a camp was laid out for all
the Solitary at the very spot where now the Kloster stands, and where at
that time Brother Beissel, the leader of the hermits, among whom were
the four Eckerling brothers, lived down in the meadow, near a spring,
and nigh the Cocalico, which name hath its ancestry from the Indian
_Hoch-Hale-kung_, meaning "the den of serpents," for that the low lands
along this stream were infested with water snakes.
The little camp on the Cocalico grew rapidly, accessions coming from
many directions. The Germantown Dunkers after the death of their
patriarch, Alexander Mack, a veritable saint, sent no less than
seventeen members. Others came from Falkner Swamp, from Oley and
elsewhere, so that the settlement soon grew into large proportions. But
for all these good people there was no cabin or house large enough for
the holding of worship, as the little hermit huts were barely big enough
for their own occupants. The largest building within the _Lager_ was a
cabin built against the hillside, wherefore this cabin was called the
_Berghaus_ (Hill-house); but even this was too small to hold the love
feasts and the meetings.
While matters were thus progressing on the Cocalico, I was greatly
surprised one morning, just as day was breaking, to see Brother Beissel
coming toward my hut, Sonnlein for a wonder being still asleep. As he
saw me, he hastened forward with his gentlest smile; for though he could
be as stern and forbidding as Jove, our brother could, when it pleased
him, use all the wiles and arts of Mercurius; so that, though I have
ever been loth to suspect others of aught ill, I could not help
wondering what new thing was on foot for tempting me.
"Surely, my dear brother, I marvel not that thou preferrest this
paradise to our mean little place on the Cocalico," he said; for he
always affected great humility, even though with all his godly zeal he
was exceedingly proud and stubborn and often harsh and violent.
"Paradise it may be," I replied quietly, "and yet every earthly paradise
hath its serpent to lead the sons of Adam into sin."
"Thou meanest the child?" he insinuated.
"Nay, not the child," I repeated with unbecoming heat. "Were it not for
his dear companionship I had been unable long ago to remain apart from
the world."
"It is verily true the hermit life hath its temptations and
tribulations," remarked Brother Beissel, so quietly I should not have
suspected anything had it not been he was watching my face closely all
the while. But with all my simplicity I was not such an utter stranger
to his dissimulation that he could wind me about his fingers like wax.
"So," I merely responded, "it hath, verily."
After a few minutes, during which he coughed lightly a few times and
scratched the ground with his stick, he inquired indifferently, "Hast
heard of our change on the Cocalico?"
"Naught much," I replied, also indifferently, being determined to make
him come to the point, if it took all day, for I knew he had something
at heart which in good time I should hear.
"Hast heard we have almost completed a large building where our Brothers
and Sisters may worship?" he inquired.
"I have heard so," I made answer, still with seeming indifference.
And then he paused even longer than before and scratched the earth
thoughtfully, neither of us saying a word. Then he resumed as though
partly speaking to himself and partly to me: "This house which we have
erected to the glory of God we have called Kedar, 'the house of
sorrowfulness'"; after another pause, "it containeth a hall for the
meetings and likewise still larger halls furnished for holding the love
feasts. There are also a number of _Kammers_ intended for the Solitary,
after the manner of the early Greek Church."
"Ye have built wisely," I said, still quietly.
Then the longest pause of all, at the end of which he placed his hands
meekly across his breast, saying to me as he turned about to leave:
"When thou art minded to leave thy hermit's life, we shall give thee
welcome at Ephrata."
He had actually proceeded, but slowly as if in deep thought, almost
beyond the farther boundary of my little orchard, when he turned about
gravely and came back again like one who had forgotten something. "Now,"
thought I, "shall I see the kernel of the nut he hath been cracking";
for I had not stirred, knowing he would return, and as he came toward me
he said, watching me closely: "Our good Brother Michael Wohlforth
exhorteth the Solitary with exceeding harshness and violence."
"Still they should heed him for I hear he is a godly man," I replied.
"But Brother Weiser and his followers can no longer bear Brother Michael
Wohlforth's temper."
"A little temper will not hurt the Solitary."
"But Brother Wohlforth hath been recalled as teacher," continued Brother
Beissel.
"There be many among you to take his place," I assured him.
"Nay, not so many, for upon the recalling of Brother Wohlforth, he was
succeeded by Brother Emanuel Eckerling."
"A worthy man," I said strongly.
"But he preacheth too long; sometimes he discourseth even six hours
without a stop."
"Surely he is of most excellent zeal," I murmured, smiling inwardly.
"The Solitary incline to think six hours be too long even for
preaching," said Brother Beissel doubtfully.
"Six hours' preaching doth seem of rather great length," I admitted;
"still an eloquent man maketh the time fly on swift wings."
"But our good Brother Emanuel is not eloquent. Before he hath spoken
half an hour, most of the Solitary be asleep, so that this thing is a
great disgrace to us."
"Surely the Brethren are not so rude and ungodly?" I asked innocently.
"Yea, I grieve that he too was recalled, and now we have no one that
seemeth suitable."
"Thou hast forgotten thyself," I reminded him.
But he felt not the point. Instead he blurted out as I liked better to
hear him, forgetting all his serpent's slyness--which I dislike greatly
in man or woman--"We want thee, Brother Miller. The Solitary all want
thee. We must have thee. I am enjoined not to return without thee."
Brother Beissel could be just as outspoken as he could be insinuating.
"What sayest thou?"
"Doth the invitation extend to the child?" said I pointing to my boy who
had by this time come out to me and was hanging shyly to my hand, and
looking with no great favor upon Brother Beissel.
"If needs be he come with thee, the invitation extends to him," he
replied, although I thought reluctantly.
"Then we come," I promised him, whereupon our brother turned to say
"Good-bye," but the strange feeling between Sonnlein and Brother
Beissel, for some reason or other never wholly left either.
But even though I had chosen with so little hesitation to cast my lot
and Sonnlein's with our Brothers and Sisters at Ephrata, I found that my
hermit's life, with all its lack of companionship and intercourse with
kindred souls was after all very dear to me, so that I was almost
resolved to recall my promise; but in my bewilderment I turned to Him
for help and guidance, and after long and earnest prayer it became
clear to me it was my duty that Sonnlein and I join ourselves to Brother
Beissel and his followers.
The simple preparations for our departure were soon made. My hut and the
little garden adjoining and my apple orchard were consigned to the care
of one of my nearest adherents, and in a few days after Brother
Beissel's visit, Sonnlein and I, my back loaded with my books, among
them a number of volumes on the law, of which science I have been all my
life an eager student, started out together sorrowfully enough for
Brother Klopf's cabin, where he and his household, as well as Conrad
Weiser and Hans Michael Miller and their families, and several men and
women were gathered waiting for me and Sonnlein.
A brief season of the morning was spent in praise and prayer, after
which we solemnly proceeded on foot--except Sonnlein, who had to be
carried much of the way on our backs--to Ephrata, and by evening we were
in the welcoming folds of the little community of which Sonnlein and I
and most of the Dulpehackin converts became an abiding part.