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FEB 19 19/1

BR 515 .A67 1893 v. 4 c.2
Carroll, Henry K. 1848-1931
The religious forces of the
United States

JAN 29 IS

^*?/Ci

C^e @tnencan
C^nvc^ J^istoti^ ^ttitB

CONSISTING OF A SERIES OF

DENOMINATIONAL HISTORIES PUBLISHED UNDER THE AUSPICES OF

THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF CHURCH HISTORY

(Beneraf (BbifotB

Rev. Philip Schaff, D. D., LL. D. Bishop John F. Hurst, D. D., LL. D.

Rt. Rev. H. C. Potter, D. D., LL. D. Rev. E. J. Wolf, D. D.
Rev. Geo. P. Fisher, D. D., LL. D. Henry C. Vedder, M. A.
Rev. Samuel M. Jackson, D. D., LL. D.

Volume IV

[ FEB 19 1971
(American C^mc^ ^iBtore ^vi^Ge/c^i sE^-^*^

A HISTORY

OF THE

EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN
CHURCH

IN THE UNITED STATES

HENRY EYSTER JACOBS

NORTON PROFESSOR OF SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY IN THE LUTHERAN
THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY IN PHILADELPHIA

C^e Christian literature Co»

MDCCCXCIII

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

PAGE

BIBLIOGRAPHY ix

INTRODUCTION.— What is Lutheranism?— Varieties of Luther-
anism. — Doctrine. — Church Life. — The Church Service. — Church
Government. — The Christian Life. — Missions i

PERIOD I.

THE SOURCES AND ORIGINATION OF THE LUTHERAN
CHURCH IN AMERICA.

A.D. 1 624- 1 742.

CIL\P. I. — The Lutheran Church in Holland. — The First Re-
formers.— Lutheran Confessors. — Relations to the Reformed. —
Flacius in the Netherlands. — Charges of the Reformed. — Synod of
Amsterdam. — The Interdict upon Lutheranism. — Laws of William
of Orange. — The Church of Amsterdam. — Church Constitutions. —
The Lay Elders. — Causes of Decline 21

CHAP. II. — The Lutherans of the New Netherlands (1624-
1700). — The West India Company. — Peter Stuyvesant. — Laws
against the Lutherans. — Goetwasser's Banishment. — Liberty Guar-
anteed.— Fabritius. — Arensius. — A Long Vacancy 46

CHAP. HI. — The Lutheran Church in Sweden. — Gustavus Vasa.
— Olaf Petri. — Diet of Westeras. — George Normann. — The Roman
Catholic Reaction. — Confessional Basis. — Church Organization. —
Swedish Ordination. — Confirmation 62

CHAP. IV.— The Lutherans of New Sweden (1637-1700).— Re-
orus Torkillus. — Campanius. — Surrender of New Sweden. — Spir-
itual Destitution. — Bishop Svedberg's Intervention. — Arrival of
Three Pastors. — A Clerical Impostor. — Pastor Auren 80

CHAP. V. — The Lutherans of New Sweden (i 700-1 742). — Ordi-
nation of Falckner. — Hesselius. — Dylander. — Inner History. — The
Provostship. — The Church Council. — The Language Question. ... 96

CHAP. VI. — The First German Lutherans in America. — The
Settlers of Germantown. — On the Hudson. — Schoharie and Tulpe-
hocken. — Kocherthal . .' Iio

vi TABLE OF CONTENTS.

PAGE

CHAP. VII. — The Dutch Churches from Falckner to Muhl-
enberg.— Falckner's Records. — Berkenmeyer. — A General Organ-
ization Projected. — The Synod of 1735. — Between Two Fires. —
Dutch versus German. — Sommer 118

CHAP. Vni. — The Halle Lutherans, the Churches in Lon-
don, AND the English Societies. — Spener. — Francke. — Freyl-
inghausen. — The Halle Alumni. — The London Lutherans. — The
London Pastors. — The English Societies. — Union Movements .... 133

CHAP. IX. — The Persecutions of the Salzburgers and the
Salzburg Colony in Georgia. — The Exiles of 1684. — The Exiles
of 1731. — The Hymns of the Exiles. — A New Home in Georgia. —
The Voyage. — " Reminiscere " Sunday. — Pastoral Experiences. —
The Services. — Care for Indians and Negroes 150

CHAP. X. — The Salzburgers and their Neighbors. — ^John Wes-
ley. — Charles Wesley. — Whitefield. — Character of Boltzius. —
Lemke. — Rabenhorst. — The Georgia Church Constitution. — Stoe-
ver in Virginia 169

CHAP. XL — The Forerunners of Muhlenberg. — Stoever and
Henkel. — The Commission to Europe. — New Difificulties. — A
Qu-istion of Salary. — Zinzendorf's Lutheranism.— rBengel and Fre-
senius. — Zinzendorf in Philadelphia. — Zinzeuaorf's Scheme. — Val-
entine Kiaft 187

PERIOD II.

the first attempts at organization.

a.d. 1742-1817.

CHAP. XII. — Muhlenberg's Call and Arrival. — At Gottingen
and Halle. — In England. — In Georgia and Carolina. — Conflict with
Zinzendorf 209

CHAP. XIII. — Beginning the Work. — Reinforcements. — Hartwig.
— Troubles at Lancaster. — Confession before Communion. — Pas-
toral Experiences. — Pastoral Fidelity. — The Redemptioners 219

CHAP. XIV.— Projects of Church Organization.— Lay Efforts
for Organization. — Ministerium of Pennsylvania. — The Proceed-
ings.— The Office of Oversight. — An Urgent Appeal. — Almost Lost. 237

CHAP. XV. — Muhlenberg in New York. — Acrelius and Wran-
gel.— Preaching in Three Languages.— Cooperation of the Swedes.
— The Greatest Swede. — New Life 250

Table of contents. vii

PAGE

CHAP. XVI. — Synodical Organization Completed. — Reorganiz-
ing the Synod. — First Synodical Constitution. — Congregational
Constitution. — The First Liturgy. — The Liturgy of 1748 258

CHAP. XVn. — Relation of Muhlenberg and his Associates to
OTHER Communions. — The Limits of Liberality. — Muhlenberg and
Episcopalians. — Wrangel Removed. — Muhlenberg on Episcopacy.
— What is Ordination? — Whitefield Preaches in Zion's. — Michael
Schlatter , 276

CHAP. XVIIL — Internal and External Growth; Decline of
THE Swedish Churches. — Muhlenberg's Contemporaries. — A
Native Ministry. — Virginia. — North and South Carolina. — Georgia.
— Maine and Nova Scotia. — Wrangel's Recall Resented. — Ameri-
can Pastors Demanded 290

PERIOD in.
deterioration.

A.D. I787-1817.

CHAP. XIX. — Rationalism and Indifferentism. — Constitution of
1792. — Confessional Laxity. — Quitman's Catechism. — F. C. Schaef-
fer. — Confusion in the South. — Franklin College. — A Lutheran-
Reformed Seminary. — The Rural Parishes 309

CHAP. XX.— Some Difficult Problems.— A Church Trial.— Tran-
sition of Language. — Theological Instruction. — Geographical Ex-
tension.— The Pennsylvania Hymn-book. — First English Hymn-
book. — New York Hymn-books. — Liturgies and Catechisms. — The
Yellow Fever of 1793. — Washington's Funeral 327

PERIOD IV.
revival and expansion.

A.D. 181 7-1860.

CHAP. XXI. — New Factors. — The General Synod. — New Waves
of Immigration. — Reactionary German Movements. — Division of
the Ministerium. — The Hagerstown Convention. — Pennsylvania
Withdraws. — Struggling in Weakness. — S. S. Schmucker. — The
Gettysburg Seminary. — " American Lutheranism. " — Paralysis of
Church Life 351

CHAP. XXII. — A Missionary Era. — Rhenius of Palamcotta. —
Charles Frederick Heyer. — The Guntur Mission. — Home Missions.

viii TABLE OF CONTENTS.

PAGE

— New Synods. — Wittenberg College. — The Pittsburg Deaconesses.

— Prominent Ministers. — The Ohio Synod 373

CHAP. XXIIL— The Confessional Reaction.— The Buffalo Synod.
—The Missouri Synod.— C. F. W. Walther.— Spiritual Conflicts.
— Walther as a Preacher. — Sihler and Wyneken. — The Commission
to Germany. — The Iowa Synod. — The Norwegians. — The Swedes. 393

CHAP. XXIV. — Growth and Conflicts in the Older Synods.
— Study of German Theology. — Lohe. — Pennsylvania Returns. —
Charles F. Schaeffer. — The Definite Platform. — Charles Porterfield
Krauth. — The General Synod's Basis. — An Educational Process. —
The Melanchthon Synod. — The Colleges. — Heyer in Minnesota. —
English Lutheran Literature. — The Church Papers 415

PERIOD V.

reorganization.

a.d. i860 .

CHAP. XXV.— The Era of Disintegration (1860-67).— The Ben-
nett Law. — The Augustana Synod. — The Civil War. — The Gen-
eral Synod, South. — Desolations of War. — The Crisis at York. —
Amended Doctrinal Basis. — The Philadelphia Seminary. — Influence
of the Seminary. — Fort Wayne. — Synodical Changes. — Two Theo-
ries of Polity 445

CHAP. XXVI. — The Era of Reconstruction (1867-77). — Princi-
ples of General Council. — The Four Points. — Pulpit Fellowship. —
The Akron Declaration. — The Galesburg Rule. — The Church Book.
— Heyer Returns to India. — Schmidt and Paulsen in India. — The
Conservative Reformation. — Joseph Augustus Seiss. — The Diets of
1877 and 1878. — Day's Work in Africa. — The Synodical Confer-
ence.— The Independent Synods 471

CHAP. XXVII. — The Era of Reapproach and Efforts for
Union among the Separated Bodies (1877-93). — The Predes-
tination Controversy. — Does Faith cause Election? — The Common
Service. — The Gotwald Trial. — Issues within the General Council.
— The United Norwegian Synod. — The Luther Jubilee. — Bishop
von Scheele. — Foreign Missions. — Deaconesses. — The Need of the
Hour 502

BIBLIOGRAPHY.

I. The Lutheran Church and its Doctrine, History, Organiza-
tion, AND Worship in General.

The Book of Concord, or Symbolical Books of the Evangelical Liitheran
Church. In German and Latin : Miiller (sixth edition, 1886). Li
Latin : Francke, Leipzig, 1846-47. In English, two vols. : Jacobs,
Philadelphia, 1882 and 1883.

Scliniid., The Doctrinal Theology of the Evangelical Lutheran Church.
(Translated by Hay and Jacobs.) Second edition, Philadelphia, Luther-
an Board of Publication, i88g.

Krauth, The Conseii'ative Reformation and its Theology. Philadelphia,
J. B. Lippincott & Co., 1871. (Compare his masterly article in John-
son's Cyclopaedia.)

Seiss, Ecclesia Lntherana. Philadelphia, Lutheran Bookstore, 1868. — Ln-
ther and the Reformation, 1883.

Remensnyder, The Lutheran Manual. New York, Boschen & Werfer,
1893.

Schaff, Creeds of Christendom. Fifth edition. New York, Harper Bros.,
1890. Vols. i. and iii.

Schaff, History of the Christian Church. Vol. vi. (The German Refor--
mation.) Charles Scribner's Sons, 1888.

Oehler, Lehrhuch der Symbolik. Tubingen, 1876.

Ricllter, A. L., Die Evangelischen Kirchenordnungen des Sechszehnten
Jahrhunderts. Last edition, Leipzig, E. J. Giinther, 1871.

EJchter, A. Li., Lehrbtcch des L\atholischen und Evangelischen Kirchen-
rechts. Leipzig, B. Tauchnitz, 1874.

Stahl, Die Kirchenverfassung nach Lehre und Recht der Protestanten.
Second edition, Erlangen, Theodor Biasing, 1862.

Kliefoth, Lituigische A bhatidlungeti. Schwerin and Rostock. Eight vols.,
1854-61.

Schoeberlein, Ueber den liturgischen Ausbau des Gemeindegottesdienstes.
Gotha, Andreas Perthes, 1859.

Lohe, Agende fir Christliche Gemeinden von Liitherischen Bekenntnisses.
Dritte Auflage besorgt von J. Deinzer, Nordlingen, 1884.

Walther, Americanische-Lutherische Pastoral Theologie. St. Louis, Concor-
dia Verlag, 1872.

Horn, Outlines of Liturgies. Philadelphia, Lutheran Board of Publica-
tion, 1890.

Jacobs, The Lutheran Movement in England, and its Literary Momiments.
Philadelphia, G. W. Frederick, 1890.

BIBLIOGRAPHY.

II. MS. Collections of Historical Material.

The library of the Lutheran Historical Society at Gettysburg, Pa., con-
tains MSS. of Berkenmeyer, Muhlenberg, Brunnholtz, and Goering.

The archives of the Ministerium of Pennsylvania at Mount Airy contain
the journals of Muhlenberg, beginning with his voyage, and continuing,
with a few interruptions, almost to his death, besides volumes of letters
and other material from his hand. An extensive collection of the papers of
Schaum, the journals, papers, and correspondence of Helmuth, volumes of
notes by H. E. Muhlenberg, MSS. relating to J. F. Schmidt, the diary of the
pioneer home missionary Paul Henkel, the protocol of the minutes of the
ministerium from 1784, the files of official papers complete and admirably
arranged from 1800, transcripts from the papers of the Halle archives by
Dr. \V. Germann, transcript of J. C. Stoever's private journal of ministerial
acts, and a large number of papers of the pioneer foreign missionary, Heyer,
are among its treasures.

Valuable material is preserved at Amsterdam, Holland; at Gloria Dei
Church, Philadelphia, and Old Swedes' Church, Wilmington, and at St.
Matthew's German Church (Broome and Elizabeth Streets), New York.
The material at Amsterdam has recently been carefully examined by Dr.
Nicum ; and the documents at New York, Gloria Dei, Wilmington, and
Gettysburg by Professor Grabner. The revised edition of the " Hallesche
Nachrichten " has embodied, so far as published, the results of the thorough
study by Dr. Mann of the large mass of MSS. that gradually accumulated
under his care at Mount Airy. Much is also used in his " Life and Times
of Muhlenberg."

III. Printed Collections.

I . Bibliography.
Morris, Bibliotheca Ltitherana. Philadelphia, 1876.

2. Statistics,
{a) European Relations.
Staudlin, Kirchliche Geographie tind Statistik. Two vols., Tubingen, 1804.
Augusti, Beytrage zur Geschichte iind Statistik der Evangelischen Kirche.

Three parts, Leipzig, 1837.
Wiggers, Kirchliche Statistik. Two vols., Hamburg and Gotha, 1842.
Lenker, Ltitherans in All Lands. Milwaukee, 1893.

{b) American. (See DOCUMENTS.)
Stall, Lutheran Year Book. Philadelphia, 1884-88.
Ochsenford, Lutheran Church Anmial. Philadelphia, 1890,
Roth, J. D., Handbook of Ltitheranism. Utica, 1891.
Ochsenford, in Appleton's Annual Cyclopcedia.

The almanacs published by the Lutheran Board, Philadelphia (Sheeleigh),
the Lutheran Bookstore (Ochsenford), and Diehl, Allentown, present an-
nual summaries of the statistics of the entire church in America.

3. Minutes of Synods and Diets.

See "Hallesche Nachrichten" and " Evangelisches Magazin " for some
of the earlier proceedings.

BIBLIOGRAPHY. XI

The Historical Library at Gettysburg contains almost complete sets of
printed minutes. MSS. in archives at Mount Airy and at Gettysburg.
Jacobs and Baum, Proceedings of the First Free Lutheran Diet (iSjy).
Philadelphia, 1878. — Baum and Kiinkelman, Proceedings of the
Second Free Lutheran Diet (1878). Philadelphia, 1879.

4. Histories of Synods.

Nicum, Geschichte des N'eiu York''s Ministerium. Reading, Pa., 1888.
— Spielman, Abriss der Geschichte der Ev.-L'iith. Synode von Ohio.
Columbus, 1880. — Henkel, S., History of the Evangelical Lutheran
Tentiessee Synod. New Market, 1890. — Schirmer, Historical Sketches
of the Evangelical Lutheran Synod of South Carolina. Charleston,
S. C, 1875. (Compare Bernheim, ut infra.) — Strobel, P. A., Me-
morial Volume to Commemorate the Semi-Centennial Anniversary of the
Hartzuick Lutheran Synod. Philadelphia, 1881. — Kostering, Auswan-
derung der sdchsischen Lutheraner. St. Louis, i860. — Hochstetter,
Die Geschichte der Ev.-Luth. Missouri Synod. Dresden, 1885, — History
of Ev.-Luth. Synod of East Pennsylvania. Philadelphia, 1893.

Grabner, Half a Century of Soimd L^itheranism in America. St. Louis,
1893. (For Swedish Augustana Synod, see Norelius in " Lutheran
Church Review," vol. v. ; General Synod in " Evangelical and Lu-
theran Quarterly Reviews," /^j-j/wy General Council, Spaeth, "Lu-
theran Church Review," vol. iv.)

5. Histories of Institutions.

Breidenbaugh, E. S., The Pennsylvania College Book, 1832-1882.

Philadelphia, 1882.
Ochsenford, Muhlenberg College. A Quarter Centennial Memorial

Volume. Allentown, 1892.
These works contain biographical sketches of professors, alumni, and
many of the trustees. Among the hundreds of names there are many of the
more prominent clergymen and laymen of this century.

6. Histories of Congregations.

For obvious reasons no attempt can be made here to record the volumes
and numerous pamphlets on this topic. For the history of the earlier con-
gregations down to date of the book, see Mann, Schmucker, and Germann's
new edition of the " Hallesche Nachrichten." See also Synodical
Histories.

7. Collections of Biographies.

Schierenbeck, Lebesbeschreibungen von Ltcth. Predigern in Amerika.

Selinsgrove, Pa., 1881-83.
Sprague, Annals of the American Lutheran Pulpit. New York, 1869.
Jennson, American Lutheran Biographies. Milwaukee, 1891.

8. Legal Trials and Decisions.

Carson, Trial of Frederick Eberle and Others for Illegally Conspiring to
Prevent the Introduction of the English Language into the So-vice of St.
MichaeVs and Ziori's Churches Belonging to the German Congregation in
Philadelphia. Philadelphia, 181 7.

xii BIBLIOGRAPHY.

Sandford, L. H., Assistant Vice-Chancellor of the State of New York,
Opinion, July ly, 1844, -upon the Angsburg Confession of Faith as the
Creed of the Lutheran Church, and the Departures therefrom of the
Franckean Synod. New York, 1845.
In Court of Common Pleas of Lehigh County, April Term, 1873, paper
books of plaintiffs (I. Trexler, etc.), and defendants (W. G. Mennig, etc.).
The former contains testimony of Drs. C. P. Krauth, B. M. Schmucker,
C. W. Schaeffer, etc., concerning the history, doctrines, and usages of
the Lutheran Church in America. (Compare Hull, " The Lutheran
Church in the Courts," " Lutheran Church Review," vol. vi., pp. 296 sqq.)
[A learned attorney has informed us that there is a vast amount of valuable
material on the history of the Lutheran Church scattered through the numer-
ous volumes of the Pennsylvania Reports.]

IV. European and Denominational Relations.

1. Holland.

Brandt, Histoiy of the Refonnation and Other Ecclesiastical Transactions in
and about the Low Coimtries. English translation, 4 vols, folio, Lon-
don, 1720.

Gerdesius, Historia Refonnationis. Tom. iii. Groningen and Bremen,
1749.

Ulenberg, Geschichte der Luthenschen Reformation. German translation,
Mainz, 1837. Original published in 1622.

Ritter, iM. Matthice Illyrici Leben und Tod. Second edition, Frankfort
and Leipzig, 1725.

Preger, Matthias Illyricus und seine Zeit. Erlangen, 1861.

Schliisselberg, Epistohe Theologomm. Rostock, 1724.

Benthem, Hollandischer Alrch- und Schulen-Staat. Frankfort and Leip-
zig, 1698,

Jacobi in Walch's Neueste Religionsgeschichte (lyyi). Vol. 2.

Fliedner in Hengstenberg's Kirchoizeitung iox 1831.

Nieuwenhuis, Geschiedenis der Amsterdam sc he Ltitheresche Gemeente.
Amsterdam, Gebhard, 1856.

Nieuwenhuis, Gedetikbock mitgegeven by det honderdjarig bestaan der
Ileroteld Luth. Gemeente te Amsterdam. Amsterdam, Metzler & Basting,
1891.

Schulte, Jacobi, Nieuwenhms, Bydragen tot de Geschiedenes der Ev.-
Luth. Kirk in de Nederlanden. Two parts.

Schulte, Jacobi, Nieuwenhuis, Ond en Nieund mit de Geschiedenes
der iVederl. Ljith. Kirk. V'we parts.

Nieuwenhuis, Geschiedenis der Ev.-Luth, Gemeente te Gravenhage.
Amsterdam, Gebhard, 1856.

2. Siveden.

Schrockh, Kirchengeschichte seit der Reformation. Vol. ii. Leipzig,

1804.
Baelter, IIisto?'iska Anmdrkjiingar om Kyrko-Co-emoniei'ua. Orebrc,

_i838.
Knos, Die 7>orneh?uste7t Eigenthiimlichkeiten der Sch"ivedischen Kirchetiver-
fassung. Stuttgart, 1 85 2.

BIBLIOGRAPHY. Xlii

Geijer, History of the S^vedes. (Translated by Turner.) London (w. d.).
Fryxell, History of Sweden. (Translated by Mary Howitt.) Two vols.

London, 1844.
Anjou, History of the Reformation in Sweden. (Translated by Mason.)

New York, 1859.
Butler, History of the Reformation in Szveden. New York, 1883.

3. Pietism and its London Adherents.

Spener, Thcologische Bedenken. Halle, 1 700-11.

Hoszbach, P. J. Spener wid seine Zeit. Two vols. Berlin, 1853.

Francke, Scgensvolle Fussstapfen. N^achricht von dem Way sen- Hans.
Vols, i.-vi. Halle, 1809.

Lange, Joachim, Apologetische Erldutening. Halle, 1719.

Schmid, H., Die Gescliichte des Pietismus. Nordlingen, 1863'.

Germann, W., Ziegcnbalg Jind Pliitschaii. Ein Bctrag zur Geschichte des
Pietismus. (From new researches in MSS. at Halle.) Erlangen, 1868.

Guericke, Life of A. H. Francke. (Translated.) London, 1847.

Knapp, J. G., Denkmal der G. A. Francken. Halle, 1770.

Burckhardt, Kirchengeschichte der Deiitschen Getneinen in London. Tu-
bingen, 1798.

Hassencamp, Nachricht von netiem Versuchen die Prot. Kirchen in
Deutschland mit der bischofiichen iti Engelland zu vereinigen. In
Walch's Neiieste Religions-Geschichte. (Lemgo, 1771.) Vol. ii., pp.
121 sqq.

Stoughton, Religion in England during the reign of Queen Anne. Two
vols., London, 1878.

4. The Salzburg Persecution.

Gocking", Vollkommene Emigrationsgeschichte von denen at is dem Ertz-Biss-

thum Salzburg vertriebenen Lutheranern. Frankfort and Leipzig, I734«
Hillinger, Kirch-Geschichte des Ertz-Bischofthum Salzburg's. (Contains

Schaitberger's Wahrhaftiger Bericht.) 1732.
Hagenbach, History of the Church in the Eighteenth and AHneteenth

Centuries. (Translated by Hurst.) Two vols., New York, 1869.

5. The Moravian Factor.

Spangenberg, Life of Nicholas Lezuis, Count Zinzendorf English trans-
lation, London, 1838.

Cranz, Alte und N'eue B ruder Historic. Three vols., Barby, 1774"

Zinzendorf, Eine Sammlung Offentlicher Reden . . . in dem Jahr 1^42,
mehrentheils in det?i Nordlichen Theil von America. Biidingen, 1744-

Zinzendorf, Biidingische Sammlung. Biidingen, 1740-41.

Fresenius, Hermhutische Nachrichten. Vols, i.-xvi. Frankfort and Leip-
zig, 1748-53-

"Rem^el^ Abriss der so gen. Briidergemeine. Berlin, 1858.

Burk, Life of J. A. Bengel, Translated, London, 1837.

V. Reports of the Founders, and their Contemporaries.
I. The Swedes.
Campanius Holmiensis, Thomas, Kort Beskrifning om Provincien Nya
Swerige uti America. Stockholm, 1702. Translated by Peter S.
Duponceau, Philadelphia, 1834.

xiv BIBLIOGRAPHY,

Bjorck, Eric T., Ett Omt Fast an enfaldigt Fahr-Wal, Stockholm,

1715-
Bjorck, Tobias E., Dissertatio Gradttahs de PlantaUone EcclesicB Sve-

ca}ict in America. Upsala, I73I'
Svedberg, Jasper, America Illwninata. Skara, 1732.
Hesselius, A., Kort Berettelse Om Then Svenska Kyrkios ndrwarande

Tilstand in America. Norrkoping, 1 725.
Kalm, P., En resa til N. Aiuerica. Stockholm, 1753-61. Translated

by Forster, three vols., Warrington, 1770.
Acrelius, Israel, Besh'ifning Om De Swenska Forsamlingars Forna och

A^dj-7i>arande Tilstand Uti Det sd Kallade Nya Sverige. Stockholm,

1759. Translated by W. M. Reynolds, Philadelphia, 1874.

2. The Salzburg Colony.

TJrlsperger, Samuel, Ansfiihrliche N^achricht von den Sahburgischen
Emigranten, die sich in America neidergelassen haben. In twelve
parts. Halle, 1735-46.

TJrlsperger, Samuel, Americanisches Ackerwerk Gottes, oder Zuverldssige
Nachrichten den Ziistand der American, Englischen, und von Sahburg-
ischen Emigranten Pflanzstand Ebenezer in Georgia betreffend, Halle,

1754.

3. The Pennsylvania Lutherans.

Nachrichten von den vereinigteti Deutschen Ev.-Ltith. Gemeinen in N. A.^
absonderlich in Pennsylvanien. Mit einer Vorrede von D. Johann Lude-
7vig Schulze. Two vols. Halle, 1750-87.

Mami, Schmucker, and G-ermann. The above republished with ex-
haustive notes on geographical, biographical, and historical allusions.
Allentown, Pa., vol. i., 1886. This most valuable storehouse of
material has been left incomplete by the death of the lamented American
editors. Translation begun by C. W. Schaeffer, Part I., Reading,
Pa., 1882.

Muhlenberg', Heinrich Melchior, Selbstbiographie, 1^11-43. A us dem
Jllissionsarchive der Franckischen Stiftungen zu Halle. Mit Zusdtzen
und Erlduterujigen von Dr. W. Germann. Allentown, Pa., 1881.

4. The North Carolinians.

Reports similar to the " Hallesche Nachrichten " were made by the mis-
sionaries in North Carolina to Helmstadt, and there published.

VI. Histories.

I . General.

Hazelius, History of the American Lutheran Church, from its Commence-

ment in 168^ to the Year 1842. Zanesville, O., 1846.
Andersen, Den Evang.-Lutherske Kirkes Historic. (In Danish. Brings

the history down to 1820, and closes with a statistical survey from 1820

to 1888.) New York, 1888.
Wolf, The Lutherans in America. New York, 1889.
Nicum, Die Lutheraner in America. New York, 1891. (A translation

of the above, with the addition of much valuable matter.)
Grabner, Gcscliichte der Lntlicrischcn Kirche in America. Vol. i. brings

the history down to 1820, St. Louis, 1892.

BIBLIOGRAPHY. XV

2. 0/ Particular Periods and Ldcalities,

Schaeffer, C W., Early History of the Lutheran Church in America.
New edition, Philadelphia, 1868.

Ferris, History of the Original Settlements on the Delaware. Wilmington,
1846.

Clay, Annals of the Swedes on the Delaware. Second edition, Philadelphia,
1858.

Norberg, Svenska Kyrkans Mission vid Delazuare. Stockholm, 1893.

Strobel, P. A., History of the Salzbiirgers. Baltimore, 1855. (Com-
pare Jones, The Dead To7uns of Georgia. Savannah, 1878. Hurst,
Bishop J. F., in " Harper's Magazine " for August, 1892.)

Bernheim, Gr . D., History of the German Settlements and of the Lutheran
Church in North and South Carolina. Philadelphia, 1872.

Roth, D. L., Acadie and the Acadians. Philadelphia, 1890.

Focht, D. H., The CJuirches between the Mountains. Baltimore, 1862.

Schmucker, B. M., The Organization of the Congregation in the Early
Lutheran Chu?'ches in A?nerica. Philadelphia, 1887.

VII. Biographies.

Stoever, M. L., Life and Times of H. M. Muhlenberg. Philadelphia,
1856.

Mann, W. J., Life and Times of H. M. Muhlenberg. Philadelphia,
1887.

Mann, W. J., H. M. Muhlenberg's Leben und IVerken. Philadelphia,
1891.

Weiser, C. Z., Life of Conrad Weiser. Philadelphia, 1876.

Hay, C. A., Lives of Goering, George Lochman, and B. Kurtz. Philadel-
phia, 1887.

Morris, J. G., Li%>es of C. A. G., T, and C. A. Stork. Philadelphia, 1886.

Stoever, M. L., Memorial of P. F. Mayer. Philadelphia, 1859.

Bachman, C. F., Life of John Bachman. Charleston, S. C, 1888.

Schmucker, B. M., and W. J. Mann, Memorial of C. F. Schaeffer.
1880.

Schmucker, B. M., Memorial of C. P. Krauth, Jr., 1883, and A. T.
Geissenhainer. 1883.

Haupt, C. F., Life of E. Greenwald. Lancaster, 1890.

Fox, J. B., Life of A. J. Fox. Philadelphia, 1888.

Spaeth, A., Memorial of B. M. Schmucker, 1889, and IV. J. Mann. Phila-
delphia, 1893.

Mann, EmmaT., Alemoir of IV. J. Mann. Philadelphia, 1893.

Giinther, Dr. C. F. W. Walther. Lebensbild. St. Louis, Mo., 1890.

Sihler, Dr. W., Lebenslauf (Autobiography). Two vols., St. Louis, 1880.

VIII. Doctrinal, Symbolical, and Controversial.

The Distinctive Doctrines and Usages of the General Bodies of the Evangelical
Lutheran Chicrch in the United States (Loy, Valentine, Fritschel,
Jacobs, Horn, and Pieper). Philadelphia, 1893.

Grosse, Unterscheidungslehren der Hauptsdchlichsten sich Lutherisch nen-
nenden Synoden. St. Louis, 1889. (Compare Nicum, " Lutheran
Church Review," vol. ix., pp. 154 sqq.)

xvi BIBLIOGRArHY.

Fritschel, S., Die Untcrscheidtmgslehren der Synoden von Icnva it nd Mis-
souri. Wavcrly, 1893,

Spaeth, A., Amcricanische BcleitcJihing. Philadelphia, 1882.

Schmucker, S. S., Popular Theology. First edition, Andover, Mass.,
1834; 9th, Philadelphia, i860. — The Avierican Lutheran Church.
Philadelphia, 1852. — Lutheran Mantial. 1855. — The Definite Platform.
1855. — American Lutheranis7n Vindicated. Baltimore, 1856.

Mann, W. J., A Plea for the Augsburg Confession. Philadelphia, 1 856. —
Lutheranism in America. 1857.

Hoffman, J. N., The Broken Platform. Philadelphia, 1856.

Brown, J. A., The New Theology, its Abettors and Defenders. Gettys-
burg, 1857.

Holman, S. A. (Editor), Lectures on the Augsburg Confession on the
Ilolman Foundation. Philadelphia, 1888.

Nicum, Confessional Liistory of the Lutheran Church in the United States
in Proceedings of American Society of Church History, December, i8gi.
New York, 1892.

Gotwald, L. A., Trial upon Charges of Disloyalty to Doctrinal Basis of
Wittenberg Theological Seminary. Philadelphia, 1893.

THE LUTHERANS.

INTRODUCTION.

WHAT IS LUTHERANISM?

If the principle be correct that the biography of a man
cannot be properly written without tracing his ancestry
and examining the influences that have contributed, long
before his birth, to the formation of his character, it is no
less true that the past history and the present condition of
the various Christian denominations of America cannot be
rightly understood unless we recur to their sources in
Europe and analyze the individual factors that have en-
tered into their life before they reached this country. As
no communion can be absolutely sundered from its past
history, the historical standpoint must always be the basis
of all enduring practical work. We cannot deal success-
fully with men unless we know who they are, and whence
they came, and what they mean. The historical ante-
cedents and relations and development must be appreciated
and recognized before any results can be expected from
the kindly feeling and earnest efforts of even the warmest
advocates of Christian union. A candid and discriminating
view of its precise historical situation on the part of those
upon whom rests the responsibility for leadership is an
indispensable prerequisite to all progress within a church.

2 THE LUTHERANS.

Even where there are the best of reasons for abandoning,
in some directions, the past development, it must be done
intelHgently, or far more may be lost than is gained. The
Lutheran Church in America cannot be understood, there-
fore, without an acquaintance with the Lutheran Church
in the centers from which it has originated. The history
of the Lutheran Church in America actually begins with
the Reformation.

Lutheranism is a specific form of Christian life. The
propriety of the name as a designation of that form of life
is not for us to determine. Apart from our willingness or
unwillingness to assume it, it has become a fixed term for
a definite and well-known object. As religion is not mere
intellectualism, or mere sentiment, or mere activity, so
Lutheranism, as a form of the only true religion, Christian-
ity, is far more than a system of doctrines, or a mode of
worship, or a form of church organization. The spirit of
a church is always greater and deeper than its expression ;
its faith is always greater than its confession. Lutheran-
ism is a mode of viewing and receiving and living the
truths of Christianity ; or rather of viewing and receiving
and living in mystical union with Him who is the begin-
ning and end of all these truths. The peculiarities which
mark its relation to Christ determine peculiarities with
respect to other objects. The principles underlying the
doctrinal position reappear in the spheres of ethics and
liturgies, of homiletics and church government. Even the
faith of a great sculptor or a great musical composer will
express itself in a different way according to the peculiar-
ities of the confession by which his religious life has been
nourished and trained. Everything that enters into the
religious life, or that proceeds from it, is molded and col-
ored by the specific form which that life assumes.

When it is claimed that Lutheranism is a specific form

VARIETIES OE LUTIIEKANISM. 3

of Christian life, it is implied that there are other specific
forms in which the same Christian life exists, and other
modes of viewing and receiving and living the common
faith of the gospel. It is beyond the scope of this book
to inquire whether there may not be a Providential guid-
ance controlling confessional divergences, in order to pro-
duce prominent representatives and outspoken confessors
of certain sides or phases of truth that might otherwise
have escaped sufficient attention ; or to consider what form
most fully complies with the one rule of faith which all
acknowledge. The Lutheran Church, however, is certainly
what it is because it has rarely lacked the courage to
frankly say that it heartily believes that it has received the
form of Christian life which it possesses from the quicken-
ing power of the Holy Spirit and the unerring Word of
God.

Nor is it less true that Lutheranism itself has varieties.
Distinctly marked as is its individuality, this does not give
to all its adherents precisely the same caste. As experi-
ence, environment, education, temperament, and personal
gifts differ, the one form of Christian life manifests itself
in various ways. Care must be taken not to confound
national peculiarities with those of the religious or confes-
sional life. So closely associated is Lutheranism with Ger-
many, its birthplace and the home of its greatest scholars
and preachers and hymn-writers and champions, that pe-
culiarities of German Lutheranism are often mistaken for
those of Lutheranism itself. This is not only because Ger-
man influences have powerfully affected Lutheranism, but
chiefly because Lutheranism has so largely made Germany
what it is. It has contributed as much to the formation of
the national character as it has to the language. But the
national characteristics must be eliminated from Lutheran-
ism if the latter have any claim to stand for that pure gos-

4 THE LUTHERANS.

pel which is for all nations and all tongues. To regard the
two as inseparable is to deny the evangelical character of
I.utheranism. Even in Luther himself we must discrimi-
nate between that which belongs to him, as the greatest of
all Germans, and that which is properly the expression of
his faith.

From the conception of Lutheranism we must eliminate
also the factors of temporal limitation. Each century has
its own distinguishing features that impress themselves
upon all its forms of life. The Lutheranism of the six-
teenth century is to be revered as that of its purest period.
To succeeding ages of the Lutheran faith it bears the same
relation that the Nicene period has to adherents of the
Nicene faith. But it is doing Lutheranism a wrong to
maintain that its development was completed with its first
beginnings, and that, with its growth arrested and its life
confined within the molds of a single generation, we must
now be content to do nothing but reproduce the definitions
of that age, and to meet the issues of the present in all
respects as issues were then met. The Christian life has
its peculiar mission in every age ; and so Lutheranism, true
to the spirit of its origin, without abating aught of its loy-
alty to the past, is candid enough to answer the questions
agitated in each age in the language of that age. In other
words, without wavering in consistency with its confession,
if it be a true expression of Christian life, it possesses adapt-
ability to every circumstance of human experience.

Lutheranism stands for that effort which was made in
the sixteenth century to maintain and continue the true
historical development of the Christian life, as opposed to a
false and unhistorical development with which it had been
confused and intermingled in the church. It attempted
no innovations. It appealed at every step to a tradition
whose purity was to be decided by its fidelity to the spirit

DOCIRINE. 5

and letter of God's Word. It encouraged no revolution-
ary movements. It was in no haste to reach an ideal end.
Its sole aim was to be faithful to the truth and to the hour.
Conservative, sober, discriminating-, it tenaciously adhered
to every bequest of the past which was either derived
from God's Word or which God's Word committed to the
liberty of the church. It refused to break with the settled
order except where that order opposed itself to the gospel.
It was unable to accept or identify itself with the more
radical movement that prevailed in what is known as the
Reformed family of churches, because, in its opinion, their
representatives were unwarranted in their opposition to
features in the old church that were not condemned in
God's Word, and which, therefore, instead of being re-
jected, were to be retained. It offered the widest and
most liberal basis for Christian union by restricting the
controversy with Rome solely to those points in which
Rome's departure from the gospel was manifest. It sought
to separate the essential from the non-essential, and, in the
sphere of love, to endure all things, while, in the sphere of
faith, it could concede nothing, commending w^hat is good
no less because found in an adversary, and condemning
what is wrong no less because found in a friend.

Lutheranism, as doctrine, starts w^ith the consciousness
of the personal intercourse between the child of God and
his reconciled Father. It is not a system, drawn by logical
deduction from exegetical researches into the Holy Script-
ures. It is the development of the spiritual Hfe in this
direction, as the consciousness of the relation with God is
analyzed by the tests of Holy Scripture, and, under the
guidance of Holy Scripture, is brought into contact with
other divine realities, concerning which it must make con-
fession. All its doctrines are its conceptions from various
sides of the one great doctrine of justification by faith

6 THE LUrilERANS.

alone. The vigor of its contests on other articles is expli-
cable from the fact that, whatever may be the point of
attack, it regards it as aimed at the citadel of its faith.
Lutheranism accepts Augustinianism on original sin; for
as self is depreciated Christ is exalted, and as sin is excused
or explained away faith in Christ is rendered needless.
Christ is really the center of the system; for justification
by faith alone means nothing more than justification by
Christ alone, through faith which clings to Christ as its
Saviour. If there are profound mysteries in its treatment
of Christology, it is because of the mystery of all mys-
teries in the person of its Lord, whom it worships as true
God and true man, from henceforth and forever one and in-
separable, and whose humanity shares in the infinite glory
and majesty of his divinity. It places no limitations as to
the extent of the atonement, teaching that it was made not
only for all men, but also for all sins ; the only limitation
being that of the enjoyment of the benefits of the atone-
ment, when some for whom Christ died perish through
their rejection of profi'ered grace. It maintains that the
Holy Spirit actually works through the means of grace, as
true organs and instruments whereby the benefits of re-
demption are offered and, if not repelled, faith is bestowed.
Faith not being a work of man, but of God, and being a
state, a temper, a disposition, an attitude of heart and mind
toward God, as well as a conscious act, Lutheranism has
never found it difficult to regard such faith as bestowed
already in infancy through the Word of God applied in
Holy Baptism. In the Holy Supper it has rigidly held to
the literal interpretation of the words of institution, finding
in the doctrine of the real presence the surest pledge of
all that is comprehended in redemption, and in the distri-
bution of the heavenly object to all communicants the seal
of the individualization of the general promise of the gos-

DOCTRINE. 7

pel, made In the divinely appointed words which accompany
the distribution and declare that, so far as God's will and
purpose are concerned, the benefits of Christ's death belong
to every one partaking of the consecrated elements, and
that which they convey. Lutheranism knows of no priest-
hood but that of the High-Priesthood of Christ, who, alone
and once for all, made a propitiatory sacrifice for us on the
altar of the cross, and the spiritual priesthood of all believ-
ers to offer the daily eucharistic sacrifices of prayer, praise,
and thanksgiving. So intimate is the union between the
Saviour and the soul whom he has saved, that there is not
room between them for any order of men to conciliate that
favor, of which the redeemed soul already enjoys the most
indubitable proofs. Lutheranism, however, places great
stress upon the church as a divine institution to administer
the Word and sacraments, anci the ministry as the church's
instrumentality through which she performs this divinely
appointed duty. Utterly repudiating the conception of the
ministry as a priesthood, Lutheranism, however, insists that
its duties do not pertain to all believers, but only to those
properly called and set apart to this work by the church's
order. Scrupulous in insisting that this order be observed,
Lutheranism, at the same time, finds the efficacy of the
ministry not in the regularity of the call, but in the pure
Word which they bear, which, whether or not their call be
regular, is the unfailing organ of the gracious operation of
God's Spirit. Lutheranism bows with implicit confidence
to the Holy Scriptures as its sole rule of faith and prac-
tice ; and, however inexplicable or contradictory its state-
ments may seem to human reason, the very fact that they
are there contained is to it an end of all controversy. It
regards the Scriptures an infallible and an inerrant guide
for all the purposes for which God has given us a revela-
tion, and, in their faithful use, humbly expects, by the en-

8 THE LUTHERANS.

lightening influences of the Holy Spirit, to be led into all
truth.

Holding that whatever the church has learned from
Holy Scripture she is bound to pubHcly confess, the Lu-
theran Church, as circumstances demanded, has embodied
these doctrines in her various confessions. While it can-
not be denied that false zeal in maintaining what have
been regarded Lutheran principles has combined with the
opposite extreme in regarding and representing the church's
confessions as absolute law, this itself is entirely foreign to
the spirit of Lutheranism, which serves God v/ith joyous
freedom. Bound in conscience by no confession of faith,
it is bound to confess only what it learns from God's Word,
and thus is bound to declare unmistakably its dissent from
any confession of faith which fails in full fidelity to God's
Word. The moment the confession becomes a law it
ceases to become a confession ; the moment that a docu-
ment becomes a confession it ceases to be a law. These
historical documents are confessions only when, in their
historical sense, they correctly express the judgment of in-
dividuals or churches concerning doctrines of God's Word,
The confession stands or falls according to its degree of
conformity with Holy Scripture. While it is undoubtedly
true that the confession is often greater and better than
the faith, it is also true that the faith is sometimes greater
and better than its confession, and that the confession fails
to adequately express the form of Christian life for which
it stands. All these principles will enter more or less inti-
mately into the estimate which will be placed upon the
various historical factors to be presented in this survey.
LutheranLsm is a clear, distinct, definite form of Christian
life, whose relations to other forms of Christian life are
traced in the theological science of comparative symbolics.
It is neither the formal subscription to minute codes of

CHURCH LIFE. 9

definitions and compliance with long-established prece-
dents ; nor is it, on the other hand, a vague and indefinite
spirit which assumes new shapes according to the fashion
of the hour, and changes its confession by the decisions of
majorities.

The form of the Christian life which the Lutheran
Church cherishes is preeminently irenic. The bitter con-
troversies that have raged within her are only incidents in
her history that are all the more marked as they are excep-
tions to the general course of her development. But her
very love for peace has rendered her cautious about any
false peace. She is candid, honest, outspoken ; she has
always felt that she dare not allow the clearness of her
testimony to be in any way clouded or compromised. She
has ever realized her divine commission to testify to all
things concerning which her Lord has given command-
ment, and she will not, even for the sake of the peace she
so much loves, be silent. The Lutheran Church, however,
is not responsible for the acrimony and violence that have
often been displayed by those w^ho claim to be her parti-
sans. Many a faithful teacher has diminished his influence
by allowing a spirit that is not of Christ or the gospel to
be intermingled with his clear teaching and perfectly just
censures. The Lutheran Church must not be held respon-
sible, any more than Christianity itself, for the incidental
ardor and violence of writers, forming a strange contrast to
the prevalent preaching from her pulpits, and the humble,
quiet, sincere lives of hundreds of thousands of her people,
who, in all meekness, are slow to give their confidence to
those whom they do not know, but who, at the same time,
cordially love and submissively obey and considerately
care for all that has once established itself as worthy of
esteem. The battlefields of a nation, while a very promi-
nent, are, after all, only a very small part of its history.

10 THE LUTHERANS.

We must learn to know a church not simply by the study
of its controversies and of the lives of its disputants, but
especially in the Christian life as it has developed among
the people in the administration of the means of grace. It
is unhistorical to reach conclusions by the study of the
polemical literature, while neglecting the hymns and
prayers, the liturgies, the devotional works, the sermons,
and the biographies of godly men and women of the same
period. It is unfair to consider the faith of a communion
simply as it is engaged in a struggle with those who mis-
state and confuse it, and not to consider the same faith as
in every- day life it bears the cross and meets those trials
from which no Christian is exempt, or as it leads to earnest
efforts in the various spheres of benevolent work.

Faith expresses itself, on one side, as doctrine ; on an-
other, as worship ; on another, as patience ; on another, as
work. The same conservative position that is noted in
the doctrine of the Lutheran Church characterizes it in all
other spheres. It accepts all that has gone before in the
church's history, casting out only that which is contrary
to Holy Scripture. It is constantly seeking development,
but only upon the basis of what has preceded ; for it knows
too well that this is the law of all true progress. Clearly
recognizing the hand of Providence in all the events of
human history, and assured of an especial guidance of the
Holy Spirit in the life of the church, it calmly submits to
whatever outward lot God appoints it, until the clear call
come for an advance. In external matters, the great vari-
ety that has attended it is due, in large measure, to the
varying degree of interference with the church's true de-
velopment, by either the Roman hierarchy or the state, in
the various countries of its original home. To the outward
order it ever continued to cling, until that order was turned
against the gospel.

THE CHURCH SERVICE. II

In public worship it carefully guards the rights of the
spiritual priesthood of believers, of whom, in all prayers,
the minister speaks only as the representative, leading the
devotions of the congregation. The guardianship of this
right implies not only the rejection of all the hierarchical
assumptions of an order who pray for the people in an un-
known tongue, but also an avoidance of all that is purely
subjective and individual in public prayer, in order that it
may be the '' common prayer " of the entire body of wor-
shipers, expressing, in language in which all can join, the
common wants of the spiritual priesthood who participate.
The center of all its worship is the Word of God. This
Word is preached, not only in the sermon, but in the entire
arrangement of the service, where the Word of God, in
various forms, and. with a due proportion of law and gos-
pel, is successively proclaimed. It centers around the
exhibition of all that Christ has done for, and is and will
be to, the behever. Hence the carefully chosen system
of lessons, embodied in the church year, which, in the
Lutheran Church, even more exclusively than in the other
historical communions that follow it, forms the main basis
of the preaching, but which her great preachers know how
to apply with great freedom and surprising variety to the
constantly changing circumstances of time and place. The
public service culminates in the Lord's Supper, with its
most direct personal application of the general promise of
the gospel under the seals of the very Body and Blood
that have paid the price of redemption — the preaching of
the Word in its most impressive form. Believing that for
a profitable partaking of the Holy Supper due preparation
is needed, previous announcement is made, in order that,
by self-examination and special prayer, the heart be made
ready to receive the more ardently the gospel assurance ;
and a special exercise is appointed — in the earlier periods

12 THE LUTHERANS.

of the Lutheran Church, and to a less extent even to the
present, a private confession, and more frequently, in later
times, a public confession or preparatory service — which all
who purpose to commune are expected to attend, and to
make answer therein to solemn questions concerning their
repentance and faith. Although regarding baptism as the
only ordinance whereby persons enter the church, admis-
sion to the Lord's Supper is preceded by the rite of con-
firmation, which, after having fallen into disuse for many
years, was reintroduced in the seventeenth century, and
has now become universal, as the church's declaration of
the fitness of the persons confirmed for admission to the
Holy Supper. It is preceded by careful instruction by the
pastor in the catechism, extending over one year or more,
supplementing what should be given in the family and the
school.

Upon the church school the Lutheran Church has ever
laid the greatest importance. In its various homes in
Europe it has always had the especial supervision of all
elementary instruction, which it has conducted upon the
principle that the religious training is the center of all edu-
cation. The catechism, Bible history, the committing to
memory of copious Scripture texts and of the best hymns
of the church, and church music, are prominent features
of the every-day instruction. It is a system which pro-
duces intelligent and earnest Christian laymen, and devout
and capable Christian wives and mothers, who are not
readily led astray, even if rationalism should dominate in
the theological training in the universities, where the con-
ditions of America are reversed, and the ecclesiastical
influence disappears as the religious training passes from
its elementary to its scientific form.

The organization of. the church has been determined by
the same controlling spirit of conservatism that has pre-

CHURCH GOVERNMENT. I 3

vailed in other spheres. Where the bishops espoused the
Lutheran faith and effected reforms according to it, as seen
especially in Sweden, there was no change in the form of
organization. Where they opposed it, and refused ordina-
tion to those faithful to what the Lutheran Church teaches
to be the gospel, the congregations had to resort to their
own inherent authority to provide for the pure administra-
tion of the Word, and ordain men independently of the
bishops. This was not done in haste or until repeated
protests had proved fruitless. Even when done, it was
with the hope that the change was only a temporary expe-
dient, fully justified by the necessities, but that, with the
recognition of their reasonable claims, the old order of the
church would be reformed and restored. Until then, in
most countries, the powers of the bishops devolved upon
the rulers, not for the purpose of transferring spiritual
rights to the temporal authorities, but, with a clear separa-
tion of the two functions, transferring to them, as promi-
nent members of the church, the general superintendence
of its interests and provision for its administration, until
either the regular bishops would yield to the demands of
the reformers, or the time for a thorough reorganization
would come. Under the direction of such rulers, a num-
ber of whom proved themselves to be faithful and truly
spiritually minded men, there was a readjustment of the
church's work and administration in the various Lutheran
countries, the Wittenberg Faculty (Luther, Melanchthon,
Jonas, Bugenhagen, etc.) and several of their intimate asso-
ciates (Brentz, Sarcerius, etc.) being especially active in
composing, revising, and editing church constitutions, and
in answering the many appeals for advice that were ad-
dressed them.

This form of church government, known as the episco-
pal, giving to the ruler the administration, but commit-

14 THE LUTHERANS.

ting the decision of all doctrinal questions to the minis-
try, was the prevalent one in Germany until the close of
the seventeenth century. It was succeeded by the ter-
ritorial system, which, emphasizing the invisibility of the
true church, intrusted the determination of even questions
affecting the doctrine into the hands of the ruler, since the
external church was regarded only as a human society,
which, like other human societies, should be maintained
and defended by the civil government. The collegial sys-
tem followed, asserting the sovereignty of the people, and
claiming the absolute independence of every congregation
in the determination of all its affairs. Under all these
systems, the practical determination of all questions was in
the hands of a consistorium appointed by the ruler, con-
sisting of theologians and jurists, and acting through super-
intendents, who, either themselves or through appointed
visitors, closely inspected the congregations, pastors, can-
didates, schools, and institutions of mercy. In some coun-
tries, where the Lutheran has come into close contact with
the Reformed Church, it has received considerable modi-
fication of its organization. The synodical form of organi-
zation, universally prevalent in the Lutheran Church of
America, is, in large measure, derived from the Reformed
Church, the Lutheran synodical organizations of the Refor-
mation period, of which that in Pomerania may be regarded
the type, being of an entirely different character, as meet-
ings for receiving instructions from the superintendents,
rather than for the decision of church questions. We be-
lieve that it can be very safely affirmed that nowhere, as
in this country, does the Lutheran Church have the oppor-
tunity to shape its church polity in accordance with its
principles. The temporary scheme in Germany of regard-
ing the rulers as bishops may have been necessary under
the circumstances ; but it certainly caused great embarrass-

THE CHRISTIAN LIFE. I 5

ments, and often led to a practical denial of Lutheran prin-
ciples, and even to their flagrant violation.

The prevalent character of the Christian life nourished
by the Lutheran faith is humble, devout, unobtrusive, joy-
ous, buoyant. The clear apprehension of the doctrine of
justification, which the Lutheran Church makes the most
prominent part of her teaching, when received in its full-
ness imparts the joyful consciousness of the forgiveness of
all sins and of the entire favor and presence of God. The
anxiety and gloom that characterize some other forms of
Christianity, and oppress many true Christians who have
only imperfectly received the comfort of the gospel, are
entirely foreign to the spirit of Lutheranism. Sadness and
sorrow, the Lutheran Church believes, belong to the realm
of sin and death, not of life and salvation and holiness.
Asceticism, if not pure legalism, is regarded as, at best,
only a diseased form of Christianity that denies to God the
full credit for blessings which he has given man to enjoy.
All good things of this life that come according to God's
calling and in his order are gratefully received and cheer-
fully used, in order that God may be glorified in the Chris-
tian's enjoyment of temporal as well as of spiritual things.
This in no way diminishes the clearness of its testimony
against the abuse of earthly objects and the absorption of
the heart in worldliness. In all its use of worldly things,
it is never forgetful of Him whence they come, and at
whose command they can be just as readily renounced as
they were previously received. These features are espe-
cially seen in the family, where there is the combination
of strict discipline with the most unreserved confidence
between parents and children, and of a deep religious life
with a cheerfulness that is always diffusing its brightness.
Sunday, instead of being observed by penitential exercises,
is the most joyful day of the week. The religious services

1 6 THE LUTHERANS.

throughout reflect this joyful character. Next to the pub-
he service of God, the day is sacred to the cultivation of
the life of the Christian family. Such statements neces-
sarily require discrimination. They are written with full
knowledge of the fact that liberty sometimes runs into
license, that the claims of God are ignored, and that a joy
which does not come from the Holy Spirit sometimes
boasts of Luther's name and of the precedent of Luther's
example. But for this perversion the Lutheran Church
cannot be held culpable.

If we cannot say that the Lutheran Church has faith-
fully entered every door of usefulness that has opened to
her, a review of her history does not show that she has
been inactive. It is sometimes charged against her that
while numerically so strong, it is strange that she allowed
the Reformed family of churches to so far outstrip her in
the work of foreign missions. But it does not require a
very close consideration of the facts before the reasons
become obvious. The Reformation itself was a missionary
movement, and taxed to the utmost her energies. The
great question of that hour was the reorganization of the
church, in such a way that her testimony to Christ might
be most clearly heard, and those agonizing for salvation
according to a false presentation of the way of life, find
peace for their souls. The worship of the church required
purification, and that a large literature of liturgies and
hymn-books and catechisms, and even translations of the
Bible, be provided. The vastness of the work accom-
plished by that generation is truly astonishing. It had
not passed away before the storm of the Smalcald War
broke upon the center of Lutheranism and desolated it,
while the Reformed churches were spared for a time. The
controversies largely occasioned by her weakened external
circumstances drained for years her energies and confused

MISSIONS. 1 7

her people. Then came, the desolations of the Thirty
Years' War. But these are only partial explanations. The
same external call did not come to the Lutheran as to
the Reformed churches. The Reformed churches were led
into the work of foreign missions as nations which had
the Reformed faith made conquests in heathen countries.
Where, to a far less extent, Lutheran nations had foreign
colonies or possessions, the Lutheran Church also entered
the field. The labors of Westen among the Lapps, of
Egede among the Greenlanders, and of Ziegenbalg and
his associates from Halle during the Danish sway in India,
as well as of Campanius among the Delaware Indians, are
among the earliest and the most interesting chapters in the
history of Protestant foreign missions. In later years, as
opportunity is given she has not hesitated to respond
promptly to the calls made, as her various missions in
India, Africa, and Oceanica testify. The development of the
Lutheran Church in America is a record of most remarka-
ble home mission work, which, with an insignificant amount
of resources, has, in a very quiet and unobtrusive way,
collected impoverished immigrants into a vast community,
brought them into powerful church organizations, built for
them substantial and, in many places, elegant churches,
provided for them well-equipped institutions of learning,
and founded numerous hospitals, orphanages, deaconesses'
institutes, and other works of mercy. It is the object of
this book to enter into the details of this history.

PERIOD I.

THE SOURCES AND ORIGINATION OF THE
LUTHERAN CHURCH IN AMERICA.

A.D. 1 624- 1 742.

CHAPTER I.

THE LUTHERAN CHURCH IN HOLLAND.

The Lutheran Church was not transplanted to America
as a homogeneous and thoroughly organized body. The
task before most other religious communities which have
found a home here has been far less difficult. With the
Lutheran Church, uniformity of worship and of govern-
ment has always been a secondary consideration, all stress
having been placed upon unity in the faith. But in organ-
izing those who hold the same faith into a body for mutual
protection and edification, the uniformity of worship and
government, however subordinate, is nevertheless a very
important factor. The regulations of the Roman Catholic,
the Protestant Episcopal, and the Presbyterian churches
were to a grreat extent fixed at their entrance into Amer-
ica. Other church organizations, having a somewhat freer
development than the communions just named, were never-
theless unembarrassed by the conflicting European orders
to which their founders were accustomed. The Lutheran
Church of America comes, however, from various nation-
aUties. Even within the same nationality, the multiplicity
of small states into which Germany was divided gave to
each its own separate church constitution and pecuHar
church regulations. The work of developing a Lutheran
Church, one in faith and thoroughly united in gpvernment
as well as in doctrine, has been gradually progressing with-
out any special effort on the part of men, but under the
constraint of the necessities of the Christian Hfe, i.e., by

22 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. i.

the presence of the Holy Spirit in and with the church.
To understand, therefore, the Lutheran Church in America
and its entire development, we must, with considerable care
and at some length, examine the history and church con-
stitution of the various elements which form this composite
body.

The pioneers of Lutheranism in America came from
Holland. The Lutheran Church of Holland when consid-
ered in itself has never been of any great importance or
influence. Even to the present day, it is without any work
professing to give its history. It has no church paper or
theological review, a small mission paper representing its
entire contribution to periodical literature. For over two
hundred and fifty years it had no theological seminary,
and was satisfied with educating generations of pastors in
Germany, and importing ministers from that country. The
element which it contributed toward Lutheranism in Amer-
ica was small in numbers, and made no very great progress.
Their descendants have formed the basis only of a few con-
gregations in New York and New Jersey, and while some
of their prominent names survive among our laity, there is
scarcely one in our ministry. Nevertheless, they have left
their permanent impress upon the entire form of the con-
gregational and synodical organization of the greater part
of the present church. Not only were the German Lu-
theran churches of London, with which Muhlenberg stood
in close connection, greatly influenced by their frequent
communications with Amsterdam, but we know how Muhl-
enberg's temporary pastorate of the Dutch Church in New
York City was followed by results in the more complete
organization of congregations that can be traced in a large
portion of the present constitutions. It is necessary, there-
fore, to devote some attention to the history, character-
istics, and organization of Dutch Lutheranism.

THE FIRST REFORMERS. 23

Luther's reformatory movements had found immediate
sympathy in the Netherlands. Phihp, Bishop of Utrecht,
had prepared the way by his reproofs of the clergy, his
denunciations of the monks, and the urgency with which
he demanded a more faithful study of the Holy Scriptures.
Erasmus, of Rotterdam, was no less important in his own
native land than in England. Gansfort, Vesalius, and
Groete were also forerunners. As in England, Robert
Barnes, the prior of the Augustinian monks, so in Holland,
Jacob Spreng or Sprenger, commonly known as Probst, of
the same Augustinian order, who had been a pupil of
Luther at Wittenberg, and had been admitted to Luther's
most intimate friendship, which was subsequently strength-
ened by his marriage to a near relative of Luther, was
especially prominent as an advocate of Luther's teachings.
Compelled, by a singular parallel to the experience of his
brother Augustinian in England, to make a public recanta-
tion, after repenting of his temporary vacillation and fleeing
from Holland he lived and labored long in the cause of
the Lutheran Reformation in Bremen. Henry Moller von
Ziitphen was another prior of the Augustinians, who studied
at Wittenberg, diffused the doctrines he there learned, first
at Dort and afterward at Antwerp, and ultimately attested
his devotion by martyrdom, December 1 1, 1524. It is only
necessary to read the letters of Erasmus, of 15 18 and 15 19,
to learn how the truth was spreading in the Netherlands.
The attack of the doctors of Louvain, November 7, 15 19,
is accompanied by the apology that the number of Luther's
advocates must explain its necessity. Of these Louvain
doctors it is said that they had appealed to Margaret, the
sister of Charles V., with the complaint that, by his writ-
ings, Luther was subverting all Christianity. "And who
is Luther?" she naively asked. **An unlearned man."
" Well, then," she repHed, *' I think there are enough of

24 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. i.

you to take care of him, since one unlearned man cannot,
before the world, overcome the many learned who are ar-
rayed against him." In 1521 the series of persecutions
began that were destined to furnish from the Netherlands
more martyrs than the entire early church contributed
during the period of its establishment. In 1522 a special
officer was appointed to search for Luther's writings. At
Brussels, July i, 1523, the Augustinians Henry Voes and
John Esch received the martyr's crown. These first mar-
tyrs of Lutheranism, when fastened to the stake, repeated
the Apostles' Creed, and then, until suffocated by the
flames, chanted responsively the Te Dcuni landauius. In-
stead of striking the Lutherans with dismay, this martyr-
dom only inspired them with new courage. A shout of
triumph arose from their leader, exultant at the grace
which God had given feeble men in the hour of their trial.
Luther writes :

To all the clear brethren in Christ who are in Holland, Brabant, and
Flanders, together with all believers in Christ Jesus : To you it is given,
before all the world, not only to hear the gospel and to learn of Christ, but
also to be the first, for Christ's sake, to suffer shame and loss, pain and
anguish, imprisonment and danger, and to be now so strong and fruitful as
to have sprinkled and confirmed your testimony with your own blood ; since
the two precious jewels of Christ, Henry and John, at Brussels, counted
their lives of no account, in order that Christ might be glorified. What a
trifling thing it is for those whose death is precious in God's sight to be
dishonored and slain by the world!

Lutheranism spread as it was persecuted. Repeated
edicts, and the threat of the emperor that he would '' be
an enemy to his own father, mother, brother, or sister, if
any one of them became Lutheran," were powerless to
check its progress. The evangelical cause was strength-
ened in 1524 and 1525 by the presence in the Netherlands
of Christian II. of Denmark, whose queen, Isabella, the
sister of the emperor, had, in direct opposition to her

LUTHERAN CONFESSORS. 25

brother's threats, become a warm advocate of Luther's
•cause. In 1525 another confessor of the faith was burned
at the stake, John Bekker, or Pistorius, of Woerden, a form-
er Wittenberg student. The same year Erasmus testi-
fies : " The greater part of the people in Holland, Zealand,
and Flanders know the doctrine of Luther, and are excited
with more than deadly hatred toward the monks." As
often happens, persecution on the one side led to extremes
on the other. To many Lutheranism was not sufficiently
aggressive. The excesses of Anabaptism broke through
the restraints, beginning with 1525. Anabaptism was a
more effective check to the progress of Lutheranism than
either sword or stake. Its crimes were placed to the
charge of the revived gospel. Thus, in 1534, the Coun-
cil of Deventer bound themselv^es by an oath to aid the
suppression of Lutheranism, *' the mother of Anabaptism."
While separate Lutheran congregations began to be formed,
according to V. E. Loscher, as early as 1528 at Utrecht,
nevertheless for a long time Lutheranism was the name of
a powerful tendency, before it began to organize congrega-
tions. At Antwerp the Augustinians were especially in-
fluential, and furnished able preachers. Although Luther-
anism was under the ban even there, refugees fled thither
from other quarters, where the proscription was more vigor-
ously executed. From an Antwerp press an edition of
Tyndale's English New Testament had appeared in 1527.
In 1528 Barnes, driven from England, was there. Tyn-
dale's residence at Antwerp, and his imprisonment and
execution at Vilvorde, twenty miles from Antwerp, Octo-
ber 6, 1536, are well known. John Rogers, while at Ant-
werp as an English chaplain, was won over to Lutheranism,
and, with his Dutch wife, repaired to Wittenberg. The
name of John of Amsterdam, appended to the Smalcald
Articles of 1535, is that of John Timann, another former

26 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. i.

Wittenberg student, who had found a freer field for the
exercise of his distinguished gifts, as a preacher in St.
Martin's Church, Bremen. Amsterdam, as a commercial
center, was in constant intercourse with other parts of
Europe, especially northern Germany and England, and
could not remain isolated from the religious movements
that were agitating the countries closely connected with its
mercantile enterprises. In 1531 there were both Luther-
ans and Reformed among its citizens.

Gradually Calvinism gained the ascendancy over Luther-
anism in the Netherlands. The organization of the adher-
ents of the Reformed faith into separate congregations had
been delayed until the sad period in the history of the
Lutheran Church when in Germany, its center, it was op-
pressed by the calamities of the Smalcald War, and weak-
ened by serious and far-reaching internal dissensions. The
same influences that lost England to the Lutheran Church
lost for it Holland. The persecutions, as they increased in
violence, drove many of the Dutch into places where Cal-
vinism had obtained a firm hold, and they returned from
their exile warm advocates of the faith they had learned
abroad. Men under the sting of great wrongs preferred a
more radical antagonism to Rome than they thought could
be found in Lutheranism. Account must also be taken
for linguistic affinities. Brandt, in his ** Hi^ory of the
Reformation in the Low Countries,"^ says: ''"The reason
why they did not follow the Confession of Augsburg was
chiefly the neighborhood and affinity of language between
the Walloons and the French, and the agreement of that
of the Flemings and the Brabantes with the Walloon
speech." Neither was the fact that William of Orange
was a son-in-law of Admiral Coligni without its signifi-

1 Vol. i., p. 142.

RELATIONS TO THE REFORMED. 27

cance. The ascendancy was not gained without a conflict,
which we will find transferred a century later to America.
But from the time of the General Synod in Antwerp in
1565, and the failure in 1567 of the commission of eminent
Lutherans sent from Germany, headed by Flacius and
Spangenberg, to conciliate the Reformed, the separation of
the interests of the two confessions and the very decided
minority of the Lutherans were inevitable. The Belgic
Confession of 1561 had become the formal protest of the
Reformed Church of the Netherlands, not only against
Rome, but also against the Augsburg Confession. The
Heidelberg Catechism was ordered, in 1574, to be taught
in all churches. In 1572 Holland and Zealand had adopted
Calvinism. In 1583 it had prevailed in all the United
Provinces.

The first Lutheran congregation organized with the
recognition of the Augsburg Confession as its basis is that
of Woerden, dating from 1566. In 1567 a Lutheran church
was under roof at Antwerp, and elders had been appointed.^
At the very time when the Duke of Alva was proceed-
ing to execute the purpose of Philip II. to exterminate all
Protestants in the Netherlands, there was anything but a
cordial feeling between the Lutherans and the Reformed.
In their relations with the magistrates, the Lutherans in-
sisted upon a moderate course. They submitted to any
restrictions, provided only they were allowed the free exer-
cise of their religion. In return, they obtained privileges
'which were denied the Reformed, as, in the opinion of
the magistrates, more turbulent and violent. It has been
repeatedly suggested that the magistrates favored the
Lutherans in order to provoke jealousy between the two
Protestant parties, and to render any reconciliation less

1 Preger's " Matthias Flacius Illyricus," vol. ii., p. 287.

28 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. i.

difficult. "The Lutherans," says the Remonstrant histo-
rian Brandt, quoting from the Jesuit Strada, concerning the
state of affairs at Kiel, near Antwerp, '* excelled the Cal-
vinists or Reformed, and the Anabaptists, with respect to
the quality of their adherents and followers, who consisted
of the principal inhabitants." While the Calvinists went
to their religious meetings armed, the Lutherans went
unarmed. Finally, St. George's Church, Antwerp, was
assigned the Lutherans for their services, while no church
building was allowed the Reformed. The hostihty be-
tween the two parties was appeased only by the unwearied
efforts of the Prince of Orange.

Even within the Reformed party dissensions arose, as
some were more conciliatory and others more aggressive
with respect to Lutheranism. John Arents, a Reformed
pastor at Amsterdam, had read from the pulpit Articles X.
and XIII. of the Augsburg Confession, and affirmed that
he had never taught anything contrary to these articles.
His brethren at Antwerp, regarding this an unwarranted
concession to Lutheranism, sent a pastor with two elders
to obtain a recantation, under penalty of excommunication ;
but before this could be gained the Duke of Alva was
pressing them with a more immediate danger. This cir-
cumstance shows either a more amicable feeling between
the Reformed and Lutherans at Amsterdam than at Ant-
werp, or that at Amsterdam the Lutherans were in the
preponderance. However that may be, the most strenuous
efforts made to induce the Reformed to subscribe the Augs*
burg Confession, as a condition of a political alliance with
some of the German states for protection in their extreme
peril, all failed. The answer was that *' they were willing
to subscribe to the Augsburg Confession in all matters con-
formable to the Holy Scriptures, left us by the apostles
and prophets, but, since the article of the Lord's Supper,

FLA CI us IN THE NETHERLANDS. 29

in which they differed from the Lutherans, was of very-
great importance, and required further consideration, they
should be obHged seriously to consult with their ministers,
and with the gravest of their members, before they could
come to any resolution."^ In vain, in 1567, William of
Orange urged : " Do what you have been so often advised
to do. Unite with the Lutherans. The difference is too
small for you to keep up separate interests. In that case,
I hope I shall be able to defend you with the help of the
German princes." -

The Lutheran theologian, Flacius lUyricus, on his arrival
at Antwerp- in October, 1566, found that the Lutherans
and Calvinists had each six preachers, and represented a
combined population of about thirty thousand souls. The
difficulties between the two parties were not altogether of
a doctrinal character. The Lutherans feared being com-
promised by what they regarded the radical attitude of the
Reformed toward the government. The opinion of Fla-
cius was : " It is written that, when for the sake of religion
magistrates persecute you in one city, flee into another;
but it is not written that, when the magistrates persecute
you, you are to take up the sword and attack them."^
This opinion seems not to have been universally approved.
Flacius himself wrote afterward : *' If the city is suddenly
invested, ours will defend themselves with the rest."*
While his visit failed in adjusting the differences between
the two confessions, its great significance lay in the foun-
dation provided for the more thorough organization of
Lutheran congregations. During his stay he wrote a con-
fession in the name of the preachers of Antwerp, which ap-
peared in Dutch and French in November, 1567. With his

1 Brandt, vol. i., p. 223. 2 Ibid., p. 253.

3 Preger's " Matthias Flacius Illyricus unci seine Zeit," vol. ii.

4 Ibid.

30 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. i.

associates, he prepared also an Agcndc, or Order of Service,
and Ministerial Acts. The late American liturgical scholar.
Dr. B. M. Schmucker, has found that this same year a
translation into Dutch of ** at least the second part of the
Brandenburg-Nuremberg Agende"^ was published at
Wesel. This second part is the explanation of Luther's
catechism in *' Sermons to Children," which, in its English
translation of 1549, is known as ** Cranmer's Catechism."
This suggests that the Dutch order of Flacius may have
been simply a translation of the classical Brandenburg-
Nuremberg Order of 1533.

Flacius intended to permanently identify himself with
the Lutheran Church of the Netherlands, and left, to re-
move his family to what he thought was to be their new
home. But before he could return the Spanish persecu-
tion had suppressed the evangelical worship at Antwerp.
The congregation was scattered ; but by the labors of Fla-
cius, Lutheranism in Holland had been reduced to some
order, and had now a fixed form.

As early as 1573 the Lutherans of Antwerp began to
emigrate to Frankfort on the Main, where in 1585 they
received large additions, when the Duke of Parma com-
pelled those faithful to the Lutheran Confession to aban-
don their old home. Their pastor, Cassiodorus Reinius,
who came with the exiles in 1585, supported himself by
silk- weaving until his death, in 1594. They carried with
them the written testimonial of the magistrates ** that the
said ministers and their assistants had ever since the year
1578, when the free exercise of their religion was allowed
them, to that very day on which they were forced to for-
bear the same, behaved in the government and direction of
their church, and in all other matters relating to the com-

1 Pencil note to Konig's " Bibliothcca x^gendorum," p. 3, in Liturgical
Library at Mount Airy.

CHARGES OF THE REFORMED. 3 1

mon good and public tranquillity, modestly and dutifully,
toward the magistrates and all the higher powers, accord-
ing to the stipulations between them and the magistrates
of the city."^ A few years before they had been exiled,
Conrad Schliisselberg, a name well known among Luther-
ans, for his able exposition of the Formula of Concord in
twelve volumes, had been one of its pastors, and Polycarp
Lyser, the distinguished editor of the works of Chemnitz,
had written him a very decided protest for what he re-
garded his premature abandonment in 1582 of the pastor-
ate at Antwerp.'-^

When at last religious freedom was secured for the
Northern Provinces, which were bound together by the
Union of Utrecht, and the separation between what became
the Protestant and the Roman Catholic portions of the
country was effected, the ecclesiastical center of both the
Reformed and the Lutherans was at Amsterdam. There
were frequent conflicts between the two parties. The
Lutherans, because of their moderation, had to suffer for
what was regarded as a lack of patriotism in the struggle
with Spain. From the controversies that had arisen in
Germany the Lutherans of Holland could not keep isolated.
It was with the very purpose of silencing a charge which
was afterward made by the Arminian prime-minister and
theologian Grotius, in a remarkable speech before the
magistrates of Amsterdam in 1 616, that the Lutherans of
Holland, to the great offense of the Reformed, were advo-
cates of the Formula of Concord of 1580. The charge of
Grotius was that Lutheranism was a schism, which ** had
its beginning about the year 1530," and that it was follow-
ing the prescribed course of all schisms. As both Dona-
tists and Novatians had been divided into numerous sects,

1 Brandt, vol. i., p. 400. 2 " Epistolas," p. 288.

32 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. i.

SO " the Lutherans, after having separated from the rest of
the Protestant churches, were immediately spHt into Fla-
cians, Osiandrians, etc." But the Lutherans of Holland
were not chargeable with these errors and divisions. Even
in Antwerp, the adherents of Flacius, when he propounded
his peculiar views concerning sin and human nature being
since the fall identical, had not been as many as the con-
nection of Flacius with that congregation, and his influence
in it and the entire Netherlands for good, would have war-
ranted. No language can be clearer than that in which
the preface to the " Book of Concord " refers with sympa-
thy to the persecuted Reformed, and, with indignant cen-
sure, to their persecutors in the Netherlands.

By this writing of ours, we testify in the sight of Ahiiighty God, and
before the entire ^church, that it has never been our purpose, by means of
this godly formula for union, to occasion trouble or danger to the godly who
to-day are suffering persecution. For as, moved by Christian love, we have
already entered into the fellowship of grief with them, so we are shocked
at the persecution and most grievous tyranny which, with such severity, is
exercised against these poor men, and sincerely detest it. For in no way do
we consent to the shedding of that innocent blood, for which undoubtedly a
reckoning will be demanded with great severity from the persecutors at the
awful judgment of the Lord, and before the tribunal of Christ, and they will
certainly render a most strict account and suffer fearful punishment. i

But the Reformed in Holland interpreted the Formula
as a declaration of war against them, and wrote a long and
decided but, in tone, very conciliatory protest, complaining
of the document as an injury and misrepresentation of
them and their teaching, addressed to Andreae, Chemnitz,
and the other authors, and signed '* the ministers of the
Reformed churches in the Netherlands." Even with this
opposition they reduce the points of difference between
the Reformed and the Formula of Concord to a minimum.
" Even our greatest enemies," they say, *' are convinced

1 " Book of Concord" (Jacobs), vol, i., p. 17.

SV.VOn OF AMSTERDAM.

that all our differences consist at present in two points
only."^ With the Formula's clear statements concerning
Flacianism, Osiandrianism, Antinomianism, and Synergism,
they seem to have no difficulty. They argue that the
Formula's professed agreement with the Augsburg Con-
fession settles nothing, " for we do not look upon that con-
fession to be a gospel." '* Zwingli, CEcolampaclius, Bucer,
Melanchthon, and Martyr," they say, '* do far exceed
Luther in learning."

In the controversies of those times there were undoubt-
edly intemperate and injudicious representatives of Luther-
anism, who did the cause they advocated more harm than
good by the bitterness which they introduced into the
discussions. To sift the evidence is almost impossible.
But we can readily understand how, at Woerden, where
there was a German garrison and the German influence
was strongest, national and linguistic elements would easily
be intermingled with the doctrinal differences. From these
various circumstances it can be seen that the struggle of
Lutheranism for existence in Holland was not over when
danger from Spain had passed. A few extracts from the
Remonstrant historian will illustrate this.

In the synod at Amsterdam, in January, 1600, it was
resolved ** that the ministers should lay before the magis-
trates an account of the places where the Lutherans met,
with reasons for suppressing the conventicles."- When
the magistrates of Woerden began to act accordingly, and
an appeal to the States- General was made in 1602 by the
Lutherans, the deputies from the various provinces were
almost unanimous in sustaining the appeal. " Leyden was
of the opinion that the petitioners were the best patriots of
the state, and that they ought to enjoy the fruits of what

1 Brandt, vol. i., p. 365. 2 Ihid., vol. ii., p. 15.

34 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. i.

was formerly conceded them."^ The succeeding year, an-
other attempt was made by the Reformed synod, in which
they preferred a complaint against *' the scandal which was
occasioned to good and sincere minds by the too public
exercise of religion, performed by those who indeed call
themselves of the Augsburg Confession, but who are not
so ; forasmuch as our religion, which is styled the Re-
formed, has a greater conformity to it, in the matter of the
Lord's Supper."'^ The final result, a year afterward, was
that the' Lutherans were allowed religious services, on the
condition of their holding them at an hour when they
would be attended '' with as little scandal and offense to
the members of the Reformed Church as possible.""^ The
hours were accordingly fixed as from April ist to the close
of October at 7 A.M. and 5 P.M. ; and from November ist
to the close of March, 8 A.M. and 4 P.M., or '* as the day-
light would permit." The pastor Glaserus was informed
that, in case of any violation of this rule, his town would be
" placed upon the same footing with the rest of the towns
of Holland and West Friesland, where no other religion
besides that of the true Christian Reformed was allowed."^
In 1603 the clergy of Holland and West Friesland pub-
lished a remonstrance, in which, referring to the Lutherans,
they say : " Their assemblies and the exercise of their per-
suasion in some of the principal towns, as Amsterdam, Rot-
terdam, W^oerden, and elsewhere, are very dangerous and
hurtful, not only to the church, but also to the state. "^
When the distinguished Remonstrant preacher Uyeten-
bogart was told of these efforts by some deputies of the
Synod of South Holland, he remarked : ** You are a strange
kind of people ; you bear harder upon those who differ
little with you, than upon those who differ much."^ In

1 Brandt, vol. ii., p. 15. 2 Jhid. 3 //;/,/., p. 16.

4 n>id., p. 17. 5 Jbid., p. 29. 6 Ji)id.^ p. 30.

THE INTERDICT UPON LUTIIERANISM. 35

1604 the Lutherans were denied for a time the right of
private meetings in Amsterdam.

One more illustration will suffice: in 161 5 the classis
of Woerden petitioned that the Lutherans at Bodegrave
should not be allowed to hold separate meetings, and urged
the following reasons : ** First, because they agreed with
the Reformed Church in the fundamentals of religion."
The Lutherans were thus impaled upon the horns of a
dilemma. If they had been fundamental errorists, then the
plea would have been that the exercise of their religion
was perilous to both church and state ; but since it was
acknowledged to be fundamentally correct, it must be sup-
pressed as unnecessary. *' Secondly, because one of the
principal inducements for making a schism had been re-
moved by the resolutions which the states of Holland had
taken for the preservation of the church's peace. Thirdly,
because they, the ministers of the Reformed Church, were
willing to admit the said Lutherans to Christian commun-
ion, and allow them to retain their opinions, provided they
were quiet. Fourthly, because they had refused to admit
our people at Hamburg, and elsewhere, to their commun-
ion, upon the very same foot. Fifthly, because it gave of-
fense ; nothing of this nature having been tolerated in any
of the towns of Holland. Sixthly, because their proceed-
ings were contrary to the former resolutions of the states,
and particularly to their last public prohibition ; besides,
that many who were used to come to church, and were
well enough contented, were now dissatisfied, and stayed
away, to the diminution of the alms, prejudice of the poor,
and increase of the troubles and divisions."^

This antagonism proved more annoying than formidable.
The " states of Holland " were on the side of tolerance,

1 Brandt, vol. ii., p. 188.

36 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. i.

The rise of Arminlanism, just as the seventeenth century
was entered, gave Calvinism in Holland an opponent, which,
for the time being, was deemed more formidable. The
struggle was political as well as theological and ecclesias-
tical. Maurice of Orange became the warm friend and pro-
moter of Calvinism. Arminianism had its exile in one of
the greatest of Dutch scholars, jurists, and theologians,
Grotius, and its distinguished martyr in John of Barneveldt.
It was condemned in the decrees of the Synod of Dort of
1619. The Arminian preachers and teachers were ex-
pelled from most of the states. The Lutherans saw that
the decrees of Dort had wider application than to the
Arminians, and that, even though their execution with re-
spect to them were not enforced, nevertheless whenever the
circumstance that they were fortified by their connection
with German states and princes, whose disfavor was feared,
would change, they must eventually suffer. The theologi-
cal faculty at Wittenberg reviewed the decrees of Dort in
a book, issued in 1621, entitled ''A Faithful Warning to
all the Lutheran Christians in Bohemia, Moravia, Silesia,
and Other Countries Thereunto Belonging, Carefully to Ab-
stain from the Erroneous and Highly Pernicious Calvinistic
Religion," which gives warning that Lutherans in Reformed
districts of Germany have serious grounds for apprehend-
ing similar treatment to that which the Arminians suffered
at Dort. A change occurred on the death of Maurice
in 1625. \\\ 1630 the Arminians were allowed to erect
churches and schools in all parts of the country.

Amid all these occurrences a succession of Lutheran
pastors labored quietly, but none the less faithfully, in the
large congregation at Amsterdam. ^

1 Their names are worthy of record. We give the list until the close of
the century: 1589, A. Nesscher, until 1601 ; 1590, J. van der Popelier, until
1593; I594> A. Visscher, died 1613; 1601, J. Willemsz, died 1615; 1605,

LAIFS OF WILLIAM OF ORANGE. 37

The regulations for the government of the churches in
Holland were framed according to the Ecclesiastical Laws
of 1577. published by Wilham of Orange and the States-
General. As they prevailed not only in the Reformed but
also in the Lutheran churches of Holland, they aid us in
tracing peculiarities in our own church government, derived
from the Dutch Lutherans. These regulations of William
begin with the statement that in the administration of
church government there are four classes of officers : pas-
tors, doctors or professors of theology, elders, and deacons.
No one is to enter the ministry unless duly called. When
elected to a congregation, he must submit to an examina-
tion before the elders of the church. No one is to be ad-
mitted into the pulpit of a church until his name have been
published therefrom for three successive Sundays. The
ministers of every town are to hold a pastoral conference
every two weeks, and each member, in turn, is to open
the meetings with an exegetical paper, which is then to be
discussed. All dissensions among ministers are to be set-
tled, if possible, among the ministers alone ; if not, they are
to be referred to the elders ; and if the elders do not suc-
ceed in adjusting the difficulty, the magistrate is appealed
to. When charges against. a minister are not sustained,
those who have brought the accusation are to be punished.
Annual visitations are to be made throughout the country
churches by two elders and one or two of the ministers of

J. Cremerius, until 1608; 1609, C. Pfyffer, died 1643; 1613, A. Glaserus,
died 1624; 1615, J. van Batevelt, died 1633 ; 1626, J, von Wullen, died 1640;
1630, Adolphus Visscher Adolfz, died 1652; 1641, Paulus Cordes, died 1674;
1643, Elias Taddel, died 1660; 1644, R. Ligarius, died 1680; 1655, J. E.
Bloom, died 1683; 1660, C. Hoppe, died 1670; 1662, H. van Born, died
1701; 1670, V. Visscher, died 1678; 1673, A. G. Velten, died 1679; 1678,
H. Vos, died 1708; 1679, J. Colerus, until 1693; 1680, P. Weslingh., died
1732; 1683, T. Dominicus, died 1713; 1692, B. Haan, died 1702. — "Acta
Ilistorica-Ecclesiastica," vol. vii., p.- 34 sqq.

38 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. i.

every capital town. Baptism is to be administered only
by ministers, and, unless the necessity be urgent, only in
the church. No child offered for baptism is to be rejected.
Sponsors are neither to be required nor refused. The
Lord's Supper is to be administered at Easter, Whitsun-
day, first Sunday in September, and Sunday after Christ-
mas. Notice is to be given the preceding Sunday, that
children coming to the Lord's Table for the first time may
be instructed in the catechism, and that opportunity may
be given for conference with others who desire it. The
communicants are to be exhorted to examine themselves,
lest they eat and drink to condemnation. Every commu-
nicant receives the elements immediately from the minister.
The lay eldership is established by the following provision :

The magistrates of every place shall choose from among themselves more
or fewer persons, according to their numbers, good men and such as are not
inexperienced in the business of religion, in order to assist the pastors in
church aflfairs, and to be present at their meetings, to the end that, if any-
thing should be transacted there of which the government ought to be in-
formed, they may give an account of it, and do such other things as the law
has annexed to their ofifice.

The deacons are " godly stewards who understand how
to assist the poor, according to their necessities, in order
that the trade of begging may be prevented, and the poor
contained within the bounds of their duty." ^

Eleven years before these laws were promulgated, viz.,
in 1566, William, with* the concurrence of the magistrates,
had named the elders for the Lutheran Church in Ant-
werp.^ Flacius approved the presbytery of twelve elders,
to which he became an official counselor.

We find the regulations of the Lutheran Church in Hol-
land, in their fully developed form, in a statistical work

1 Brandt, vol. i., pp. 318-22. 2 Preger, vol. ii., p. 287.

THE CHURCH AT AMSTERDAM, 39

published before the seventeenth century closed, Benthem's
" Condition of the Churches and Schools of Holland."
This writer says that, with the exception of doctrine, the
Lutheran Church in Holland was, at that time, in all re-
spects the same as the Reformed. It had complied with
this external order as the price of toleration, and, besides
this, had been closely related to the Lutheran Church at
Strassburg, where a similar resemblance to the Reformed
had prevailed. It was not only numerous, but it possessed,
in other respects, the highest standing. At that time there
were thirty-four churches and forty-five ministers, nearly
all of whom had been educated at Jena. While, since then,
there has been a steady growth, how slow it has been may
be seen when we find that in two centuries there has been
an increase of only about thirty ministers, including the two
branches into which the Lutherans of Holland are now
divided. At Amsterdam there were for the one congrega-
tion two church buildings, with six ministers, one of whom
preached in German, and thirty thousand souls. For many
generations it had the distinction of being the largest
Lutheran congregation in the world. This large and
wealthy congregation had to bear the chief burden of the
support of the Lutheran Church throughout, the entire
country ; and with, this responsibility it gained correspond-
ing influence. Spener complained afterward that this in-
fluence was abused, and the consistorium of Amsterdam
domineered over the Lutheran congregations in Holland. 1
Every five years a synod of all the Lutheran congregations
was held at Amsterdam. It was the gradual development
of the union, made in 1605, between seven of the Lutheran
pastors, whose parishes had previously been isolated and
independent, which was followed by the '* Fraternity " of

1 " Letze Bedenken " (1693), vol. iii., p. 417.

40 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. i.

1 6 14. Important matters occurring between the meetings
were settled, if possible, by an appeal to the three nearest
congregations: Next to the congregation at Amsterdam,
that at Leyden, with seven hundred members and two
ministers, ranked in importance.

Their public service was very similar to that of their
Reformed neighbors ; and yet it had s(5me noteworthy feat-
ures. The gospels and epistles for the church year were
read in course and explained. Besides Luther's Catechism,
questions prepared by John Ligarius were used in the in-
struction of the young. Fliedner, writing in 1831, notes,
with other indications of the desolations made by Ration-
alistic influences, that, instead of Luther's Catechism, every
preacher was then using whatever he pleased. The church
prayers of the Dutch Lutheran churches of the sixteenth
century were not extemporaneous, but those which the
church appointed were read before and after the sermon.
Baptism was without exorcism. Before communion, in-
stead of the private confession that had been usual in other
portions of the Lutheran Church, a preparatory service
with public absolution was held the preceding Friday.
The following extract from the order of confession and ab-
solution will doubtless interest many :

1. I ask you, in God's stead, whether you experience in yourselves, and,
■with humble hearts, confess that you are poor, lost sinners, who have often
and grievously offended the Lord your God, secretly and openly, knowingly
and ignorantly, in thoughts, words, and deeds, and besides have in various
ways also injured your neighbors, and have thus deserved all temporal and
eternal punishments? And do you pray God to forgive you? Answer, Yes.

2. I ask you whether you firmly believe that God, according to his infinite
mercy, for the sake of the precious merits of Jesus Christ, his Son, not only
forgives you all your sins, but also, as a seal thereof, in the Lord's Supper
gives us his Body and Blood, under the bread and wine to eat and drink?
Is this your sincere belief? Answer, Yes.

3. I ask you whether it be also, by God's grace, your purpose to amend
your sinful lives, to bring forth the true fruits of repentance and faith, to
show yourselves to be new creatures in Christ, to walk in the Spirit, after

CHURCH CONSTITUTIONS. 4I

the new man, and not only to forgive from the heart your neighbor who has
offended you, but also to prove your love to him, and henceforth to remain
faithful to God's everlasting Word, and our true Christian religion even unto
death? Anszver, Yes.

The Faithful and Merciful God, who has given you to will this, will also
enable you to accomplish it, to the glory of his holy name, and to the ever-
lasting salvation of you all, through Jesus Christ. Amen.

Humble yourselves, then, before the Lord your God, confess to him, with
broken and contrite hearts, all your sins, and pray with me :

Most Just and Merciful God, we poor men confess not only that we have
been conceived and born in sins, but that we have often offended against thy
holy commandments and grievously transgressed them. But as Jesus Christ
has come into the world to save sinners, we pray, O faithful God and Father,
that, for Christ's sake, thou wouldst forgive all our sins, receive us into thy
grace, and grant us everlasting life. Grant us also, Heavenly Father, heart-
felt repentance, firm faith, true godliness of life, and steadfastness, even unto
the end, through Jesus Christ. Amen.

Upon this, your confession and prayer to God, as a minister of Jesus
Christ, and in accordance with his Word in John, the twentieth chapter,
" W^hosesoever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whosesoever
sins ye retain, they are retained," I declare unto all who are penitent the
forgiveness of all their sins, in the name of the Father, and of the Son,
and of the Holy Ghost. But unto the impenitent, their sins are retained,
until they amend, for which may God grant them grace, through Jesus
Christ, in whose name we pray: " Our Father, who art in heaven," etc.

The church constitution of 1597, as revised in 1614, 1644,
and 1 68 1, binds all preachers to teach according to the rule
of the divine Word, as declared in the prophetic and apos-
tolic Scriptures, and forbids them to depart from either the
doctrine or the modes of expression '' of our symbolical
books, viz., the Unaltered Augsburg Confession, its Apol-
ogy, the Smalcald Articles, and the Formula of Concord,
together with the two catechisms of Luther." All ser-
mons are to be directed to the edification of the congrega-
tion, by teaching God's Word purely, distinguishing be-
tween true and false doctrine, and, with all plainness and
directness, reproving sin. The constitution directs that the
morning sermons must always be on the gospel for the day,
and the afternoon sermon on the epistle, Luther's Cate-

42 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. 1.

chism, or some other edifying text. The Sunday morning
service is Hmited to two hours, and the afternoon and week-
day services to an hour. In after-years, with the Ration-
ahstic deterioration the length of the sermons seems to have
increased, Augusti, in 1837,^ complaining of the extensive
length of their discourses of from two to three hours, which
had grown by concession to a popular demand. This has
been confirmed by the testimony of a living American
Lutheran minister, who formerly resided in Holland, and
was a frequent worshiper in those churches.

The Lutherans of that purer period, which the emigrants
who founded our church in America represented, during
Lent heard the Passion History explained, and, as chil-
dren, were examined every Sunday afternoon in the cate-
chism. No private religious meetings were held without
the knowledge and approval of the pastor. The adminis-
tration of the Lord's Supper was announced two weeks in
advance. Before their first communion, a careful exami-
nation was made of all young persons. To prevent those
from coming to the Lord's Supper who had not been prop-
erly instructed and been present at the preparatory service,
or otherwise privately conferred with the pastor, the cus-
tom widely prevalent in- the Reformed Church had been
adopted by the Lutherans. Those entitled to commune
were furnished with ''tokens," which the elders standing
by the side of the Lord's Table received as the communi-
cants approached. At the previous distribution of the
tokens by the elders to applicants, one or more of the pas-
tors was present to see that none received them who should
not commune. As they received the communion they
knelt, and psalms and hymns were sung by the rest of the
congregation. Rigid discipline was exercised according to

1 Vol, ii., p. 409.

THE LA V ELDERS. 43

a detailed process. The church constitution admonishes
those whom the Lord has endowed with riches to make
provision in their wills for the church and the poor; and
charges pastors in all their sermons to urge works of love
toward the poor, and to never forget to pray for the sick.

Every congregation was governed by a " consistorium,"
composed of the pastors and lay elders, or such other per-
sons as were elected by the congregation. The final deci-
sion in all doctrinal questions belonged to the pastors. All
discussions of the consistorium w^ere secret. Ordinations
occurred either in the congregation of which the candidate
had been elected pastor, or in the congregation at Amster-
dam. The representatives of the three nearest congrega-
tions and a representative of the congregation at Amster-
dam officiated at such ordinations. Controversies between
pastors were not brought before the congregation, but were
settled in the consistorium. The congregation was held
responsible for the support of the widows and orphans of
its pastors.

The provisions of the Holland order concerning lay eld-
ers especially concern us, since we know their influence
upon our own churches. The time for their election was
fixed as the first Sunday in May, at the time and place of
the afternoon service. Ten names were nominated yearly
for elders, and twelve for deacons, double the number to
be elected. The term of service was two years. No one
elected was excused, unless for most clear and weighty
reasons. To avoid all ofTense, a father and son, or two
brothers, or two brothers-in-law could not serve in these
offices at the same time. They were installed with the lay-
ing on of hands, and, at the expiration of their term, they
were dismissed from office, according to a very full order,
in which they receive the thanks of the congregation for
their services, and the benediction of the pastor. They

44 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. i.

were responsible for the pure preaching of God's Word,
the right administration of the sacraments, the godly life,
and the observance of the church regulations by the pas-
tor ; and, for this purpose, the presence of at least some of
the elders at. every public service was deemed necessary.
On the dismission of the congregation, they stood by the
door with the receptacles for the collections in their hands,
in order to receive the contributions of the people for the
support of the church and for the poor. In this they were
aided by the deacons. They saw to the support of the
pastor, and cooperated with him in removing all causes of
offense among the members, in reproving sin wherever it
occurred, in bringing the erring to repentance, or, where
this could not be effected, in the exercise of discipline.

The deacons wxre purely collectors and distributers of
alms. In their house-to-house visitations they were charged
with the duty of bringing to the church service those who
had been negligent in this particular. There was also a
special office devoted to the care of the sick. This included
frequent visitations by one competent to console the sick
with God's Word, who reported to the pastor as his spiritual,
and to the deacons as their pecuniary, aid was needed.
As parish clerk, the same officer was charged with the duty
of putting the hymns on the hymn-board, keeping the reg-
ister of baptisms and marriages, collecting the requests for
the special prayers of the congregation, and reporting all
irregularities of those receiving alms to the deacons or con-
sistorium. This office of Zieken-trooster, '' comforter of the
sick," was found in the Reformed churches in Holland, and
was transplanted by them to America.

Such was the Lutheran Church in Holland when it sent
members to the colony which Holland had founded on
the banks of the Hudson, and when the Dutch Lutheran
churches in New York were under the care of the consis-

CAUSES OF DECLIXE.

torium of Amsterdam. Overshadowed, on the one hand,
by the great numerical superiority of the Reformed Church,
to which it aimed at conforming in all external things, and
entirely dependent, on the other, upon Germany for the
training of its ministry, it was unable to develop a life of
its own, and became, in the last century, an easy prey to
the desolations of Rationalism, as they pervaded both the
Reformed Church of Holland and Lutheran Germany, or
were drawn from contact with Arminianism, as it met the
same crisis. A church that is satisfied with importing its
theology from abroad, and at most translating it into the
language of the nation which it has entered, will have far
less influence on that nation, than the prevalent national life
and thought will have upon it. This the Lutheran Church
of Holland has felt to its sorrow. The prevalent tendency
is still that of the Modern Criticism that flourishes so ex-
tensively in that land. The Rationalistic struggle, how-
ever, led to the separation of a number of churches and
pastors at the close of the last century, who have attempted
to restore a pure Lutheranism by holding more closely to
the Augsburg Confession and reverting to a more churchly
order of service. Both divisions of the Lutheran Church
in Holland provide now for theological training in Holland,
the more liberal by a theological seminary at Amsterdam,
founded in 1816, with a few students, and the more ortho-
dox by the delivery of theological lectures in the univer-
sity at Am.sterdam by one of the professors.

CHAPTER II.

THE LUTHERANS OF THE NEW NETHERLANDS
(1624- 1 700).

The Dutch Lutherans of New York are assigned the
priority, not because of the date in which they had organ-
ized congregations — for in this respect the Swedes are
clearly in advance — but because of the time in which they
most probably had members in this country. While the
earliest mention of them is that made by the Jesuit mis-
sionary, Jogues, in 1643, yet they are there referred to as
enjoying religious liberty, notwithstanding the law against
other faiths than the Reformed, which was not enforced.
Even the Reformed, notwithstanding their preponderance
in numbers, and the fact that they constituted the state
church in Holland, did not begin an organized congrega-
tion for several years. The earlier settlers of New York
came for commercial purposes. Unlike the Pilgrims of
New England, the Quakers of Pennsylvania, the Salzburg-
ers of Georgia, and the Palatinates of the succeeding cent-
ury, there was no religious motive back of their emigra-
tion. The settlers were the more adventurous spirits of
the golden age of Holland, when she ranked with France
and England among the first powers in the world. The
heart of the whole movement was at Amsterdam. Among
the thirty thousand Lutherans of that city, comprising much
wealth and influence, there were undoubtedly those found
who from the very beginning cooperated with the rest of
their countrymen in this enterprise. The smaller places

THE WEST INDIA COMPANY. 47

furnished their representatives, while it is not improbable
that exiled families from Antwerp and other portions of
the Catholic provinces were in the number.

A brief glance at the history of the Dutch colony is of
service in enabling us to understand the position and sig-
nificance of these first Lutheran emigrants. In 1609 Henry
Hudson, an Englishman in the service of the Dutch East
India Company, had discovered and explored the river that
bears his name. In 1612 three Amsterdam merchants sent
two vessels to the Hudson to trade with the Indians, which
were followed the succeeding year by two more. Fort Nas-
sau, near Albany, was built at this time, and huts were built
on the southern part of Manhattan Island. These ventures
proving successful, a charter was granted Amsterdam mer-
chants in 1 6 14 allowing them the exclusive right of trade
for three years. They prepared the way for further enter-
prise especially by the treaty of Tawasentha with the In-
dians, which established the generally pacific character and
friendly relations of the Dutch to the natives. Although
there was at times, and particularly so during the adminis-
tration of Kieft, war between the two sides, the Dutch
knew too well how greatly their success as traders in furs
depended upon their amicable intercourse w4th those whom
they used as their agents in gathering them. As clear-
headed, practical men, thoroughly pervaded by the mer-
cantile spirit, their wrongs to the Indians were inflicted
more by their shrewd bargains than by violence. In 1621
the Dutch West India Company was chartered, which,
from that time, or rather from the time of its approval by
the States- General in 1623, exercised the control, as well
as received the profits. The company preoccupied the
field by a yacht, sent out in 1622, which was followed by
the " New Netherland," with a colony chiefly of Walloons,
residents of Holland and Belgium, of French extraction, in

48 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. ii.

1624. The succeeding year the number of settlers was
two hundred. In 1626 Peter Minuit, a native German from
Rhenish Prussia, became director-general. He bought
Manhattan Island from the Indians for twenty-four dollars.
A recent apologist suggests that if the amount which that
represents now be calculated at compound interest from
then, it will, after all, be found not to have been so very
small. The advent of Minuit was distinguished for its
having introduced two " comforters of the sick," Krol and
Huyck, who held services " in an upper room in a horse-
mill." It is very strange that, with all the interest taken
in their history, the first pastorate had entirely vanished
from sight until the comparatively recent discovery of a
letter in Holland, of which a facsimile is printed in James
Grant Wilson's " Memorial History of New York," makes it
clear beyond a doubt that, 1628, August 1 1, Jonas Micha-
elius arrived as pastor, and established a form of church
government with two elders, of whom the director, Minuit,
became one, and that at the first Lord's Supper there were
fifty communicants, Walloons and Dutch. In 1633 there
was a change both in the directorship and the pastorate,
Wouter van Twiller succeeding Minuit, and Everardus
Bogardus, Michaelius. The first church was built and the
first schoolmaster began his work the same year. From
1637, for ten years, William von Kieft was director-gen-
eral. He was arbitrary, grasping, and engaged in constant
quarrels with the Indians. Kieft was succeeded by the
last and greatest of the director- generals, Peter Stuyvesant.
Whatever were his faults, he has left his permanent impress
upon American history. He was a truly heroic character,
conscientious, exacting, fearless, prompt in making his re-
solves and persistent in executing them. The laws made
for the colony, as he explained it, " by God and the Dutch
West India Company, and not by a few ignorant people,"

PETER SrUYVESANT. 49

he was determined to see executed ; the conveniences and
preferences of individuals were nothing when compared
with what he regarded the welfare of the community. As
a consistent and uncompromising Calvinist, he believed that
highest welfare to be connected with its religious life, as
regulated according to the decrees of the Synod of Dort.
Stuyvesant, the son of a clergyman, was born in Holland
in 1602, had been governor at Cura^oa in the West In-
dies, and lost a leg in a battle with the Portuguese. He
remained director until 1664, when, after he had made all
preparations for defending New Amsterdam against the
English until the last extremity, the intercessions of the
Dutch ministers prevailed upon him to desist from what
seemed to them to involve a useless loss of life, and to
gracefully surrender.

Up to the middle of the seventeenth century the Luther-
ans do not seem to have given the authorities any trouble.
But with the increase of prosperity under Stuyvesant's
energetic rule their numbers were probably still growing.
The time came when they felt that they should no longer
be content with attending the services of their Reformed
friends, but should have the privilege of services of their
own. Like their ancestors during the preceding century
in Holland, they were peaceful, law-abiding, and in no way
aggressive. They had been waiting their time patiently,
and believed that it had come. As their children were
born they had heretofore brought them regularly to the
Reformed pastors for baptism^, as was the custom among
Lutherans in Holland where there were no Lutheran pas-
tors. The Reformed Dutch Order for Baptism of 159 1 had
required only that parents and sponsors promise that the
child should be instructed in the doctrines of the Old and
New Testaments and in the creed. This formula the Synod
of Dort had revised, and connected with it the obligation

50 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. ii.

to the decrees of that synod. But even In Holland the
introduction of this new regulation was very limited, and
in his account of the Reformed Church given in 1698 by
Benthem in his book on Holland, the formula of baptism is
the older, and not the later one of Dort. It was regarded
a better policy to attract those of other communions than
to repel them when they offered their children. This seems
to have been the case also in the New Netherlands. But,
in accordance with Stuyvesant's principle that laws upon
the statute-book should be enforced as they stood, and
under the advice of the two prominent Reformed pastors,
who were most staunch adherents of the most rigid form
of Calvinism, the Lutherans found themselves compelled,
if they would have their children baptized, to answer the
questions of the revised formula. This intensified the
desire for services and a pastor of their own. As early as
1649 the Lutherans at New Amsterdam are called a *' con-
gregation " in the minutes of the consistory at Amsterdam,
and their petition for a pastor (October 8th) is recorded.^
In 1653, with characteristic regard for order, they pre-
sented their petition to the director of their colony. Again,
the two Reformed pastors Megapolensis and Drisius were
his advisers, and urged that no public services but those of
the Reformed Church were allowable by law. Reformed
writers of the present time, and the descendants of the Re-
formed Dutch of the New Netherlands, acknowledge and
freely criticise this course of the two pastors, who have
otherwise left a high reputation for their devotion and fidel-
ity. Megapolensis, or Van Meklenburg (born 1601), had
been a convert from Romanism and a missionary to the In-
dians, and, by the efforts made to save the life of his friend.
Father Jogues, the Jesuit missionary, showed that he was
not so illiberal as his course toward the Lutherans sug-

1 Rev. Dr. J. Nicum in " Lutlicran Church Review," vol. xii., p. 182.

ZAfVS AGAINST THE LUTHERANS. 51

gested. Drisius, who had arrived in 1652, was a German
by birth, had been a chaplain at London, and had been
selected for service in New Amsterdam because, besides
the Dutch, he could preach in EngHsh, French, and German.
The Lutherans, in perplexity as to what course to pursue,
wrote to their friends in Holland, doubtless the consistory
of Amsterdam, to intercede for them with the directors of
the West India Company. The directors, while not in-
clined to force religious tests very rigidly, as they knew
that such course could not aid in the development of the
colony, were unwilling to interfere, but gave orders to
Stuyvesant ** to. employ all moderate exertions to lure them
to our churches, and to matriculate them in the public Re-
formed rehgion." ^ Private services were, however, allowed.
But Stuyvesant was not satisfied with this, and at length,
in 1656, found the opportunity for which he was longing
to forbid even private services in the houses of Lutherans.
His proclamation threatened any one with a penalty of one
hundred pounds for preaching in a Lutheran service, and
twenty-five pounds for attending one. Some of the Lu-
therans were actually imprisoned. But it did no injury to
their cause. In 1656 a congregation is said to have ex-
isted at Albany. The directors gave a mild reproof to
Stuyvesant, under date of June 14, 1656:

We would have been better pleased if you had not published the placat
against the Lutherans, a copy of which you sent us, and committed them
to prison ; for it ha§ always been our intention to treat them quietly and
leniently. Hereafter you will therefore not publish such or similar placats
without our knowledge, but you must pass it over quietly, and let them have
free religious exercises in their houses. ^

Scarcely four months pass before, notwithstanding this
reproof, the Lutherans, although confining themselves to

1 O'Callaghan, vol. ii., p. 320.

3 " Documents Relating to State of New York," vol. xiv., p. 351.

52 THE LUTHERANS, [Chap. ii.

private services, are again in trouble. On October 24th
they presented an appeal, which Stuyvesant referred to the
council at New Amsterdam, asking that their services be
not interfered with, and stating that by the next summer
they hoped to have a regular clergyman with them. The
words of this appeal should go into history :

We, the united members of the Unaltered Augsburg Confession, here in
the New Netherlands, show, with all due reverence, how that we have been
obedient to your Honor's prohibitions and published placards, unwilling to
collect together in any place to worship our God with reading and singing,
although we solicited our friends in our Fatherland to obtain this privilege,
who, as our solicitors, exerted themselves on our behalf, by the noble direc-
tors of the West India Company, our patroons. When, after their letters to
us, containing their entreaties, they obtained that, they resolved unanimously
and concluded that the doctrine of the Unaltered Augsburg Confession might
be tolerated in the West Indies and the New Netherland, being under their
direction, as is the practice in our Fatherland, under its excellent govern-
ment. Wherefore, we address ourselves to your Honor, willing to acknowl-
edge your Honor, as dutiful and obedient servants, with prayer that you will
not any longer interrupt our religious exercises, which we, under God's bless-
ing, are wishing to make with reading and singing, till, as we hope and ex-
pect, under God's aid, next spring, a qualified person shall arrive from our
Fatherland to instruct us, and take care of our souls. i

Upon the presentation of this petition the council re-
solved to transmit it to the directors of the West India
Company at Amsterdam ; meanwhile that ** the laws will
be enforced against conventicles and public meetings of any
but those belonging to the Reformed Dutch Church."^

In the summer of 1657 (June 6th) the Lutheran pastor
had arrived. His name, in printed documents, is generally
given as John Ernst Goetwater. A recent examination^
of the archives of the Lutheran consistorium at Amsterdam
shows that the name, as there known, was Goetwasser.

1 O'Callaghan, vol. ii., p. 320.

2 Catalogue of Dutch MSS. at Albany, under October 24, 1656.

3 By Rev. Dr. J. Nicum in summer of 1892.

GOETWASSER'S BANISHMENT. 53

The MSS. at Albany spell his name (April 15, 1658) as
Cutwater and (November 11, 1658) Gutwasser.

The Lutheran pastor did not receive the courtesies fre-
quently extended by other clergymen to a new pastor.
Some recent additions to what has been generally known
of him are that he was recommended for the place to the
consistory by Senior Paulus Schrock, that he was called
April 3d, and examined and ordained April 10, 1657. In
the published archives of the State of New York there is
an interesting letter from Megapolensis and Drisius, dated
August 5, 1657, in which they recount "the injuries that
threaten this community by the encroachments of the
heretical spirits," and say:

It came to pass that a Lutheran preacher, Joannes Ernestus Goetwater,
arrived in the ship the " Miil," to the great joy of the Lutherans, and especial
discontent and disappointment of the congregation of this place ; yea, of the
whole land, even of the English. . . . We already have the snake in our
bosom.

They beg that '* a stop be put to the work, which they
seem to intend to push forward with a hard Lutheran
pate, in despite of and opposition to the regents." ^ They
urged also that the Lutheran pastor be sent home on
the same ship on which he had come. This was pre-
vented by Goetwasser's illness. But as soon as he was
able it was decided, April 10, 1658, that he must ''quit
the province and return to Holland." The entry in the
summary of the MSS. at Albany reads: *' 1658, May 20th.
Lutheran minister and some bad women sent back to Hol-
land." The directors at Amsterdam gave their verdict:
'* That you have sent back here the Lutheran preacher is
not contrary to, but rather in accordance with, our good
intentions, although you might have proceeded less vigor-
ously," and concluded by saying that the aim must be

1 " Doc. Hist, of New York," vol. iii., p. 103.

54 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. ii.

*' not to alienate, but rather attract, people of different be-
lief. We shall leave it to your prudence, and trust that
henceforth you will use the least offensive and most toler-
ant means, so that people of other persuasions may not be
deterred from the public Reformed Church, but in time be
induced to listen, and finally gained to it." It is probable
that Goetwasser did not actually leave at the time which,
according to the above, seems clearly indicated ; for ac-
cording to a later record of the council, it is stated : "1658,
November i ith. Rev. J. E. Gutwasser, Lutheran minister,
to remain in New Amsterdam until otherwise directed."

Goetwasser's mission was not fruitless. ** For some
months the Lutherans enjoyed the presence and counsels
of a pastor. He was not allowed to hold public service,
but he could not be prevented from private personal min-
istrations. Not allowed to exercise his calling, it is doubt-
ful whether he could even baptize their children, who were
required by law to be presented by their parents at the
Reformed Church, but he could comfort and strengthen
them. Watched as he was, any infraction of the law against
conventicles would have been vigorously punished." 1

The directors at Amsterdam were not satisfied. They
required soon afterward the restoration of the old formulary
for baptism, thus eliminating from the promise conformity
to the decrees of Dort. In 1659 (December 22d) they in-
form the Reformed pastors *' that harmony could never be
preserved unless a too overbearing preciseness be avoided,
and if they should persist in their former course the com-
pany would be obliged to allow the Lutherans to have a
separate church of their own."- But Stuyvesant was ir-
repressible. In 1662 he published another proclamation
against the preaching of any other than the Reformed relig-

1 Dr. B. M. Schmucker in " Lutheran Church Review," vol. iii., p. 210.

2 Brodhead's " History of New York," vok i., p. 656.

LIBERTY GUARANTEED.

ion, *' either in houses, barns, ships or yachts, in the woods
or fields," under penalty of fifty guilders for the first offense
*' on each person found in attendance thereon, whether man,
woman, or child, or who shall provide accommodations for
heretics, vagabonds, or strollers." ^ But the day of relief
for the Lutherans was at hand. It came with the surrender
to the English in 1664.

We may add here the words of a very recent apologist for
those who thus persecuted the Lutherans of the New Nether-
lands, and leave the reader to draw his own inferences :

It was the arbitrary spirit of the director, rather than religious narrowness
on the part of the Dutch, that brought about such persecutions as occurred
in New Netherland. Stuyvesant was a devout member of the Reformed
Church ; but above all, he believed in obedience to established authority, that
power was derived from God, and that any one who rejected the generally ac-
cepted order of things was a disturber of the peace, and should be suppressed.
When he persecuted a Lutheran or a Quaker, it was not so much the religious
tenet that he attacked, as it was the individual man who presumed to set up
peculiar views of his own, and obstinately follow them out, when the right
way had been pointed out to him by his superiors.

In 1654, when the Lutherans had become numerous enough to have relig-
ious meetings of their own, Stuyvesant issued a proclamation pointing out
th^ propriety of their attendance at the regular Dutch Church. What was
good enough for the other inhabitants was good enough for them. When
they tried to get a meeting-room for services, he prevented it. When they
procured a minister from Holland, the director made life so uncomfortable for
him that he left the colony. To have one body of nonconformists at liberty
was to invite the presence of others ; the idea was offensive to the director's
sense of order. The Domines, Megapolensis and Drisius, were intolerant
enough to support him. But the Lutherans appealed to Holland, where they
found relief in the national spirit of liberty. The West India Company
blamed Stuyvesant for persecuting these people, on grounds of both policy
and principle. To retard the growth and happiness of a commercial colony
on account of a " needless preciseness " on the sacrament of baptism was
an act of folly ; nor was it in accordance with the Christian spirit. So the
Lutherans, who were law-abiding persons, were allowed henceforth full lib-
erty of worship. 2

1 O'Callaghan, vol. ii., p. 454.

2 " Peter Stuyvesant, Director-General for the West India Company in
New Netherland," by Bayard Tuckerman, New York, 1893.

56 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. ii.

English rule being established in the New Netherlands, it
was placed under the proprietorship of the Duke of York,
who, even before this, had claimed for himself Long Island.
Five years afterward the duke became a Roman Catholic,
and in 1685 James II. Colonel Richard Nicolls, who had
led the English forces against New Amsterdam, became
governor, and continued in office until 1668. Under "the
Duke's Laws," enacted in 1665, "no persons were to be
molested, fined, or imprisoned for differing in matters of
religion who profess Christianity," and at the same time no
one was allowed to officiate as minister without ordination.
The new governor soon received a request from the Luther-
ans asking that they be permitted to call a minister from
Holland, which was cheerfully granted. The policy of
Governor Nicolls was as far as possible to conciliate his
Dutch subjects. Hence, even in this matter he found it
expedient to make a special appeal to those who had hith-
erto been prejudiced against the Lutherans. He did so in
these words :

Gentlemen : I have received letters from the Duke, wherein it is particu-
larly signified unto me that his Royall Highness doth approve of the tolera-
tion given to the Lutheran Church in these parts. I do, therefore, expect
that you live friendly and peaceably with those of that profession, giving
them no disturbance in the exercise of their religion, as they shall receive no
countenance in, but on the contrary strictly answer, any disturbance they
shall presume to give unto any of you in your divine worship. So I bid you
farewell, being

Your very loving friend,

Richard Nicolls.
Fort James, in New York,
this 13th day of October, 1666.

Nicolls had ceased to be governor, however, before the
Lutherans received a pastor. Governor Lovelace showed
himself particularly friendly, encouraged them, and, when
needed, defended them from the still deeply rooted prej-
udices that had prevailed against them. A young man

FABRITIUS. 5 7

called and ordained for the place by the consistory at Am-
sterdam delayed leaving for three years, and then declined.
A second call was given, and declined. After these disap-
pointments, a pastor at last arrived in 1669, but the result
was a still greater disappointment. His public and private
life was such as to deepen every prejudice, and to disgrace
his congregation. The public documents of those days, as
they have been reprinted, have many records, giving the
details of his quarrels with members of his congregations at
Albany and New York, with his wife, from whom he* was
finally separated, and with the magistrates, by whom he
was repeatedly arrested. He was not free from the great
vice which had prevailed in the colony during Stuyvesant's
days, when, notwithstanding the legal measures taken against
the Lutherans, the moral standard was not rigid enough to
prevent " almost one full fourth part of the town of New
Amsterdam " from being devoted to '* houses for the sale
of brandy, tobacco, and beer." We would be inclined to
pass over this record in entire silence if we had not the
very best evidence that when transferred to another field
he led an entirely diflferent life, and even for years after he
had become totally blind, served Swedish congregations in
Delaware and Pennsylvania with a fidelity that has won for
him high testimonials from the Swedish provost, Acrehus.
The members of the Wicaco {Gloria Dei) congregation
in 1 69 1 testify to his ''pure doctrine and exemplary Hfe."
Let the name of Jacob Fabritius be associated in the his-
tory of the Lutheran Church in America with the picture
of an old man, chastened by his sorrows and penitent over
the remembrance of his life in New York, rowed in a canoe
from Kensington, his later residence, to his preaching-places,
or led to the pulpit by an attendant, to proclaim in imper-
fect Swedish the praises of the Saviour of sinners to the
sinful and tempted, rather than that presented to us con-

58 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. ii.

cerning his earlier years in this country. It is the glory
of our holy religion that it is its especial mission to produce
such changes. Fabritius had been sent by the consistory
of Amsterdam. What had governed them in the selec-
tion, or whence the new pastor came, was not known,
until an examination of documents in 1892, at Amsterdam,
showed that he had previously been an ordained pastor at
Grosglogan in Silesia, who had petitioned the consistory
"for means to continue his travels." The thought was
then suggested that he might be the very man who would
suit for New Amsterdam. After preaching on the first
Sunday in Advent he approved himself to them favorably,
and the notice of his appointment, together with a copy of
the liturgy then in use in the Lutheran churches in Hol-
land, was immediately forwarded. ^ As before noticed, it
has been the custom of the Lutheran Church in Holland
to rely upon Germany for many of its ministers. It is not
surprising, therefore, to hear from Acrelius : " He was by
birth a German, or, as some have thought, a Pole." 2 The
consistory had previously called two natives of Holland,
who had disappointed them. History deals in facts, not
in surmises. But we may suggest to future investigators
the inquiry as to whether the precise identity of his name
with that of Jacob Fabricius, the German court-preacher of
Gustavus Adolphus, who put into meter the prose of the
hymn of Gustavus Adolphus, " Fear not, O little flock, the
foe," and died in 1654, as general superintendent in Stet-
tin in Pomerania, and the readiness of this Jacob Fabritius
(the second) to go to the Swedes, when his services could
no longer be rendered in New York, and in whose language
he could at once preach, may not indicate a near relation-
ship. After being suspended and restored to the exercise

1 Rev. Dr. Nicum in " Lutheran Church Review," vol. xii., p. 184.

2 " History of New Sweden" (translation), p. 177.

ARENSWS.

of his office by the governor a number of times, the con-
gregation at New York finally petitioned the consistory at
Amsterdam in 1670 for the removal of Fabritius and the
appointment of a new pastor.

Before the change could be effected a church building
was erected. Martin Hoof man was sent in 1671 to the
Lutherans on the Delaware to obtain aid from them. His
passport begins :

Whereas the ministers and officers of the Church of the Augustane Confes-
sion or Lutheran congregation, in this city, under the protection of his Roy-
all Highness, the Duke of Yorke, have requested my license to build and
erect a house for their church to meet in, toward the which they do suppose
all or most of their profession will in some measure contribute, . . . they
have pitcht upon Martin Hoofman to negotiate there for them.

But when erected, the division in the congregation con-
cerning the disposition to be made of Fabritius caused legal
proceedings to be entered for the payment of some of the
subscriptions. It stood beyond the fortifications of the
city, and was demoHshed in 1673, when the Dutch returned
to power for a year, the congregation receiving due com-
pensation for it.

Fabritius obtained permission to preach his farewell ser-
mon and install his successor at the same time, August 1 1,
1 67 1. Bernardus Arensius, whose pastorate extended un-
til the last decade of the century, is described as " a gentle
personage and of a very agreeable behavior" — probably
a quiet, industrious pastor, of whom there is little record,
because he was so intent upon his work. He devoted his
summers to the congregation in New York, and his winters
to that in Albany. In 1686 there were but four clergy-
men in the city of New York. *' New York," says a con-
temporary record, " has first a chaplain belonging to the
fort, of the Church of England; secondly, a Dutch Cal-

5o THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. il.

vinist; thirdly, a French Calvinist; fourthly, a Dutch
Lutheran."!

An amusing incident is told by Rev. Charles Wolley,
rector of the English, now Trinity, Church in 1679, con-
cerning a successful attempt which he made to promote a
more friendly feeling between the Lutheran and the Re-
formed Dutch pastor, Van Niewenhuysen. Mr. Wolley
states that he was on intimate terms with both, while they
were not on visiting, and barely on speaking, terms with
each other. He planned, therefore, a surprise, and invited
them both, with their wives, to supper. Their astonish-
ment was great on being brought thus together, but at the
table the embarrassment wore off, and they had a delight-
ful evening, in honor of the host conversing entirely in Lat-
in, *' which," he says, ^' they spoke so fluently and promptly,
that I blushed at myself, with a passionate regret that I
could not keep pace with them."^ Wolley was a Cam-
bridge graduate.

The pastorate of Arensius covered a very trying period
in the history of New York. The war between England
and Holland kept the colony disquieted and prostrated
trade. The colony itself was the scene of two changes of
rule, as it passed from the English into the hands of the
Dutch in 1673, and was restored in 1674. The first Eng-
lish governor after the restoration of English rule, Andros,
was intensely unpopular and oppressive. The spirit of
revolt against his authority was constantly breaking out.
Under the lieutenant-governor, BrockhoUs, who adminis-
tered affairs temporarily, and his successor, Governor Don-
gan, there was constant chafing. The succession of the
Duke of York to the throne as James H., and his aggress-
iveness in the interests of the Roman CathoHc Church,

1 " Doc. History," vol. iii., p. 415.

2 Quoted in Tuckerman's " Peter Stuyvesant," p. 158.

A LONG VACANCY. 6 1

caused much disquiet. Open rebellion broke out when the
attempt was made to consolidate all the northern colonies,
to extend the ecclesiastical jurisdiction over them, and to
require all schoolmasters to obtain from him their license ;
especially when the unpopular Andros returned to New
York, as governor-in-chief and captain-general. The ex-
ample of what was occurring in England suggested the
remedy. If James II. was supplanted by William of Or-
ange, why should not a Protestant assume authority in
New York? Jacob Leister, a native of Frankfort on the
Main, became dictator of New York in 1689. After vari-
ous events, keeping the entire colony excited for two years,
Leister was hanged. May 15, 1691.

The year of Leister's execution was that of the death of
Arensius.^ This was followed by a vacancy in the pastor-
ate at New York and Albany for ten years. The vitality
of Lutheranism was sorely tried by such neglect. For
five years nothing is heard of the congregation ; then they
appeal to Amsterdam, but plead their inability to support
a pastor. They must have help from abroad. The Am-
sterdam authorities insist that as they have been furnished
already with two pastors they must bear the responsibility
for the third. At last they are forced to pledge a salary ;
but even then they receive no aid. The relief they do not
find in their fatherland comes from America itself. This
brings us to the consideration of the second element of the
Lutheran Church in this country during the seventeenth
century — the Swedes on the Delaware.

J Grabner, vol. i., p. 71.

CHAPTER III.

THE LUTHERAN CHURCH IN SWEDEN.

The history of the Reformation in Sweden presents a
very striking contrast with that in either Germany, Hol-
land, or England. The German Reformation was a popu-
lar movement, cherished and promoted from literary cen-
ters, advanced under the leadership and with the earnest
cooperation of a considerable portion of the clergy, and
protected by some of the most influential princes of the
empire. It originated and proceeded without any pre-
conceived plan, from the necessities and impulses of the
Christian life. The results were far difl"erent and more
extensive than those which were in the minds of the men
who, from constraint of conscience, were compelled to
speak and act. The Reformation in Holland difi"ered
from that in Germany by the uniform opposition, instead
of the partial encouragement, received from those in au-
thority. The English Reformation was only to a limited
extent a popular movement. It proceeded almost entirely
from the universities, and was retarded, instead of ad-
vanced, by the professed alliance of an unprincipled king,
who checked its progress by his iron will, and turned the
vantage-ground it had gained to account in advancing his
personal interests against the papacy. Unlike these, the
Swedish Reformation began with the king, who stopped
short of nothing but the entire reformation in doctrine and
worship of the church in his kingdom, and by his indomi-
table energy reached his end against the strong opposition

GUSTAVUS VASA. 63

of the clergy. It had its pohtical side, as the most effect-
ual assertion and defense of Swedish independence against
the claims of Denmark and the persevering machinations
of a Danish party in Sweden, powerfully sustained by the
Archbishop of Upsala, who came from a Danish family,
and most of the other ecclesiastics. The deposition of
the archbishop, the papal bann against Sweden, and the
massacre of Stockholm, November 8, 1520, where two
bishops, several state counselors, and other prominent per-
sons who were supporters of Sweden's claims against Den-
mark were slain, and other murders, amounting in all to
six hundred throughout the kingdom, led in 1523 to the
election to the throne of Gustavus Vasa, the son of one of
the murdered state counselors. During the reign of ter-
ror in Sweden, Gustavus, who had been imprisoned as a
hostage in Denmark and had escaped, was residing in
northern Germany, at Liibeck; and although even at
Liibeck the Reformation did not enter until a later period,
and Manfuss and Osenbriigge were in prison during his
stay there, serving a portion of their sentence of three
years, for having preached the evangelical doctrine, Gus-
tavus learned to know what the Reformation meant and
to sympathize with it in many of its principles and ends.
When his efforts to secure the independence and welfare
of his kingdom were met by the constant opposition and
plots of the clergy, the crisis was precipitated. An eccle-
siastical organization could no longer be maintained to
direct its efforts against the state whence it derived sup-
port. A still higher motive probably prompted him as an
individual ; but thi^ was all that as ruler he had to regard.
He saw that mere restraint placed upon the clergy was
not sufficient ; a thorough reformation such as was pro-
ceeding in Germany would be required. The disloyalty
of the Swedish clergy had its root in abuses which could

64 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. hi.

be remedied by no superficial remedy. They would not
cease to be scheming politicians until they realized the
nature of the work that belonged to them as spiritual
guides. But even to this conviction Gustavus did not
come suddenly.

Two sons of a Swedish blacksmith, Olaf and Lars Petri
(Peterson), on the way from their native town, Oerebro,
to the ** House of St. Bridget," a Swedish hospice in
Rome, to prepare for the priesthood, were diverted from
their purpose w^iile passing through Germany by the fame
of the recently founded University of Wittenberg, and
for several years became diligent scholars of Luther and
Melanchthon. They received their master's degree at
Wittenberg, and Olaf Petri accompanied Luther in a vis-
itation to the Augustinian cloisters in Meissen and Thu-
ringia. Returning home in 15 19, their vessel was wrecked
on the island of Gothland, and in the city of Visby Olaf
successfully withstood the claims of a seller of indulgences.
The next year Olaf became secretary to Bishop Matthias
of Strengnas, who was favorably inclined toward a ref-
ormation; and, as a canon and deacon in the cathedral,
by his sermons and lectures on the Bible reproducing
what he had heard at Wittenberg, excited much interest.
Accompanying the bishop to Stockholm, both brothers
narrowly escaped with their lives on that fatal November
day in 1520, when the bishop was one of the victims.
The administration of the diocese of Strengnas fell, by the
death of the bishop, into the hands of the already aged
archdeacon Lawrence Andreas (Anderson), a man of con-
ceded natural gifts, extensive learning, wide travel, and
remarkable eloquence. From Olaf Petri he learned fully
what Luther was teaching, and became a most hearty ad-
vocate of the cause. So ignorant were the majority of
the Swedish clergy of the real contents of Luther's doc-

OLAF PETRI. 65

trine, that it is related that so high an authority as the
Bishop of Linkoping actually regarded the movement as
in the interests of the Greek Church, and not only advised
that especial care should be taken in the appointment of
bishops on the Russian frontier, but also, to guard against
the danger, wrote a little book against that church.

At the Diet of Strengnas, where Gustavus was elected
king, Olaf Petri declared himself in a series of sermons an
opponent of the Roman Church, especially attacking its
abuses, and declaring that they were departures from the
true doctrine of the Swedish Church, taught by its founder,
Ansgar. This courageous attack did not pass unnoticed.
Complaints were made to the king. Olaf Petri and Andreae
were summoned to his presence. He assured the latter
confidentially of his sympathy with them, although for the
present prudence dictated that it should not be known.
He confirmed this by appointing Andreae his chancellor,
Olaf Petri chief preacher at Stockholm, and his brother
Lawrence professor of theology at Upsala. As the diet
which elected him king laid contributions for the support
of the government upon certain revenues belonging to the
churches and cloisters, when the king urged that they be
collected he met resistance from several of the bishops.
Knut, Archbishop of Upsala, and Sumanwader, Bishop of
Westeras, after due legal process, were deposed on the
charge of conspiring against the king. Fleeing to Nor-
way, they were surrendered to the Swedish authorities,
and, after regular judicial trial, executed for treason in
February, 1527. John Magnus, a native of Sweden, and
the pope's legate in that country, was appointed arch-
bishop, and the appointment was confirmed by Pope
Adrian. While the great caution of Gustavus was post-
poning the conflict until the proper time should come for
his coronation, Olaf Petri was continuing with unabated

66 THE LUTHERANS, [Chap. iit.

ardor to inveigh against the papacy and its doctrines, until
the populace were excited by his violence to attack the
church in which he preached. An Anabaptist outbreak
under Melchior King and Knipperdolling gave the en-
emies of the Reformation an opportunity to lay its ex-
cesses to the charge of the Swedish Reformers. In a
royal visitation made through all the provinces of his
kingdom, in order to form the acquaintance of his people,
Gustavus everywhere disarmed opposition and won their
affection. He insisted that the dissatisfied clergy should
faithfully perform their duties, while the two ardent Evan-
gelical preachers were counseled to mildness and modera-
tion. All abuse of Catholic bishops and the saints honored
by the people was forbidden. Concessions were to be
made on all matters not' pertaining to the foundations of
the faith. Good works were to be preached as the neces-
sary consequences of faith. In church usages no arbitrary
changes were to be made, particularly in those which con-
stantly met the eyes of the people.

In 1524 Gustavus provided for a public disputation at
Upsala, between Olaf Petri representing the Evangelical
and Peter Galle representing the Scholastic theology. In
the presence of the king, the state counselors, and a large
audience, they discussed the questions of ''justification,"
'' the forgiveness of sins through papal indulgences," '' the
influence of the free will upon the confession of man,"
'* the merit of good works," the ''papal traditions," es-
pecially " masses for the dead," " the invocation of saints,"
"pilgrimages," "purgatory," "indulgences," "the Lord's
Supper under one form.," "celibacy of the clergy," and
their "temporal power." Both were required to write
out the grounds of their attacks and the answers.

In 1525 Olaf Petri administered the Lord's Supper in
Swedish and married. The king received from the Bishop

DIET OF WESTER AS. 67

of Lidkoping a severe reprimand for his presence at the
wedding. Shortly after, Archbishop Magnus informed
him of his entire independence of the king, as he derived
his confirmation -n office from the pope. Making the vis-
itations throughout his diocese, with a large retinue and a
great display, he was summoned in 1526 to Stockholm,
and informed that the office of a bishop consisted not in
o.utward display, but in preaching the divine Word.

Meanwhile, the chancellor Andrcce had published in
1526 a translation of the New Testament, of great excel-
lence, into Swedish, and the brothers Petri had begun the
translation of the Old Testament, which was completed in

1541-

The archbishop in 1526 left Sv/eden for Rome, never
to return. In spite of the determined opposition of the
Bishop of Lidkoping, the Diet of Westeras in 1527 estab-
lished the Lutheran faith in Sweden. It subjected the
power of the bishops entirely to that of the king. It ex-
pressly decided that the king can depose unfit priests from
their congregations, and appoint more suitable ones in
their places, especially when the bishops do not attend to
their duty ; that he should have full power to rule the
churches and cloisters and to provide for their necessary
support.^ The Roman Catholic religion was not sup-
pressed; some features of its government and rites still
remained ; but their early complete abandonment was ren-
dered certain. The pope's authority was over, even though
among the bishops and in all the estates he still had ardent
supporters. All this had been accomplished without vio-
lence, constrained solely by the ultimatum of the king,
that unless this were done he would lay down his office.

This was followed by the ** Church Assembly of the
Swedish Clergy" at Oerebro in 1529, in which Lawrence

1 Schrockh, vol. ii., p. 42

68 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. in.

Andreae, Archdeacon of Upsala, presiding over the vacant
archbishopric as the representative of the king, the bishops
of Skara, Strengnas, and Westeriis, preachers from all the
dioceses, and even monks, united in an obligation to
preach the pure Word of God, and to give instruction in
the cathedral schools, together with other regulations look-
ing to a reform of abuses.

The same year Olaf Petri published a *' Handbook for
Divine Service," comprising orders for baptism, the Lord's
Supper, marriage, burial. By the king's direction, indiffer-
ent matters, such as the use of salt and the exorcism in
baptism, were retained, in order that the people who were
accustomed to them might not be unnecessarily offended.
If extreme unction be requested, the sick person is to
be instructed that it is unnecessary, since the anointing
with the Holy Ghost through the forgiveness of sins is
sufficient. But if he still persist, he is to be warned that
it is no sacrament. The Lord's Supper is to be pre-
ceded by a public confession, which the congregation
should repeat after the pastor. \\\ order not to give
offense he should take the hosts, and then the cup, in his
hands while repeating the words of institution, but, lest
this should be misinterpreted, he should place them again
to the side.^

Lawrence Petri in 1531 was elected the first Evangel-
ical archbishop, at an assembly of the bishops and chief
clergy of Sweden. He surpassed his elder brother, Olaf,
in mildness and learning, whom, without being so promi-
nent, he most frequently led. He is said in his career as
a professor to have combined the traits of his two great
teachers, Luther and Melanchthon, and by the qualities of
his style as a writer to have earned the designation of
"the Swedish Cicero." When he became archbishop he

1 Schrockh, ibid.^ p. 49.

GEORGE NORMANN. 69

was only thirty- two years of age, and continued in the
office for forty years.

For ten years Gustavus had postponed the election of
an archbishop. He soon gave clear proof of the fact that
he considered himself charged with a responsibility for the
Church of Sweden above that committed to the bishops.
In 1539 Olaf Petri came into trouble by personally attack-
ing the king in a sermon, afterward printed, for setting
his people a bad example in the use of language which
the faithful but indiscreet preacher regarded profane. The
consequence was that the archbishop was directed to see to
it that no reform should be attempted without the king's
command, and nothing printed without the king's ap-
proval. This asserted emphatically the claims of the king
as summus episcopns. But a still greater conflict came
when, the next year, both Olaf and the chancellor, Law-
rence Andreae, were tried for not having divulged a plot
against the king's life, which they had learned in the con-
fessional, and both were condemned to death, but were
finally pardoned, under humiliating conditions which im-
poverished them for life.

George Normann, a Wittenberg master of arts, whom
Luther had recommended in 1539 as ''a man of holy Hfe,
modest, sincere, and learned, and in every way qualified
and worthy of being tutor to the king's son," was ap-
pointed superintendent of all the clergy — including the
bishops — of the kingdom. Under him religious counsel-
ors {conservatorcs rcligionis) were appointed, who accom-
panied him in his visitation of churches, and examined
and, with the royal approval, removed and appointed pas-
tors. An ecclesiastical assembly of state counselors and
bishops in 1540 decided that Roman ceremonies hereto-
fore allowed should be entirely abolished, and others of an
evangelical character be substituted, and that care should

70 • THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. hi.

be henceforth taken that the doctrines of the gospel be
taught in their purity. The Reformation, however, did
not thoroughly penetrate the people during the reign of
Gustavus ; their prejudices were in favor of the old usages ;
and there were frequent serious indications of discontent,
of which the rebellion of Nils Dacke in Smaland in 1542,
with its avowed purpose as the reestablishment of Chris-
tianity and the abolition of the Swedish mass, was the most
formidable,

Gustavus dying in 1560, a reaction came under his
second son, John III. (1568-92), who, influenced by his
queen, sought the restoration of Roman Catholicism in a
modified form ; and the archbishop yielded in so far as to
undertake in 1571 a revision of the ** Church Order," with
the insertion of statements of the same character that, for
the sake of peace, Melanchthon had approved in the Leip-
zig Interim of 1548. His successor of the same name,
but distinguished from him only by the surname " Gothus "
(1573), threw all his energy into the Catholicizing move-
ment. Jesuit influence was active. They saw to it that the
schools were provided with their teachers, and that Cath-
olic literature was disseminated. Two seminaries were
established at Rome for the instruction of Swedish youth.
The catechism of Canisius was widely introduced. A new
liturgy was prepared by the king and his secretary, Fecht,
in 1576, almost entirely excluding all Lutheran elements.
Negotiations were in progress between the pope and the
king for submission of the kingdom to the authority of the
former.

But the movement had gone too far. The pope was
too exacting in his demands ; the zeal of the king was
chilled ; his popish wife died ; the Swedish lady who
succeeded her in 1583 was of another mind; the Jesuits
were expelled ; the Romanism of the later years of John

THE ROMAN CATHOLIC REACTION. 71

was confined to the liturgy on whose use he still laid great
stress. The conflict had been necessary in order to bring
the latent Lutheranism of the kingdom to a decision. It had
now more thoroughly pervaded the people, because of the
very efforts to force them in another direction, and the hu-
miliating conditions urged by the papacy and its advocates.

When, on the death of John (1592), his Catholic son,
Sigismund of Poland, was about to succeed to the throne,
there was a general demand that this should occur only
with the provision that the rights of Protestantism should
be guaranteed in the most unmistakable way. Charles,
the brother of John and youngest son of Gustavus, during
all these occurrences had kept one district of Sweden
faithful to his father's principles, and had provided there
a refuge for those who had been forced, for their fidelity
to their evangelical convictions, to leave the territory over
which the king had more absolute control. As regent,
convening an ecclesiastical council at Upsala, by its decree
of March 20, 1593, the Swedish Reformation was firmly
established, and, by a clear confessional basis, assumed a
more definite and permanent form than under Gustavus.

The Decree of Upsala affirms that the Holy Scriptures
declare completely everything belonging to Christian doc-
trine ; that no explanations of the fathers not in harmony
therewith are to be admitted ; that no man shall be al-
lowed to explain the Holy Scriptures according to his own
mind ; that the Apostles', Nicene, and Athanasian creeds
and the Unaltered Augsburg Confession are the symbols
of the Swedish Church ; that the liturgy of King John,
" in doctrine, ceremonies, and discipline," is unanimously
disapproved and repudiated, and that a return be made
to the liturgy of 1572, except that the effort be made to
gradually abolish certain of its ceremonies, as *' the use
of salt, candles, the elevation of the host," etc. ; that all

72 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. hi.

"popish doctrines," Zwinglianism, Calvinism, and Ana-
baptism are condemned; that church discipline be more
faithfully maintained ; and that public meetings of those
holding heretical doctrines should not be allowed.^

Although the young king, feeling that he could not do
otherwise, conceded all these claims, and under these con-
ditions secured his throne, the people resented the first
indications of efforts on his part to gain for Catholicism
what had been lost, with the result that, after long- con-
tinued warning and remonstrance, he was deposed by a
diet in the year 1602, and two years later his uncle be-
came Charles IX., and as king, in 1607, confirmed the De-
cree of Upsala. He was succeeded in 161 1 by his son,
Gustavus Adolphus, one of the grandest and noblest
characters in history, who laid down his life on the field
of Liitzen in 1632, to live forever in the grateful memory
of succeeding generations, as, under God, the deliverer of
Lutheran Protestantism in the hour of its greatest peril.
During the minority of his daughter, Christina, the country
was ably administered by the great statesman Oxenstiern ;
and under the rule of Christina, from 1644, continued to
flourish, until by the Peace of Westphalia, in 1648, a large
addition of territory, including most of Pomerania, was ac-
quired from Germany. Throughout the seventeenth cent-
ury Sweden was one of the greatest powers in Europe,
and it has been well said that " during this period no deci-
sion was arrived at by any European state without refer-
ence to her wishes." This is the period of the founding
of the Swedish colony on the banks of the Delaware.

The confessional position taken by the Decree of Upsala,
pledging the Swedish Church to the three oecumenical

1 See English translation by Professor Petri, in "Book of Concord"
(Jacobs, Philadelphia, 1883), vol. ii., pp. 304-307.

CONFESSIONAL BASIS. 73

creeds and the Unaltered Augsburg Confession, was sup-
plemented in 1686 so as to read:

In our kingdom and in the lands belonging thereto, all shall confess only
and alone the Christian doctrine and faith, which is founded upon the Pro-
phetical and Apostolical Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, and is
comprised in the three chief symbols, the Apostles', the Nicene, and the
Athanasian, as well as in the Unaltered Augsburg Confession, composed in
the year 1530, received in 1593 in the Council of Upsala, and explained in
the entire so-called " Book of Concord." All those who enter into office as
teachers in churches, academies, gymnasiums, or schools shall at their ordi-
nation, or when they receive a degree, be bound by an oath to this doctrine
and this confession of faith. 1

This was simply a more formal statement of what had
been provided already in a decree of August 14, 1663.^
This is of importance as determining the confessional posi-
tion of those who labored under the Swedish Church in
America during that period. It is interesting to note, in
view of more recent relations, that in 1809 it was decided
that the king, as sumimis episcopus, should be obligated
only to the three oecumenical creeds and the Unaltered
Augsburg Confession, and that, in 1829, the ministerial
oath was made to correspond with that of the king; but
that these provisions were not intended to render the doc-
trinal basis of the Swedish Church difi'erent from that of
1686, which still remains in force.

The Swedish Church is distinguished for its thoroughly
organized form of church government. This has originated
not in any scheme devised in the Reformation period, but
by the free development of its life according to necessities.
To adequately appreciate it would require the previous
study of the distinctive characteristics of its pre-Reforma-
tion organization. The Reformers were content to avail

1 Stahelin, in Herzog-Plitt, vol. xiii., p. 741; Wigger, vol. ii., p. 397.

2 Knos, p. 72.

74 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. iil.

themselves of the old forms just as they were, except
where these forms antagonized the chief end of the Refor-
mation, or, in course of time, were found insufficient for the
new life. The gradual development of the organization is
the product of the various historical factors that have en-
tered into the religious life of Sweden during the whole
period. It clearly shows both the centralizing tendency,
as the claims of the king as the chief ruler of the church
are advocated, and the decentralizing tendency, as the dio-
ceses have at times been governed by regulations of their
own. The common conflict against the reintroduction of
Roman Catholicism and the introduction of modified Cal-
vinism have contributed toward the unifying process. Nor
have German rationalism and French freethinking been
without their influence in the development of views, in a
later period, that have been felt also in the sphere of church
government.

The Swedish Church has been led by its practical neces-
sities, and uninfluenced by any devotion to particular theo-
ries of church government, to a remarkable combination of
elements belonging to all the various theories. It is at once
congregational, presbyterian, and episcopalian. Rooted in
pre-Reformation, and, as has been thought, even in pre-
Christian usage, ^ are the regulations by which each parish
provides the administration of its temporal afl"airs — the' as-
sembly of voting members, under presidency of the pastor,
at least twice a year, and the representation in this assem-
bly according to the assessed valuation of the real estate.
This parish assembly has nothing to do with the teaching
or worship or discipline ; but elects the various officers and
boards, builds the edifices needed for church purposes,
appropriates moneys, audits accounts, provides salaries, and
otherwise contributes to the general order and morality of

' See Knos, p. 17.

CHURCH ORGANIZATION. 75

the parish. The common, but not the universal, practice
is that it elects, as a pastor, one out of three candidates
proposed by the consistory.

In order to guard against an excessive centralization of
power, there are in each parish several administrative
boards. Of these, the most important is the church coun-
cil. For nearly a century after the Reformation this insti-
tution was unknown. It originated, not in any assertion
of rights on the part of the laity, but in provisions for lay
participation in disciplinary cases suggested by the clergy
themselves, which, after making gradual progress, was le-
gally sanctioned in 1650 and 1675. First, the expedient
was adopted of calling in the aid of two or three prominent
lay members in particular cases, the *' church council," as
such, being a permanent institution in one diocese after
another, *' in the diocese of Abo already in 1673, and in
other places, as in the diocese of Westeras, according to
a few traces, still earlier."^ It consists of at least four,
and at most eight, members, chosen by the parish, with
the pastor as chairman, who are the pastor's advisers and
assistants in all disciplinary cases where his private efforts
are unsuccessful. Where the church council is unsuccess-
ful, cases are carried up to the consistory. They ordi-
narily remain in office until death, or disablement by age
or disease.

Another board, of pre-Reformation origin, aids the pas-
tor in the care of the church building, the revenues of the
church, etc."-^ The care of the schools is intrusted to a
third board, of officer selected by the parish ; while, within
the last half-century, the care of the poor is allotted to a
fourth, composed of the pastor and two members chosen
biennially, and in which there is a manifest commingling
of civil and ecclesiastical duties.

1 Knos, p. 21. 2 Ibid., p. 22 sq.

76 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. iil.

There evidently has been a diversity of opinion as to
the theory of the relation of the church to the state, viz.,
as to whether the king bear the relation only of chief pro-
tector and defender of the church, or whether he be actu-
ally its suinmus episcopus ; for it must be remembered that
the Archbishop of Upsala has no jurisdiction over the rest,
but is simply the consecrator and the one having preced-
ency in rank. The church law of 1686 expressly says:
** The oversight, care, and protection of the church and
congregation of God in Sweden are intrusted by God to
the king." But this power is Hmited, not only by the
pledge to the confession, made in his oath ; all matters
pertaining to the essentials of worship, church contro-
versies, and church discipline are beyond his sphere, ex-
cept as his oath compels him to guard the exercise of the
religion guaranteed in this pledge. The ReicJistag, con-
vening at least every three years, in connection with the
king decides on the most important church questions as
prescribed in the church law. In it there are represen-
tatives of the four estates — nobility, clergy, citizens, and
peasants — the archbishop, all the bishops, the chief pastor
at Stockholm, and elected pastors being included. In the
administration of the church, all changes in the boundaries
of parishes must be sanctioned by the king, who also ap-
points all bishops and pastors, choosing one of the three
who are elected as candidates by the authorized voters,
exceptions to this rule prevailing only in a few privileged
parishes. The king has the full oversight of the congre-
gations, and exercises it partly through his " minister of
worship," and partly through the bishops and the con-
sistories.

The church in Sweden has no other general representation than that of the
state ; and, accordingly, the representatives of the people officiate not only as
representatives of the state, but also as the representatives or general synod

SWEDISH ORDINATION. ^J

of the church. The idea of a state church, or the close union of church and
state, is realized there almost to an extreme, nevertheless not without espe-
cial balances of power, for the maintenance of church freedom. i

Among these is the provision made for the separate ses-
sions and organization of the clerical members of the
Reichstag for deliberations on certain questions of worship,
discipline, etc., while on other questions all four estates
participate. Another is that of diocesan consistories, whose
decision in certain cases is necessary before they can come
under cognizance of the king.

Every diocese is regarded as a coordinate part of the
state church, the whole being subordinate only to the king.
Seven of these dioceses existed before the Reformation ;
five new dioceses were created in the seventeenth century.
Repudiating altogether the idea of the ministry as a priest-
hood, the consecration of a bishop is regarded as convey-
ing no higher gifts than those belonging to every true
preacher of the Word. In former times, by a special
royal dispensation, but which was very rarely granted, or-
dinations were administered in an episcopal vacancy by a
provost ; ^ the rule, however, of exclusive ordination by
bishops is now strictly enforced. The bishop has over-
sight of the preaching, the worship, the church discipline,
the instruction of the young ; personally or through a del-
egate, he makes visitations to the parishes of his diocese,
convokes and holds diocesan synods, and gives warnings
and admonitions. During a long period after the Reforma-
tion the preparation of candidates for the ministry was one
of the most engrossing and important duties of the bishops.
Of this they have been relieved by the universities. The
bishop presides in the consistory, where, as everything is
decided by a majority vote, he influences the resolutions
only by the weight of his character and of the learning
1 Knos, p. 70. 2 ii)id., p. 94.

yS THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. hi.

that he brings to the discussion of Important questions.
"The Swedish bishops are, therefore," says a professor of
Upsala, *' to be compared rather with the general superin-
tendents of Germany than with the bishops of the Cath-
oHc or AngHcan churches. The bishops of the four dio-
ceses last founded were called, until i 772, 'superintendents,'
although they possessed all the episcopal rights." ^ The
dioceses are divided into districts, under the care of '' pro-
vosts," corresponding to the ** superintendents" of Ger-
many, and who act as the executive administrators under
the bishops and consistories.

Although no stress is placed upon the so-called '' apos-
tolical succession " of bishops, nevertheless it may be well
to state the grounds upon which the Swedish Church
could avail itself of this theory among those to whom this
is of more importance than her Lutheran character. Peter
Magnusson was, May i, 1524, consecrated Bishop of Wes-
teras at Rome by a cardinal bishop. In the year 1528
Bishop Peter Magnusson consecrated at Strengnas, Mag-
nus Haraldson of Skara, Magnus Sommar of Strengnas,
and Martinus Skytte of Abo. It is true that he protested
against consecrating them, on the ground that their elec-
tion had not been confirmed by the pope. But the act
was no less duly and officially performed. Afterward
(Sunday before Michaelmas, 1531), the same bishop, with
Bishop Sommar, consecrated Laurentius Petri, the first
Lutheran archbishop of Upsala. Whether this *' succes-
sion thus secured," which *' the Swedish Church was ex-
ceedingly fortunate in keeping up," *' by means of her
great archbishops and bishops through all the transitions
of reform which were fully settled at the great council at
Upsala in 1593," 2 has been invalidated by the '' intention "

1 Knos, p. 95.

2 "American Church Review," July, 1882, p. 227. Compare voL-xxxvi.,

CONFIRMATION. 79

of Bishop Magnusson or by the pledge made by Swedish
Lutheran bishops and other clergy to the Lutheran con-
fessions, in which the divine authority of the superiority
of bishops is rejected, may be left to others to decide.
The Lutheran Church cares little for such recognition,
unless the purity of the faith which she teaches be ac-
knowledged, and the marks of the church be found in the
agreement of the doctrine with the Word of God, and the
right administration of the sacraments, rather than in the
*' endless genealogies " of purely external relations.

In the Swedish, as in other Lutheran churches, con-
firmation was long in disuse, and was introduced gradu-
ally, only since the middle of the last century.^ It is inter-
esting to note that it is not called, in the Swedish liturgy,
" confirmation," but that the chapter treating of it has the
title : *' What is to be done when the youth come, for the
first time, to the Lord's Supper?" The order consists in
the examination in the catechism, the confession of faith,
the promise of fidelity, the Lord's Prayer, and the patri-
archal benediction pronounced by the pastor over the
kneeling children. 2 In later editions,^ the pastor lays his
hand upon the head of each, with the prayer : '' The
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ give thee strength," etc.

same " Review," p. i, for argument of Dr. Nicholson, English Consular
Chaplain at Gothenburg. See also Professor Knos, of Upsala, in Appendix
to the English translation of Anjou's " History of the Reformation in Swe-
den " (New York, 1859), pp. 634 sqq.

1 Knos, p. 24. 2 Order of 1809, 1839.

3 1854, 1861.

CHAPTER IV.

THE LUTHERANS OF NEW SWEDEN (1637-1700).

In its origin the Swedish is closely connected with the
Dutch colonization of America. The enterprise of Dutch
traders made repeated efforts to compete with the regu-
larly established channels of Dutch intercourse with Amer-
ica, under the patronage and auspices of the Swedish gov-
ernment. The Dutch West India Company of 1621 was
followed, accordingly, in 1626, by the formation of a Swed-
ish company for similar purposes. It was the result of the
negotiations undertaken at the court of Gustavus Adolphus
by William Usselinx, a native of Antwerp. The royal
family and the bishops were among its stockholders. The
plan was interrupted by the necessities of Protestant Ger-
many and the death of the king, and seemed to have been
entirely abandoned until Peter Minuit, after being dismissed
from his position as director- general of the colony in New
Netherlands, appeared at the Swedish court, and succeeded
in reviving the interest. The English, in 1634, relinquished,
in favor of the Swedes, their claims upon the region to be
occupied. In August, 1637, two vessels, the "Key of
Calmar" and the *' Bird Griffin," set sail from Goteborg in
Sweden, with the first colony. They commemorated their
joy by naming the place where they landed, after a six
months' voyage, ** Paradise Point." Their lands were pur-
chased in due form from the Indians, and regular deeds
for their possession were given, and sent to Sweden. Fort

RE OR us TORKILLUS, 8 I

Christina was immediately built, where Wilmington, Del,
now stands, under whose protection the first settlement
was made.

Heretofore it has been stated, upon the authority of the
Swedish provost, Acrelius, that Rev. Reorus Torkillus came
with this first colony ; but the most recent Swedish author-
ity, Norberg,^ says that he accompanied the second expe-
dition in 1639. He has the distinction of being the first
Lutheran minister in North America. He was a native of
Fassberg, thirty years old, had studied at Lidkoping, had
been settled for several years at Skara, and, when called to
America, was teacher in the schools and chaplain at Gote-
borg."-^ Public service was begun in Fort Christina, which
seemed necessary, because the Indians were not to be
trusted. It is probable that, under Torkillus, the first
church was built. Of these early churches Pastor Rudman
afterward gave a graphic description : *' After a suitable
elevation, like any other house, a projection was made,
some courses higher, out of which they could shoot, so
that if the heathen fell upon them, which could not be done
without their coming up to the house, then the Swedes
could shoot down upon them continually, and the heathen,
who used only bows and arrows, could do them little or
no injury."^ This evidently refers to the conversion of
the block-house into a church. Pastor Torkillus died in
Christina, September 7, 1643, after a summer of great sick-
ness and mortality in the colony, and is buried under the
southern end of the Old Swedes' Church at Wilmington."^

The year of the death of Torkillus marked a great ad-
vance in the strength and organization of the colony. New
life was infused into it by the formal appointment of John

1 Page 3. 2 jhid.

3 Acrelius, English translation, p. 176; Norberg, p. 3.

* Grabner, p. 15.

82 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. iv.

Printz as governor of New Sweden, the large accession of
immigrants he brought with him, and the regulations which
he was instructed to enforce. Two of these regulations,
signed by Oxenstiern and the other members of the Swed-
ish " Council of State," are of especial importance to the
religious interests of the colony. The first concerns the
Indians, and undoubtedly gave the impulse to the mission-
ary work that soon followed. It is as follows :

The wild nations, bordering upon all other sides, the Governor shall under-
stand how to treat with all humanity and respect, that no violence or wrong
be done to them by Her Royal Majesty or her subjects aforesaid; but he
shall rather, at every opportunity, exert himself that the same wild people
may gradually be instructed in the truths and worship of the Christian relig-
ion, and in other ways brought to civilization and good government, and, in
this manner, properly guided. Especially shall he seek to gain their confi-
dence, and impress upon their minds that neither he, the Governor, nor his
people and subordinates, have come into those parts to do them any wrong or
injury, but much more for the purpose of furnishing them with such things
as they may need for the ordinary wants of life.

The Other instruction has reference to the spiritual care
of the colonists :

Above all things, shall the Governor consider and see to it that a true and
due worship, becoming honor, laud, and praise be paid to the Most High
God in all things, and, to that end, all proper care shall be taken that divine
service be zealously performed according to the Unaltered Augsburg Confes-
sion, the Council of Upsala, and the ceremonies of the Swedish Church ; and
all persons, but especially the young, shall be duly instructed in the articles
of their Christian faith ; and all good church discipline shall in like manner
be duly exercised and received. But so far as relates to Holland colonists
that live and settle under the government of Her Royal Majesty and the
Swedish Crown, the Governor shall not disturb them in the indulgence
granted them as to the exercise of the Reformed religion according to the
aforesaid Royal Charter.!

With Governor Printz there landed at Fort Christina,
February 15, 1643, the Rev. John Campanius. who is men-

1 Acrclius, pp. 35-39.

CAMPANIUS. 83

tioned by Bishop Svedberg as " a man most highly to be
praised on account of his unwearied zeal in always propa-
gating the love of God." He was a native of Stockholm,
and was nearly forty-two years of age. His chief station
was at Tinicum (Delaware County), at that time the gov-
ernor's residence, about nine miles southwest of Philadel-
phia. Here he built a frame church which was consecrated
September 4, 1646, and which for about half a century
continued to be used for divine worship. He returned to
Sweden in 1648, leaving this country in May, and dying in
his native land September 17, 1683. It is recorded of him
that he not only conducted public worship on the Sundays
and festival days, but that twice a week, on Wednesdays
and Fridays, he preached, and on all week-days held morn-
ing and evening services. Where the pastor could not
attend, the services were led by readers, appointed by the
governor.^ He learned the language of the neighboring
Delaware Indians, in order that he could do missionary
work among them, and translated Luther's Small Cate-
chism for them. The pubhcation of the translation was de-
layed, however, until 1696, when it was undertaken at the
personal expense of Charles XL, and large numbers were
sent to America. The translation, although not the pub-
lication, of the catechism antedates that of Eliot's Indian
Bible. EHot's New Testament appeared in 1661, and the
Old Testament three years later. The book of Campa-
nius ^ has an introduction of fourteen pages. The transla-
tion, which Is often a paraphrase, accompanied by explan-
atory questions and answers, is followed by a Swedish
version, paragraph by paragraph. At the close there is a

1 Grabner, p. 16.

2 Lutheri Catechismus, " Ofwersatt pa American-Virginiske Spraket."
Stockholm, Tryckt vthi thet af Kongl. Maytt privelig. Burchardi Tryckeri,
af J. J. Genath/f. Anno MDCXCVL, p. 160.

84 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. iv.

vocabulary of the Delaware language ( Vocabiilariiun Bar-
baro-virgineorurii) of twenty- eight pages.

The grandson of Campanlus published, in 1 702, an
interesting account of his grandfather's experiences in
America.^

The Indians were frequent visitors at my grandfather's house. When, for
the first time, he performed divine service in the Swedish congregation, they
came to hear him, and greatly wondered that he had so much to say, and that
he stood alone, and talked so long, while all the rest were listening in silence.
This excited in them strange suspicions ; they thought everything was not
right, and that some conspiracy was going forward amongst us ; in conse-
quence of which my grandfather's life and that of the other priests were, for
some time, in considerable danger from the Indians who daily came to him
and asked him many questions.

An explanation was then given of the chief doctrines of
Christianity. The narrative continues :

They had great pleasure in hearing these things, at which they greatly
wondered, and began to think quite differently from what they had done be-
fore ; so that he gained their affection, and they visited him and sent to him
very frequently. They induced him to exert himself to learn their language,
so as to be able to translate for them what they wanted very much, to instruct
them in the Christian doctrine ; and he was so successful, that those people
who were wandering in darkness were able to see the light. He translated
for them the catechism into their language, and he succeeded so far that many
of those barbarians were converted to the Christian faith, or, at least, acquired
so much knowledge of it that they were ready to exclaim, as Captain John
Smith relates of the Virginia Indians, that, so far as the cannons and guns of
the Christians exceeded the bows and arrows of the Indians in shooting, so
far was their God superior to that of the Indians.

Rev. Israel Holgh had, in 1644, made a stay of only
three months.^

Before Campanlus had left, Rev. Lars Lock had come
from Sweden in 1647, and, succeeding Campanius, served
the churches at Tinicum and Christina for twenty-two years.

1 We know it only from the translation : " Description of the Province of
New Sweden," by Thomas Campanius Holm. Translated from the Swedish
by Peter S. Du Ponceau, LL.D. Philadelphia, 1839.

2 Grabner, p. 17.

SURRENDER OF NEW SWEDEN. 85

It scarcely belongs to our province to enter into the details
of his matrimonial unhappiness, and the miseries in which
it involved him. They have been preserved in contem-
porary records and public documents, and perpetuate the
gossip of those days, with a fullness for which we long in
regard to more important and edifying subjects. At his
death in 1688 he had been disabled from service for a
number of years.

Rev. Matthias Nertunius made two attempts to reach
New Sweden. In 1649 his ship was stranded near Porto
Rico, and afterward fell into the hands of the Spaniards.
His second attempt, in 1654, was more successful. But
with his clerical companion. Rev. Peter Hjort, he returned
home the next year after the capitulation to the Dutch.
The mission of both these men was a total disappointment.
Hjort had been pastor at Fort Trinity (New Castle) and
Nertunius at Upland (Chester). Under date of July 13,
1654, Governor Rising gives a discouraging account of the
clergy of New Sweden, and says that of the three, Nertu-
nius, Lock, and Hjort, the first was by far the best.^

Governor Printz having returned to Sweden in 1652,
there was an interval of two years, during which the col-
ony was administered by his son-in-law, the Vice- Governor
Papegoija. Then came, in 1654, Governor Rising, whose
energy was proved by his immediate attack upon Fort
Casimir, which the Dutch, extending their territory from
the New Netherlands, had erected upon Swedish soil. As
the Swedes captured it upon Trinity Sunday, they called it
''Fort of the Holy Trinity." ^ The Dutch retaHated the
next year. Fort Trinity was retaken, and a few days after
Fort Christina fell. New Sweden became subject to the
rule of Governor Stuyvesant in September, 1655, one of
the terms of the capitulation being: "Those who choose

1 Nyberg, p. 6. 2 Acrelius, p. 63.

S6 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. iv.

to remain shall have the liberty of adhering to their
own Augsburg Confession, as also of supporting a min-
ister for their instruction." In this expedition, Stuyve-
sant had been accompanied by his pastor, Megapolensis,
who preached a thanksgiving sermon at the taking of
Fort Trinity, but was dissatisfied with the terms of the
capitulation that permitted the continuance of Lutheran
preaching.

During the Dutch rule over New Sweden, a young man
by the name of Abelius Selskoorn, or Zetskoorn, '' a stu-
dent," according to Acrelius, who had been for a while in
New Amsterdam, was called in to aid Lock in his work,
having received from Governor Stuy vesant ** a recommen-
dation to the vestry of the Augsburg Confession to ordain
him to the ministerial office, and also to promise him like
support with Dominie Lars." ^ The Hmit of the Dutch rule
was the surrender of New Netherlands to the English in
1664.

The connection of the former pastor of the Dutch Church
in New Amsterdam, Jacob Fabritius, with the Swedes
began in 167 1, when he served the church at Tranhook
(Wilmington). Afterward (1672) we find a petition pre-
sented to the authorities at New Amsterdam to divide the
Swedes into two parishes under Lock and Fabritius. Part
of the winter of 1673-74 he spent in New Amsterdam, and
was subjected to a sentence by the restored Dutch rule
under Colve. In 1677 he became pastor at Wicaco, now
in the southern part of Philadelphia, converting an old
block-house, built in 1669, into a church, and holding ser-
vice there, and, on alternate Sundays, at Tinicum. In this
first church at Wicaco, where Gloria Dei Church now stands,
the first service was held on Trinity Sunday, June 9th.
Five years later Fabritius became blind, but continued to

1 Acrelius, p. loi.

SPIRITUAL DESTITUTION. ^y

serve the congregations, as best he could, until his death in
1693 or shortly later. As the infirmities of age increased,
his duties were made heavier, first by the disablement, and
then by the death, of Lock. These two aged pastors lived,
the former in Kensington, and the latter in Chester. It
is a sad picture afforded us by certain documents, which
testify to the love and esteem in which Fabritius was held,
but describe the sad state of the congregations which his
infirmities enabled him to serve only with great difficulty
and inefficiency. A lay reader, Andrew Bengston, was
able, however", to supply some of the wants, by reading to
the congregation at Tinicum from Holler's '' Postils," while
Charles Christopher Springer performed a similar service at
Wilmington. But only the most faithful attended. Espe-
cially upon the younger generation was the church losing
its hold.

It is difficult to see how it could have been otherwise.
The bond that had united the colony with the mother-
country had been entirely severed. Swedish immigration
had long since ceased. The thought of the perpetuation
of the ministry from their own churches had not occurred.
At the same time, as the Swedish was still the prevalent
language, they could be served only by the Dutch, which is
readily understood because of the affinity between the two
languages ; and the Dutch were incapable of properly pro-
viding even for their own churches in the New Netherlands.

Letters were written, but received no answer. The Lu-
theran Consistory at Amsterdam was appealed to either to
send a pastor from Holland, or to enlist interest in Sweden ;
but in vain. It is God's plan often to lead his people to
the very verge of despair before interposing his deliver-
ance ; and so it was here. A great revival of interest in
the Swedish churches in America on the part of the church
at home, as well as of religious life in these churches them-

88 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. iv.

selv^es, was just at hand. But how wonderful the means
by which it was accompHshed !

A young man, Andrew Printz, a nephew of the first
governor, traveled, without any very definite end in view,
to America, and in 1690 visited the settlements of his coun-
trymen. On his return to Sweden, in conversing with the
postmaster at Gothenburg, John Thelin, he mentioned the
sad condition in which he found the churches. Thelin was
much moved by what he heard, and made an appeal to
King Charles XI. (reigned 1660-97) i^^ their behalf. En-
couraged by the disposition of the king, after the exact facts
were known, to be of assistance, Thelin wrote a long- letter
of inquiry, which he dispatched to America by two routes.
In it he assures them of the king's readiness to furnish
them not only with ministers, but '' with all sorts of relig-
ious books in both languages, Swedish and Finnish," and
that they may be especially encouraged because of the
friendship between the kings of Sweden and of England.
Reference is also made to an ofTer, made years before by
William Penn to the Swedish envoy in London, to have
ministers and books forwarded them.

This letter of Thelin was answered by a very intelligent
man, before mentioned, Charles Springer, who, after a
thorough education, while an attache of the Swedish min-
ister in England, had been abducted and carried off as a
servant to America, and, after liberation, had found a home
with those of his own nationality on the Delaware. Mr.
Springer writes (May 31, 1693):

We beg that there may be sent to us two Swedish ministers, who are well
learned and well exercised in the Holy Scriptures, and who may well defend
both themselves and us against all the false teachers and strange sects, by
whom we are surrounded, or who may oppose us on account of our true,
pure, uncorrupted service to God and the Lutheran religion, which we shall
now confess before God and all the world, so that, if it should so happen —
which, however, may God avert — we are ready to seal this with our own

BISHOP SVEDB ERG'S INTERVENTION. 89

blood. We beg also that these ministers may be such as live a sedate and
sober life, so that we and our children, led by the example of their godly
conversation, may also lead lives godly and well pleasing to God. It is also
our humble request that we may have sent to us twelve Bibles, three copies
of Sermons, forty-two Manuals, one hundred Handbooks and Spiritual
Meditations, two hundred Catechisms, etc. God grant that we may obtain
faithful pastors and watchmen for our souls, who may also feed us with that
spiritual food, which is the preaching of God's Word and the administration
of the Holy Sacraments in their proper form.

The letter gives an interesting account of the state of
the settlement, the fertility of the land, the prosperity of
the people, the kindness shown them both by the Dutch
and the English, their affection for Sweden, etc. It closes
with the acknowledgment of the divine goodness in bring-
ing their affairs to the attention of the king, and prays
that the work thus begun may be completed :

** For we do not believe that God will forsake us, al-
though we are in a strange and heathen land, far away
from our own dear fatherland."^

A postscript asks as a special favor that volumes of ser-
mons on both the Gospels and Epistles be sent to Captain
Lasse Cock, " for which he will pay." A roll is added giv-
ing a list of 188 Swedish families, including 942 persons in
the settlement.

Immediate action on the part of the king was delayed
by various circumstances, especially by the death of the
queen. But the matter was not neglected. The king con-
sulted a man whose name is among the most prominent in
Swedish Church history. Dr. Jasper Svedberg, at that time
provost of the cathedral and professor of theology at Up-
sala, and afterward (1702-35) Bishop of Skara. Dr. Sved-
berg recalled a conversation which he had once had with
Dr. Edzardi of Hamburg, who was interested in missions
to the Jews, concerning a large amount of property held

^ Correspondence in Acrelius, pp. 186-189.

90 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. iv.

by the Swedish crown, which was given it in trust to be
applied to efforts for the conversion of the heathen, but
which had been diverted to the use of the nobility. Dr.
Svedberg advised that these funds should be devoted to
missions to the heathen through the Swedes in America,
and *' to see to it that the children of Sweden do not be-
come heathen as they dwell among us."

The matter was, therefore, formally intrusted to the arch-
bishop (SwebiHus), by whom it was laid before the consis-
tory. But Dr. Svedberg was the most active in the selec-
tion and preparation of the candidates. He named, from
his students, two — Andrew Rudman, who was just com-
pleting his course of study for the degree of Ph.D., and
Eric Bjork, an inmate of Dr. Svedberg's own house, as
the tutor of his nephews. The forethought of the king
added a third, Jonas Auren, who was to make surveys and
return soon with them, but whom it was thought well to
ordain for the performance of such ministerial acts as might
be serviceable among those with whom he was to sojourn.
The translation of the catechism made by Campanius was
brought out from where it had lain for nearly half a cent-
ury in neglect ; and five hundred copies were printed and
sent with the other books, all of which were stamped with
the king's name in gilt letters. The king several times
called the three pastors before him in his own private rooms,
and conferred with them on their mission.

Rudman and Bjork sailed on August 4, 1696, for Lon-
don, where Auren afterward joined them, There lies be-
fore us a mute sharer and witness of that voyage, in a
copy of the second volume of Brochmand's '* Systema Uni-
versae Theologiae," presented to Bjork as a parting gift. It
has a beautifully written inscription : *' Reverendo et doc-
tissimo domino, Erico Tobia Biorck, amico omnium certis-
simo, Erici die Anni 1696, in sui memoriam, et sinceri ani-

ARRIVAL OF THREE PASTORS. 9 1

mi pignus, librum hunc, non tain ex pretio quam animo
dantis affirmandum, cum promissione Tomi prioris, si quan-
do contigerit compotem fieri ejus, offert et dat Joh. Sla.,
Upsala, ut supra." It is interesting to turn over the pages
of this Lutheran dogmatician, and to study the questions
that afterward occupied Bjork's mind during his isolation
in America, and the marginal notes which we can readily
think were made by his hand. The commission of these
pastors, still preserved in the archives of Gloria Dei Church,
obligated them " to teach, without any human addition or
side doctrine, God's holy and saving Word purely and
clearly, as it is fully presented in the Canonical Books of
the prophets in the Old and of the apostles in the New
Testament, and briefly explained in the oecumenical sym-
bols of the Christian Church, the Apostles', the Nicene, and
the Athanasian, as well as especially in the Augsburg
Confession and the other symbolical books received by the
Evangelical Church." ^

Spending four months in London, after some stay in
Virginia and Maryland they reached their destination in
June, being formally received in the church at Wicaco
June 30th, and at Tranhook (Wilmington) July 8th. Rud-
man became pastor at the former and Bjdrk at the latter
place. Soon it became necessary to make ampler arrange-
ments for their congregations. May 28, 1698, the corner-
stone of the " Church of the Holy Trinity " at Wilmington,
which is still standing, and is better known as '' Old
Swedes' Church," was laid, and on July 4, 1699, the church
was consecrated. Auren read the lessons, Rudman preached
the sermon from Psalm cxxvi. 3, the pastor, BJork, and
Rudman performed the act of consecration, and then fol-
lowed several baptisms and the regular Lord's Day service
with communion, Auren preaching on the gospel for the
^ Grabner, p. 79.

92 "THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. iv.

day. The church cost eight hundred pounds, of which the
pastor contributed one hundred and thirty- five.

Meanwhile the Wicaco congregation, under Rudman,
was so much distracted by a diversity of opinion concern-
ing where the new church was to be built, that Rudman
actually threatened to lay down his office unless they would
speedily agree. Bjork was called in as an arbiter. A ser-
mon he preached from the gospel for the tenth Sunday
after Trinity on ** The Tears of Christ " subdued till hearts,
and they gave a written pledge that the matter would be
left to the absolute decision of the ministers, and that all
would cheerfully acquiesce in the result, whatever it might
be. All were, therefore, satisfied when they determined
to build in the immediate neighborhood of the old church,
one of the reasons being that " the Swedes would ever be
held in remembrance, as their church thus stood in view of
vessels as they sailed upon the river." On the first Sun-
day after Trinity, 1 700 (July 2d), it was consecrated as
Gloria Dei Church, Bjork preaching the sermon from
2 Samuel vii. 29. This old church, well preserved, amply
repays a visit from all interested in the history of the Lu-
theran Church in America. The men who built it were
faithful Lutherans ; the names upon the older tombstones
around it are those of Lutherans ; the pastors who preached
there and were laid to rest under its shadow taught no
other faith than that of the Augsburg Confession. While
the congregation is worshiping in another language and
according to another faith, the mind of the Lutheran who
goes thither will inevitably realize the communion of saints
that he has in common with Rudman and Bjork, and
Sandel and Acrelius and Von Wrangel, who so earnestly
preached within those walls, as well as with Falckner, who
there received the first Lutheran ordination in America,
and with Muhlenberg, who, a generation afterward, among

A CLERICAL IMPOSTOR, 93

his first ministerial acts in this country, entered its pulpit.
All its historical associations are those of the Lutheran
Church ; and no other communion can enter into the fel-
lowship of these associations except as, in addition to its
mere possession of a legal title to the ground and building,
such as the Turks have to Jerusalem, it acknowledges its
share in the heritage of the pure teaching and the holy
lives of the men whose ministry was solemnly pledged to
no other doctrines than those of the Augsburg Confession
and the other symbolical books of the Evangelical Lutheran
Church.

The pastors were full of zeal, preaching, instructing in
the catechism, lecturing on the Bible chapter by chapter,
visiting from house to house, and attending even to the
details of the necessary business arrangements of the build-
ing of the two churches, in which they seem to have super-
intended everything, without the modern intervention of
architects, contractors, etc. Rudman's health succumbed,
before many years, from a pulmonary trouble. By his
appeal to the authorities in Sweden, and with the advice
of Dr. Svedberg, Andrew Sandel, a student at the Univer-
sity of Upsala, was appointed his successor, and ordained
by Archbishop Benzelius, July 18, 1701. But before he
could reach America, in 1702, an impostor by the name of
ToUstadius had preceded him, and was in actual possession
of the Wicaco Church, w^hen, to the surprise of the infirm
pastor Rudman, Sandel appeared. The story of ToUsta-
dius that he had been sent to fill the place which Sandel
had declined was found to be a fabrication. After endeav-
oring to collect another congregation among the Swedes,
distant from the centers already established, and occa-
sioning Rudman and Bjork much trouble, he was finally
drowned in the Delaware by the capsizing of his boat.

Rudman found that not only his infirm health but the

94 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. iv.

deep attachment of his wife to her native Pennsylvania and
her relatives and property there rendered his proposed
departure to Sweden very difficult. When Wicaco, there-
fore, was supplied, he took charge of the Dutch Lutheran
Church at Albany, N. Y., as well as in New York City,
where his pastorate extended from July, i 702, to Novem-
ber, 1703. He returned then to Philadelphia, and offici-
ated as his strength permitted both for his Lutheran
brethren and for the Episcopalians-, especially at Frank-
fort, and when the rector of Christ's Church visited Eng-
land in 1707, supplying his place. He died September
1 7, I 708, and was buried from Gloria Dei, Bjork preaching
from the text which Rudman had selected, Psalm Ixxiii. 24.
Before Rudman's death, Bjork had already been recalled
by King Charles XH., but, on account of the slow mails
of those days, the order of April 23, 1708, did not arrive
until January 9, 1 709. Its execution was equally dilatory,
Bjork remaining until June 29, 1714, even although his
successor, Rev. Andrew Hesselius, and an assistant. Rev.
Abraham Lidenius, shared for one year the same parson-
age with him and his family of five children. The year
before his return he became provost of all the Swedish
churches in America. On his return to Sweden he became
pastor at Fahlun, and died August 21, 1740. By his
eflforts, I 718, a silver communion-set, still in use in 1874,
was presented to his former church at Christiana by the
Fahlun Mining Company. No more beautiful tribute to
his memory could be paid than that of Acrelius :

He loved his American parishioners even until his death, and w^as loved
by them after his death, so that the people got into a habit, which they still
retain, of counting their age from his time — the older ones from his arrival
in the country, the younger ones from his departure. 1

1 Page 274.

PASTOR AUREN. 95

Before Auren, who had come over with Rudman and
Bjork rather as a surveyor than a pastor, had completed
his maps, and could return according to the royal instruc-
tions. King Charles XI. died. Auren accordingly remained.
He was not a man of the ability or sound judgment of his
two companions, although the testimonials to the purity of
his character and his devotion to what he believed to be
his duty are most ample. In a little pamphlet called
*' Noah's Dove " he advocated the keeping of Saturday
instead of Sunday ; and when Bjork, in a very Christian
way, refuted it by a counter-pamphlet, humbly submitted,
preaching to the people on Sunday, but keeping Saturday
for his ovv^n private worship. He preached up to 1706 to
both Swedes and English at Elk River in Maryland, when
he took charge at Racoon, N. J., Bjork giving only a pro-
visional consent to the arrangement, *' in view of the re-
spect which Mr. Bjork had for his bishop, with whose knowl-
edge and direction he wished everything to be done."^

1 Acrelius, p. 321.

CHAPTER V.

THE LUTHERANS OF NEW SWEDEN (170O-I742).

One of the most interesting facts in the early history of
the Lutheran Church in America is the intimate relation
that subsisted between the representatives of the various
languages, as well as their reciprocal activity. The Swed-
ish churches in their extremity had been cared for by a
German pastor, who had been sent to this country by the
Dutch. The Dutch churches, in turn, had been served by
a Swedish pastor, in the person of Rudman. The next
move is the ordination of a German by the Swedes to
serve the Dutch. The ordination of Justus Falckner in
Gloria Dei Church, November 24, 1 703, is the most im-
portant event in the pastorates of Rudman and Bj5rk.

Justus Falckner, the grandson of clergymen on both sides
of the house, and the fourth son of Rev. Daniel Falckner,
Lutheran pastor at Langenreindsdorf, Crimmitschau, and
Zwickau, Saxony, was born November 22, 1672, and en-
tered the University of Halle as a student under A. H.
Francke in 1693. While a student, he composed a hymn,
which, both in the original and in translations, has obtained
wide recognition: ''Auf ihr Christen, Christi Glieder,"
known in English as " Rise, ye children of salvation," ^ and
"If our all on Him we venture," ^ whose merit is duly
acknowledged in Duffield and Thompson's "English

1 English Presbyterian, Psalms and Hymns (1867), Temple Hymn-book
(1867), Laudes Domini (New York, 1884).

2 Moravian Hymn-book, 1808, 1886.

ORDINATION OF FALCKNER. 97

Hymns."! When his studies were completed, he shrank
from assuming the responsibilities of the ministry, and in
1 700 accompanied his older brother, Daniel, to Pennsyl-
vania, as a land agent of William Penn. The next year
Rudman, with other Swedes, having been a large pur-
chaser of land on the Manatawny, this business transaction
probably brought together the Swedish pastor and the
former theological student, who was fleeing from the office
for which he had been trained. When, therefore, Rudman
found his strength failing, and the necessity of immediate
provision for the Dutch Church in New York was urgent,
he appealed to Falckner. The answer was, that he was
ready to accept a call, but that he must not be expected
to preach a trial sermon.

Arrangements w^ere accordingly made for the ordination.
The officiating ministers were Rudman, Bjdrk, and Sandel,
all of w^hom signed the ordination certificate. Twenty-
four years afterward, when this was cited as a precedent,
the four Swedish pastors disclaimed the authority to ordain,
and explained the ordination of Falckner upon the ground
that Rudman had been made by the " Archbishop of
Sweden" "suffragan- or vice-bishop."- It is interesting
to note that, by a commission of the archbishop and con-
sistory in Upsala of November 7, 1739, the two Swedish
pastors in America, Dylander and Tranberg, were directed
to ordain to the ministry William Malander, who had pre-
viously been a schoolmaster — an order which could not be
carried out because of the death of Dylander, and the con-
viction on Tranberg's part that he was without authority
alone to administer ordination. We bring these facts con-
cerning the ordinations in the history of the Swedish
churches together in order that their position may be
clearly understood. The Swedish pastors could ordain,

1 Page 466. 2 " Hallesche Nachrichten," new edition, p. 478.

98 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. v.

but only as duly authorized to do so from Sweden, and
not simply according to their own judgment. Falckner at
once went to New York, preaching there for the first time
on the third Sunday in Advent, 1 703. His subsequent
activity belongs to the history of the Dutch and not the
Swedish Church in America.

Sandel, who succeeded Rudman at Gloria Dei, remained
there from 1702 to 17 19. His ministry, as well as that of
Bjork, is distinguished for the intimate relations with the
neighboring Episcopalians which begin to become manifest.
These, it appears, were promoted by the earnest advice of
the great friend of the Swedish churches. Dr. Svedberg.
The Swedish pastors were habitual attendants of their pas-
toral conferences. In the absence of the English rectors,
they preached in their pulpits. On the fourth Sunday
after Easter, 1712, Rev. George Ross of the English
Church preached for Rev. Eric Bjork at Wilmington,
and Rev. Eric Bjork for Rev. George Ross at Chester.^
When a cornerstone was laid or a church consecrated by
the English, the Swedes were regularly invited, and ac-
cepted the invitation. While Christ's Church, Philadel-
phia, was being enlarged in 17 10, the Sw^edes arranged
their services so that the English congregation could use
the building every Sunday at eleven o'clock. When, in
1 715, a Rev. Mr. Phillips had rendered himself very ob-
noxious to his congregation generally, Provost Sandel, at
the request of the governor and of the English clergy, held
an English service for two months and preached in English
after the close of his Sunday morning service in Swedish.
His own explanation of this relation is interesting :

Although between them and us there is some difference with respect to the
Lord's Supper, yet he [Dr. Svedberg] does not want that small difference to
rend asunder the bond of peace. We do not attempt any discussion upon it ;

1 Grabner, p. 119.

HESSELIUS. 99

neither do we touch upon such things when we preach among them, nor do
they attempt to persuade our people to their opinion in this respect ; but we
live on intimate and fraternal terms with one another, as they also call us
their brethren. They have the government in their hands ; we are under
them ; it is enough that they want to have this intercourse with us ; we can
do nothing else than render them every service and fraternal favor, as long as
they are so amiable and confiding, and have not sought in the least to draw
our children into their church. As our church is called by them the " sister-
church of the Church of England," so we live fraternally together. God
grant that this may long continue, i

Andrew Hessellus (i 713-23), who succeeded Bjork at
Wilmington, was a nephew of Bishop Svedberg, and im-
mediately showed much ability as an organizer. He made
many good regulations and abolished disorders, and, by
most specific instructions in parish meetings, taught the
people their duties as to prompt attendance at church,
bringing children to baptism, the character of godfathers,
regularity in attendance on the Lord's Supper, betrothal
and marriage, etc. In prayer, all were taught to kneel ;
but in singing the creed, and in hearing the gospel read,
all were to stand. He complained of the singing on the
part of some of his members, ** as though they intended to
call their cows to the church," and took much pains to in-
struct them, passing among them while the singing was in
progress, in order to have all right. He translated into
English a book of his uncle's, which, however, was not
printed. Nor did he forget the Indians, but sought every
opportunity to convert them ; and was rewarded by the
baptism of a boy whom he instructed, but who soon re-
lapsed into heathenism. He labored amidst the discour-
agement of most insufficient support. His uncle comforted
him with the Apostle's rule : '' Having food and raiment,
let us be therewith content;" but was answered by the
question: ''When we have not food and raiment, what
then? " Toward the close of his stay he received a yearly

1 Grabner, p. 118, from the MS. of Sandin.

lOO THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. v.

appropriation of ten pounds from the Society for the Prop-
agation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, together with a
like sum if he would *' perform divine service and preach
in the English language .in the several vacant churches in
Pennsylvania, at least twenty times in one year."^

How was it possible for the Swedish churches to prosper
when men like Hesselius were being constantly lost to it
by their insufficient support? His companion to this
country, Lidenius, succeeded Auren at Racoon and Penns-
neck, N. J., displayed much energy in building a church
and parsonage, and, ''greatly beloved for his zeal and pleas-
ing manners," followed Hesselius in the succeeding year,
1724, to Sweden.

In I 719 Wicaco received from the generous authorities
in Sweden two pastors, while it had only support for one.
The difficulty adjusted itself : the elder, Lidman, remained
with them for ten years, while the younger, Samuel Hes-
selius, another nephew of Svedberg, first served Nesh-
aminy and Manathanim, near Pottstown, Montgomery
County, Pa., and finally became his brother's successor at
Wilmington (1723-31), and returned to Sweden, wearied
and disheartened by the false charges brought against
him, one of the chief of which was that he neglected his
own congregation in serving the English.^

With the age and infirmity of Bishop Svedberg " the
golden age," says Acrelius, " of the Swedish Church in
, America ceased."

Passing over the unfortunate pastorate of Falck at
Wicaco, except to note that he was fined by the civil
authorities five hundred pounds for a charge he made
against one of his members but could not prove, and that
his entire stay was but one year, we come to two names
distinguished for having aided very materially in laying

1 Acrelius, p. 282 sq. 2 Acrelius, pp. 285 sqq.

DYLANDER. lOI

the foundation of the German Lutheran Church in Amer-
ica. John Eneberg (born 1689) had studied at Upsala, but
before the time for his ordination had come, had fled to
Norway. He was in London in i 729, and there conceived
the thought of becorning a missionary to America. As
he was able to furnish most excellent testimonials, the un-
fortunate occurrence which had caused his flight ^ was not
permitted to hinder his ordination. Svedberg, then Bish-
op of Skara, commissioned Rev. Mr. Norborg, the Swedish
pastor in London, to ordain Eneberg. On arriving in
America he was at first without a place, and for some
time was occupied preaching to the scattered Germans.
He also supplied the Wicaco church temporarily, but did
not become a settled pastor until 1732, when he succeeded
Samuel Hessehus at Christina. Mr. Eneberg, while serv-
ing the Germans, was unsuccessful in his attempts to
preach English. How unbusiness-like the methods of the
congregation were may be learned from the fact that, dur-
ing the last four years of his service, he had not received
a cent of his salary, and when he left, some of the church's
land had to be sold to pay the accumulated debt. Ene-
berg, who was a bachelor, had lived by renting out the
parsonage, and " the negress who had been purchased,"
and finding a home, from house to house, among his
members.

Far more active and influential was John Dylander. who
was pastor at Wicaco from 1737 to his death in 1741,
and left a name long cherished with the greatest aff'ection
throughout the entire region. Professor Kalm, who trav-
eled in America nearly ten years afterward, refers to him
in his *' Travels " as '* the everywhere beloved Swedish
minister." He preached in three languages in his church.
Matin service was in German, ** high mass" in Swedish,

1 The death of a pupil whom he had chastised.

I02 THE LUTHERANS, [Chap. v.

and the vesper service in English. He became so popular
with the English-speaking people that the English rector
complained to the governor of the weddings which Dy-
lander was taking from him. Kalm states that, as during
the week-days he visited and preached among various set-
tlements of Germans, it often happened that within the
week he preached no less than sixteen times. Among
others whom he served were the Germans of Germantown.
He even looked after the interests of the German Luther-
ans of Lancaster. Nor did he care only for the German
Lutherans, but also for the German Reformed of Philadel-
phia, who, together, attended the German service in Gloria
Dei Church. At his death his funeral sermon was preached
in English by Pastor Tranberg, because of the large num-
bers of persons from all parts of the country and of various
nationalities who were present to do him honor. One of
the secrets of his influence is found in his having thor-
oughly identified himself with the Swedish-American peo-
ple by his marriage with the daughter of the most promi-
nent of the Swedish laymen, the merchant Peter Kock
(Cook), who afterward was of the greatest aid to Muhlen-
berg when he first came to Philadelphia. So fully are the
records of those days preserved that we are able to know
even the books which the pastors had at hand in their
studies ; and the list prepared by Dylander shows two
copies of that masterpiece of Lutheran theology, Ger-
hardt's *' Loci Theologici," as well as Seckendorf's clas-
sical *' History of Lutheranism."^

Still another pastor of this transition period was Rev.
Peter Tranberg, who for fifteen years after his arrival
was pastor at Racoon and Pennsneck, N. J., and married
a daughter of the former pastor, Rudman. When in 1 740
he was transferred to Christina, it was with an opposition

1 Grabner, p. 144.

INNER HISTORY. I03

on the part of his former parish that amounted to bitter-
ness, and they resoh'ed henceforth to be independent of
the authorities in Sweden. Under his pastorate, EngHsh
preaching was introduced into the church at Christina.
He also preached in German and administered the Lord's
Supper at Lancaster, and was " in travels abundant." His
prudent administration of his private resources gave him
considerable pecuniary independence, which was faithfully
devoted to the service of the church. He was stricken at
the funeral of a husband and wife, in his first charge, and
died a few days later, in 1748, greatly lamented. Rev.
George Ross of the English church preaching the English,
and Rev. Gabriel Naesman, the Swedish sermon. Tran-
berg was the first of the Swedish Lutheran ministers whom
Muhlenberg met, and with whom he cooperated. As will
be seen, he may be said to have installed Muhlenberg.

Of Sandin and Naesman, who participated with Muhlen-
berg in the organization of the Ministerium of Pennsylvania,
we will hear later.

Although an important chapter in the history of the
Swedish settlement still remains, this seems a fitting place
to make a survey of some of the features of the inner his-
tory of the early Swedish churches. In it we will neces-
sarily have to anticipate by introducing facts drawn from
Acrelius, who minutely describes the condition of the
churches of his time, and the reforms which he instituted.

Owing no alliegance to the King of Sweden since 1655,
when the Swedish rule gave way to the Dutch, soon to be
supplanted in turn by the English, the king nevertheless
continued to exercise his authority as their ecclesiastical
head. If this arrangement was entirely broken by the
occurrences of 1655, it was restored when the three pastors
were sent to America in 1696. The king was their chief
bishop, who acted either through the Archbishop of Upsala

I04 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. v.

or the Bishop of Skara, Svedberg, in the care of these
churches. What the Archbishop of Canterbury or the
Bishop of London was to the EngHsh the King of Sweden
was to the Swedish settlers and their descendants. It was,
therefore, only an outlying station of a foreign church, not
at home, but only temporarily sojourning in America, that
we see in this entire history. The most earnest and best
trained among the succession of devout pastors seems never
to have thought about taking measures to secure the future
independent development of the Swedish, or even of the
Lutheran, Church in America. Whatever Swedish schools
they had — and these at best were very poor ^ — were in-
tended, with the secular branches necessary for honorable
livelihood, to give nothing more than the elementary relig-
ious instruction which should be expected at confirmation.
There was no thought of providing for a native Swedish-
American ministry. No young men were found in these
congregations and sent to Sweden to be prepared for the
holy office. There seems to have been an entire dearth of
laymen capable of intelligently participating in the ad-
ministration of the affairs of the congregation, until we
come to Peter Kock, who has been above mentioned.
Eneberg found at Christina that ''-of the vestrymen and
elders of the parish, there was scarcely any one who
could write his own name."^ The authorities in Sweden
sent, transferred, and removed pastors at pleasure. Upon
these pastors rested the great burden, not only of looking
after the spiritual wants, but even, to a great extent, the
business matters of the congregation. The interest of the
people in the external development of the church was not

1 " Forty years back our people scarcely knew what a school was. The
first Swedish and Holland settlers were a poor, weak, and ignorant people,
who brought up their children in the same ignorance." — Acrelius, p. 352.

2 Acrelius, p. 291.

THE PROVOSTSHIP. I05

cultivated, except when the overflooded grounds of the
churchyard or the yielding masonry or decaying timbers
gave most positive ocular demonstration of the need of
prompt action. This was not generally because of poverty,
since those settlers were as a rule thrifty, but because they
were taught, in religious matters, to rely upon the provision
which the church in the fatherland was making for them.
They preferred to sell off sections of their land, as needed, to
pay back salaries, rather than supply the wants of their pas-
tors according to a regular and systematic way. The results
might have been foreseen. The most of the pastorates
were brief. Young men were willing to engage in the work
in America only as a preparation for higher places at home.
The most earnest among them sacrificed their lives to the
abundance of their labors. Others, as their families grew,
felt constrained to petition for charges in Sweden. Pastors,
when they could not regard themselves permanent, could
not throw their full force into the work in America on all
its sides, or take the widest view of its relations. It was
enough if, in addition to fidelity in the pastoral responsi-
bilities of their own people, they would also care for the
immediate spiritual necessities of otherwise uncared-for
people of other nationalities, especially when, as was emi-
nently proper, the Society for the Propagation of the Gos-
pel in Foreign Parts acknowledged such services by con-
tributing toward their scanty support.

One of the pastors presided over the rest as provost,
who was also called " superintendent," ^ made his visita-
tions, examined into the state of the churches, and reported
to the proper authorities in Sweden. In succession, until
1730, they are Rudman, Bjork, Sandel, Andrew Hesselius,
and Lidman. After an interruption, in the period yet
before us, Sandin, Acrelius, and Wrangel filled the office.

1 Acrelius, p. 363.

I06 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. v.

These provosts acted simply as the executives of the au-
thorities in Sweden, and, notwithstanding the fact that it
required about a year to receive an answer from across the
ocean concerning a matter reported, they were required to
await instructions. In three cases above, it has been seen
that the Swedish authorities deemed their episcopal sanc-
tion for ordination sufficient, and directed that candidates
be ordained by the provost and his brother ministers, or,
in one case, by the pastor in London. Among the instruc-
tions to Acrelius in 1 749 is one enjoining him to select one
of the German pastors in America to install him as provost,
and then that, as provost, with the assistance of the German
pastor, he should install the church officers.^ These same
instructions are introduced with the obligation neither to
accept nor teach '' any other doctrine than that founded in
God's holy Word, and comprised in our symbols and sym-
bolical books. "2

The provision for a '' church council " in these congrega-
tions, while in entire harmony with what became the estab-
lished practice in Sweden toward the close of the seven-
teenth century, was probably first introduced from the
Dutch churches in New York by Fabritius.^ While the
Swedish pastors of the first period had no precedent in
Sweden to follow at that time,^ the Dutch Lutherans had
from the time of the Reformation in Holland had this

1 Section 11. Norberg, p. 214; Griibner, p. 349.

2 Section 1. Norberg, p. 211 ; Grabner, p. 345. " lakttager probsten pa
det nogaste alt det, hwartil'han sig genom en dyr ed forbundit wid sjelwa
prediko-embetets antagande och bor isynnerhet det wara honom om hjerat alt
hwarken hos sig sjelf hysa eller for sina ahorare predika nagon ann liira an
den som ar grundat i Guds hel. ord och i wara symbola och symboliska bocker
forfattad : hafwande jemval i denna matto ett behofligt inseende pa dem som
hans medbroder aro i embetet."

3 " Organization of the Congregations in the Early Lutheran Churches in
America," by B. M. Schmucker, D.D. (Philadelphia, 1887), p. 6.

4 See above, chap, iv., p. 75.

THE CHURCH COUNCIL. io;

organization in its fully developed form. As we find it
mentioned, during the pastorate of Fabritius in 1684, the
conclusion is irresistible that he organized his Swedish after
the model of his former Dutch congregation. Under date
of August loth, *' the churchwardens " appeal to their breth-
ren of the parish for the salary and support of their blind
and aged pastor. When Rudman came in 1702, he "in-
stalled the new churchwardens and vestrymen, and at the
same time explained to each their duties."^ The vestry-
men had the oversight of the church property and the lives
of the people. Where any required pastoral admonition, it
was their duty to report them to the pastor, and, with the
concurrence of the pastor, to bring such cases as would not
yield to this treatment, before the church council. The
churchwardens took up the collections, paid the pastor's
salary, provided for the poor, etc. There is some confu-
sion, as, from later accounts, the offices of vestrymen and
elders are distinct.^ Nor must it be forgotten that Rudman
returned to the service of the Swedish churches as provost,
after having been pastor of the New York Dutch churches
for a time, and participated in church council meetings with
the three classes of lay officials of those congregations.^
Tn later years, the institution of church trustees, according
to the law of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, involved
the Swedish congregations in no little trouble.^ Once the
church council at Christina determined to be independent
of its pastor in its business affairs, upon the suggestion of
an agent, who '* advised the vestry never to allow any of
their priests to look into their management," with the re-
sult that the adviser so managed their business that he soon
became the owner of '* some of the best lots that had be-

1 Acrelius, p. 215. 2 Acrelius, pp. 232, 291.

3 Grabner, p. 88. 4 For details, see Acrelius, p. 249

I08 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. v.

longed to the congregation." ^ The congregations imposed
fines upon their members,- and determined the modes of
payment of diies.^

In Sandel's time at Wicaco (1702-19) there were two
services (matins and *' higli mass ") every Sunday morning.
At the matin service a sermon was preached on the cate-
chism, and between that and the second service the teacher
went through tlie aisles and examined the people on the
sermon. At the second service the full order then used
by the Swedish church was followed."^ Dylander's efforts
to provide for the three languages caused some changes ;
but Sandel's order was restored by Naesman in 1 743. ^
"The genuine Swedes," says Acrelius,^ "are greatly at-
tached to their church usages ; and many English would
be more pleased with the Swedish than with the English
church service, if they understood the language." The
minister was robed. The creed was sung. The crucifix
in the churches was rejected as something that " should
not even be talked of." Hymn-boards were introduced
into the churches in Acrelius's time with good results."^
The delay in bringing infants to baptism until they were
six or seven weeks old was greatly deplored by several of
the pastors, as well as the growing disuse of sponsorship,
and the prejudice derived from Presbyterians and Episco-
palians against noth-taufe, or the baptism of children by
laymen when they are in immediate peril of death.*^ The
massive baptismal font still in Gloria Dei Church, we were
told on the spot, used to stand just outside of the church
door, as a solemn reminder of how we enter the church.
The old custom of the churching of women had maintained
itself with more firmness than many other good customs.

1 Acrelius, p. 391. 2 Page 217. ^ Page 229.

4 Page 218. 5 Page 243. ^ Page 359.

■7 Page 302. » Page 354.

THE LANGUAGE QUESTION. IO9

All Other difficulties seemed to be overshadowed by that
of the language question. On this we may hear the good
provost himself:

Sometimes it is concluded in the vestry that no more English preaching
shall be held, no English any more be buried in the graveyard. Then the
minister and church officers are decried as persons who regard all English
heathen. They think that it is a failure in duty to water one part of the
Lord's vineyard to overflowing, while many other parts wither and die. So
this must be changed again. One will have his child baptized in English,
another in Swedish, at one and the same hour in the church. Some refuse
to stand as sponsors if the child is not baptized in Swedish, and yet it may
be that the other sponsors do not understand it. One woman who is to be
churched will have Swedish ; the other, English ; and this at the same time.
When funeral sermons are preached, English people of every form of faith
come together, and then it often happens that the one desires preaching in
English, the other in Swedish, and that just as the minister is going into the
church. 1

No better indication of the high character and literary
ability of the men who were sent from Sweden to America
can be given than the books written on the subject by
those connected with the Swedish churches. The grand-
son of Campanius and the son of Bjork, the great patron
of the mission, Bishop Svedberg, Provost Acrelius, and
Professor Kalm, who married the widow of Provost Sandin,
all published books treating either exclusively or with
great fullness on the subject. The still later Provost Von
Wrangel wrote, according to a letter to Muhlenberg, a
" History of the German Lutheran Congregations in Amer-
ica," which he had sent to the press, but which, except for
the several references of its preparation, is unknown.-

1 Page 361. 2 Mann, p. 512.

CHAPTER VI.

THE FIRST GERMAN LUTHERANS IN AMERICA.

It will not be necessary to trace the history of German
Lutheranism as we come to the introduction of its repre-
sentatives to America. Not only are its leading facts more
generally known, but its details would carry us into so many
different fields as we would trace its varieties in the various
States and principalities, that we would be carried far from
our subject. America had been discovered nearly two hun-
dred years before the German immigration began. Be-
fore the eighteenth century, it is. probable that the entire
number of those who had been brought hither might be
placed upon an ordinary steamer of the present day.

William Penn was the instigator of German immigration.
As a zealous propagandist of the doctrines of the Quakers,
he had visited Germany in 1671 and 1677, and tarried at
centers where converts had been made by the efforts of
preceding missionaries. He had found German Quakers
in Lubeck and Embden and Frankfort, and preached to
a small congregation at Kriegsheim,^ near Worms. The
proclamation of 1681, inviting settlers to Pennsylvania, and
stating the conditions of immigration, was immediately
translated into German and circulated in Germany. In 1682
a Frankfort company purchased twenty-five thousand acres
of land from Penn, and in the succeeding year the agent of
this company, a young jurist, Pastorius, who, as also nearly

1 The name is perpetuated in the Cresheim Creek, -within a short distance
of where we now write, at Mount Airy, a northern portion of Germantown.

110

THE SETTLERS OF GERMANTOIVN. I I I

all the members of the Frankfort Company, is said to have
been an adherent of Spener, came with his family and a
few associates to Pennsylvania, " in order," as he said, " to
lead a quiet and Christian life." The town was laid out as
Germantown (Germanopolis), now a part of Philadelphia,
in 1685, and incorporated in 1689. Within five years fifty
houses had been erected. It became a center for German
Quakers, Mennonites, and various forms of religious ex-
travagance, as represented by the erratic preacher, Koster.
About the year 1700 there were several German hermits
along the Wissahickon, of whom Kelpius was the most
prominent. The only Lutheran at this settlement of whom
we read was Daniel Falckner, who came with the '' hermits "
in 1694, the older brother of Justus Falckner, and who,
after becoming a land agent of the Frankfort Company,
toward the close of his life became pastor of Lutheran
congregations in New Jersey. The church at Falckner's
Swamp (New Hanover) is thought to date from the year
1703.1 Muhlenberg mentions a few Platt-Deutsch from
the neighborhood of Cleves who came to this country be-
tween 1680 and 1708.

The immigration which concerns this history began in
earnest about 1 708. The causes determining it were mani-
fold. The division of Germany into many petty prin-
cipaHties weakened greatly the national feeling, and gave
more opportunity for arbitrary power on the part of rulers
within, and for oppression from those without each State.
The Thirty Years' War had depleted some neighborhoods
of sixty per cent, of the population and property. While
the central, northern, and eastern parts of Germany were
able to recover rapidly from these ravages, the western

1 The details concerning Justus Falckner's ordination and his immediate de-
parture to New York brought to light by new documentary evidence obtained
by Professor Grabner, leave no room for his pastorate at the "Swamp."

112 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. vi.

frontier and the valley of the Rhine and its tributaries were
kept in a constant state of desolation, either from actual
war, or from the alarm and uncertainty almost as paralyzing
as invasion itself. These provinces were made the battle-
grounds or the tributaries of France, subject to exacting-
levies of money and to cruel conscriptions. Especially was
the Rhenish Palatinate, one of the fairest portions of Ger-
many, the object of the rapacity and cruelty of the unprin-
cipled king, Louis XIV., and his general, Turenne. It has
been well said : *' To this date, from Drachenfels to Heidel-
berg, the line of march is marked by crumbling walls, ruined
battlements, and blown-up towers."^ Severe winters and
failures of harvest were added. Pastorius was active in the
publication and circulation of documents in Germany set-
ting forth the advantages offered to emigrants in the New
World. Other land agents emulated him. The thought
of fortunes to be gained, instead of their repeated disap-
pointments, inspired the more sanguine, in whom the relig-
ious motive was absent.

An advance band from Wolfenbiittel and Halberstadt,
diverted from their goal. New York, reached and settled
German Valley, N. J., in I 707. The same year the Luther-
an pastor at Landau, Kocherthal, left his home with sixty-
one persons, knowing scarcely whither to go. The English
residents of Frankfort provided for their transportation to
England, where they were kindly received by Queen Anne
and others. In deciding as to their future disposition the
first thought was to send them to Jamaica or Antigua ;
but at last they embarked for New York. They were first
naturalized as English subjects, a handsome present was
made to the pastor, five hundred acres of land were set
apart for their church, for which also the queen furnished

1 " Pennsylvania Magazine of History," vol. x., p. 250.

ON THE HUDSON. II3

a bell, and tools were given for the colonists. On the last
day of 1 708 they found a welcome in America, the gov-
ernor of New York, Lord Lovelace, being particularly
friendly. Twenty-one hundred acres of land north of West
Point being allotted them, they called their new home
Newburg. The death of the governor, and the separation
from them of a small band on the charge of Pietism, were
followed in June, 1709, by a trip of the pastor to England,
in order to confer with the queen concerning the future of
his people.

Meanwhile the generosity of the queen was taxed to the
utmost. The numbers vary in different accounts, but the
estimate is from ten to twenty thousand of Palatinates
who managed in some way to reach England that year, to
the great astonishment of its inhabitants, in the expectation
that the government would provide for their transportation
to America. A large camp for their accommodation. was
opened at Greenwich. Within a year six thousand had left
Heidelberg and its immediate vicinity. Alarmed at the
depletion of his province, the Elector Palatinate felt con-
strained to publish an order threatening with death those
who would without due authority thus abandon his domain.
Those not Protestants were returned to their homes.
Thirty-eight hundred were settled in Munster, Ireland, near
Limerick. Seven hundred were taken by the Carolina
Company, and founded New Berne, N. C. Three thousand
more, in ten vessels, accompanied Kocherthal on his return
voyage in 1710. Nearly eight hundred died on the way,
or of ship fever shortly after landing. They were tempo-
rarily quartered on Governor's Island, and divided into ten
sections, each under a leader. In the autumn arrangements
were made with Robert Livingstone for settling them some
one hundred miles up the Hudson, at the foot of the Cats-

114 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. vi.

kills, at West, and also for a time at East, Camp. Before
the winter was upon them a church and schoolhouse had
been erected.

The dream of the Palatinates was realized : they had
found a home to replace that of their vine-clad hills. But
they had not left the cross behind them. They were un-
prepared for the rigorous winter. They not only suffered
severely, but were dissatisfied with the treatment they
received from Governor Hunter and Livingstone. The
Palatinates were skillful farmers and vine-growers ; Hunter
and Livingstone had located them with a view to the
manufacture of tar and other products to be obtained from
the forests. They begged to be sent to Schoharie, to
which place the queen had intended they should go, and
made provision in a treaty with the Lidians. The author-
ities were inflexible ; but the Palatinates were determined.
They sent their agents into the Schoharie country, and
arranged the terms to the satisfaction of the Indians. Mean-
while the attempt to force them to confine their work to
what Livingstone had intended proved vain ; the thirty
thousand barrels of tar that had been expected of the col-
onists, as a return for the expense to which the government
had gone, amounted, all told, to only two hundred. In
October, 17 12, several hundred moved to Schoharie with-
out the permission of the authorities ; in March, through
deep snow, they were followed by others. By the friend-
ship of the Indians, they were able to subsist throughout
the hardships of that winter. In order to obtain a clear
title to the land, a delegation was sent to England in 17 18
to confer with the government. One of the members of
this commission was John Conrad Weiser, father of the
afterward distinguished Indian agent and father-in-law of
Muhlenberg, Conrad Weiser. Captured by pirates and im-
prisoned in England for debt, it was not until 1723 that he

SCHOHARIE AND TULPEHOCKEN. I I 5

returned from his vain mission. His health was greatly
shattered by his trials.

Meanwhile the loss of the colony under Kocherthal had
been partially made up by other immigrants. Both branches
extended, the one along the Hudson to Rhinebeck on the
eastern, and Esopus, Kingston, New Paltz, etc., on the west-
ern side of the Hudson; the other branch, to the present
Middleburg (then known as Weisersdorf) and to Palatine
Bridge in the Mohawk Valley, and to Cobleskill. The colony
of New York no longer favoring the German immigration,
the current about 1 7 1 2 turned to Pennsylvania. A portion
also of the Schoharie colony, in 1723, under the guidance
of friendly Indians, floated three hundred miles down the
Susquehanna, and located in Tulpehocken. There they
were joined in i 729 by the younger Conrad Weiser, the
father remaining at Schoharie, until near the close of his
life, in 1745, when he followed his son, and conferred with
Muhlenberg as a spiritual adviser.

The Palatinates were not all Lutherans. That unfortu-
nate province was agitated by almost as many ecclesiastical
as poUtical changes. Not until 1545 was the Reformation
formally introduced by Frederick H., and that, too, ** more
from external constraint than from inward conviction."
Otto Henry, his nephew, who succeeded him in 1556 and
held the government for three years, was a decided Luther-
an, and his activity encountered much resistance among
the people. Frederick HI., his successor, a man of great
ability and positive character, was just as determined in his
adherence and advocacy of the Reformed faith. It was at
his suggestion and under his auspices that the Heidelberg
Catechism was composed, mediating between Calvinism
and Lutheranism, his friends claiming that, through Ursi-
nus, a pupil of Melanchthon, it is in general harmony with
Melanchthon's later position as contrasted with Luther's.

Il6 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. vi.

" He was the first German prince," says Dr. Schaff, '' who
professed the Reformed creed, as distinct from the Luther-
an.i" Under him the Lutheran orders of service were
aboHshed, and none but Reformed members introduced
into the consistories.

But the eldest son and successor of Frederick III. (1576-
83) was a Lutheran, who dismissed Reformed professors
and pastors, reintroduced the Lutheran worship, and insisted
on conformity with the Formula of Concord. Again there
was a change, when John Casimir became regent, and
showed, though less decidedly, his Reformed feeling. His
successor was an advocate of church union as the most ef-
fectual mode of resisting the growing Catholic power, which,
during its dominancy in the darker days of the Thirty
Years' War, denied to the rightful elector the exercise of
his authority, but held it in the interest of hostility to both
Lutheran and Reformed. The effect of the Peace of Osna-
briick was the toleration of both religious parties. \\\ gen-
eral, the character of the Palatinate theology, on both sides,
is conciliatory and mediating ; a tendency greatly strength-
ened by the life-and-death struggle through which both
confessions in the Palatinate had to pass during the Thirty
Years' War, as well as by the scenes which followed the
revocation of the Edict of Nantes, in 1685.

The two confessions came into this country alongside of
each other, as they have subsisted ever since in a large
number of parishes in Pennsylvania. Thus, at Newburg,
alongside of Pastor Kocherthal was the German Reformed
pastor, John Frederick Hager, whom he married.

Of much interest are two memorials of Kocherthal, for
which we are indebted to the industrious researches of Pro-
fessor Grabner. One is the title of his '* Church Book,"
which begins : " Church Book of the Church of the Ger-

1 " Creeds of Christendom," vol. i., p. 532.

KOCHERTHAL.

117

mans who Embrace the Augsburg Confession." The bap-
tismal register in it begins : " Catalogue of the infants who
were baptized by me, Joshua Kocherthal, first pastor of the
Germans in New York."

The other is his tombstone at West Camp, N. Y., under
the shadow of the Overlook Mountain, on which there was
legible in 1891 the inscription:

Know, pilgrim, that under this stone rests, alongside of his Sibylla Char-
lotte, a true pilgrim, who was the Joshua of the High Germans in America,
and a pure Lutheran preacher to them, both on the west and the east side
of the Hudson River. His first arrival was with Lord Lovelace, January i,
1708. His second with Colonel Hunter, June 14, 1710. His journey to
England intervened. The heavenly journey of his soul occurred on St. John's
Day, 1 719. If you would know, seek in the fatherland of Melanchthon, who
was Kocherthal, who Horschias, who Winchenbach. B. Berkenmayer. S.
Heurtein. L. Brevort, MDCCXLIL

CHAPTER VII.

THE DUTCH CHURCHES FROM FALCKNER TO
MUHLENBERG.

We return to Justus Falckner and the Dutch congrega-
tions in New York and Albany, for which he was ordained
by the Swedish pastors. The congregation in New York
we find very soon appeahng to the Swedes for aid in
building a new church. A similar appeal to the Dutch on
the island of St. Thomas met with a prompt and generous
response.

The territory covered by Falckner's labors was very
great. It centered about two points, New York, to which
he devoted the summer, and Alban}^, to which he devoted
the winter, each of them including from six to eight out-
lying posts, where there were natives of Holland or their
descendants to be served. With the coming of the Palati-
nates an additional care was imposed on him. His church
records were kept in a unique way, it being his habit to
write a brief prayer after every important entry. We can-
not be too grateful to Professor Grabner for the discovery
and preservation of a number of these most beautiful and
devout prayers.'^ He closes the record of his first day's
work with the following, in classical Latin :

God, the Father of all goodness, and Lord of Great Majesty, who hast
forced me into this harvest, grant unto me, thy humble and very weak
laborer, thy special grace, without which I must perish under the burden of
temptations which frequently overwhelm me. In thee, O Lord, have I put

1 " History," pp. 94-96.
118

FALCKNER'S RECORDS. II9

my trust ; let me not be confounded. Render me fit for my calling. I have
not run, but thou hast sent me ; thou hast forced me into the office. Mean-
while, M^hatever, without my knowledge, a corrupt nature has introduced
within me, forgive and pardon me, humbly praying thee, through our Lord,
yea, through my Jesus Christ. Amen.

To the record of three baptisms at Hackensack in Feb-
ruary, 1704, he adds that of one of the ''Van Boskerk "
family in New York in the following April, and writes :

O Lord, Lord, may this child, with the three above-recorded Hackensack
children, be written and remain in the Book of Life, through Jesus Christ.
Amen.

Other prayers, in true collect form, run :

O God, may this child be and remain a child of everlasting salvation,
through Christ.

O God, let this child be included and remain in thy eternal favor, through
Christ.

O Lord, we commend this child unto thee, for both temporal and eternal
welfare, through Christ.

O my God, may this child be and remain a member of thy kingdom of grace
and glory, through Christ.

Let this child taste and enjoy thy sweet love and grace in time and in eter-
nity. Amen.

An entry of an infant baptism shows us that at this
early period there were even negro Lutherans in America,
and that Falckner had admitted some into his New York
congregation. In 1 704 he baptized *' Maria, the young
daughter of Are of Guinea, a negro, and his wife Jora, both
Christians of our congregation," and prayed:

Lord, merciful God, thou who regardest not the persons of men, but, in
every nation, he that feareth thee and doeth right is accepted before thee ;
clothe this child with the white garment of innocence and righteousness, and
let it so remain, through Jesus Christ, the Redeemer and Saviour of all men.
Amen.

Five children born to destitute Palatinate emigrants on
the ocean were baptized by Falckner during their stay in

120 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. vil.

huts on Governor's Island. What can be more appropriate
and touching than this prayer for the homeless ones?

Lord, Almighty God and Father in Christ Jesus, who, by thy wondrous
power, hast so ordered it that these children were born upon the great and
dreadful ocean, lead them, by thy grace, through the tempestuous sea of this
world, that, at last, they may all arrive at the haven of the New Jerusalem,
where all tyranny and all tyrannical, false mercy shall have an end, through
Jesus Christ. Amen.

Again, after recording the baptisms of an entire year, he
writes :

Let not one of the names above written be blotted out of thy Book ; but let
them be written and remain therein, through Jesus Christ, thy dear Son.
Amen.

Similar prayers concerning confirmations and marriages
are also given, showing how the faithful pastor kept in view
the wants and cares and temptations and sorrows of each
individual to whom God called him to minister, and carried
them in prayer before the throne of grace. They show the
tender and even sensitive heart of one who, not for worldly
considerations, but from his dread of the great responsibili-
ties of the ministerial office, had shrunk from assuming them,
until the call was too urgent and direct to be neglected ; as
well as the cultivated style and fervor of an approved hymn-
writer. He stood in friendly relations with Kocherthal,
whose daughter he baptized, and whom he succeeded. It
was probably only to meet necessities which otherwise could
not be provided that he assumed temporary charge of his
churches. He was married, when he had nearly completed
the fourteenth year of his pastorate, by Rev. William Vesey
of the English Church. In the later years of his Hfe his
home was at Claverack, as a convenient center for his parish,
which had a length of from one hundred and seventy-five
to two hundred miles. We find him energetically pursuing
his work up to the time of his death in the autumn of 1 723,

BERKENME YER. I 2 I

at the age of fifty-one years. His elder brother, Daniel,
who had become pastor of Dutch congregations in New-
Jersey in and about Raritan, was, in 1724, a temporary
supply for both the Dutch and German churches along the
Hudson. For many years the ministry of Daniel Falckner
had been forgotten, and Justus Falckner was accordingly
credited with many references made in contemporary docu-
ments to Daniel.

Falckner, besides being a laborious pastor, found time
to prepare and publish in 1708 a handbook of Christian
doctrine in questions and answers. It was highly com-
mended by Loscher, one of the most prominent Lutheran
theologians of that time in Germany, as an *'Anti-Calvin-
istic compendium of doctrine."

Upon the death of Falckner the New York congregation
sent one of their members to Amsterdam to petition the
Lutheran Consistorium to provide a new pastor for them,
and at the same time to collect for a new church building.
It is interesting to read attached to his credentials the
well-known names of Beekman and Van Buskirk. The
consistorium determined to call from Hamburg William
Christopher Berkenmeyer, who, while at first disinclined to
accept it, after a severe illness, in which he vowed that, in
case he would recover, he would no longer refuse, was
ordained in Amsterdam, May 24, 1725, and set out for his
field of labor. Berkenmeyer was a man of mature age,
having been born in 1686 at Bodenteich in Liineburg, and
studied at Altdorf, near Nuremberg — a university united
with Erlangen in 1809 — while Dr. Sontag was the leading
theologian. It can scarcely be a mere coincidence that in
1720 there was Hving at Hamburg a theological student
who was the parish clerk of St. Peter's Church and a native
of Liineburg, also by the name of Berkenmeyer, although
the initials differ (C. L.), and who obtained some distinc-

122 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. vii.

tion as a writer on antiquarian subjects. On his way he
was intercepted by a letter from New York, stating that
his services were not wanted. A former tailor had insinu-
ated himself into the congregation, and won to himself the
support of many of the members, but sought in vain from
various sources for ordination. A call to Berkenmeyer
from Albany came at the same time. Arriving at New
York with his credentials from Amsterdam, he had little
difficulty in establishing himself. He brought with him a
library for the congregation, bought with funds which he
had collected, which would be beyond the capacity not
only of the most of the congregations, but even most of
the pastors of the present day. It consisted of twenty
folios, fifty quartos, twenty-three octavos, and six duodeci-
mos, among them such massive works as Calovius' *' Biblia
Illustrata," Baldwin's " Commentaries on St. Paul's Epis-
tles," Dedekenn's '' Consilia," and the same system of the-
ology that Bjork had with him, viz., Brochmand. They
are ponderous, even to a scholar. The remnants of this
library are said to be in Wittenberg College, Springfield, O.
The member of the congregation who went for a pastor
collected some funds; but unfortunately he was found to
be short in his accounts. Berkenmeyer's activity, how-
ever, awakened sufficient interest to bring willing contrib-
utors from the Lutheran congregation in London, with the
result that on the fourth Sunday after Trinity, 1 729, the
new Trinity Church was dedicated in New York, and
Trinity congregation in New York was aiding the congre-
gation at Albany in the beginning of collections for the
same work. Berkenmeyer continued Falckner's course of
dividing the year between the northern and southern part
of his extensive parish. At Albany the church became
untenable, and the subscriptions did not warrant the be-
ginning of the new building; the English church was

A GENERAL ORGANIZATION PROJECTED. 123

kindly put at the disposal of the Lutherans, and accepted.
The places besides New York and Albany which Berken-
meyer served were Loonenburg, where there was a parson-
age for him while in the northern portion of his parish,
Raritan, N. J., Hackensack, Claverack, Newton, West
Camp, Theerbush, Camp, Rhinebeck, Schenectady, Cox-
sackie, Schoharie. Besides, he often preached in dwelling-
houses and barns. Those, too, were the days in which there
were no railroads or steamboats.

Two years after his arrival he was married to the
daughter of one of his predecessors, Kocherthal. The
same English clergyman (Rev. Dr. Vesey) officiated who
had married Justus Falckner. Mr. Berkenmeyer offered
Dr. Vesey an English translation of the marriage ceremony
as found in the order of the Lutheran Church of Holland ;
but he claimed the right to insist on using the Book of
Common Prayer, and there was no alternative. He re-
cords the visits of congratulation by the English clergy,
and notices the fact that other clergymen using the lan-
guage of his congregation did not show the same courtesy.
Mrs. Berkenmeyer survived her husband many years, hav-.
ing communed in Trinity Church as late as 1775.

The organizing talent of the North Germans was fully
developed in Berkenmeyer. He soon realized the neces-
sity of a division of his large parish, especially as in his long
absences the need of the people for more frequent ser-
vices favored the entrance of impostors, among whom was
Von Dieren, the tailor who has been already mentioned as
having almost obtained the Ne-w York congregation before
Berkenmeyer's arrival. So persistent were Von Dieren's
efforts that Berkenmeyer found it necessary to publish a
book exposing his pretensions, citing the document of the
four Swedish pastors concerning him and his application
to them for ordination, and making a number of interesting

124 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. vil.

observations on various questions. The record of the
meeting of the New York Church Council is still preserved,
in which he presented a paper giving the reasons for an
immediate division of the charge, and, to the amazement
and grief of those present, handed in his resignation. Point
by point, the patient vestrymen weighed the reasons and
assented to them, and then gave a reluctant consent to
what they saw could not be otherwise without damage to
the spiritual interests of the people. Michael Christian
Knoll, born in Holstein in 1696, became pastor of the south-
ern portion at the close of 1732, after being ordained by
the Lutheran pastors in London.

Berkenmeyer felt also the need of a .union of all the
churches under a more efficient organization. In a long
Latin letter to Pastor Lidman of the Swedish church at
Wicaco and to Bishop Svedberg he recounts the difficul-
ties with which the Lutherans of New York have to con-
tend, and asks them to intercede with the King of Sweden
in their interests. His plan was to unite and place under
the care of the King of Sweden the Dutch and the German
as well as the Swedish churches, to obtain from him all
pastors, and to submit to such mode of administration as
he might designate, whether through a " Pennsylvania
consistorium " or episcopal authority, and to have him
arrange with the King of England for the prohibition of
all who assumed to be ministers but whose claims were not
legitimated by the Swedish authorities.^ The scheme was
of course impracticable. The Swedes were themselves
wrestling with the difficulty of a supply of pastors. But
nothing could be expected from the Amsterdam Consis-
torium. The Dutch Reformed and even the German Re-
formed were governed from Amsterdam ; and the Episco-
pal Church, from England. There was no central Lutheran
1 Details in Grabner, p. 177 sq.

THE SYNOD OF 1735. 12$

Church authority in Germany which could be made the
representative of Lutheran unity. The independence of
America and the American churches was much nearer than
they imagined, if they imagined it at all. Sweden, there-
fore, with its ecclesiastical laws of 1686, agreeing closely
with those of the Dutch Church, and its language closely
related to the Dutch, seemed to him to offer the solution.

When it is said that Berkenmeyer in 1735 presided over
the first Lutheran synod in America, this must be under-
stood with some qualifications. No synod existed such as
we understand by the name. The synods as we have them
are confederacies of congregations united permanently
under a constitution, prescribing regular meetings, and a
system of oversight and administration under officers. The
synod over which Berkenmeyer presided was a conference
of the pastors and representatives of the congregations and
their descendants that had been served by Falckner and
Kocherthal, which was held only once, and that for the
purpose of adjusting serious difficulties in the New Jersey
field. The one feature which gives it any claim to any
appearance of a synod of later years was that Pastor Berk-
enmeyer, as the oldest pastor present, opened the proceed-
ings with the words :

In the name of Jesus, Amen. Before opening this synod it will be neces-
sary for us to sanction our fraternity by subscribing the Amsterdam Church
Order, as it has hitherto been in use in our congregations pledged to the Unal-
tered Augsburg Confession, and has recently been more strictly applied.

But when we more carefully examine the circumstances,
we find that this was intended as the condition upon which
the pastors and congregations who adhered to the Amster-
dam Order were willing to act as arbitrators between Pas-
tor Wolf and his people. If there had been another meet-
ing of this kind in Berkenmeyer's time, it would have been
the second synod in America. According to this reckon-

126 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. vii.

ing, the Ministerium of Pennsylvania will soon hold its one
hundred and fiftieth synod.

Professor Grabner reproduces the incidents of the meet-
ing in a way almost as graphic as that with which Dean
Stanley portrays the assembling of the Council of Nice.
We see Dominie Berkenmeyer setting out, August 7,
1735, from Loonenburg, furnished with credentials from
his congregations ** to deliberate and vote, to do and act,
as according to God's Word, our symbolical books, and the
Amsterdam Church Order, may seem good to his Rever-
ence." The wind is contrary, and it takes the boat four
days to descend the Hudson. The synod was to have
met in New York. Six delegates have come to represent
their side against their pastor; but the pastor is not to be
found. Berkenmeyer decides that the synod shall be held
in Pastor Wolf's own parish, so as to insure his presence.
At eleven o'clock, August 20, 1735, almost two weeks
after Berkenmeyer started, this " first Lutheran synod "
convenes. Its roll and organization was :

Pastors : Berkenmeyer, Knoll, Wolf.

Lay delegates : New York : Charles Beekman, Jacob
Bos ; Hackensack : Jacob Van Norden, Abraham Boskerk ;
Uylekil : Peter Frederick ; Rockaway : Balthasar Pichel,
Lorenz Rulofsen ; Raritan : Daniel Schumacker, Henry
Schmid.

Total : ministers, three ; lay delegates, nine. President
and secretary : Berkenmeyer. ,

Peace was temporarily restored to the distracted congre-
gation, upon the promise of the pastor to be ** satisfied with
New Jersey instead of New York money," to charge
twelve shillings for a funeral sermon for an adult, and six
shillings for such sermon for a child, to conform to the
" Church Order " in his ministerial acts, and to '' preach
out of his head " instead of from manuscript, as soon as

BETWEEN TWO FIRES. I 27

the parsonage would be ready for his use. But it was
only a temporary peace. Muhlenberg was afterward to
be tormented by appeals from both sides, until at last, with
much reluctance, he joined with Revs. Tobias Wagner and
Knoll in an arbitration in 1745. A full report, which is
by no means edifying reading, is found in the new edition
of the Halle ''Reports," pp. 112-141. It stands as a
warning that nothing is gained by withholding the exercise
of strict discipline against clerical offenders, and that, in
the interests of the peace of the church and the salvation
of souls, Christian love sometimes demands measures just
as prompt as they are severe and decisive.

The language question came into prominence during the
close of Berkenmeyer's career. It seems that from the
very beginning of Berkenmeyer's ministry in 1725 the
English was used entirely in the church at Albany,^ having
displaced the Dutch. In later years the English gave way
to the German, to be reintroduced in 1808, and to gain
again, in 18 12, the exclusive position it had held during
Berkenmeyer's entire ministry. The explanation is mani-
fest ; first came the Dutch, then their anglicized descend-
ants, who at last ceased entirely to attend Berkenmeyer's
preaching ; then the Germans, followed by the anglicized
German- Americans. But in New York, before the Dutch
were anglicized, German immigration had set in so vigor-
ously that the Germans in the congregation began to out-
number the Dutch, occasioning a protracted struggle con-
cerning the language to be used in the services. Between
the Dutch and the Germans, Pastor Knoll was in perpetual
misery. In 1742 it was decided by the church councils
that before every communion there should be a prepara-
tory service In German. Pastor Knoll informed the Ger-
mans that it was unreasonable to expect more. It would

1 Griibner, p. 22.

128 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. vii.

be very easy, he said, for the Germans to learn Dutch, and
if they would be more regular in their attendance the
difficulties with the Dutch language would soon vanish,
and they would be able to participate in the services to
edification. But the Germans thought differently. The
next year they renewed their petition, and demanded that
half the services should be in their language. The Dutch
thought that they were generous in conceding one sixth.
But when the time for the German service came, Pastor
Knoll had to preach German to a Dutch audience, since
the Germans almost to a man absented themselves. In
the midst of the confusion, during the period that Pastor
Knoll devoted to his country congregations, a German im-
postor, by the name of Hofguth, a man of great preten-
sions, insinuated himself, and actually managed to hold a
German service in the church, without permission of the
pastor or church council ; and when prohibited, he held
services and administered the sacraments in private houses,
until sufficient evidence came from Germany as to his false
character to move the governor of the colony to officially
notify him to desist. He retired to the country, where he
still gave Pastor Knoll considerable trouble.

The Germans returned once more to the contest.
Again, in 1749, they demanded half the services. They
insisted that a great wrong was being done them in deny-
ing them the Word of God in their own language. Dutch
they did not understand. This was especially true of their
women and children. At home they spoke German ; when
they went into the street they heard only English. If they
could not be provided with sufficient German services in the
Lutheran Church, they would join the Church of England,
as the English was better understood among the Germans of
New York than was the Dutch. They made an impression
upon the pastor ; but in all the meetings of the council the

DUTCH VERSUS GERMAN. 1 29

votes were evenly divided, the representatives of the old
Dutch Lutheran families, the Beekmans and Van Buskirks,
being determined in their opposition to the introduction of
more German. It seems strange that the justice of the
request of the Germans was not universally acknowledged ;
for the communion records show that, of the eighty com-
municants at Whitsunday, 1739, only seven were present
at the Dutch preparatory service, and of eighty-one in
1 749 only nine were Dutch, and the rest Germans. But
the argument by which the Germans were opposed was
that it was dangerous to make any concessions, and if half
of the services were granted them they would very soon
have all, and the Dutch would disappear; who could
prevent it? The result was, as might have been antici-
pated, a split in the congregation. A Rev. J. F. Ries,
who had studied both theology and medicine in Germany,
was called as pastor of a new German congregation. But
the majority of the Germans did not follow him. In 1757
there were sixty-three German and eighteen Dutch com-
municants in the old church. But long before this Knoll
had resigned, worn out with the conflict, and a better state
of things had been introduced by the brief pastorate of
Muhlenberg.

Berkenmeyer entered into his rest August 25, 1751, at
the age of sixty-five, active in his pastoral duties until the
end. He brought energy, devotion, and learning to his
work; but the advanced age at which he entered the
ministry and came to this country partially explains his
inferiority to Muhlenberg in his ability to adapt himself
to circumstances and to overcome serious difficulties. His
tastes were scholastic, and he prepared with ease erudite
theological opinions, with copious citations from the best
of Lutheran authorities. He preached in three languages,
was greatly beloved by his people, and, although he kept

130 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. vii.

negro slaves, as. did his parishioners and neighbors, he
cared for their spiritual interests. He filled an important
place in the development of the Lutheran Church in
America, and filled it well. Without directly attacking
Muhlenberg, he kept aloof from him, as from all others
trained at Halle, because of his great aversion to Pietism,
which he had learned to know by some of its extrava-
gances in Germany. The year before his death Muhlen-
berg called upon him in New York, and was most court-
eously received. We know nothing of their conversation
except that Berkenmeyer excused himself from attending
upon services at which Muhlenberg was to preach. They
never met again on earth.

With ministers and members of other churches he was
friendly. When Pastor Frelinghuysen, of the Reformed
Dutch Church in Albany, was ill with the smallpox, Berk-
enmeyer braved the danger of the contagion to visit
him. But he never hesitated to testify against what he be-
lieved to be serious errors in the teaching of those around
him, even at the risk, sometimes, of seeming to be dis-
courteous.

As early as i 742 a portion of Berkenmeyer's northern
district had been given by him to Rev. Peter N. Sommer,
who lived at Schoharie, serving also Stone Arabia, Palatine
Bridoe, Cobleskill, etc., and who married a daup;hter of Berk-
enmeyer. He was from Hamburg, and a man of like spirit
with his father-in-law. He served the Schoharie charge
until disabled by the infirmities of age. For twenty years
he was blind, but before the close of life awoke one morn-
ing to find his sight restored. One who treats of the his-
tory of those days from a purely secular standpoint has said
of Sommer;!

1 Kapp, p. 327 sq.

SOiMMER. I 3 I

The life of this unpretentious and able man was a constant struggle with
the elements, a joyful surrender to the spiritual and moral interests of his
congregations, a discreet heroism that did not force itself into publicity, nev-
ertheless intrepidly performed its full duty within a narrow circle. What
attracts us to a hero is the naivete of his acts, and the entire confidence with
which they are performed ; unconsciously to himself, he does the right thing
at the right moment. Sommer was a man of such superior, decided, and firm
character. He rode among the hostile Indians without ever thinking of his
danger, and yet at the same time always cautious and self-possessed. Once
on a journey along the Mohawk he was thrown by his shying horse; he
calmly determined to continue his way on foot, but before going farther fas-
tened to -a tree a sheet of paper with an account of his accident, in order to
pacify the members of his congregation when the riderless horse would return,
and they would seek him. It turned out according to his anticipations.
Scarcely had the horse returned to Schoharie, before many of its inhabitants
set forth to search for their pastor, whom they supposed to be murdered by
the Indians. In the midst of the forest they found where he ha^d been thrown,
and also the statement that he had survived.

" On September 25, 1746," so reads the brief entry in his church records,
" a sermon was preached and the Lord's Supper administered to the volunteers
who were going on the expedition against Canada." Into these simple words
an entire chapter of history is condensed. When Quebec was taken, and
with the fall of its fortress the French dominion over the continent was
broken, and England's supremacy established, Sommer celebrated with his
congregation, on November 22, 1759, a public Thanksgiving festival, and,
in like manner, the return of peace was greeted by him, August i, 1763.
Many a German home had been burned in the wild border warfare, many a
flourishing German neighborhood had been laid in ashes, many a brave Ger-
man had fallen upon the field of battle, or been stricken down and scalped in
ambush ; and the survivors had the right to rejoice over the annihilation of
the power of their strong and formidable enemy, and to give thanks for their
deliverance.

He died in 1795, in his eighty-seventh year. One min-
isterial family, consisting of Kocherthal, Berkenmeyer, and
Sommer, served the Lutheran congregations of central New
York for by far the greater part of the eighteenth century.

In 1734 three congregations (Rhinebeck, West Camp,
and Theerbusch) on the east side of the Hudson had called
a man as pastor whom Berkenmeyer never would acknowl-
edge as such. His language was certainly plain : '' I no
more recognize you as a Lutheran minister than I do the

132 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. vii.

devil as an apostle." The result showed that his judg-
ment was correct. Where the field was so vast and the
organization so defective, it was not very difficult for con-
gregations to have such an experience. From 1737 Berk-
enmeyer again became their pastor. Not many years after,
and during the earlier years of Muhlenberg's ministry, the
well-known John Christopher Hartwig labored in this field.

Knoll, after leaving New York, was for a long time pas-
tor of a congregation in Dutchess County and the congre-
gation at Newburg. Berkenmeyer's charge, which had no
regular pastor for twenty-two years after his death, was
also served by him temporarily.

Before we leave the Dutch Lutheran congregations of
the eighteenth century, reference may be made also to a
colony on James Island, S. C, in 1674, which included
" Dutch Lutherans," and suffered proscription for not sub-
mitting to the Church of England. Dr. Bernheim is of the
opinion that they came thither from New York ; but their
history is in entire obscurity. 1

1 Bernheim, p. 56.

CHAPTER VIII.

THE HALLE LUTHERANS, THE CHURCHES IN LONDON,
AND THE ENGLISH SOCIETIES.

The German Lutheran pastors who had from time to
time been sent to serve the Dutch churches in America
had come almost exclusively from Hamburg or its vicinity.
The pastors who controlled the development of the Luther-
an Church in Pennsylvania and the South proceeded from
Halle. One representative of this school we have already
learned to know in Justus Falckner. Before proceeding
further we must interrupt the narrative, to go to the fount-
ain-head of the movement which was powerfully felt in
the latter half of the eighteenth century in America.

Philip Jacob Spener (1635-1705), the founder of the
school represented by Halle, had no thought of departing
in any way from the most clear and explicit definitions of
the Lutheran confessions. In the violent Pietistic contro-
versy his adversaries constantly endeavored to prove him
unfaithful to the confessions ; but he always repelled these
attacks with the most earnest protestations of their incor-
rectness. It was his aim, not to overthrow the doctrines
therein maintained, but to insist upon their application in
the practical life of the individual Christian and the church.
Again and again he insisted, *' That church always remains
the true church which has and retains the pure Word of
God, even though the greater part of the congregation have
deteriorated." He rejected, as an error explicitly repudi-

133

134 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. viii.

ated by the Lutheran symbols, the conception that there
are no Christians except in the Lutheran Church ; but at
the same time affirmed that, by reason of the purity of its
confession, the Lutheran has a claim to the name " church "
above that of other communions. He held that the Lu-
theran Church of his day had greatly degenerated ; but
urged that the remedy was to be found not in abandoning
it, or in seeking to amend its definitions and church regu-
lations, but in putting new life into the old forms. He says :

When I consider the state of things, with all their circumstances, I will
not deny that I cannot entertain any very great hopes, that, with all our
diligence, we will accomplish much to bring our church into the condition in
which it should be; but whatever we do, nothing but bungling will remain,
and the Lord alone will have the glory of restoring his church. And yet it
will be our part even to bungle, as well as we can and as long as we can ;
but not to pull up that wherein there is still something good. We must bear
patiently what we cannot change, and cry to God day after day that he would
make the salvation of Israel come out of Zion (Psalm xiv. 7), and receive
back again his banished ones. Especially must we be on our guard, lest we
take offense at the church, or its sad state, concerning which Luther raised
his warning; but be assured, that, beneath the soiled and tattered garment
which surrounds it, it is still inwardly good, as only God and the eye of faith
can see. As soon as one begins to separate from the church because of
offenses, this separation is the very gravest offense, more grievous than all
the evils which he attempts to flee.i

His treatment of his relation to the symbolical books of
the Lutheran Church is clear, full, and discriminating, as
he presents it in a special treatise.^ They are, he main-
tains, not the rule of our faith, but of our doctrine. They
have no infallibility or divine perfection. The form in which
they have made some statements is susceptible of improve-
ment and criticism, when an application of their definitions
is made to controversies which their writers did not have in
view ; but, nevertheless, the doctrines themselves, regarded
in their contemporary relations, he accepted throughout.

1 Sermon at Dresden, Sexagesima Sunday, 1690.

2 "Theologische Bedenken,"^vol. i., pp. 341-394-

SP£J\r£J^. 135

But he would not bind his faith to the symboHcal books.
They were not intended to present exhaustive systems of
doctrine, but only to decide, at particular times, questions
which had then been called into controversy. They are
not to be used so as to arrest the study of the Holy
Scriptures and silence the testimony of Christians on
subjects on which these books do not treat. ** The assur-
ance of their truth we accept not from our regard for their
composers, or from the acceptance even of our church, but
because we have found them to be in harmony with the
divine Word." To ascribe to them greater authority was
to contradict these books themselves. Spener found in
the English theology which he read, a confounding of law
and gospel that he regarded dangerous.^

As Luther in the confessional, so Spener in the fulfill-
ment of his office as an official church visitor made the
beginning of his protest against manifest abuses. It was
a dreadful lack of true sense of pastoral responsibility, in
his opinion, that he found pastors who were ignorant even
of the names of members of their congregations ; and yet,
according to the practice hitherto prevalent in the Lutheran
Church, the pastor was presumed to be the spiritual con-
fidant of all communicants. He drew an unfavorable con-
trast with the house-to-house pastoral visitation of the
Reformed. He was exercised sorely concerning the care-
lessness current in the religious instruction of children, the
decline of catechization and of sermons to children. His
activity was directed to the endeavor to awaken pastors to
the serious consideration of their own personal relations to
Christ, and the momentous realities of their office. When
the controversy was fairly started, extravagant statements
were readily made on both sides. For we must not re-
gard all the opponents, even of the early days of Pietism,

1 //>n/., p. 335.

136 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. viii.

as justly chargeable with the neglect of which Spener
complained. Such questions were discussed as whether
any blessing can be derived from the ministry of the un-
regenerate ; whether a minister regenerated in baptism
could properly be called unregenerate ; whether in con-
version a change of knowledge precedes that of will ;
whether the insisting upon " a living faith " as the ground
of justification does not bring some merit of faith into
justification ; etc.

Next to Spener, the greatest representative of Pietism
was Ausfust Hermann Francke, who was born at Liibeck,
March 22, 1663. The subject of deep religious impres-
sions from his childhood, in his eleventh year he had
vowed in his private prayers that he would devote his
whole life to God's glory. His youth indicated no depart-
ure from that holy purpose. At Erfurt, at Kiel, at Ham-
burg, at Leipzig, he most dihgently pursued the studies
which would fit him for becoming a professor of theology.
At Leipzig, with other students, he had formed a Collegitun
Philobibliciini to prosecute the neglected study of the ex-
egesis of the Old and New Testaments, and Spener, who
had just come to Dresden, had afforded them much help.
But when in 1687 he went to Liineburg, and was prepar-
ing to preach on John xx. 31, it seemed to him that he
was destitute of the faith he was about to urge upon
others. His whole past life was before him, he says, as
from a high tower we may look over the whole city. For
days he was in distress. But at last he rose from prayer,
assured of the grace of God in Christ. " It seemed as
though I had been all my past life in a dream, and only
now had wakened." Liineburg he regarded his spiritual,
as Liibeck was his bodily, birthplace. His intimacy with
Spener grew, at whose home in Dresden he spent some
time as an inmate of his house, and whom he regarded as

FRANCKE. 1 3 7

his spiritual father. As a lecturer on biblical themes at
Leipzig and preacher at Erfurt he soon engaged attention
and awoke opposition.

But his proper work began when, in 1692, he went to
Halle as professor of the Greek and Hebrew languages,
and pastor. His work there in these two spheres would
seem to have been sufficient to have consumed all his
energies. Besides sermons thrice a week, there were daily
services, catechetical instruction, meetings for edification,
and private conferences almost daily. " His sermons," says
Guericke, were ** the outpouring of a heart thoroughly
pervaded by the great, unchangeable, practical, funda-
mental truths of Christianity. It was always the sins of
men, the grace of God in Christ, and the new holy life
awakened by faith in the Redeemer to which all his ser-
mons recurred, although in manifold form and application,"
so plain and simple, '' that servants and even little children
understood them."

As a professor Francke threw all his force upon the
thorough grounding of his students in God's Word, break-
ing through conventional rules and remodeling the course
according to this end. In addition to his public lectures
he was delighted to be able to institute private lectures
for the cursory and less formal treatment of the Old and
New Testaments, as well as Collegia Biblica, in which
students read and discussed portions of Holy Scripture.
The university took its entire direction from him, his col-
leagues cooperating with most thorough harmony in sub-
ordinating the dogmatical to the practical Christian inter-
ests there urged.

But the institutions of benevolence which Francke es-
tablished were more influential than even the university.
They were a gradual growth. Poor children came to his
door for alms. He invited them in, and with bodily gave

138 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. viii.

them also spiritual food, examining them and teaching
them the catechism. He placed a contribution-box in his
sitting-room for funds for the schooling of the children,
with I John iii. 17 and 2 Cor. ix. 7 prominently inscribed
upon it. Soon a student was engaged for two hours a
day as tutor, and Francke surrendered a part of his study
for the schoolroom. Parents who were able to pay asked
to send their children; a room, and then another in a
neighboring house, was taken. Then came others, who
wanted their children's education to be more constantly
and immediately under his supervision ; and the founding
of what was known as the Pedagogium was the result.
More gifts came, and with them soon the Orphan House.
Then money was contributed to give twenty-four students
free boarding; and these students were utilized as teachers
in the various institutions. A Latin school was erected in
1697. This all was the work of three years. The institu-
tions were all popularly known under one name as *' The
Orphan House." In the year of Francke's death (1727),
twenty-two hundred children, of whom one hundred and
thirty-four were orphans, were in attendance, with eight
inspectors, and one hundred and sixty-seven male and
eight female teachers. The buildings rendered necessary
for their accommodation made an imposing appearance.
**The chief end in all these schools," said Francke, ** is
that, above all things, children may be brought to a living
knowledge of God and Christ. All learning and all knowl-
edge is folly if it do not have pure love to God and men
as its foundation."

From this center streams of Christian activity proceeded
in all directions. The students, teachers, and inspectors
from these schools, as well as those who attended the uni-
versity, proceeded from Halle in all directions, to diffuse
the spirit they had acquired there. In 1 705 Ziegenbalg

THE HALLE ALUMNI, 1 39

and Plutschau went forth as the pioneer missionaries to
India, to be followed by others from Halle, greatest of
whom were Schultze and Christian Frederick Schwartz
(1726-98). Callenberg became active in efforts to con-
vert Jews and Mohammedans. Zinzendorf inspired the
Moravians with the zeal which was enkindled at Halle, in
which he was ably supported by Bishop Spangenberg, also
from Halle. Encouraged by Francke, his friend Baron
von Canstein founded his Bible Institution at Halle, in
1 7 10, the forerunner by nearly a century of the Bible
societies of later times. ^ Halle sent its alumni to England,
who, as pastors in the Royal Chapel and other Lutheran
churches, exerted a wide influence upon the House of
Hanover, that had succeeded to the English throne, and
were prominent agents in many important Christian enter-
prises. From Halle, Boltzius and Gronau went to Georgia,
and Muhlenberg, with a large number who followed him, to
Pennsylvania. From the printing establishment in the Halle
institutions were issued those full reports of the missions
both in India and in America, so highly prized, even to-day,
for their full accounts of the humble efforts made by heroic
men to carry the knowledge of God to the ends of the earth.
Nor was this accompHshed by Francke, any more than
by Spener, by the surrender of any principle which the
Lutheran Church had embodied in its confessions. " The
symbolical books," it is said in a statement by the Halle
faculty, ''are held in all honor; and it would be difficult
to find a university where they are more diligently read,
referred to, quoted, and recommended to the students
than at Halle." - ** Spener and other true teachers showed
in the most thorough and clearest way that they held with
absolute firmness to them."^

1 The British and Foreign Bible Society was founded in 1804.

2 Lange, p. 447. ^ Ibid., p. 65.

140 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. viii.

Who would not prefer to hear nothing of any decline
from this prosperity? But as historical truth demands it,
we let the story be told by a later Halle professor, the
eminent Professor Tholuck, whom no one can charge with
prejudice against the school of Spener and Francke.

'' Pietism in Halle," says Professor Tholuck, " reached the
summit of its power under Frederick William I. [i 713-40],
the soldier king with the Christian soldier's heart, the par-
ticular patron of the Halle theological faculty. Under him
was issued in 1729 the edict which was promulgated anew
in 1736, according to which no Lutheran theologian should
hold a position in the Prussian state who had not studied
at least two years in Halle, and received a testimonial from
the Halle faculty of being in a state of grace. But its in-
ner power did not correspond with its external prosperity.
The one-sided peculiarities of the elder Francke were fully
overcome by his mental originality and activity, and were
compensated to a certain extent by associates like Breit-
haupt and Anton. In the younger Francke the type was
still the same, but without the originality of spirit, while
the place of Breithaupt and Anton could not be filled by
a Joachim Lange and John George Knapp, and still less by
the feeble souls alongside of them. How little the faculty
could offer students desirous of learning, Semler's descrip-
tion in his autobiography shows; that the former har-
mony in the faculty was no longer present, the communi-
cations in Eckstein's ' Chronicle of Halle,' fifth part, prove.
Where devotional exercises were reduced to method and
made a work of law, the death instead of the life of piety
was occasioned ; in the second generation at Halle ascetic
practices assumed a methodistic-legalistic character. As
a fresh alongside of a dried-up stream, so Moravianism
flourished alongside of Pietism, and withdrew a good part
of its resources. In indignation at the legality, the excess-

FRE YLINGHA USEN. 1 4 1

ive urging to prayer, the demand of a penitential struggle,
the condemning of matters of indiflference, Zinzendorf put
into verse the statement : * The only people upon earth
who are oflfensive to me and irritate me are the miserable
Christians who allow no men but themselves to have the
title of Pietists.' Gradually the nursery of piety was
transformed into a nursery of rationalism. ' God's gifts
descend not by inheritance ; ' this is proved also in the
history of the Halle institutions. Every director had the
right to chose his own successor; and yet with Ludwig
Schultze and Niemeyer the direction passed gradually
into the hands of rationalism. Under Baumgarten the in-
terests of piety yielded to those of learning ; and through
Semler, Gruner, Nosselt, and Niemeyer, rationalism became
the prevalent theology. Only in George Christian Knapp
a branch of the old Halle school remained, but reserved
and timid, and without any extensive influence. At my
entrance in Halle in 1826 I found still two citizens who
traced their faith to this one deceased advocate of the old
school among the clergy."

This deterioration, however, was gradual. It can be
traced accurately in its beginnings by the critical theolo-
gian, like Professor Tholuck, long before it became mani-
fest in the practical life. But a knowledge of what was
gradually undermining the influence of those institutions
becomes of importance in helping us to appreciate some
of the reasons for the opposition shown pastors from Halle,
and to understand the antagonism between Zinzendorf
and Muhlenberg. After the death of August Hermann
Francke, in 1727, the directorship passed first to his son,
Gotthelf August, who was succeeded in 1769 by John
George Knapp, and in 1771 by Gottlieb Anastasius Frey-
linghausen. John Anastasius Freylinghausen, who suc-
ceded the elder Francke as pastor and was associated

142 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. viii.

with the younger Francke as co-director from 1727 to
his death in 1739, was the most eminent and able of the
later Halle representatives, and thoroughly lived and moved
in the spirit which animated the institutions from their be-
ginning. He participated in their foundation, by becom-
ing the first inspector of the Pedagogium in 1694.

An important factor in diffusing the missionary zeal of
Halle in general, as well as in the transplanting of Ger-
man Lutheranism to America, is found in the Lutheran
churches in London. During the eighteenth century there
were six German Lutheran churches there ; but their
influence is not to be estimated by their number. The
kings of England were, at the same time, electors of Lu-
theran Hanover, providing for the spiritual care of their
subjects, in England through the archbishops and bishops
of the realm, and in Hanover through the Lutheran Con-
sistorium. The German colony in London which had ex-
isted for four or five centuries before was augmented by
persons of influence attracted thither by the nearer rela-
tions of the two countries. But before the accession of
the House of Hanover, in 17 14, the Lutheran influence
had been strengthened by Prince George of Denmark, the
husband of Queen Anne (1702-14).

Trinity Lutheran Church, in Trinity Lane, had once'
been a Swedish Church, but from the year 161 8 had
fallen into the possession of Germans from Hamburg, and
was acknowledged as the mother-church. At the close of
the century it was on the decline, ascribed to the neglect
of the Congregational school.

St. Mary's Church in the Savoy, generally known as
the Savoy Chapel, from the district in which it stood, was
founded in 1692, and was the most flourishing of the con-
gregations. Here the best German families in London
had their spiritual home. Its burial-ground was conse-

THE LONDON LUTHERANS. 1 43

crated by the Archbishop of Canterbury in 1721. It re-
ceived generous gifts from royalty and others in high
places. Sir William Chambers was the architect of the
church built in 1 768.

Still more conspicuous, because of Its being very exclu-
sive, was the German Court Chapel at St. James's, endowed
by Prince George of Denmark, attended chiefly by Han-
over officials and German persons of rank visiting London.
The chapel was under the general supervision of the Bishop
of London, and a translation of the Book of Common
Prayer was used with the Halle hymn-book in the ser-
vices.

Besides these, there w^ere St. George's Church in Good-
mansfields, Zion's Church in Brown's Lane, Spitalfields, and
in 1788 "an ephemeral" German "Philadelphia Church"
in Whitechapel.

Two pastors of the German Court Chapel were especially
interested in the spiritual wants of the Lutherans in Amer-
ica. A. W. Bohme was an alumnus of Halle, whose course
must have corresponded almost exactly with that of Justus
Falckner, since he was a student there from 1693 to 1698.
He was actable-inspector" at the Orphan House. He
went to England in 1701 to become tutor in several Ger-
man families, and in 1 705 was appointed pastor by Prince
George, remaining such until his death, at the age of forty-
nine, in 1722. He w^as a writer of unwearied activity,
and translated Arndt's " True Christianity " and " Paradise-
Garden," besides a number of the writings of Francke, the
" Reports " of the Orphan House at Halle and of the
missions in India into English. He wrote a " History of
the Reformation in England." It was through his inter-
cession that Queen Anne showed marked kindness to the
Palatinates, and provided for them a home in America.
The same year she endowed a " Free Table " in the Halle

144 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. viii.

Orphan House. When John Conrad Weiser visited Eng-
land in the interests of the settlement at Schoharie, both
Bohme and Pastor Ruperti of the Savoy Church cham-
pioned his cause. From good motives he sent Van Dieren
to America as a colporteur. Among his writings we find :
" Admonition to the Scattered Palatinates and Other Ger-
mans in Pennsylvania, New York, Carolina, and Other
American Provinces." ^

A still more active friend of the emigrants to America
was Frederick Michael Ziegenhagen, the successor of Bohme,
a Pomeranian, born in 1694, who, after a pastorate in Han-
over, was pastor at the Royal Chapel from 1722 to 1776.
He is said to have been an incessant reader of the writings
of Spener. The missions in India engaged his constant
attention and support. They had no more zealous and
influential friend. In 1734 his appeal on behalf of the
spiritual interests of the Germans in Pennsylvania was
widely circulated throughout Germany. With Urlsperger,
he cooperated in exciting the interest of the Society for
the Promotion of Christian Knowledge in the Salzburgers,
and aiding them to America. It was through him that
Muhlenberg was called. To the end of his life, in 1777,
he took the deepest interest in the growing Lutheran
Church in America, and by his extensive correspondence
and wide influence contributed much to its permanent es-
tablishment and welfare.

For a short time Dr. Samuel Urlsperger was connected
with the same chapel (it always had two pastors) previous
to his call to Augsburg and the important work there ac-
complished for the Salzburgers. Urlsperger had met
Bohme In 1 709 on a trip, and went to England the suc-
ceeding year, when twenty-five years old. There he be-

* Jocher's " Allegemeines Gelehrten Lexicon," vol. i., p. 11 70.

THE LONDON PASTORS. 1 45

came a member of the Society for the Promotion of Chris-
tian Knowledge, which he afterward interested in the
transportation and assistance of the Salzburgers. The
names of Drs. Gerdes and Krauter of Trinity Church also
appear in the Halle ''Reports" as active friends of the
congregations in America. Toward the close of the eight-
eenth century (1770) Dr. J. C. Velthusen was one of the
court-preachers. Afterward, as professor and superintend-
ent at Helmstadt, he became to the Lutherans of North
Carolina what Ziegenhagen was to those of Pennsylvania
and Urlsperger to those of Georgia, securing for them im-
portant aid from the same society that had aided the Salz-
burgers.

Besides serving as channels whereby the wants of the
Lutherans in America became known and relieved, the
London Lutheran churches became models for the organi-
zation of Lutheran congregations in America. The reasons
were obvious. They were Lutheran congregations officially
approved by the British Government. Even the German
Reformed Church in Philadelphia proposed in 1764 to the
Archbishop of Canterbury and Bishop of London to use
** the liturgy and service of the Church of England, or a
translation thereof in the German, as used in the King's
Gennaji Chapel.'' ^

A similar reason determined its adoption by the Salz-
burgers in Georgia, acting under the auspices of the Eng-
lish Society for the Propagation of Christian Knowledge.-
When it is remembered that the Book of Common Prayer
was compiled chiefly from Lutheran sources, and that in
the Sunday service," except the order for the communion,

1 " Hallesclie Nachrichten," new edition, p. 23.

2 See entry of Boltzius, March 19 and 23, 1734, in "Urlspergerische Nach-
richten."

146 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. viii.

there are no divergences from Lutheran principles, there
was not as much confusion in this plan as might at first
appear. It is difficult, however, to understand how the
order for the communion was adopted by Lutheran con-
gregations.

Muhlenberg has left on record the statement that he
and Brunnholtz and Handschuh prepared the first liturgy
for the Pennsylvania congregations after the model of that
found in the order for the Savoy congregation in London.^
This order declares in the preface ^ that it is mostly a trans-
lation of the order in use in Amsterdam, and that no
change was made except for urgent reasons. This, how-
ever, does not apply to the liturgical portion. The Am-
sterdam church organization influenced that of our churches
in two ways : first, through the Dutch churches of New
York ; and secondly, through the German churches of
London. A fundamental error in the organization of the
Savoy congregation severely criticised by one of its own
pastors, was that the elders, ** in violation of all the funda-
mental principles of Protestant church polity, the custom
of all well-ordered churghes, and all prudence, excluded
their preacher from all participation in the external affairs
of the church." "^ The congregation was governed by a
council of twelve elders, six of whom were elected annually.

Two societies have already been mentioned which from
England aided very materially in the beginnings of the
Lutheran Church in America. Both were founded by
Rev. Dr. Nicholas Bray, a clergyman of the Church of
England who had visited America, under the appointment
of the Bishop of London, for the purpose of investigating

1 Mann's "Life of Muhlenberg," p. 184.

2 We have two copies of the " Kirchenordnung " of St. Mary's Church,
Savoy, before us, as we write, one of 17 18 and the other of 1743.

3 Carkhardt, p. 94.

THE ENGLISH SOCIETIES. 1 47

the spiritual condition of the colonies. The older was
the Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge,
whose familiar initials, S. P. C. K., are read on the books
which it still pubHshes. It was founded in 1698, primarily
as a book and tract society. It had in view the establish-
ment of parochial libraries in America, of catechetical libra-
ries in England, and the general distribution of good books.
It provided for the founding and care of schools upon
church principles, the teaching of paupers in the work-
houses, and especially their instruction in the catechism.
Thence it extended its sphere to the improvement of
prisons. It finally was occupied also with schemes for the
conversion of Quakers and Romanists. Its members were
of two classes, active and corresponding ; among the latter
were not only members of the Church of England, but also
prominent pastors and professors of both the Lutheran
and Reformed churches on the Continent. It entered
heartily into the support of the Lutheran missions in India,
after they had passed out of the control of the Danes,
furnishing the missionaries with money, a printing-press,
and printing materials, and finally undertaking through
them an extension of missionary work. It had a close
connection and thorough understanding with the authorities
at Halle, with whom they were probably brought into close
relations through the Lutheran pastors in London.

The other was the Society for the Propagation of the
Gospel in Foreign Parts, founded in 1701, for supplying
ministers and missionaries in the English colonies. This
society supported most of the rectors of the congregations
in America that afterward became the Protestant Epis-
copal Church of the United States, and, as we have seen,
gave important assistance to the Swedish pastors. The
two societies are often confounded, as the boundary be-
tween their spheres does not seem to have been always

148 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. viii.

accurately observed. The Lutheran Church in America
should always hold in grateful remembrance the services
thus rendered, as she also expects the English Church to
acknowledge the debt she owes to the Lutherans of the
sixteenth century. The benefits of earnest Christian activ-
ity cannot be confined within the particular communion in
which they start, but flow forth to others, to return with
increased blessing. Were like generosity shown the Lu-
theran Church in America in later days in its efforts to grap-
ple with the great home-missionary problem before it, in
connection with the hundreds of thousands of Lutheran
emigrants for whom it is its duty to care, the results would
be far greater than by any other mode of attempting to
hold them for Christ and his church.

It is an interesting fact that among other societies whose
organization was suggested by the good work done by
these two English organizations was the Swedish Society
pro fide et Chi'istianisvw, founded in 1711.^ Among the
corresponding members, whose duty it was to report once
a year concerning the condition of the church where they
lived, noteworthy conversions, deaths of godly persons, and
edifying books published, we find in 1784 some strange
combinations. On one page are Ernesti, Wesley, and
Gotze ; on another, Muhlenberg, Zollikofer, and Richard
Peters. This confusion belongs, however, to a later period.

We can do no more than merely allude here to negotia-
tions which were in progress during the first decade of the
eighteenth century, at the suggestion of the philosopher
Leibnitz and the court-preacher Jablonski at Berlin, who
had been consecrated a Moravian bishop, and was a grand-
son of Comenius, for the union of the Protestant Church
in Germany with the Church of England. This project
was warmly supported by Frederick I. of Prussia and

1 See account in "A. H. E." (N. T.), vol. ii., p. 181 ; vol. x., p. 60.

UNION MOVEMENTS. 1 49

Queen Anne, and was favored by Archbishop Sharp of
Canterbury. It included the scheme of the introduction
of the hierarchy, the king having already named Von
Sanden and Ursinus, another of his court-preachers, as
bishops. The Book of Common Prayer was translated
into German and published in 1 704, with a view to its in-
troduction into the Royal Chapel at Berlin. Even the time
was appointed, viz., the first Sunday in Advent. But an
unfortunate decision of the Helmstadt Faculty, that it
would not be a sin for a Protestant princess to become a
Roman Catholic in order to marry a prince of that faith,
justly offended the archbishop, and interrupted the negoti-
ations. In 1 7 10 they were resumed, but before anything
could be accompHshed, the deaths of the King of Prussia,
the Queen of England, and the Archbishop of Canterbury
entirely frustrated them.^ They are mentioned here as
one of the indications of the warm sympathy which sub-
sisted in Europe between the two churches, even apart
from their closer connection within one country, and as
one of the factors explaining the ease with which Luther-
ans in America were often content with regarding the
English Church as their own, translated into another lan-
guage.

1 Hassencamp, in Walch, vol. ii., pp. 191-214.

CHAPTER IX.

THE PERSECUTIONS OF THE SALZBURGERS AND THE
SALZBURG COLONY IN GEORGIA.

German emigration to the Carolinas and Georgia was
prepared for by the explorations of the German, John
Lederer, commissioned by Governor Berkeley of Virginia
to explore the lands south and west of the James River in
1669 and 1670. The colony of Palatinates and Swiss who
settled Newbern (New Berne), N. C, in 17 10, lost sixty of
their number the next year by an Indian massacre. Their
leader, Baron de Graffenreid, shortly afterward abandoned
them, and left them in sore distress by invalidating their
titles to the land. Their religious history has not been
traced. There were German Lutherans in Charleston when
the Salzburgers arrived, whose presence was due probably
to Queen Anne's donation of land in South Carolina for
Palatinate refugees.^ In the Swiss colony which settled
Purrysburg, S. C, in 1732, there were Lutherans, who
were afterward spiritually cared for by the Salzburgers.-

'But the foundation of the Lutheran Church in the South
was laid by the emigrants we have just mentioned. The
history of their persecutions, their expulsion from home,
their wanderings through Germany, their coming to Amer-
ica, is one of the most romantic and inspiring chapters in
church history. It belongs not simply to the Lutheran
Church, but is an honor to our country, and a priceless

* Bernheim, p. 82. 2 Jhid.^ pp. 88 sqq.

150

THE EXILES OF IG84. 151

heritage of our common Christianity. A feeble handful it
was that crossed the sea. They have not grown to any
large proportions ; but the spiritual influences which they
transmitted are felt far and wide throughout the Christian
world. '

For two hundred years the attempt had been made to
suppress the Lutheran faith in the duchy of Salzburg. But
the seed planted in the sixteenth century by Paul Speratus
and Stephen Agricola continued to grow and to bring forth
fruit notwithstanding its persecution. In the beginning of
the seventeenth century it threatened to become a mighty
popular movement, that would gain the supremacy. The
banishments and confiscations of 1588 were revived in 16 14,
forcing the braver into exile, and the more timid into silence
and retirement, in the hope of better times. All through
the period of the Thirty Years' War the Salzburg Luther-
ans enjoyed peace by calmly submitting to all external
regulations. The authorities knew little of the private in-
fluences that were growing, the worship in cellars and in
mountain-fastnesses, the careful evangelical training which
children were receiving, the Bibles and devotional works
that were in circulation. When, at last, a congregation of
*' secret Lutherans " was discovered at Tefferegenthal in
1683, which had lived and grown by these means, two of
their leaders were imprisoned for months, and at last com-
pelled to prepare a public confession of their faith. The
result was, that, in 1684, all Lutheran books that could be
found were burned, and all Lutherans given the alternative
of renunciation of their faith, or banishment, with the loss
of their property and the surrender of their children. Over
one thousand were banished, and they lost over six hun-
dred children. The indignation which was generally
aroused throughout Europe at this direct violation of the
terms of the Treaty of Westphalia was answered by the

1^2 THE LUTHERANS. [Char ix.

claim that the Salzburgers were neither Lutheran nor Re-
formed, and therefore could not claim its protection.

The persecution was suddenly terminated by the death
of the archbishop. Joseph Schaitberger, one of the two
leaders who had been imprisoned, and the composer of the
Confession of the Salzburgers, from his exile in Nuremberg
continued to comfort and strengthen those who remained
in Salzburg by numerous publications which he wrote and
sent among them, Schaitberger himself had lost his chil-
dren, who were educated to regard him a heretic, while he
labored for the rest of his life amidst the most extreme
poverty. Even more influential among his countrymen
than his letters and devotional books were the hymns which
he composed and sent among them, and which not only
were especially adapted to their sad lot, but also reflect
most clearly the experience and circumstances of the
author. He lived to see the final expulsion of those for
whom he labored, and died in 1733.

The crisis came with the accession of Leopold Anton,
Count of Firmian, to the archbishopric in 1728. ** He
would drive the heretics out of the country," he is reported
as saying, '* even though thorns and thistles should grow
upon the fields." The first attempts at persecution, instead
of intimidating, only aroused the courage of the oppressed.
They knew how to appeal for redress to the evangelical
estates, convened at the not far distant Regensburg. The
archbishop undertook an' enrollment. Over twenty thou-
sand joyfully entered their names as Lutherans. The " cov-
enant of salt " they made at Swazach was followed not only
by the denial of all rights of burial and marriage and
baptism, but by the quartering upon evangelical families
of Austrian soldiers, and the imprisonment of those who
participated in their devotional meetings. In vain the
evangelical estates interceded for the appointment of a

THE EXILES OF 1731. 1 5 3

commission, composed of both Protestants and Catholics,
to adjust the differences.

Meanwhile an embassy to the court of Berlin was suc-
cessful. The King of Prussia, Frederick William I., prom-
ised to receive all who, because of their faith, were com-
pelled to leave their homes. But before this news was
promulgated, "the Emigration Patent" of October 31,
1 73 1, had already commanded all Protestants to leave
Salzburg, upon the charge of having conspired against the
Catholic religion, in the ** covenant of salt." Those with-
out property were to leave within three days ; those having
property were allowed from one month to three to dispose
of it. Without regard to the rigors of the rapidly approach-
ing winter, they were forced away, going whither they
knew not. They only knew that, besides their God, they
had a warm friend in the King of Prussia. But he knew
not in the beginning what he had undertaken. The few
thousand on which he had counted at the beginning
amounted to over fourteen thousand who passed through
Berlin only, not to mention others who took a different
route.

But besides the king, the hearts of the people were
deeply stirred by the march of the exiles, which was soon
converted almost into a triumphal procession. A writer of
the same century describes it graphically :

'' The beginning occurred at the end of the year i 731, in
the severe winter, Memmingen, Weilheim, Kaufbeuren,
Augsburg, Kempten, Ulm, were the first evangelical places
which they entered. In the following year they went
mostly through Swabia, Franconia, Thuringia, Saxony, and
Brandenburg. They were everywhere received most cor-
dially, and treated most generously. In the cities they
were met by the magistrates, the clergy, the schools, and
the entire body of citizens They were received by the

154 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. ix.

preachers with consolatory and edifying discourses as they
walked two by two through the cities, or, where time
allowed, they were conducted to the churches amidst the
ringing of all the bells and with appropriate music. What
occurred in the cities was repeated in the villages. The
emigrants sang with joyful voice as they entered and as
they departed. Their strange accent rendered their strains
all the more pathetic, so that many a heart was touched
and opened to bestow kind gifts. "^

Among the hymns they sang was first of all Luther's
** Ein feste Berg ist unser Gott."

Take they then our life,
Goods, fame, child, and wife ;
When their worst is done,
They yet have nothing won,
The kingdom ours remaineth.

Next to this came what was peculiarly their own hymn,
the composition of their leader, Schaitberger, the voice of
triumphant faith rising above the severe conflicts through
which he passed :

An exile poor, and nothing more.

This is my sole profession ;
Banished from home, of God's pure Word

To make a clear confession.

O Jesus mine, I know full well

This is the way thou wentest.
Thy steps we'll follow, dearest Lord,

And bear what thou hast sent us.

Thy precious Name I have confessed,

Thy Love dispels all terror.
Though lips loud speak, and plots be laid

To slay me for my error.

1 "A. H. E." (N. T.), vol. ix. (1783), p. 45-

THE HYMNS OF THE EXILES. 1 55

Though all I have be torn away,

I still possess this treasure :
God dwells with me ; and his pure faith

Is wealth above all measure.

God! as thou wilt, then; here am I,

With thee to stay forever.
Thy will is mine, and I am thine ;

Nothing from thee shall sever.

So forth I go from my dear home.

0 Lord, the tears are starting ;

As through strange streets I press my way,

1 think of the sad parting.

A country, Lord, I ask of thee,

Where I thy Word may cherish,
Where, day and night, within my heart

The fruits of faith may flourish.

And though within this vale of tears

The humblest lot be given,
A better dwelling God provides

Before his throne in heaven.

Koch, in his " Geschichte des Kirchenlieds," narrates that
in Berlin, Frankfort, and Darmstadt they were welcomed
by Decius' paraphrase of the *' Gloria in Excelsis," to which
they responded in the above hymn. Other hymns they
sang on their march were : '' Why troublest thou thyself,
my heart ? " ; '' What our Father does is well " ; ** My God,
I leave to thee my ways " ; " From God I ne'er shall
sever."

One band of exiles the king met outside of BerHn, and
asked them to sing a favorite hymn, which he then started,
and in which the whole muhitude of exiles and spectators
joined with heart and soul :

On God, my faithful God,
I trust in every need.

156 THE LUTHERAK^S. [Chap. ix.

" A living picture was presented of the departure of the
children of Israel out of Egypt. There were venerable
men, with white locks, bent backs, and with trembling
limbs, among others in the prime of life and still others in
the bloom of youth ; infirm old women, and alongside of
them strong and active wives, young maidens, and fair
girls ; tender children following their fathers or led by the
hand with quick steps, or infants resting in their mothers'
arms, or hanging about their fathers' necks ; wagons carry-
ing the baggage, the most aged, the sick, and the babes
who had but lately seen the light. We would naturally
expect that these homeless ones would fill the country
through which they would pass with tears and lamenta-
tions ; but while the cheeks of many who received them
were moistened, and deep sighs showed their sympathy,
the bands of exiles went forth in triumph, and the thought
of their affliction was relieved by their trust in God, that,
even on a foreign soil, and under another heaven, and in a
land which they had not seen with their eyes, and in a way
as yet entirely unknown, they would find an abiding-place
and a peaceful dwelHng." ^

This description was written while witnesses of these
scenes were still alive.

The story as retold is ever awakening new interest. A
late bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church in Pennsyl-
vania (Right Rev. William Bacon Stevens) has eloquently
said: ** Marshaled under -no ensigns but the banners of the
cross, led by no chieftains but their spiritual pastors, armed
with no weapons but their Bibles and hymn-books, they
journeyed on, everywhere singing paeans, not of military
victory, but of praise and thanksgiving to Him who, though
they were cast out and oppressed, had yet made them more
than conquerors. "2

1 Ibid,, pp. 45-47.

2 " History of Georgia" (New York, 1847), p. 105.

A NEIV HOME IN GEORGIA. 157

The simple piety of the people was manifested in the
king's interview with a boy of fourteen, who had left his
Catholic parents in Salzburg to accompany the exiles. The
king asked him how he was induced to leave his parents,
and received the answer, " ' He that loveth father or mother
more than me is not worthy of me.' " '' But how can you
do without them ? " Again came the answer, '* ' When my
father and mother forsake me, the Lord will take me up.' "

Goethe has drawn the plot of his '' Hermann and Doro-
thea " from an incident in their experience.

Of the emigrants, over twenty thousand were perma-
nently settled in Germany, mostly in Lithuania, the ex-
pense to the King of Prussia amounting to over a million of
thalers.

Dr. Samuel Urlsperger, pastor of St. Anna's Church,
Augsburg, wished to be of some special service to the
Salzburgers. The self-denials and sufferings of the still
surviving Schaitberger moved him. He wrote an account
of them, together with the story of the emigration, for his
friends in England. The Society for the Promotion of
Christian Knowledge came to his assistance in a very
important way. While it did not regard itself justified in
using its own proper funds for the purpose, it became the
almoner of extensive contributions collected all over Europe
for sending some of the exiles to America. It thus pro-
vided for the carrying of fifty families to Georgia for the
new colony that was being founded by General Oglethorpe.

The story of their voyage to America has been very
comprehensively told in a passage in Bancroft's '' History
of the United States," ' that in pathos is excelled by nothing
that he has written :

" When the Roman Catholic archbishop who was the
ruler of Salzburg with merciless bigotry drove out of his
dominions the Lutherans whom horrid tortures and relent-

1 Revised edition (1883), vol. ii., pp. 288 sqq.

1^8 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. ix.

less persecution could not force to renounce their Protestant
faith, Frederick William I. of Prussia planted a part of them
on freeholds in his kingdom ; others, on the invitation of
the Society in England for Propagating the Gospel, pre-
pared to emigrate to the Savannah. A free passage;
provisions in Georgia for a whole season ; land for them-
selves and their children, free for ten years, then to be held
for a small quit-rent ; the privileges of native Englishmen ;
freedom of worship — these were the promises made, ac-
cepted, and honorably fulfilled. On the last day of Octo-
ber, 1733, 'the evangelical community,' well supplied with
Bibles and hymn-books, catechisms and books of devo-
tion, conveying in one wagon their few chattels, in two
other covered ones their feebler companions and especially
their little ones, after a discourse and prayer and benedic-
tions, cheerfully, and in the name of God, began their
pilgrimage. History need not, stop to tell what charities
cheered them on their journey, what towns were closed
against them by Roman Catholic magistrates, or how they
entered Frankfort on the Main two by two in cheerful
procession, singing spiritual songs. As they floated down
the Main, and between the castled crags, the vineyards,
and the white- walled towns that adorn the banks of the
Rhine, their conversation, amid hymns and prayers, was of
justification and of sanctification and of standing fast in the
Lord. At Rotterdam they were joined by two preachers,
Boltzius and Gronau, both disciplined in charity at the
Orphan House in Halle.

*'A passage of six days carried them from Rotterdam
to Dover, where several of the trustees visited them, and
provided considerately for their wants. In January, I734,
they set sail for their new homes. The majesty of the
ocean quickened their sense of God's omnipotence and
wisdom; and, as they lost sight of land, they broke out

THE VOYAGE. 1 59

into a hymn to his glory. The setting sun, after a calm,
so kindled the sea and the sky, that words could not ex-
press their rapture, and they cried out, ' How lovely the
creation! How infinitely lovely the Creator! ' When the
wind" was adverse they prayed; and, as it changed, one
opened his mind to the other on the power of prayer,
even the prayer ' of a' man subject to like passions as
we are.' A devout listener confessed himself to be an
unconverted man ; and they reminded him of the promise
to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trem-
bleth at the Word. As they sailed pleasantly with a
favoring breeze, at the hour of evening prayer they made
a covenant with each other, like Jacob of old, and resolved
by the grace of Christ to cast all strange gods into the
depths of the sea. In February a storm grew so high that
not a sail could be set; and they raised their voices in
prayer and song amid the tempest, for to love the Lord
Jesus as a brother gave consolation. At Charleston, Ogle-
thorpe, on the 1 8th of March, 1734, bade them welcome;
and in five days more the wayfarers, whose home was be-
yond the skies, pitched their tents near Savannah.

'' It remained to select for them a residence. To cheer
their principal men as they toiled through the forest and
across brooks, Oglethorpe, having provided horses, joined
the party. By the aid of blazed trees and Indian guides
he made his way through morasses ; a fallen tree served
as a bridge over a stream, which the horses swam ; at night
he encamped with them abroad around a fire, and shared
every fatigue, till the spot for their village was chosen, and,
Hke the rivulet which formed its border, was called Ebene-
zer. There they built their dwellings, and there resolved
to raise a column of stone in token of gratitude to God,
whose providence had brought them safely to the ends of
the earth."

l6o THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. ix.

The King of England, George II., provided for the
Georgia colonists a special commissioner, who was to see
that all their rights were granted. Baron Philip George
Frederick von Reck was a young nobleman, then twenty-
three years old, from the kingdom of Hanover, as the king
preferred to intrust their interests to a German rather than
to an English subject.

The baron's thorough sympathy with them was strength-
ened by his deep religious character, which is manifest,
although unostentatiously, in his published diaries. Shortly
before the close of his life, and after having been a state-
counselor, he edited an edition of Luther's " Sermons on
the Gospels and Epistles." After seeing the Salzburgers
established in their new home, he made an extensive tour
along the Atlantic coast, in which he gathered together the
Lutherans of Philadelphia on Sunday, and edified them as
he was able, and visited New Haven, whose " Academy,"
with three professors and eighty students, living at an ex-
pense of six shillings a week, he described. He returned to
Germany to conduct '* the third transportation " to Amer-
ica in 1736, and the succeeding year sailed back again, to
remain in Germany permanently.

Urlsperger and Francke had exercised great forethought
in the selection of the spiritual guides of this devout, but,
for the most part, ignorant, people. They were found in
John Martin Boltzius, who had been inspector of the Latin
school at Halle, and Israel Christian Gronau, another of the
Halle teachers. Their salaries and those of their successors
were provided from funds procured through Urlsperger,
and forwarded through the S. P. C. K. Besides the ties
of a spiritual character that bound them to these strange
people, another was added when before long they married
two sisters, daughters of a poor widow among the Salz-
burgers. Boltzius became not only the spiritual leader,

'' KEMINISCERE'' SUNDAY. l6l

but, throughout the most of his career, the business head
of the colony.

The emigrants who arrived on the '* Purisburg," March
II, 1734, were only the advance-guard. Early in 1735
the "Prince of Wales" brought fifty-seven more. In
February, 1736, the " Simonds" brought Von Reek's sec-
ond charge of one hundred and fifty Salzburgers, and with
them the twoWesleys and Bishop Nitzschmann with twenty-
seven Moravians. A fourth band, consisting of sixty-three
persons, arrived in 1741. Still others came individually
or in families ; as we know that Muhlenberg had a Salz-
burg family among his companions across the Atlantic in
1742.

As the two pastors were journeying toward America,
they comforted themselves and each other with such texts
as Joshua i. 2 : '* Arise, and go over this Jordan, thou, and
all this people, unto the land which I do give to them " ;
Isaiah xliii. 2 : '' When thou passest through the waters, I
will be with thee ; and through the rivers, they shall not
overflow thee " ; Isaiah xlix. 10 : *' He that hath mercy on
them shall lead them, even by the springs of waters shall
he guide them " ; Psalm Ixii. 8 : " Trust in him at all times ;
ye people, pour out your heart before him : God is a
refuge for us." So when they had finished their voyage
and reached the Savannah River, they noted the appropri-
ateness of the lessons for Reminiscere Sunday, and deter-
mined henceforth to keep that Sunday as a memorial : ** It
was really edifying to us that we came to the borders of
the promised land this day, when, as we are taught by its
lessons from the Gospel, Jesus came to the seacoast after
he had endured persecution and rejection by his country-
men."

Ebenezer, their new home, was twenty-five miles up the
Savannah River. Those familiar with the locality in recent

1 62 • THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. ix.

times have considerable difficulty in reconciling the glowing,
poetically colored descriptions of the enthusiastic young
baron with their knowledge of the same scenes. ^ They
were liberally treated with the gift of three lots for each
family, one in the town for a home, another beyond the
town for a garden, and a third for more extensive agricul-
tural purposes — fifty acres in all. But an experience of
two years proved that the location was as unhealthful as it
was inconvenient, and thus a removal to another site six
miles eastward was necessary. Industry, thrift, and the
able management of their senior pastor, and, above all, the
blessing of the Lord, brought to them prosperity. They
enjoyed the fulfillment of the promise of the ** hundredfold "
to those who, for Christ's name, leave all .that they have.
They became very successful in the raising of silk, which
reached, in 1754, if the report be correct, what seems the
almost extravagant amount of four thousand pounds.^ The
manufacture of indigo and that of wooden ware were
profitable sources of income. The raising of cotton was
also successfully undertaken, but was less remunerative,
because modern machinery to remove the seeds was not
in their possession. It would be inconsistent with historical
justice to claim for them the learning which one might
infer from the following reference of Professor McMaster:
" In the library were books written in thirteen tongues.
Nowhere else in the country could be seen so fine a collec-
tion of works in Coptic, in Arabic, in Hebrew, in Chaldaic."^
But their religious development is the subject of the deep-
est interest. *' If ever pastors had their whole hearts centered
on the spiritual welfare of their people, this seems to have
been the case at Ebenezer. Their first reports testify to the
great patience and contentment of their hearers in all their

1 Strobe^., p. 66. 2 "A. H. E.," vol. xx., p. 365.

^ McMaster, vol. ii., p. 3.

PASTORAL EXFERIE.VCES. 1 63

sufferings, their peculiar delight in the Word of God, their
insatiable desire to hear it daily, their zealous attention
to prayer, and the good proofs of their conversion and of
their growth in faith and godliness." 1 As time advances
their hopes are not disappointed. They grieve over seri-
ous faults in the lives of their parishioners ; they are com-
pelled at times to administer severe discipline. But these
they faithfully note as exceptional cases. They almost
disappear in the joy with which the pastors trace the fruits
of the Word, at the bedsides of the sick and dying, in the
trials even of little children, and in the Christian spirit
shown in the forgiveness of wrongs.- We can enter into
the sick-room and see the stricken one cheerfully prepar-
ing for death by reading, during Passion Week, the story
of her Saviour's suffering. -"^ Or we may share the surprise
of the pastor himself as he finds a devoted husband singing
to his sinking wife a hymn of Schaitberger, so unfamiliar
to him, but yet so rich in the comfort of the gospel, that
he enters it in full on his journal (September 10, 1735).^

My Jesus in me taketh pleasure,

I was baptized at his command.
Apparelled thus in Christ, my treasure,

Delivered thus from death's dread hand,
Joyful and confident I sing,

Jesus doth my salvation bring.

Thank God, my race hath almost ended,

The crisis of the strife is o'er ;
Jesus to me his hands extendeth,

I shall be with him evermore.
Therefore, through Jesus' blood I pray,

Grant me a blessed dying day.

1 "A. H. E.," vol. ii., p. 938. 2 Uid., vol. xvi., p. 896.

3 Strobel, p. 68.

* The original has ten stanzas. " Urlspergerische Nachrichten," vol. ii.,
P- 415-

164 ^^^ LUTHERANS. [Chap. ix.

On Christ, by faith, my soul is living;

In Christ, by faith, I, fearless, die.
My Jesus always me is giving

What doth my every want supply.
And so I die with Jesus here,

That I may live with Jesus there.

Thus these simple, faithful people surprised and preached
to their pastors. We can go to one of the congregations
when the pastor is absent, and hear the services proceeding
as in his presence, except that the reading of one of the
sermons of Spener on the gospel or epistle for the day
takes the place of the pastor's own discourse ; or when he
is present, and see them with Bibles in hand follow his read-
ing of the lessons. We go to the schools, and learn that
the Salzburg children are enjoying the instructions of those
who at Halle have trained able and learned men for influ-
ence, and that often, and for long periods, there are no
other teachers. The hymns to be sung on Sunday are
sung every day of the preceding week in the school.
Everything suggests the patriarchal period, with the senior
pastor as the father of the one family of families. An ac-
count published at Charleston in i 741 says of them : ** New
Ebenezer consists of about one hundred persons under the
government of Mr. Boltzius, their pastor; they live and
labor in a kind of community, and never commix or associ-
ate with strangers."^

In the town, besides the three Sunday services, there
was a Betstiinde (vesper service) every evening, '* after the
work and supper were over." On the plantations there
were services with sermons every fortnight, and twice dur-
ing the week. For a while every two months one of the
pastors preached in Savannah. For a while they also ad-
ministered the sacraments to the Germans at Purrysburg,

1 "A True and Historical Narrative of the Colony of Georgia," by Pat.
Tailfer, M.D., etc. (Charleston, S. C, 1741), p. 72.

THE SERVICES. 1 65

S. C. The sermons were preached in the clearest and
simplest way, so that every hearer would have not only the
divisions but the subdivisions deeply impressed upon his
mind.

In 1736 Boltzius gives an account of his method of
teaching the catechism. It was the subject of explanation
at the daily evening service. The preacher inculcated it
for the first time upon the young, and refreshed the minds
of adults. He speaks of the great advantage of this above
weekl}'" catechetical instruction, where one part is forgotten
before what immediately follows it is considered, and notes
the deep interest of the people, who give the same attend-
ance on these exercises as is accorded the regular Sun-
day services. He was always careful to limit the entire
service to one half-hour.

'* Last evening," he writes, '* we reviewed the seventh
and catechised upon the eighth commandment. The con-
sciences of some in the congregation were deeply moved.
In the exposition of the commandments to simple hearers
we find it highly necessary to indicate the sins forbidden
therein, and the virtues enjoined not only generally, but
they must be clearly specified according to the circum-
stances of the hearers."

Another entry runs : ** One of those who was recently
comforted by his confession of several sins against the sev-
enth commandment brought me some money to-day, to
restore a part of his unrighteous gain."

When the catechism was finished, then the daily evening
service centered around a course of simple lectures on bib-
lical history, or upon the Psalms. At a later period the
reports of the Halle missionaries in India were commented
upon, with the lessons taught by their w^ork. He showed
how the divine blessing proved the legitimacy of their call.
He dwelt upon the cordial unity of the missionaries, their

1 66 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. ix.

unwearied diligence, their wisdom and clear judgment
shown in so many difficult cases, their remarkable patience
and endurance in sorrow, their great care in the adminis-
tration of the sacraments, their insatiable thirst for the sal-
vation of all men in their neighborhood, their condescension
to the poorest and humblest, their admirably clear, full,
and direct teaching of the way of salvation through Christ,
their edifying mode of reviewing their sermons and ques-
tioning the converts upon them, their excellent schools, their
Christian economy in the use of missionary funds, their dili-
gent visitation of the sick and dying, their Christian inter-
course, not only with one another, but with the brethren at
a distance, their prayer, and study of God's Word.^

When the first infant baptism occurred the children of
the parish were called to the font and the significance of
their baptism explained to them. Public sins were publicly
reprimanded, even when the pastor was assured of the
penitence of those who were guilty. Where men deceived
him with their professions of repentance they were declared,
in the daily assembly, to be corrupt and withered branches,
that could not be admitted to the Holy Supper, or any
other holy act, until they would present more satisfactory
evidence of a holy life. The wedding of a couple who had
sinned against each other was celebrated only after they
had made public confession of their wrong before the whole
congregation, had heard their pastor's severe arraignment
of such offenses as bringing down God's just wrath, and
the prayers of the whole assembly had been offered for
their forgiveness. A married couple had sinned. The sin
was announced at the close of his sermon, for the following
reasons :

I. That the hearers may know that God is a holy God, and, though he
overlooks godless ways for a long time, yet that they will not always escape

1 " Urlspergerische Nachrichten," August 6, 1750.

CARE FOR INDIANS AND NEGROES. l6j

unknown and unpunished. 2. That godly hearers may pray to God for
these poor persons. 3. That they may pray also for us, that God may
grant us wisdom sufficient for all such difficult cases, l

The religious books that were provided for the people at
Ebenezer are known. Prominent among them were the
" Passion Sermons " and hymns of Ziegenhagen, in many
copies; his "Exposition of the Lord's Prayer"; over one
hundred copies of the Wernigerode hymn-book of 818
hymns; copies for every house of the hymn '* Jesus sinners
doth receive," an especial favorite of Boltzius, which was
frequently used in the daily evening service ; and the
learned controversial works, Walch's " Introduction to
Religious Controversies," in both series, viz., that " con-
cerning the controversies within " and that " concerning
those without " the Lutheran Church, which ** they re-
garded indispensable in a neighborhood abounding in sects
of all kinds. "2

From the very first it was Boltzius' great desire to make
an effort to convert to Christianity some of the neighboring
eight thousand Cherokees. His letters, from time to time,
lament how the pressure of other occupations has prevented
him from learning their language. He speaks of the
friendly disposition and superior qualities of those in the
neighborhood. Gronau was surprised to find an English
missionary attempting to teach some Indian children from
a book which seemed to him, from a short distance, to be
written in Greek letters. ^

The Salzburgers were determined opponents of the slave
trade, and of slavery itself. Boltzius regarded the institu-
tion as introducing a heathenism into America worse than
that of the Indians, and as a great injustice to white laborers.

1 " Urlspergerische Nachrichten," under date of March 19, 1734; January
13, 18, 24, February 4, 1736; February 3 and May 18, 1740.

2 "Acta Historica-Ecclesiastica," vol. xx., p. 356.

3 Ibid., vol. iv., p. 1088.

1 68 THE LUTHERANS, [Chap. ix.

Nevertheless, in the absence of suitable white laborers he
found it expedient to purchase slaves, and reconciled him-
self to it by the hope that he would be able to bring them
from heathenism to Christianity. He expresses his joy
when his first purchase proved to be ** a Catholic Christian."
The slaves thus purchased had complete freedom from labor
on Sundays and other church festivals, and it was under-
stood that no labor would be required which would prevent
their attendance upon any week-day service. It was one
of his plans to buy a large number of young children and
place them in the hands of thoroughly trustworthy Salz-
burgers for religious instruction. He baptized a number
of children. One of the pastors visited a sick slave-child
whom he had baptized, and, praying by the bedside, in-
structed the woman to whom the slave belonged " to
become as this child." ^ Boltzius was interested in a night-
school for negro children in Savannah, and, while criticising
its defective methods, he expressed his conviction that the
children were equal to Europeans in mental ability.^

Faithful to the example of Halle, and by the provision
furnished by Dr. Urlsperger, an Orphans' Home was
erected in the fall of 1737, and occupied the succeeding
January. The orphans admitted in the beginning con-
sisted of three boys and eight girls. In this building the
school was held, not only for the village, but also for
German children from other places. Until a suitable
church building was provided it was the place where the
congregation worshiped.

1 n)id., vol. XX,, p. 363 sq. 2 Hid., p. 375.

CHAPTER X.

THE SALZBURGERS AND THEIR NEIGHBORS.

The Salzburgers did not live in complete isolation ; none
can, however intent they may be to concentrate their ener-
gies entirely upon the most humble sphere to which God
has appointed them. On February 5, 1736, a vessel cast
anchor on Tybee Island in the Savannah River, bringing
with it a reinforcement of Salzburgers to the new colony,
a Moravian bishop, David Nitzschmann, with a small band
of adherents, and three young Englishmen, two of whom
were destined to leave names in the history of English
Protestantism that will never be forgotten, and influences
more lasting than those of great military heroes. One was
John Wesley, then a young clergyman of the Church of
England, fresh from Lincoln College, Oxford, with convic-
tions far more in sympathy with the Tractarianism which a
century later proceeded from that university than with the
Methodism of which he shortly afterward became the founder
and great leader. In beginning the journal of his voyage
he says, in the second sentence : " Our end in leaving our
native country was to save our souls and live wholly to the
glory of God." His more immediate purpose was to be-
come a missionary to the Indians, although he seems then
to have had the eternal welfare of the heathen less at heart
than an ascetic course of self-denial to recommend himself
to God's favor. During the voyage he confined himself, as
an act of self-denial, to vegetable food. The doctrine of
salvation entirely by faith in the merits of Christ was yet
to be revealed to him in all the fullness of its consolation

169

I70 THE LUTHERANS, [Chap. x.

and blessing. No one can question his earnestness and
sincerity who reads tlie story of the struggles through
which he was passing. With him had come his brother
Charles, afterward to be the great hymn- writer of Meth-
odism, who, after having completed his theological studies,
shrunk, like Justus Falckner, from the responsibilities of
the ministerial office, and had accepted the position of sec-
retary to General Oglethorpe.

With the Moravians, who were going to reinforce the
colony at Savannah founded in 1735, Wesley cultivated
from the moment of embarking a very close intimacy, be-
ginning at once to study German in order that he might
converse with them. That he should be thrown into
closer relations with them than with the Salzburgers can be
readily understood ; for the Salzburgers were unlettered
peasants, and Von Reck was a youthful and enthusiastic
nobleman, while the Moravians had among them men who,
however humble, v/ere of wide experience and intelligence.
David Nitzschmann, a Moravian bishop, had been a mis-
sionary to the island of St. Thomas. As he was sixty
years of age, his years rendered him an object of venera-
tion to the young Oxford graduate, while his burning zeal
for Christ was especially attractive to one who was still
seeking the way of Hfe. In the ship was also David Zeis-
berger, afterward to distinguish himself as ** the apostle to
the Indians." With these men Wesley could discuss not
only subjects connected with practical Christianity and the
missionary work upon which he was about to enter, but
also the more profound questions of theology. Moravian-
ism was endeavoring to return to the simplicity of apostolic
Christianity ; and even though Wesley understood, in a
different way, what that meant, this was also his aim, as is
seen even before he left the ship, when he baptized a child
by immersion, as he writes, '* according to the custom of

JOHN WESLEY. 171

the first church and the rule of the Church of England."^
But when he speaks of the Germans on board the vessel
he evidently refers to the entire body of them, including
the Salzburgers, who constituted by far the larger number.
As they approached the shores of America they expe-
rienced a succession of storms of extreme violence. Re-
peatedly it seemed as though all were lost. Mr. Wesley
himself may tell the story :

At seven [January 23d] I went to the Germans. I had long before ob-
served the great seriousness of their behavior. Of their humility they had
given a continued proof, by performing those servile offices for the other pas-
sengers which none of the English would undertake, for which they desired
and would receive no pay, saying, "It was good for their proud hearts," or
" Their loving Saviour had done more for them." And every day had given
them occasion of showing meekness, which no injury could move. If they
were pushed, struck, or thrown down, they rose again, and went away ; but
no complaint was found in their mouth. There was now an opportunity of
trying whether they were delivered from the spirit of fear, as well as from
that of pride, anger, and revenge. In the midst of the psalm wherewith their
service began, the sea broke over, split the mainsail in pieces, covered the
ship, and poured in between the decks, as if the great deep had already swal-
lowed us up. A terrible screaming began among the English. The Ger-
mans calmly sang on. I asked one of them afterward, " Were you not
afraid?" He answered, "I thank God, no." I asked, "But were not
your women and children afraid?" He replied mildly, "No; our women
and children are not afraid to die."

From them I went to their crying, trembling neighbors, and pointed out
to them the difference, in the hour of trial, between him that feareth God and
him that feareth him not. At twelve the wind fell. This was the most
glorious day which I had hitherto seen.

The accounts of this tempestuous voyage and the conduct
of the Salzburgers given by Baron von Reck have been
generally overlooked. He dwells at great length on De-
cember 20th, upon a storm which the published selections
from Wesley's journal do not mention. He speaks of their
great danger, and then the fervor of joy in which, before
all the passengers in the cabin, the Salzburgers, to the

1 "Journal," vol. i., p. 129.

172 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. x.

great astonishment of the Englishmen present, offered their
thanksgiving for deUverance. He says :

The fear and desire to please men all vanished in our need, and I learned
to know how good and necessary it is to be practiced in faith and prayer be-
fore the need arises, so that when it bursts upon us we can say with truth
and confidence, " God, thou art my God. No need, no trouble, not even
death itself, can harm me ; for I have a sure and certain refuge in the wounds
of my Saviour ; his name is my firm tower, to which I run, and in which I
am securely protected."

The Englishmen were astonished no less at our free prayer, for we saw no
men around and beside us, as long as we were occupied with the praise of
God. The dear Salzburgers praised the Lord for his deliverance, singing the
hymn " Lobe den Herrn, den machtigen Konig der Erden," and then with
great joy we went to rest.^

We can appreciate the astonishment of the founder of
a communion known for the stress it places upon ** free
prayer" at this illustration of its power and eloquence,
when it was uttered, as the spontaneous expression of the
emotions of these Lutheran Christians, where no printed
formula, which they none the less prized, in its proper place,
would have suited. When the later storms which he de-
scribes arose, the incidents of this earlier storm were un-
doubtedly recalled. Of those that burst on them near the
Georgia coast the baron writes :

We thought in this peril of the examples of old, how the Lord answers the
prayers of the distressed. We recalled his tender mercy that had never for-
saken us in past need. We had daily meetings for edification ; but to-day
we were driven together by the storm. We pondered upon the words, " Call
upon me in the day of trouble." We drew near the throne of grace with
tears and supplications ; and they seemed to be borne by our Advocate before
the Father who, for his dear Son's sake, could refuse no petition. After the
evening service \^Betshmde\ I retired to my dark cabin and went to bed, but
could not sleep because of my great distress concerning my sins and an evil
conscience and unbelief. Every stroke of the waves upon the ship was a
heavier stroke upon my heart ; and I had nothing to oppose to the force of
the waves and the fear of death but the feeble sighing and hope of my heart
for grace, for Christ's sake. 2

1 " Urlspergerische Nachrichten," vol. ii., p. 826.

2 Ibid., p. 832.

CHARLES WESLEY. I 73

The baron evidently had not experienced the complete
composure of the humble peasants who were in his care.
It was the echo of the hymns which had cheered them in
their weary march from their fatherland, and had comforted
them as they remembered their lost children and homes,
that was heard above the roar of the winds and the rush
of the waters.

These storms are often referred to as important inci-
dents in the life of John Wesley, but it seems to be almost
overlooked that Charles Wesley was also on board. It was
impossible for him to have forgotten, three years later, the
scene in the cabin, with the prayers that astonished the
Englishmen, whose burden was, ** I have a sure and certain
refuge in the wounds of my Saviour" ; or that other scene
which his brother describes, where, when all seemed lost,
the hymns of the devout worshipers at their evening service
were uninterrupted by the rending of sails and the break-
ing of masts. The whole thought of those anxious hours
has been reproduced in Charles Wesley's hymn, sung
wherever the English language is used :

Jesus, Lover of my soul,

Let'me to thy bosom fly ;
While the nearer waters roll,

While the tempest still is high!
Hide me, oh, my Saviour, hide,

Till the storm of life is past ;
Safe into the haven guide ;

Oh, receive my soul at last.

A true Salzburger hymn, translated into the experience
of the young secretary of Oglethorpe, whose heart was
agitated by a tempest of which that around him had been
the image.

During their brief stay in Georgia we have accounts of
but one visit to the Salzburgers. John Wesley writes, in
August, 1737, shortly before leaving for England:

174 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. x.

In the evening we came to New Ebenezer, where the poor Salzburgers are
settled. The industry of this people is quite surprising. Their sixty huts
are neatly and regularly built, and all the little spots of ground between them
improved to the best advantage. One side of the town is a field of Indian
corn ; on the other are the plantations of several private persons ; all which
together one would hardly think it possible for a handful of people to have
done in one year.l

The succeeding December Wesley returned to England.
Twelve years afterward a letter from Pastor Boltzius to
Wesley, which the latter translated for permanent record,
shows that their relations were more intimate than can now
be traced in other portions of the selections from Wesley's
journals that have been published. Wesley says (Septem-
ber 29, I 749) :

About this time I was refreshed with a friendly letter from an excellent
man, whom I had not heard from for several years ; part of it was as follows :

"Ebenezer in Georgia, July 25, 1749.

" Rev. and Dear Sir : The sincere love to your worthy person and faith-
ful performance of your holy office, which the Lord kindled in my heart dur-
ing your presence at Savannah, hath not been abated, but rather increased,
since the providence of God called you from us, and showed you another field
for the labor of your ministry.

" You are pleased in your last letter to Mr. Brown, of Savannah, to re-
member Ebenezer kindly, and desired to know what is the present state of
the settlement. Though we have felt greatly the inconveniencies of the long
war, yet there are great alterations for the better in our town and plantations
since you were pleased to visit us. We have two large houses for public
worship : one in town, the other in the middle of our plantations ; two schools,
in the same places ; two corn-mills, one pounding-mill for rice, and one saw-
mill. In the first quantity of boards we sawed we were cheated by an im-
postor, who undertook to ship them off to the West Indies. But we did not
lose our courage, though we met with almost insuperable difficulties, till our
circumstances were mended by the hand of the Almighty. We are still in
the favor of the honorable Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge ; as
also of many good Christians in Germany, who love us, pray fervently for
us, and contribute all in their power to promote our spiritual and temporal
prosperity.

" Through very hard labor several of our people have left us, and are de-

1 " Journal," p. 151.

WHITEFIELD. I 75

parted to a better country in heaven ; and the rest are weak and feeljlc in
body, and not able to hold out long, unless relief is sent them by an embark-
ation of faithful servants from Germany. Besides widows and orphans, we
have several that want assistance toward their maintenance ; and this our
good God hath sent us heretofore from Europe.

"After my dear fellow-laborer, Mr. Gronaw, died in peace above three
years ago, the Lord was pleased to send me another, who likewise exactly
follows the footsteps of his Saviour, to my great comfort and the great bene-
fit of our congregation. The Lord hath graciously joined us in mutual love
and harmony in our congregations ; and hath not permitted the Herrnhut-
ers (falsely called Moravians), nor other false teachers, to creep in among us.
We are hated by wicked people, which prevents their settling among us ;
though we love them sincerely, and would have as many settle among us as
would keep such orders as Christianity and the laws of England require them
to do. This is all I thought it necessary to acquaint you with for the pres-
ent ; being, with due regard and cordial wishes for your prosperity in soul
and body, reverend and dear sir,

" Yours most affectionately,

"John Martin Bolzius."

Upon this Mr. Wesley comments :

What a truly Christian piety and simplicity breathe in these lines ! And
yet this very man, when I was at Savannah, did I refuse to admit to the
Lord's table, because he was not baptized ; that is, not baptized by a minis-
ter who had been episcopally ordained. Can any one carry high-church zeal
higher than this? And how well have I been beaten with mine own staff !i

Wesley's presence in America had enkindled in his great
associate, George Whitefield, the earnest desire to follow
him. They were not destined to be on this continent
together. The day before Wesley reached England
Whitefield left it, landing in Georgia May 17, 1738. The

1 "Journal," vol. ii., p. 153 sq. The account of the colony of Georgia,
published 1741 in Charleston, cited p. 72, says of Wesley's extravagances
which he here laments : " Under an affected strict adherence to the Church
of England he most unmercifully damned all dissenters of whatever denom-
ination, who were never admitted to communicate with him until they first
gave up their faith and principles entirely to his molding and direction, and
in confirmation thereof declared their belief of the invalidity of their former
baptism, and then to receive a new one from him. . . . Persons suspected
to be Roman Catholics were received and caressed by him as his first-rate
saints."

176 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. x.

prospect there seemed to him most discouraging. " The
settlers were chiefly broken and decayed tradesmen from
London and other parts of England." The Salzburgers
he praised as " by far the most industrious of the whole."
He speaks of the intimacy which he formed with the worthy
pastors of Ebenezer,^ and was pleased with the Orphan
House, which only increased the desire he had formed, on
reading an account of the Francke institutions at Halle, to
found a similar home near Savannah.2 The purpose formed
was before long faithfully executed in his Bethesda. The
words of Whitefield are :

They are blest with two such pious ministers as I have not often seen.
They have no courts of judicature, but all little differences are immediately
and implicitly decided by their ministers, whom they look upon and love as
their fathers. They have likewise an Orphan House, in which are seventeen
children and one widow, and I was much delighted to see the regularity with
which it was managed. 3

Returning to England after a stay of sixteen weeks,
Whitefield, although having enough on his hands in se-
curing funds for his Orphan House, preached in several
churches to collect also " for erecting a church for the
poor Salzburgers."'* When a church was at last erected,
in 1 741, he presented it with a bell. He furnished the
colony with a much needed pair of horses, turning-lathes,
and other thoughtful gifts. His contributions to the Eben-
ezer Orphan House were many and valuable.

1 " Memoirs of Rev. George Whitefield," by John Gillies, D.D. (Middle-
town, 1836), p. 32.

2 Bishop Hurst says : " It was this Orphan House which so pleased White-
field when he visited the place that he made it the model for his celebrated
orphanage at Bethesda, for which he made collections along the Atlantic coast,
and toward which the quiet Benjamin Franklin one day emptied his pockets
of their contents of copper, silver, and gold." — " Harper's Magazine," vol.
Ixxxv., p. 394.

3 Quoted in Southey's " Wesley," vol. i., p. 99.

4 Gillies' " Memoirs of Whitefield," p. 37.

CHARACTER OF BOLTZIUS. I 77

In the published letters of Whitefield there are several
interesting allusions. Under date of April 10, 1740, he
writes :

Some of the Germans' in America are holy souls, and deserve the character
they bear. They keep up a close walk with God, and are remarkable for their
sweetness and simplicity of behavior. They talk little ; they think much.
Most of them, I believe, are Lutherans. l

On June 25th he writes:

Went on Monday to Ebenezer, and returned to Savannah this evening.
Surely there is a difference, even in this life, between those who serve God
and those who serve him not. All other places of the colony seem to be like
Egypt, where was darkness, but Ebenezer like the land of Goshen, wherein
was great light. I walked near four miles in almost one continued field,
covered with a most plentiful crop of corn, pease, potatoes, etc., all the prod-
uct of a few months' labor. But God gives the laborers a peculiar blessing.
They are linanimous, and the strong help the weak. I had sweet communi-
cation with their ministers. 2

The early Lutherans of Georgia were much more isolated
from those of the same faith in this country than any other
Lutheran colony. Boltzius is said to have been averse to
any intimate relations with Berkenmeyer, so strong was
the feeling aroused by the Pietistic controversy in Ger-
many. At a great distance Boltzius could not understand
the character of Van Dieren, as Muhlenberg did later, and
as the irregular preacher had some sort of indorsement
from Bohme of London, a Halle alumnus and the intimate
friend of Urlsperger, he condemned Berkenmeyer's course.
The scattered and uncared-for Lutherans of Pennsylvania
repeatedly appealed to Boltzius for his aid and advice, but
complained that their letters were not answered. The
Halle authorities urged that he should endeavor to yield
to their entreaties ; but in vain.^ Finally, when Muhlen-
berg arrived, he was at last induced to start for Pennsyl-

1 Whitefield's " Letters," vol. i., p. 166.

2 Tyerman's " Life of Whitefield," vol. i., p. 392.

3 " Hallesche Nachrichten," new ed., pp. 58, 62, 65.

178 THE LUTHERANS. [CHAr. x.

vania, in order, with his experience, to aid in laying the
foundations for the church there ; but pecuHar difficulties
at Ebenezer weighed on him so heavily that, after reach-
ing Charleston, he returned home. Contributions were
afterward sent both from Savannah and Ebenezer to aid
Muhlenberg in building churches. 1 His mind seemed to
be intent on two things. One was the development of all
the interests of Ebenezer, in the furtherance of which he
never spared himself, day or night ; and the other was the
cultivation of his own spiritual life by devout meditation,
and by the writing of voluminous journals entering into the
fullest details of his own experience and that of his people.
He is always analyzing the motives and conduct of those
for whose care he has the responsibility. He is a teacher
and preacher, even in the daily entries in his diaries. He
suggests nothing, but elaborates everything. He knows
not how to condense ; he almost seems, in his voluminous
reports, to aim at — he certainly delights in — expanding.
We feel constantly the presence of a holy personality, but
of one absolutely deficient in that breadth of view which
could look forward to any remote future for the church, or
could send more than his prayers and his assurances of
sympathy to those living at any great distance. There are
traces also of a regard for dreams, etc., that show some
symptoms of a mysticism which was tending toward enthu-
siasm, and weakened somewhat the force of his otherwise
sound teaching and faithful practice.

Two of the brightest young men in the colony, brothers,
he carefully instructed in the branches preparatory for a
higher course at Halle. The elder, who had made most
gratifying progress in both Latin and Greek, sickened and
died ; the other brother probably never continued his
studies. Boltzius sent his own son to Halle.

1 "Acta Historica-Ecclesiastica," vol. ix., p. 832.

LEMKE. 1 79

The field was gradually extending, as outlying districts
were taken possession of by the Salzburgers and brought
under cultivation. This necessitated more churches, so
that by the middle of the century St. Matthew's parish, as
it was called, included four churches — Jerusalem, Zion,
Bethany, and Goshen. This, with the care of Savannah,
would, without the conduct of the temporal affairs of the
colony, have been sufficient for the pastoral work of two
men who gave the attention to the individuals of their
charge that these pastors did.

In 1 744 Gronau took a cold in filling the Savannah ap-
pointment, from which he never recovered. He lingered
for one year ; and the details of his Christian resignation
and deep aflfection for his people have been recorded at
length by Boltzius. Bishop Stevens has well condensed
them in the beautiful words :^ "Filled with the love of
souls, he made his bed. a pulpit, whence he taught the
people ; and his sickness, borne so patiently, and gloried
in so triumphantly, was a more powerful sermon than ever
fell from his lips in the days of his strength and service."
When the last hour came, he asked a parishioner to support
his weak arms, and, with them extended, and the words,
*' Even so, come. Lord Jesus — Amen," upon his lips, he
entered into rest.

On the recommendation of Dr. J. A. Francke and Pastor
J. A. Maier of Halle, Dr. Urlsperger sent a formal call to
Hermann Henry Lemke to become successor to Gronau.
Lemke was a student at Halle, and also a teacher in the
Orphan House. Dr. Urlsperger signed the call as '' Senior
of the English Ministerium and pastor at St. Anna's in-
stead, and in the name of the venerable English Society for
Propagating Christian Knowledge." For nineteen years
Lemke labored alongside of Boltzius as his associate, hav-

1 " History of Georgia," vol. i., p. 363.

l8o THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. x.

ing identified himself closely with the colony and its pre-
vious religious development and strengthened the bonds
connecting him with the senior pastor, by marrying Gro-
nau's widow, Boltzius' sister-in-law. For a number of
years after the death of Boltzius he held his place in the
congregations and community.

Boltzius was not well pleased when, in 1752, the thought-
ful consideration of Urlsperger provided a third pastor in
the person of Christian Rabenhorst, in order to lighten the
burdens of his advancing years. Not only was the pastor
provided, but a fund was raised, the interest of which
availed for his support. The ordination of Rabenhorst for
his work in America, July 28, 1752, was evidently a great
event in St. Anna's Church, Augsburg. The entire or-
dination service, with the biography of the candidate and
the ordination sermon, was published as a separate pam-
phlet, and included also in the " Americanisches Acker-
werk Gottes," Augsburg, 1760.1 We are there told that,
at birth, Rabenhorst was so feeble that there was little
prospect of his surviving long; but that as his father's
prayer, who vowed that should he live he should be de-
voted to the ministry, was answered, he had cheerfully
prepared himself for the work. The questions addressed
the candidate were unusually long. The confessional test
was as follows :

Will you esteem the word of the Old and New Testaments, together with
its seals, baptism and the Lord's Supper, higher than all the treasures of the
Old and the New World, and, with God's assistance and blessing, will you
always administer them in your office, until your end, only according to the
example of Jesus Christ and his apostles, and according to the model of the
wholesome doctrine of our Evangelical Lutheran Church, founded thereon,
and expressed and explained in our symbolical books?

But the confidence of the senior pastor was soon gained
when the young man threw himself into the work with
1 Pages 163-174.

RABENHORST. l8l

such zeal that he had to be restrained by his brethren for
the fear that he would break down. With Rabenhorst
there was an accession to the colony of a number of Wiir-
temberg-ers.

On November i, 1753, the two younger pastors with a
number of the parishioners called upon Boltzius to con-
gratulate him on the completion of his twenty years' ser-
vice at Ebenezer. The first half of the hymn '* Oh that I
had a thousand tongues " was sung, the one hundred and
third Psalm was read, and the object of the meeting was
stated. Then all knelt, while first Mr. Lemke and then
Mr. Rabenhorst, and finally Mr. Boltzius, offeied prayer.
The latter part of the hymn was sung, and the service
closed with the benediction by the pastor who had re-
ceived the congratulations.

The last years of Boltzius were years of weakness. The
prospect of death was long before him, as his disease
gradually progressed. He wrote a farewell letter to Urls-
perger : ** I am hastening toward my home. He who sees
his wedding-day is not concerned about trifles." He
closed his last letter to Ziegenhagen with the words : " I
know in whom I have believed, and I am sure there is
laid up for me a crown of righteousness." When the end
approached and his colleague Lemke comforted him with
the words of the Saviour in John xvii. 24, Boltzius re-
peated, after he had ceased, the clause, ** That they may
behold my glory." The next day, November 15, 1765,
he was with the Lord, whom he so long had served.

Reviewing the history of the first period of the churches
of the Salzburgers, we must certainly be convinced of the
great efficiency as well as fidelity with which they were
administered. The executive ability of Boltzius was of
the highest order. He was most conscientious in the ob-
servance of a full church order. This order should be per-

1 82 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. x.

manently preserved as the first German American Church
order which we have. It was prepared by Urlsperger,
Ziegenhagen, and Francke, and shows, therefore, the type
of constitution which they regarded best adapted for the
success of a Lutheran congregation in America, nine years
before the arrival of Muhlenberg. It begins :

In the Name of God : The fundamental constitution, articles, and rules,
upon which a German Evangelical Lutheran congregation was formally estab-
lished, upon the basis of the Holy Bible, our Augsburg Confession (and the
other symbolical books), since the year 1 733, in and about Ebenezer, in his
Great Britannic Majesty's province of Georgia; and which were unanimously
approved, confirmed, and unalterably determined upon, under hand and seal,
by the reverend founders, viz., Messrs. Samuel Urlsperger, Frederick Michael
Ziegenhagen, Gotthelf Augustus Francke, most worthy members of the ven-
erable society in England, instituted for the promotion of the knowledge of
Christ ; together with the first ministers, elders, deacons, and regular church
members, his Great Britannic Protestant Majesty's faithful subjects.

The constitution then proceeds to a consideration of the
origin and importance of elders and deacons, declares *' our
congregation does not properly belong to the English
Church," and speaks of the necessity of some provision
for elders and deacons, like that found in *' the Evangel-
ical Lutheran Church in London," and urges members of
the congregation to aid these officers by their cheerful
contributions. It then proceeds to a specification of the
duties of these church officers, as follows :

Touching the office and duties of the church elder, in regard to the minis-
ters in the churches, the teachers in the schools, the whole congregation, and
the money intrusted to them, it shall be indicated in the words of the printed
London German Church Discipline, given to us, altered, however, in several
instances, to accord with our peculiar circumstances.

In order that the close dependence of our German-
American congregational constitutions of the eighteenth
century upon the London Lutheran congregational con-
stitutions of an earlier date, and through them upon the

THE GEORGIA CHURCH CONSTITUTION.

■83

Amsterdam Lutheran constitutions, may be seen, we give
these provisions in parallel columns :

A }Hste7-dam ( 1 597). 1

I. They shall employ the
utmost diligence that God's
Word shall be declared unto
the Christians in our congre-
gations properly and purely,
by pious teachers and minis-
ters, that the holy sacraments
be administered according to
the command and institution
of our Lord Jesus Christ, and
that every point in this revised
Church Order be well" main-
tained, also that the pure doc-
trine be preserved and trans-
mitted to our posterity. And
in order that this object may
be attained, some of them
shall always be present at
every sermon, and listen to it.

Savoy, London (1694).

I. They shall employ the
utmost diligence that the
Word of God shall be declared
to the Christians of our con-
gregation, in its purity and
without admixture, by pious
teachers and ministers, that
the holy sacraments be admin-
istered according to the com-
mand and institution of our
Lord Jesus Christ, and that
every point in this revised
Church Order be well main-
tained, also that the pure doc-
trine be preserved and trans-
mitted to our posterity. And
in order that this object may
be attained, some of them, in
case all cannot appear, shall
be present at every sermon,
and listen to it.

Georgia (i733).2

I. They shall employ the
utmost diligence that the
Word of God shall be declared
to the Christians of our con-
gregation, in its purity and
without admi.xture, by pious
teachers and ministers ; that
the holy sacraments enjoined
and instituted by our Lord
Jesus Christ be administered,
and that the pure doctrine
be preserved and transmitted
to our posterity. And in order
that this object may be at-
tained, some of them, at least,
in case all cannot, shall be
present when the Word is
preached.

The nine sections of the Georgia correspond to the nine
of the Savoy constitution. The changes are unimportant,
e.g., as the salary of the pastors was provided from outside
sources, the congregation had to look only to the payment
of such schoolteachers as they might have ; it was more
convenient for the Georgia congregation to pay semi-
annually instead of quarterly ; the collection-plates used
in the Amsterdam congregation at festival days, Sunday
and week-day services, were used in the London church
only on festival days and Sundays, while among the Salz-
burgers it was the custom to have such collection only on
the Sundays on which the communion was administered.

Before leaving Georgia notice should also be taken of
a small colony that was established at Frederica, on St.
Simon's Island, about one hundred and fifty miles south

1 We quote from Benthem's German translation of Dutch edition of 1682.

2 English translation in Strobel, p. 97.

1 84 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. x.

of Savannah. In October, 1736, John Wesley found Ger-
mans there who could not understand English, and ar-
ranged for them a short service daily at noon. They sang
a German hymn, and Wesley read and explained a chap-
ter to them in German, as well as he could. They seem
to have had little further attention until after the repulse
of the Spanish invasion in 1742, when Oglethorpe became
interested in them and provided the salary for a pastor.
Rev. John Ulrich Driessler was sent thither through Urls-
perger and Francke in i 744, and gathered a congregation
of sixty-three members; but he died in 1746.1 His widow
two years later reported that there was no service of any
kind, English or German, held there, and the Germans
were removing.^ Afterward the remnants were gathered
into a German Reformed congregation of a Swiss pastor,
Rev. Ziibli.

Lutheran congregations were also founded before the
middle of the eighteenth century at Orangeburg, and in
Lexington County, S. C.

Another isolated parish had been established in what
was then Spottsylvania ^ County, Va., composed partly of
twelve families of Palatinates who had escaped from the
massacre in North Carolina, and partly of a colony of Al-
satians and Palatinates who had started for Pennsylvania,
but who, in 171 7, after various hardships on the voyage,
in which many of their companions died, were purchased
by Governor Spottwood, and sent by him to his lands in
the same locality, on the upper Rappahannock, *' twelve
[German] miles from the sea." Here the Rev. G. Henkel,

1 "Acta Historica-Ecclesiastica," vol. xii., p. 240.

2 Ibid., vol. xiii., p. 529.

3 In 1734 Orange was cut off of Spottsylvania; in 1748 Culpepper v^^as
formed from Orange; and in 1792 Madison from Culpepper. The church is
now in Madison County.

STOEVER IN VIRGINIA. 1 85

an ancestor of the prominent family of that name, is said
to have ministered to them for a short time. This was
probably before the second band had arrived ; as for six-
teen years they had been without a pastor, when they
were at length suppHed by John Caspar Stoever, Sr., born
in Frankenberg, Hesse, who came to America in 1727 with
his younger relative of the same name. The latter was a
missionary preacher in Pennsylvania, and has often been
confounded with the former. They were near relatives of
the two distinguished Lutheran theologians, John Freder-
ick and John Philip Fresenius. Stoever's salary was three
thousand pounds of tobacco a year. Desiring to provide
for the permanent establishment of the church, the pastor
and two members, Michael Schmidt and Michael Holden,
in 1734 went to Europe, to collect a fund for the endow-
ment of the church. They were most cordially received
in London by Ziegenhagen and the other London pas-
tors, and recommended to Germany and Holland. The
Lutherans of Hamburg, where they collected in Septem-
ber, 1735, were very generous. Besides a large amount of
money, they procured a library of valuable theological
books for the use of the pastors of the church. A candi-
date for the ministry, George Samuel Klug, offered to re-
turn with them as an additional pastor, and was ordained
for the work in St. Mary's Church, Danzig, August 30,
1736. The young minister proceeded to his new home
with one of the laymen. Stoever remained in Germany,
most of the time with John Philip Fresenius at Darmstadt,
for the purpose of completing the collections,^ and finally
died at sea on his return in 1738. The result was that
the contributions amounted to three thousand pounds.
Of this, one third paid the expenses, another third was de-

1 "Acta Historica-Ecclesiastica, " vol. iii., pp. 1094-99.

1 86 THE LUTHERAXS. [Chap. x.

voted to the building of a frame chapel and the purchase
of farm lands, and another third to the purchase of slaves
to till it ; so that Pastor Klug reported in 1 749 that '* the
congregation was not in the least burdened by his sup-
port," but complained of his complete isolation.^

1 Ibid., vol. xviii., p. 612.

CHAPTER XL

THE FORERUNNERS OF MUHLENBERG.

The German emigration to New York, being checked
by the treatment which the Palatinates experienced from
Hunter and Livingstone, was turned toward Pennsylvania.
Before the second decade of the century the number of
Lutherans who settled there was very small. The church
at Falckner's Swamp, Montgomery County, afterward New-
Hanover, had been formed,^ and in 1719 had received the
gift of fifty acres of ground from J. H. Sprogle, of the
Frankfort Company. Gerhard Henkel had served as its
pastor, to be followed from 1720 to 1723 by the Swedish
pastor, Samuel Hesselius.

The emigration to Pennsylvania was in successive waves,
representing first various German sects, as the Quakers,
the Mennonites, the Dunkers, etc., then the Reformed, and
lastly the Lutherans. The Lutherans came not simply
from the Palatinate, but in large numbers from Wiirtem-
berg, Hesse- Darmstadt, and Elsass. Muhlenberg has in-
dicated the character of the successive additions of Lu-
therans. Those arriving between 1720 and 1730 were, as
a rule, desirous of having their religious wants provided
for, but were without pastors and teachers, and were too
poor to send to Europe for them. Some preachers, how-

1 As it has now been established that Justus Falckner took charge at New
York immediately on his ordination in 1703, where he continued until his
death, much difficulty is attached to the tradition confirmed by Acrelius, of
his pastorate at the Swamp. Either his brother, Daniel, served in Pennsyl-
vania, or Justus, as a former student of theology, but not pastor.

187

1 88 THE LUTHERANS. [Chai-. xi.

ever, were active among them. Muhlenberg mentions
Henkel, Falckner, and Stoever. Falckner was probably
the elder brother of the New York pastor. John Caspar
Stoever, Jr., signed his name with the title ^. 5. TJieol.
Stud, on the list of emigrants which arrived at Philadel-
phia September ii, 1728. He was a cousin of Fresenius
and a grandson and nephew of two Lutheran pastors
Eberwein, the latter of whom (John Christian), who was
first pastor and teacher at Giessen, and died as dean of
St. Catherine's Church, Hamburg, had some reputation as
a hymn-writer. Mr. Stoever preached first at The Trappe
in Montgomery County, and afterward at New Holland,
Lancaster County,' but, as there was no one competent to
examine and ordain him, was unable legitimately to admin-
ister the sacraments. First from New Holland, and then
from Lebanon County, as his home, he continued through-
out his life to be an indefatigable missionary and a careful
and systematic keeper of church records. His name will
frequently reappear.

In the succeeding decade Muhlenberg traces an im-
provement. The number of Germans increasing, a few
schoolteachers enter with them who could read sermons
to the people, but sometimes assumed to act as though
they were ministers, and to administer the sacraments.
The Germans press farther and farther toward the frontier,
as the ground nearest the coast is occupied by their pred-
ecessors ; or they tarry for a while at the center where
their countrymen had first settled, and then go whither
they hope to find richer returns for their labor.

A pastor by the name of John Christian Schultze
brought the Lutherans of Philadelphia into a congrega-
tional organization. They had hitherto enjoyed only oc-
casional services from the pastors at Wicaco, as, for ex-
ample, probably even Fabritius in the preceding century

STOEVER AND HENKEL. 1 89

and afterward Eneberg. He persuaded them and the
congregations at Providence (The Trappe) and New Han-
over to send him and two representatives of the laity to
Europe for help to build and otherwise provide for their
churches. Schultze's stay in this country was brief; he
arrived in September, 1733, and left in the succeeding
spring. Before leaving he induced Mr. Stoever to receive
from him ordination, in order to take charge of the three
congregations during what he thought would be only a
temporary absence. Mr. Stoever's connection with the
Philadelphia congregation ceased in the spring of 1735.
Their place of worship from 1733 to 1743 was in a build-
ing, sometimes designated as " a carpenter's shop " and
sometimes ** a barn," on Arch Street below Fifth, which
was rented by them and the Reformed jointly from William
Allen. On Sunday, June 9, 1734, Baron von Reck on his
way to New England, being in Philadelphia over Sunday,
gathered together the Germans, and '' edified them simply,
according to the grace which God had given" him.^ In
1735 another layman, J. A. Langerfeldt, who had studied
at Halle, was prevailed upon to conduct services every
two weeks. From 1737 to 1741 the Swedish pastor Dy-
lander held German services every Sunday in Gloria Dei
Church.

In Germantown the venerable St. Michael's is probably
still older than the church in Philadelphia, Rev. Gerhard
Henkel having preached to the Germans there before i 726.
The cornerstone of a church was laid in 1730,^ and the
church consecrated by the Swedish pastor, Dylander, Nov-
ember 6, 1737.

The city of Lancaster was founded in 1730, but its

^ " Urlspergerische Nachrichten," vol. i., p. 157.

2 Acrelius, p. 237. "Consecrated" there used is a manifest error, as
Dylander did not arrive until 1737.

IQO THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. xi.

church register, while begun in 1733 by Mr. Stoever, has
records of official acts irregularly performed by him there
as early as 1729. He continued to be pastor until 1742.
At Earltown (New Holland) Mr. Stoever's register also
begins in 1733, but contains records going back to 1730.
His pastorate in this field continued until 1746. At York
Mr. Stoever begins the register in September, 1733, and
served the congregation for ten years. At Conewago
(Hanover, York County) Mr. Stoever records the baptism
of John Jacob Kitzmiller in 1731. The congregation at
New Hanover (Falckner's Swamp) was served by him dur-
ing his connection with the Philadelphia congregation. At
Tulpehocken, in Lebanon County, among the Lutherans
who had descended the Susquehanna from their first settle-
ment in Schoharie, where Henkel had served for a time, a
very serious feud existed owing to the efforts of a school-
teacher to force himself upon the congregation, and the
election of Mr. Stoever in 1735, as pastor, by those op-
posed to him. Mr. Stoever had performed ministerial acts
there five years previously. The Moravians finally entered
into the controversy, and Zinzendorf deposed Mr. Stoever
from the ministry, although the sentence had no weight
outside of the count's own circle.

Who the first pastors were is unknown, but evidences
are at hand of the building of a log church at Indianfield
in 1730, and of the existence of a congregation at Old
Goschenhoppen in 1732, which had a church building in
common with the Reformed in 1736. Both these congre-
gations are in Montgomery County, and the latter, before
the century was over, gave to the Lutheran Church of
America, as one of its baptized children, the ever-to-be-
revered Charles Philip Krauth, the first president of Penn-
sylvania College, and father of the distinguished theologian
of Philadelphia.

THE COMMISSION TO EUROPE. 191

In 1737 Mr. Stoever's private journal has records of
ministerial acts as far south as Orange County, Va.

Considering the large German emigration that had set
in, these churches would have been entirely inadequate,
even if they had been supplied with a sufficient number
of pastors. In October, 1739, the representatives of the
Lutheran congregations in Pennsylvania wrote to Dr. Zieg-
enhagen : " There is not one German Lutheran preacher in
the whole land, except Caspar Stoever, now sixty miles dis-
tant from Philadelphia." The spiritual life was what might
be expected on the frontier. Baron von Reck writes
of Philadelphia: '* It is an abode of all religions and
sects, Lutherans, Reformed, Episcopalians, Presbyterians,
Catholics, Quakers, Dunkards, Mennonites, Sabbatarians,
Seventh-Day Baptists, Separatists, Bohmists, Schwenk-
feldians, Tuchf elder, Wohlwiinscher, Jews, heathen, etc."
(June 6, 1734). A new heathenism was threatened, with
the destitution of pastors and schools. The Governor of
Pennsylvania wrote a few years later : '' The Germans
imported with them all the religious whimsies of their
country, and I believe have subdivided since their arrival
here." ^ He estimates their number then (1748) as three
fifths of the entire province.

The German Lutherans grew more and more distressed
at their own condition. They appealed to the Swedish
pastors, but they could only occasionally aid them. They
repeatedly wrote to Dr. Ziegenhagen at London, Dr. G. A.
Francke at Halle, and Dr. Fresenius at Darmstadt. The
proposition of Pastor Schultze to send a commission to
England and Germany to personally interview the pastors
in London and the authorities at Halle was a wise one, al-

1 Governor Thomas to the Bishop of Exeter. " Papers Relating to the
History of the Church in Pennsylvania," edited by William Stevens Perry,
p. 256.

192 . THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. xi.

though the result long seemed a disappointment, and years
passed before any relief came. With these years of wait-
ing there were also new perils. Even the collections
made threatened to amount to nothing more than sources
of scandal, the details of which may be read in the corre-
spondence attached to the first part of the new edition of
the Halle ''Reports."

The laymen, commissioned by the congregations at
Philadelphia, New Hanover, and Providence (Trappe), to
accompany Pastor Schultze to Europe were Daniel Weiss-
iger and John Daniel Sch5ner. They were furnished with
credentials from the officers ' of the three congregations,
stating the object of their mission, together with a certifi-
cate from Governor Gordon of Pennsylvania.

Upon the presentation of these to Dr. Ziegenhagen he
wrote an open letter (January 28, 1734) to a clergyman
of Hanover, highly indorsing the object, but speaking of
his distress at his inability to give any important relief.
He quotes in it an extract from a letter of Weissiger to
him the preceding October, which Muhlenberg afterward
incorporated in the Halle '* Reports," as a faithful descrip-
tion of the situation :

We live in a country that is full of heresy and sects. As far as our relig-
ious interests are concerned, we are in a state of the greatest destitution ; and
our own means are utterly insufficient to effect the necessary relief, unless
God in his mercy may send us help and means from abroad. It is truly
lamentable to think of the large numbers of the rising generation who know
not their right hand from their left ; and, unless help be promptly afforded,
the danger is great that, in consequence of the great lack of churches and
schools, the most of them will be misled into the ways of destructive error.
He who tries the hearts and reins knows how very much we need the mate-
rial aid of our Christian brethren. Truly, in our appeal for pecuniary con-
tributions we have desired nothing but the glory of God and the welfare of
souls, so many of whom are scattered abroad throughout the land. We do
not at all contemplate the building of imposing and expensive churches. If

' Johann Backer, Hans George Herger, Adam Herrmann, George Holle-
bach, Joh. Nicol. Crossmann, Jacob Schrack.

NEW DIFFICULTIES. 1 93

we only have enough to erect, in several places, such buildings as may enable
us to come together in a respectable way to praise and worship our Lord in
an appropriate manner, and also to give the necessary instruction to the youth,
we shall be satisfied, l

With this letter Weissiger published in the succeeding
May a statement that the three congregations consisted
of about five hundred families each. Efforts were made
both in Denmark and Holland to secure funds, but with-
out success. The amount secured was small when com-
pared with what the elder Stoever succeeded afterward in
obtaining for his congregation in Virginia. Pastor Schultze
was not regarded with favor, and was repeatedly accused
of having appropriated funds which he received. He re-
mained in Germany. Weissiger, upon whom the chief
responsibility fell, returned to America with the first Salz-
burg colony.

The authorities at Halle prepared a series of regulations
concerning the calling of a pastor to the three congrega-
tions. He was to be ordained before leaving Germany,
after having received a call according to a form which they
prepared. The duties of the congregations to pastors are
enumerated and especially enjoined upon them. A fixed
compensation in money must be promised in advance, as
the payment of the salary in tobacco or produce would in-
volve the pastor in secular business. In the form of call,
not only necessary sustenance is pledged, but also travel-
ing expenses to Germany, should a pastor desire to return.

Long delay followed. Francke and Ziegenhagen insisted
upon most clear and definite arrangements for the. support
of the pastor, before they would mention any name. A
letter from Halle to Ziegenhagen says :

As to the congregation at Philadelphia, I wish most sincerely that whole-
some counsel may be given them ; for I cannot, at present, see how he could

1 " Hallesche Nachrichten," new ed., p. 10; English translation, p. 14.

194 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. xi.

be sustained. Men of good parts are needed everywhere ; and I know of sev-
eral places where such men may be employed. I therefore have my doubts
about sending a good man to America upon an uncertainty ; and, besides,
such a man would hardly be willing to go if he were aware of all the circum-
stances of the case. To keep these hidden, and to send a good man thither
with the impression on his mind that matters are otherwise and better than
they really are, is a movement for which we would not be responsible. We
had better, then, wait for some more propitious occasion, when either the
people themselves will be reduced to order by their very necessities, or we
can obtain a stronger assurance that when a good man is sent to them they
will receive and treat him in a becoming manner. . . . Further, it is a ques-
tion whether it would be right to send one man alone ; because the people
living in such confusion and distracted with all kinds of whimsical notions,
would be sure to make his life a very bitter one. In view of these things, he
ought to be a man of solid, commanding character, well qualified to encounter
such spirits ; and where shall we find such a man? i

To such presentations the representatives of the Penn-
sylvania congregations answered :

We do not propose to let our pastors suffer want, but much rather to
support them according to our ability. On the other hand, we desire as our
pastor, not a covetous man, nor one ruled by temporal motives, but a man
who out of a sincere heart and out of love to God is constrained to come to
our help and to enter into the pastoral ofhce amongst us. We live in a land
in which a pastor cannot expect to enjoy himself in a magnificent parsonage,
in a life of luxury, and with large revenues ; but for a faithful pastor, who is
a true apostle of Christ and has the Spirit of the Lord in him, measures will
certainly be taken to secure him an adequate support. . . . We have to state
clearly and candidly that we cannot bind ourselves either to raise a salary of
fifty pounds sterling per year, or to advance to you any large sum to meet
traveling expenses, or to defray the expense of going back to Germany. . . .
Most people refuse to contribute to such a fund, fearing lest, as has happened
already at New York, we might receive a teacher who would occasion more
harm and offense than benefit and edification to the church, as Pastor Schultze
has done. 2

Three years later they write to Dr. Ziegenhagen with
great indignation :

1 " Hallesche Nachrichten," new ed., p. 6i ; English translation, pp. 92
sqq.

2 //;/(/., p. 62; English translation, pp. 96 sqq.

A QUESTION OF SALARY. 1 95

It looks as if money had more power than any spiritual principle has to
urge you to labor for the spreading of the kingdom of God ; although a bishop
ought not be covetous, and Christ commanded his disciples not to carry a
purse.

Ziegenhagen's life certainly disproved any such charge
among those who knew him.

If your Reverence and Professor Francke could see with your own eyes the
sad condition of the many poor people who are coming to this country every
year and are put out to service among other sects — poor people who would
be so glad to go, on Sunday, to a church of their own confession — you would
understand that, in case you continue to hold back and delay any longer, you
will surely have a great responsibility before you in the presence of God on
that great day of judgment, because you have not so much as permitted the
collected funds to be applied to the objects to which benevolent hearts have
given them, that is, the building of our churches and schools. The Lord
reward all these benevolent friends a thousandfold, in every way ; although
you see proper to withhold it from us, under the pretext that we must first
call a preacher whom you know and can trust, and must expressly promise
and bind ourselves to give him a certain specified salary every year, all of
which is directly contrary to the teachings of Christ (Matt. vi. t,t,), " Seek ye
first," etc. So we believe and are convinced, that if a faithful pastor whose
trust is in the Lord were to come to us, all these things would be added unto
him, and he would have a rich abundance to help him through. But so far,
the principle seems to be, provide for the body first, before the salvation of
souls can be considered.

Thus these Pennsylvania Germans, Henry Nilber, George
Beck, Thomas Meyer, John N. Grossman, Matthew Ringer,
and Jacob Schrack, undertook to teach the doctors in Lon-
don and at Halle theology. But it seems strange that fif-
teen hundred families, in the three congregations, could
not have laid the same text to heart so as to have gath-
ered together the few hundred dollars needed, rather than
to have remained for years without the regular preaching
of the Word.^ There was fault undoubtedly on both sides.

1 " A few of the Lutherans wrote repeatedly to Germany for a preacher;
but many years passed over without one, because they did not mention at
the same time what salary he was to have ; and word was even sent them
that none would be provided unless they determined his salary beforehand."
— Spangenberg's " Life of Zinzendorf," English translation, p. 294.

196 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. xi.

A young minister of thorough consecration would not
have hesitated long about assurances of salary, with such
a vast field for usefulness opening to him. The principles
according to which the Halle institutions were founded
should have taught this. Had the proper man occurred
to Dr. Francke or Dr. Ziegenhagen, the other difficulties
would have probably disappeared ; as they did when, at
last, in 1 74 1, Henry Melchior Muhlenberg was called to
the work. It was during this interval that fruitless ap-
peals were made both by the congregations in Pennsyl-
vania and the authorities at Halle to Boltzius to go to
Pennsylvania, examine the situation, and aid in preparing
for a pastor.

Before we come to the call and work of Muhlenberg,
the neglected congregations in Pennsylvania are made to
feel the thrill of a strong religious life by the sudden ap-
pearance among them of Count Zinzendorf. Aglow with
zeal for Christ, throwing all emphasis in his teaching upon
the one doctrine of redemption through the blood shed on
Calvary, all the social advantages and influence and wealth
which his position gave him were made subservient to that
of preaching Christ and him crucified to the rich and the
poor, the learned and the ignorant. Brought up in the
Lutheran Church, as a member of the school of Spener,
who had been his godfather, and educated in part at Halle
under Francke, his enthusiastic spirit broke through both
the precision of theological definition required in the Lu-
theran Church and the restraints imposed by ascetic tend-
encies he deemed inconsistent with the freedom of the
gospel that he felt were already beginning to prevail at
Halle. Traveling extensively, he even showed a leaning
toward the more mystical element in the Roman Catholic
Church, and cultivated for a time an intimacy with Car-
dinal de Noailles. Interested in the followers of Huss in

ZINZENDORF'S LUTHERANISM. 197

Moravia, he purchased the estate at Berthelsdorf and
transferred them to it, soon uniting with them, then enter-
ing their ministry, and then becoming one of their bishops,
** having in view," as his associate Spangenberg says,
*' Spener's idea of a reformation of the church," and tak-
ing it for granted that this was to be accompHshed " by
means of a faithful repetition and promulgation of Luther's
evangelical doctrines, as contained in the Holy Scriptures
and the Augsburg Confession." ^

The esteem he felt, even when a child, for Luther's Small Catechism and
the divine truths contained in it, he continued to feel during his whole life.
He regarded it as the most valuable book next to the Bible, and as a master-
piece of that distinguished servant of God, in the composition of which he
had been certainly most powerfully assisted and directed by the Spirit of
God. 2

Professing still to be a Lutheran, even after he became
a Moravian, he thought that all points in the Lutheran faith
which had involved or would involve serious controversy
should be kept from the knowledge of the people.^ To
them he would preach nothing but those simple truths
upon which there could be no dispute among godly men,
and those truths he believed to be taught in their greatest
simplicity and power in the Lutheran Church. The fol-
lowing incident which occurred in Pennsylvania, related
by Spangenberg, illustrates this :

Having once taken a person with him to show him the way through the wood,
he asked him of what religion he was. "A Lutheran, to be sure," said his
guide. " But do you know what it is to be a Lutheran? " asked the count.
This question startled the man, who honestly confessed that he did not.
On inquiring further whether he would be glad to have it explained to him,
and receiving an answer in the affirmative, the count prolonged his journey
so as to find time to converse with the guide during the night, and then de-
scribed to him, with a warm heart, what it was to be a Lutheran. This so
affected the man that it proved the means of his conversion. ■*

1 "Life of Zinzendorf," p. 42. 2 Ibid.^ p. 3.

3 Ibid, p. 42. 4 Ibid,, p. 314.

198 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. xi.

To the deadness and Indifference that prevailed in many
parts of the Lutheran Church, to the lamentable lack of
the exercise of church discipline, to the philosophical treat-
ment of religious questions that was entering within the
sphere of theological instruction, and the bitterness of
the controversies that gave him great offense, he at first
thought of attempting to oppose a new reformation, but
finally was persuaded that this was not the proper remedy.
His scheme grew into a more comprehensive one. His
aim next was to infuse a new spirit into all church com-
munions. He started upon the truth, taught in the Lu-
theran confessions, that the true church is not properly
any external organization, but is scattered over the whole
world. ^ Recognizing the fact, therefore, that among all
confessions there are some true children of God, his plan
was to unite them into a confederacy, within which the
various denominations were still to remain distinct. This,
however, would have proved only another external organ-
ization from which it would have been impossible to have
excluded unbelievers, and outside of which there would
have still been innumerable children of God.

No more determined opponents of Zinzendorf were to
be found than the theologians of the Halle school. It was
not only that they saw that they were in danger of being
held responsible for the alleged extravagances of this god-
son of Spener and pupil of Francke, but because they be-
lieved that they had no right to be silent when, as they were
convinced, important doctrines of God's Word were con-
cealed, and questions which had been long settled were
opened for a repetition of the bitter experiences of the
past. The teachers at Halle had no more interest in con-
troversy, for its own sake, than had Zinzendorf ; but they
could not be silent concerning the fruits of the church's

1 Ibid., p. 28; "Apology of Augsburg Confession," chapter iv., ^ lO.

BENGEL AND ERESENIUS. 1 99

conflicts. Hence they regarded the well-meant efforts of
their former pupil or fellow-student as involving great
danger, by the confusion it would work among congrega-
tions where it would enter.

The course of Halle was approved and its protests pow-
erfully supported by a school, probably more thoroughly
representing the first age of Halle. At the head of this
school was the great New Testament critic and exegete,
Bengel, who, with high appreciation of the noble character
of Zinzendorf, and in a spirit which is a model for all con-
troversialists, expressed in several treatises his most decided
dissent. " To the essential and primary doctrine of the
atonement by Christ's precious blood, my own heart most
fully assents and accords ; indeed, every true Christian
from Luther's time to the present has been distinguisherl
by deep attachment to it " ;^ but Zinzendorf, he says, falls
into the imagination of those who think " no part of a
clock so useful as the dial hand." The repeated efforts of
the count to gain a foothold in the Wiirtemberg church
rendered it afterward necessary, in Bengel's judgment, to
oppose him at greater length, especially when the Lu-
theran Church was arraigned as being the church at Laod-
icea of the eighteenth century.^ In this treatise he espe-
cially shows the further development of Zinzendorf's views
beyond those held at the period now considered.

A still more active opponent was Dr. J. Philip Fresenius,
above mentioned, whose works on various subjects con-
nected with Zinzendorf and the progress of the movement
which he started comprise a number of volumes, some of
them containing many valuable original documents.

When, in 1734, intelligence had reached Halle that
Spangenberg had been holding some interviews with Dan-

1 "Memoir," by his son-in-law, J. F. Burk, p. 406.

2 Ibid., p. 412.

200 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. xi.

iel Weissiger, the latter found It necessary, in a rather
ev^asive letter, to explain to the younger Francke that no
league had been made between them.' Nor could the
influence of Dr. Ziegenhagen be secured in the efforts to
send Moravian bishops to America, even when they came
to him with a letter of introduction from Dr. Buddeus.^

We cannot doubt that Zinzendorf had learned of the
great neglect of the Lutherans in Pennsylvania, and that
his restless spirit longed to be active within it. The knowl-
edge gained by Spangenberg's interviews with Weissiger
was doubtless confirmed by what was further learned from
the colony founded in Georgia in 1735, which in 1 740 w^as
transferred to the Lehigh Valley in Pennsylvania. Arriv-
ing in Philadelphia at the close of November, 174 1, he
rented a house in Germantown, and began his journeys
among the Germans, in order to reconnoiter the field. He
estimated the number in Pennsylvania as one hundred
thousand, and their religious condition such that '* it had
become proverbial, respecting any one who cared not for
God and his Word, that * he was of the Pennsylvanian re-
ligion.' " ^ His first sermon was preached in the Reformed
Church of Germantown, December 20, 1 741, on i Tim-
othy iii. 16. On January i, 1742, he held in his house
at Germantown the first of his conferences, at which there
were present four Seventh-Day Baptists, some other Bap-
tists, and Mennonites, with a few Lutherans and Reformed. ^
Of the other conferences we will speak later.

The interest of the Lutherans in Philadelphia was enlisted
by these conferences, so that they asked him to preach
for them regularly. After obtaining the assurance of the

1 ■' Hallesche Nachricliten," English translation, p. 84.

2 Stoughton's " Religion in England under Queen Anne and the Georges,"
vol. i., p. 355,

3 Spangenberg's " Life of Zinzendorf," p. 294.

4 Fresenius, " Herrnhutische Nachrichten," vol. iii., p. 147.

ZINZENDORF IN PHILADELPHIA. 20I

Reformed pastor, Rev. Mr. Bohme, that he did not object
to the arrangement, he accepted the invitation. Eight of
the sermons preached by him to the Philadelphia Luther-
ans have been published, and have a value beyond that of
their historical associations. He declined for a time to
administer the Lord's Supper, but did so finally on Easter
Monday. In the communion sermon on the text Matthew
ix. 13, he begins by speaking of his great gratitude, as a
Lutheran who for years has been protesting against the sad
corruptions of his religion in Europe, in being permitted
for the first time to administer the Lord's Supper to Luther-
ans in another land where all religions are in low esteem.
He assures them that he holds the fundamental principles
of the Lutheran Church to be the only true ones, and that
to him it is the most cherished of all faiths, and the one
that seems to him to be in America the most capable of
being aided.i He then proceeds to '' a simple exposition
of our Lutheran Confession," in which he dwells upon each
clause of the familiar confessional prayer :

"/, a poor, miserable, sinful j/ioi.'''' I, a poor rwdin, who know of nothing
to help me; I, a miserable man, distressed by my poverty, and conscious of
what I lack ; I, a sinful man, who, even though I am a child of God, even
though I have grace, have, until the grave, sinful flesh, and bear the treasure
which I have from my Saviour in an earthen vessel, in order that the sur-
passing power may be of God, and not of me.

'' Confess unto thee all my sins and offenses ^ "Who is it to whom we
here make confession? Who is it, according to our Lutheran doctrine? Do
you know who it is? " says Luther.

"Jesus Christ it is,
Of Sabaoth Lord,
And there's none other God."

To him we confess, not that we are, by nature, miserable men ; he knows
that, for he bore our humanity ; but that we have pained and crucified him
anew by actual sins and offenses. . . .

1 Eine Sammburg, " OfTentlicher Reden," Biidingen, 1744.

202 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. xi.

^^ That we have deserved temporal and everlasting punishment.'''' That is
true ; and I most of you all. For the more the Saviour bestows upon one
his grace and mercy, the longer we be with him, the more disgraceful is all
want of fidelity, the greater all transgressions ; the least frivolity of a child
of God is a greater sin than it is for an unconverted man to be drunk or to
steal. If I know that I ought to do good and do it not, either from love
of ease or from fear, I have far more guilt than another. We are, therefore,
all alike before the Lord, viz., sinners. One has more, another less; the
offenses of one are greater because he has received more grace, and therefore
more discernment. Hence one kind of poor sinners always comes together ;
the one that is so bad, and the other that is no better. . . .

He closed the exposition with the words, " Now I am
through with the confession." The absolution he next
gave, in the following form :

Upon the great word of my Lord, upon the assurance which I have in my
soul of his fidelity and of his love, I announce to you the grace to heartily
repent of your sins, and to believe in Jesus Christ, the assistance of God the
Holy Ghost in laying aside your sinful will, and freedom in Christ's blood
to amend your lives ; and by virtue of my office, as a called and ordained
minister of Christ, I forgive all those of you who believe all your sins, in the
name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.

After a hymn another address was made, treating of
the assurance which the Holy Supper gives the faith of
believers :

I know, with the greatest certainty, that he will impart to you the divine
power of his Spirit and of his life, since Jesus Christ and his body, which
was pierced and hung upon the tree for us, and his living blood, which was
shed for us, are present and distributed with the bread and wine. ... I in-
vite you, then, to eat his flesh and to drink his blood, not as a sign, not as
a figure, but as a reality, as a substance, as a truth, as a sacrament, for the
forgiveness of sins, for life and salvation.

As if to vouch for the thoroughly Lutheran character of
the service, he appends the mode in which the order of the
communion followed :

I. The Lord's Prayer. 2. The words of institution con-
cerning the bread. 3. Choir: " Wir glauben all und be-
kennen frei." 4. The words of institution concerning the

ZINZENDORF'S SCHEME. 203

wine. 5. '* O Welt, sieh hier dein Leben," during which
6. The communion. 7. Tiianksgiving Collect. 8. Bene-
diction. 1

The next step was his election as pastor. On May 26,
I 742, he induced the Governor of Pennsylvania to give him
an audience, at which Benjamin Franklin, William Allen,
James Hamilton, and other prominent men were present.
He delivered to them a Latin address explaining why he
desired, while in America, to lay aside his title of " count "
and assume that simply of Mr. von Thiirnstein. Instead
of this he assumed the ecclesiastical title *' EvangeHcal
Lutheran Inspector and Pastor at Philadelphia." 2 At a
conference in Germantown he announced that he had re-
established in Philadelphia the true, primitive, and correct
Lutheran religion, and that all who had deserted their
religions must return thither, viz., to the Lutheran Church.^
He showed his earnestness by publishing an edition of
Luther's Small Cathechism.

Meanwhile, however, his influence was felt in the Re-
formed Church. A turner by the name of Bechtel was
made pastor of the Reformed Church in Germantown, and
then consecrated by Bishop Nitzschmann and Zinzendorf
as inspector, elder, and teacher* over the other Reformed
preachers.^ Rev. J. P. Bohnie, the Reformed pastor of
Philadelphia, whose permission to preach in the Lutheran
Church Zinzendorf had so courteously asked, was indig-
nant at this interference, without his advice or consent, in
the affairs of the Reformed Church, and issued a vigorous
pamphlet of ninety-six pages, warning his brethren against
the count.^ For the Reformed Churches he also prepared

1 Ibid., pp. 100-107. 2 See title-page of above book.

3 Fresenius' " Herrnhutische Nachrichten," p. 184.

4 Fresenius, vol. iii., p. 182.

5 Full synopsis in Fresenius, vol. iii., pp. 562 sqq.

204 ^-^-^ LUTHERANS. [Chap. xi.

a substitute for the Heidelberg Catechism, and published
it under Bechtel's name,^ This remarkable document com-
prised the articles of the synod of Berne of 1532, by
substituting which he cut loose from all connection with
Calvin, providing, at the same time, a confession of the
Reformed Church and a series of questions asked by *' one
desirous of instruction," and answered, as far as possible,
in Scriptural language, by ** a believer."

When Zinzendorf introduced Rev. J. C. Pyrlaeus, a
former Leipzig student, into the Lutheran congregation as
his assistant, the new minister was carried bodily from the
church to the street and insulted, Spangenberg says, by
"some wicked people who called themselves Reformed." 2
Zinzendorf was active also at Tulpehocken, and at other
points, as Heidelberg, Oley, and Falckner's Swamp. But
even before Muhlenberg arrived, the necessity of a separate
organization for his adherents in Philadelphia had become
manifest, and a Moravian church was erected and conse-
crated, November 25, 1742.^

Of the eight conferences which Zinzendorf held with the
view of uniting the denominations in his scheme of church
union, the first, as we have seen, was held in Germantown,
January ist; the second,, at Falckner's Swamp, January
14th and 15th; the third, at Oley, February ioth-i2th;
and the fourth, at Germantown, March 10-12, 1742. Of
the last, it is said that the members were composed of
Moravians, Reformed, Lutherans, and Baptists, and that
the Quakers would have been represented, if it had not
been that an effectual barrier was interposed by the diver-
sity of language. Among the principles of the organization
were the following :

1 Account with criticism and ample extracts in " Acta Historica-Ecclesias-
tica," vol. vii., pp. 952 sqq.

2 " Life of Zinzendorf," p. 298.

3 Dr. B. M. Schmucker, " Lutheran Year-book," p. 209.

VALENTINE KRAET. 205

All children of God, in all religions in Pennsylvania, are in duty bound to
hold to the conference.

If any child of God be at the same time a servant of Christ, he is, first of
all, bound to his own religion.

And if in the future a servant of Christ abandon his religion without our
previous knowledge, we no longer recognize him as a servant of Christ.

Hence it follows :

I. That no child of God will speak against our conference ; for this would
be contrary to his heart.

II. That if a servant and child of God merely from love to his people will
not attend our conference, we cannot reckon it against him.

A prominent lay member of several of these conferences
was the distinguished Indian agent, Conrad Weiser, of
whom we have already heard as a member of the Scho-
harie colony that had floated down the Susquehanna and
located at Tulpehocken. He was afterward to become the
father-in-law of Muhlenberg.

The longer Zinzendorf's activity continued, the greater
injury was being done by the confusion he was creating,
which could not be compensated by all the graces of his
Christian character and his undoubted consuming zeal for
Christ. But if Zinzendorf had not entered in this irregular
way, would Muhlenberg have ever been sent? It required
his presence to excite the Halle authorities to the peril of
the situation.

When the struggle became so severe that Zinzendorf
withdrew with his adherents to found a church of his own,
although still claiming to be the Lutheran congregation of
Philadelphia, a still greater danger arose, if his influence
could have lasted, when a dismissed Lutheran minister
from Germany, John Valentine Kraft, became pastor of
another fragment of the Philadelphia congregation, and
also claimed to be superintendent of the Lutheran churches
in Pennsylvania, and to have organized a consistorium of
which he was head.^ In this dark hour Muhlenberg
arrived.

1 Dr. B. M. Schmucker, ibid.^ p. 209.

PERIOD II.
THE FIRST ATTEMPTS AT ORGANIZATION.

A.D. I742-1817.

CHAPTER XII.

MUHLENBERG'S CALL AND ARRIVAL.

The year 1 742 is eventful in the history of the Lutheran
Church in America. It would be wrong to designate it as
that of the foundation of the church. Over one hundred
years of struggle had already elapsed. Although the re-
sults attained seem small — and they seem now still smaller
when we can trace the course of the Dutch churches in
New York, the Swedish in Pennsylvania and Delaware,
and the German in Georgia, which was yet to follow —
nevertheless we may readily be betrayed into an underes-
timate. The period which now begins does not mark the
introduction of an entirely new and independent element
from Germany which ignores the experience of the pre-
ceding century. Whatever advance it made was by the
proper appreciation of the lessons, and appropriation of the
results, of the former era. We will note hereafter the
great foresight of Muhlenberg in always adhering closely
to the historical line of development.

But this did not conflict with the introduction of new
energy and spirit into the work, or of new influences
springing from a wider view of the situation and a more
distinct conception of the importance of the new period
that was approaching. The age of experiments was to
give way to that of a more distinct eff"ort for complete and
permanent organization. Hitherto there had been little con-
ception of the relation of the work to any future Lutheran
Church which was to comprehend members scattered

209

2IO THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. xii.

throughout the entire country. The Lutheran pastors felt
themselves called simply to provide for the spiritual wants
of individual souls, and only, as an end to this, to look to
the interests of congregations. Whether the organizations
they fcjnded were to long survive was a matter with which
they had little concern. They could not see far ahead and
did not trouble themselves about it. Some may have been
inclined to think that the language of each center of devel-
opment would be preserved, but others shrunk from con-
templating the consequences of a change which they
dreaded would be fatal to the Lutheran faith. The
American church's independence of European support
could scarcely enter their minds as in any way feasible.
The possibility of " standing alone," educating and support-
ing their own pastors and administering their own discip-
line, is a problem for which, even at present, a century and
a half of additional experience has not provided a solution
in some quarters. It was felt that if the connection with
Sweden or Germany were broken, the ecclesiastical con-
nection must be with England. For this we dare not
blame them ; their eyes were closed, since God's hour for
action had not yet come. But Muhlenberg came with his
favorite motto, Ecclcsia plantanda. It was not simply
congregations, but a church, which he had in mind ; con-
gregations had been planted, but a church was to be
planted. With him we pass from the period of mere con-
gregational to that of synodical organization.

Born of a noble family that had lost its titles and posses-
sions by the vicissitudes of the wars of the sixteenth and
seventeenth centuries, on September 6, 171 1, at Limbeck
in Hanover, he inherited the organizing talent of the North
Germans, and the dignified and courteous bearing of the
higher classes, which a humbler lot and Christian fellow-
ship with the lowliest never obscured. His pride was

AT GOrriNGEN AND HALLE, 211

checked and his youth disciplined in the school of poverty.
The necessity of earning a Hvelihood interrupted, at an
early age, his attendance on school, but could not suppress
his efforts to devote all his leisure hours to study. At an
age when a number of his future associates were already
in the ministry we find him still occupied with elementary
studies, and forcing his way, over all difficulties, through
a full course of thorough preparation for the ministry — for
he would not think of pleading his years as an excuse for
abbreviating it.

Entering in 1735 the University of Gottingen, among its
very first students he is found, the succeeding year, mak-
ing the beginning of the Gottingen Orphan House by
gathering neglected children for gratuitous instruction in
the elementary branches. He had become a zealous
adherent of the school of Spener, and had gained the
friendship and support of several influential noblemen of
deep religious feeling, Counts Reuss and Henkel. The
theological faculty of Gottingen of that time consisted
of J. W. Feuerlein, M. Crusius, J. Operin — in whose house
Muhlenberg lived — C. A. Heumann, and J. F. Gotta. ^
Completing the course in three years, he spent a short time
at the University of Jena, and then was for a year teacher
in the Orphan House at Halle, where he was selected as a
missionary for India. Although his heart was fixed upon
the East Indian field, the authorities were unable to provide
the means to send him, and in August, 1 739, he accordingly
accepted a call to Grosshennersdorf in Lusatia, only a few
miles from Zinzendorf's center, Herrnhut. The congrega-
tion, which had two pastors, was under the patronage of
the Baroness von Gersdorf, Zinzendorf's aunt, who, how-
ever, had no sympathy with the methods of her nephew.
Besides the congregation, there was an Orphans' Home,

1 "Acta Historica-Ecclesiastica," vol. ii., p. 761.

212 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. xii.

supported by the generosity of the baroness, for which his
services were required. For this place he was ordained
at Leipzig, August 24, 1739, his ordination certificate,
signed by Drs. Andrew Wagner, Gottfried Lange, S. Dey-
Hng, and C. F. Boerner, containing the following testimony
to his confessional position :

In agreement with apostolic doctrine, through the public and pious rite,
we commended to him the ministry of teaching the gospel and administering
the sacraments, according to the call and rule given in the writings of the
prophets and apostles, the sum of which is contained in the three symbols —
the Apostles', Nicene, and Athanasian — in the Augsburg Confession, a.d.
1530, laid before Emperor Charles V., in the Apology of the same, in Dr.
Luther's Large and Small Catechisms, in the articles subscribed in the Smal-
cald Convention and in the Formula of Concord, written A.D. 1576 on contro-
verted points of doctrine. For he solemnly promised that he would propose
to his hearers what would be conformed and consentient to these writings,
and that he would never depart from the sense they give.l

During the short period that he remained at Grosshenn-
ersdorf he appeared, for the only time in his life, as an
author, in a controversial tract, published in 1741, against
Dr. Balthasar Mentzer, general superintendent of the
Duchy of Callenberg, and grandson of a Marburg theolo-
gian of the preceding century, who bore the same name.
Dr. Mentzer had written a book, entitled " Words of Warn-
ing," against the private meetings of the so-called Pietists,
which Muhlenberg, with discrimination and soberness, de-
fended as called for when the regularly appointed pastors
are negligent concerning the spiritual interests of those
under their care. 2

On September 6, i 741, while on a visit to Halle, Francke
asked him, at supper, whether he would be willing to accept
a call to America, and received the immediate answer that,

1 Translation of certificate, by Dr. W. J. Mann, in " Lutheran Church
Review," vol. vi., p. 28.

'^ Besides the long extracts in new edition of " Hallesche Nachrichten,"
see "Acta Historica-Ecclesiastica," vol. v., pp. 708-714.

IN ENGLAND. 213

if such were the will of God, he would certainly go. The
arrangement made by Francke and Ziegenhagen was that
the call should be accepted for three years, and the neces-
sary expenses should be defrayed from the proceeds of the
collections made a few years previously.

On his way, his presence at his former home, Eimbeck,
where he preached and met friends for religious conversa-
tion on Sunday evening, resulted in his being summoned
before the superintendent. Both before him and before
the consistorium at Hanover he successfully defended him-
self against all accusers. Hanover had the same ruler as
Great Britain (George H.). The approval of Muhlenberg
by the consistorium was his indorsement by the ecclesi-
astical authorities of the king, whose German subjects in
America Muhlenberg was on the way to serve. His call
came not merely from the three congregations, but was
thus supported by that of the highest civil authority in the
country, and therefore there was no intrusion into the ter-
ritory of another. He could assert the same legal right
for himself and those acting with him as the Church of
England had. This explains the statement which Muhlen-
berg afterward made that " the English laws do not allow
any sect, or any religious party, to build churches except
the Episcopalians, and besides them the Lutherans."^

He did not feel himself competent to immediately enter
into his field of labor, as though a voyage across the ocean
were all that were needed to give a foreign pastor a com-
plete understanding of the differences between the field he
was leaving and the one he was entering. He applied
himself to the thorough understanding of his new relations
by spending over two months in England, engaged in

1 " Hallesche Nachrichten," new ed., p. 20. A note of the editors explains
this as referring to erection of buildings with steeples and bells. Meeting-
houses for other denominations were not prohibited.

214 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. xii.

learning the English language, and in daily intercourse
with the pastors of the London Lutheran churches. The
advantage which this gave him in dealing with the English
in America cannot be estimated.

Almost as much time was spent on the ocean as in England.
The voyage lasted fourteen weeks and three days. It was
attended by many trials, the most serious being the failure of
the water, and the great distress which was sufifered, and the
imminent danger of death by thirst.^ On the way he not
only preached and administered the communion to a Salz-
burg family who accompanied them, but after a time preached
also to the rest in his very imperfect English, and read the
prayers found in the Book of Common Prayer. It is diffi-
cult to see what compromise of his confessional position
could be found in this, especially when no other liturgy
was at hand, and, without it, he could not have served to
the edification of the audience. Had he had less confi-
dence in the correctness of his position as a Lutheran, he
might have been more scrupulous in using prayers whose
Lutheran character cannot be readily assailed and whose
Lutheran origin can be readily traced, but which he might
have foreseen could expose him, in a later age, to criticism,
as being unfaithful to his principles. The spiritual interests
of those with him in the ship outweighed all such consid-
erations. The leisure of the voyage was also employed in
seeking opportunities, in private conversation, to bring re-
ligious subjects to the attention of the passengers.

Reaching Charleston, S. C, September 24th, and met by

1 " This want of water was so extreme that the very rats suffered from it.
It had been noticed that some of them had gnawed out the stopples of bot-
tles containing vinegar, then introduced their tails into the liquid, and then
sought to allay their thirst by drawing their tails through their mouths.
Others would mount the beds at night and lick the perspiration off the brows
of the people who were asleep." — " Hallesche Nachrichten," new ed., p. 12 ;
English translation, p. i8.

IN GEORGIA AND CAROLINA. 215

Pastor Gronau at Savannah, he reached Ebenezer October
4th. Eight days were spent in famiharizing himself with
the work of Boltzius and Gronau, as already described.
He entered America only through the German Lutheran
Church as already established there, even though it was
exceedingly feeble in its beginnings. The Salzburg pas-
tors were greatly refreshed by his presence and the ad-
dresses which he made at their devotional meetings. He
partook of the Lord's Supper with them, and the bless-
ing of the Lord upon his commission formed the subject
of earnest entreaty in public prayer. We can readily
imagine the topics which occupied them in their confer-
ences, viz. : the progress of spirituality in the church in
Germany ; the Orphan House at Halle, in which all three
pastors had been teachers ; the best methods to apply
Lutheran practices to a congregational life independent of
state control ; the best methods of reaching the hearts and
consciences of the people, and building up their spiritual
life ; the various religious bodies arising in America ; the
career of Wesley ; the many kindnesses of Whitefield, his
fervent spirit and resistless power as a preacher ; the strange
reports that were arriving concerning the proceedings of
Zinzendorf in Pennsylvania and the possible conflict with
him before the work to which Muhlenberg was called could
be successfully established.

Pastor Boltzius, who had heretofore declined to go to
Pennsylvania, was so interested in his guest that he was
persuaded to accompany and introduce him to his new field.
Muhlenberg wished to make prominent to the people in
Pennsylvania the fact of his close connection with the
Lutheran Church established thus far in the country, and
that it was nothing more than an extension and develop-
ment of it in another colony that he was seeking. The
delay to find a vessel at Charleston discouraged the Geor-

2i6 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. xii.

gia pastor, and after a stay of four days he returned, while
Muhlenberg had to spend nearly six weeks there, until, on
November i, 1742, he was again on his way. The voyage
of a fortnight from Charleston to New York was as trying
as the one across the ocean. The proceedings of some of
Zinzendorf's conferences which had fallen into his hands
at Charleston made him the more anxious to be on the
ground. November 25 th should ever be celebrated as the
anniversary of his arrival in Philadelphia.

There were none in Philadelphia to meet and welcome
the pastor who had been called by their authority. He
came as an entire stranger, and had to make a place for
himself where others occupied it. It seems that the letter
of 1739, on the part of the three congregations, had been
answered neither from London nor from Halle. No word
had been sent in advance of Muhlenberg's commission. A
former member of the Salzburg colony was the channel
through which his presence was known and the introduc-
tion to the new field made. Before night came he was
making his way toward New Hanover, through roads in
which his horse repeatedly sunk in mire so deep that
his situation was perilous. Impostors had intruded into
all three congregations. With determination, but with
dignity and courtesy, he asserted his claims, showing his
call from Ziegenhagen, so that, without any violent conflict,
he soon became full master of the field.

It is interesting to trace how Muhlenberg's beginning in
Philadelphia followed historical lines. Two prominent lay-
men were sought, and through them he gained a hearing.
One was Peter Kock, who had been for a long time the
best known among the Swedes, and the father-in-law of
the recently deceased and greatly lamented pastor of Gloria
Dei Church. The other was Henry Schleydorn, who had
been equally active in the Dutch Church of New York

CONFLICT WITH ZINZENDORF. 21 J

City, and had been one of the officers of that congregation
signing the commission to the Consistory of Amsterdam
which had resulted in the call of Berkenmeyer. On his
first Sunday in Philadelphia he preached in the morning in
the barn or carpenter's shop on Arch Street and in Gloria
Dei Church, where Dylander had regularly held a German
service in the afternoon. It was not called an installation,
but it was virtually such, when, on a later Sunday after-
noon, the Swedish pastor from Wilmington, Rev. Peter
Tranberg, demanded of Muhlenberg his credentials, and,
publicly reading the call from Ziegenhagen, the ordination
certificate, the diploma from Gottingen, and the papers
from Providence and New Hanover, obtained from the
officers of the German Church of Philadelphia their ac-
knowledgment of the call. Thus the Salzburgers, the
Dutch, and the Swedes united in establishing Muhlenberg's
position.

Zinzendorf, professing still to be pastor of the original
Lutheran congregation of Philadelphia, retained the church
record, and surrendered it only when the courts compelled
him. The interview between Zinzendorf and Muhlenberg
(December 8th), recorded by the latter in his autobiogra-
phy,^ shows in clearest light the traits of character that
distinguished his entire career. Courteous, self-possessed,
dignified, determined, candid, he reads at once the char-
acter of those with whom he has to deal, and with the
greatest ease and promptness has at hand the right answer
for every difficulty. No man, however numerous his titles
or great his distinction, or even eminent his services for
Christ, could overawe him. In this case the circumstances
were peculiar, because of Muhlenberg's intimacy, as their
former pastor, with ZInzendorf's near relatives, their com-
mon connection with Halle, and the fact that such a con-
1 Translated in Dr. Mann's" Life and Times of Muhlenberg," pp. 1 17-124.

2l8 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. xii.

flict was probably anticipated from the time he was called
to America, and certainly was in prospect ever since he
had read at Charleston the reports from Pennsylvania.
But the situation was the more trying because when Muh-
lenberg proceeded, unattended, to what he supposed was
to be a private conference, he found himself confronted by
all the formalities of a trial, and directed to take his seat
at the foot of a table which was surrounded by an assem-
blage of adherents, over whom the count presided, and whom
the count called '* the officers of the Lutheran congrega-
tion." Under such provocation he had to make answer
before this " inspector of the Lutheran Church in Pennsyl-
vania" as though all the credentials of his regular appoint-
ment amounted to nothing. The only ground afforded for
any of the claims of the count was that the neglect and
silence of the authorities in London and Halle for so many
years seemed to imply a desertion of the field, and invali-
dated the authority to give a call which had been vested
in them in 1733. What followed is thus stated by Bishop
Spangenberg : ^ ''The newly arrived clergyman, who was
an able and talented man, soon formed a party ; whilst
those to whom the count's ministry had been blessed
adhered to him. The result at length was this : the count
thought it best to let the preacher above mentioned and
his subsequent assistants act as they pleased, being satis-
fied if only Christ were preached."

Within less than a month the count was on his way to
England, all prospects of carrying out his scheme^ in
America having been frustrated. His mission had not
been in vain, for the scattered sheep now had a shepherd.

1 Page 299.

2 " When Muhlenberg came to the country Count Zinzendorf was in a fair
way to bring under him the whole German population." — Acrelius, p. 248.

CHAPTER XIII.

BEGINNING THE WORK.

A BARN or carpenter-shop in Philadelphia, a barn at
Providence (The Trappe), a partially completed church at
New Hanover, were the places of worship of Muhlenberg's
three congregations. New Hanover was thirty-six miles
from Philadelphia and ten from Providence, with the roads
of the most primitive order.

A few pounds were left in Muhlenberg's hands from the
amount given him in Europe for his traveling expenses.
The New Hanover congregation provided him with a horse.
The Providence people gave him nothing whatever, while
in Philadelphia his salary did not pay his house rent ; the
excuse being made in both these places that the privilege of
his support should be accorded " the dear fathers in Halle."
In the face of this he abolished fees for baptisms and contri-
butions for the pastor laid on the altar at the Lord's Supper,
thus completely sapping the sources of income of impostors,
who were always eager for such opportunities, and most
effectually chilling their ardor in obtruding themselves upon
congregations. He would allow no collections at the pub-
lic services for the pastor's support, since they were apt to
be misunderstood and abused. Well as he was provided
for amidst his pastoral duties from the plenty of the fertile
farms of his parishioners, this did not prevent his clothing
from wearing out, or his horses from succumbing to the
fatigue of his incessant journeys. Debts for the simplest
necessaries of life grew upon him with alarming rapidity.

219

2 20 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. xiii.

But he knew that his services were above all money value.
He found his compensation in his work itself, and was just
as sure that these embarrassments would only be tempo-
rary as he was that the Lord had called him to the field.

The ignorance of the young moved him at once to open
a school, giving in each congregation successively a week
of instruction. The university graduate and author be-
comes the teacher ; and among his pupils, '* youths of
seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, twenty years of age appear
with the ABC book."^ He regarded such instruction
preliminary to their preparation for confirmation.

In New Hanover the small log church became entirely
inadequate for the numbers who crowded to the services,
and in January he preached one Sunday in the open air.

There was probably at first an effort made to follow,
in some respects, the model of the Ebenezer colony ; but
with the expansion of the field this soon became impossible.
He felt a heavier responsibility resting upon him than that
simply of the three congregations. As they became more
thoroughly organized, the care of the other Lutheran
churches in Pennsylvania he believed to be clearly compre-
hended in his commission, and showed his readiness to
respond to their call for help. The first of these congre-
gations was that at Germantown, which he first visited in
February, 1743, and to which he preached during the
week, as his other duties allowed, until the arrival of
Brunnholtz. In the following summer he was called to
Tulpehocken to adjust a difficulty that had rent the con-
gregation into three factions, and where Zinzendorf had
been active. By his recommendation Rev. Tobias Wag-
ner, grandson of a former chancellor of the University of
Tubingen, and ancestor of a future provost of the Univer-
sity of Pennsylvania (Professor Stille), who, after a pastorate
1 Mann's " Life and Times of Muhlenberg," p. 130.

RE IN FOR CEMENTS, 2 2 1

at Horkheim, had just arrived in this country, became pastor
of that charge.

The erection of churches occupied a large portion of his
time and energy during the first years of his ministry. In
the spring of i 743 cornerstones were laid both in Philadel-
phia and at The Trappe. The latter church was dedicated
October 6, 1745, and, although long since deserted for
purposes of worship, still stands, the object of veneration
to all Lutherans who visit the locality, and a most sacred
bequest for future generations. St. Michael's Church, Phil-
adelphia, was not completed until 1 748. The church at New
Hanover was completed in 1 747. At Tulpehocken Christ's
Church was built in 1743, while the church at Germantown
was enlarged in 1746. Muhlenberg's presence seemed to
infuse a new life in all directions.

It was at once seen that more laborers must be sent to
his aid. He obtained partial relief when a Mr. J. Y . Vigera,
a former Strassburg merchant, who had conducted a
" transport" of Salzburgers to Ebenezer in 1741, and who
is referred to with the highest respect in the reports of
Boltzius, came to Pennsylvania near the close of 1743, and
entered upon the duties of a teacher, first at New Hanover,
afterward at Providence, and still later at Lancaster. In
the absence of the pastor he would conduct a service and
read a sermon.

On January 26, 1745, three accessions reached Philadel-
phia from Halle — one pastor and two catechists. The pas-
tor was the Rev. Peter Brunnholtz, a native of Holstein.
His call, signed by Francke, April 24, 1744,^ charged him
** to teach the Word of God in public and in private, pure
and incorrupt, according to the rule and guidance of the
Holy Scriptures, and also of the symbolical books of the

1 " Hallesche Nachrichten," new ed., pp. 83 sqq. ; English translation,
pp. 122-125.

222 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. xiii.

Evangelical Lutheran Church." Ordained at Wernigerode
April 1 2th, his oath contained the pledge:

To be faithful to the Word of God, pure and incorrupt, even as the same
is contained, according to the mind of the Spirit, in the Scriptures of the holy
prophets and apostles, and also as it is concisely repeated and distinctly set
forth in the three chief symbols, and also specifically in the symbolical books
of the true Lutheran Church, to wit, the Unaltered Augsburg Confession,
its Apology, the Smalcald Articles, the two catechisms of Luther, and the
special Formula of Concord, all drawn with great diligence out of the Holy
Scriptures, and prepared in direct opposition to all false teachings, and that
I shall, not only for myself, by the help of God, abide steadfast in the same
until I die, but also labor with the utmost diligence to build up the congrega-
tions which God may commit to my care, according to this rule, in the pure,
true faith, and in Christian love, opposing, with all my might, through the
grace of the Holy Spirit, whatever may hinder this faith and love, and what-
ever errors might work harm to souls.

The two catechists were John Nicholas Kurtz and John
Helfrich Schaum, both sons of parochial schoolteachers in
the neighborhood of Giessen, and, like their fathers, inti-
mate friends. The former wrote : ** Ever since my child-
hood, my dear parents strove diligently to bring me up
under the influence of prayer and of the fear of the Lord."
He referred with gratitude to the aid that he had received
in his spiritual life from the instructions of Fresenius, when
the latter was pastor at Giessen. i Kurtz had followed
Schaum to the University of Halle, and both, before com-
pleting the course, responded to the call for laborers for
America. Both had to overcome great opposition on the
part of their parents, who finally, only with great reluct-
ance and distress, yielded to the firmness of their sons*
convictions of duty.

As in Muhlenberg's case, the trip was made by way of
England. The interest awakened by the reports from
Muhlenberg as they were published, opened streams of

1 "Autobiographical Sketch," " Hallesche Nachrichten," newed.,p. 137;
English translation, p. 212.

BAR TWIG. 221

liberality to such an extent that not only were all expenses
of the journey provided for, but a handsome balance re-
mained to be devoted to the building of the new churches.

Brunnholtz was at once installed by Muhlenberg in all
four congregations as his associate. Before dividing the
charge it was deemed best for the new pastor to learn fully
all the details of the work as it had thus far progressed.
This division was made in June, 1745, when Brunnholtz
gave indications of breaking down from the fatigue and
exposure of the long and constant rides needful for cover-
ing the entire territory. The older pastor, who had only
recently been married to the daughter of the distinguished
Indian agent, Conrad Weiser, cheerfully moved from Phil-
adelphia, leaving the congregation there and that at Ger-
mantown in charge of Brunnholtz, while he became pastor
at New Hanover and Providence, with his home at the
latter place. Kurtz was located as catechist at New Han-
over, and Schaum, in Philadelphia. For twelve years
Brunnholtz labored manfully against the infirmities of a
frail constitution, with the deepest sympathy and the
warmest love of his older colleague. Kurtz and Schaum
both did efficient work in New Jersey under Muhlenberg's
supervision during the distress of the Raritan congrega-
tions ; both in time became efficient pastors, and the names
of descendants of the former will appear on these pages
among the more prominent pastors and leaders of later
generations.

A few years later (1748) John Frederick Handschuh, a
pastor thirty-four years of age, who had been baptized by
August Hermann Francke and had served a charge for
four years at Graba, was called, and on his arrival located
at Lancaster.

A pastor long associated with Muhlenberg, although not
called for the Pennsylvania work or by the authorities at

2 24 ^'^^^ LUTHERANS. [Chap. xiii.

Halle, was John Christopher Hartwig, whose name survives
in Hartwick Seminary in central New York, partially en-
dowed with funds which he bequeathed. Hartwig was a
Thuringian, born in 17 14, who had for a short time been
connected with the institution of Dr. Callenberg in Ham-
burg for the conversion of the Jews. He was called in
1745 to the pastorate of the churches along the Hudson,
with Rhinebeck as the center, and was ordained for the
work in London by two pastors of the Savoy Church and
the pastor of the Swedish Church. He was chaplain of a
German regiment in the French and Indian War. He
visited Muhlenberg in i 747, acted for a time as a substi-
tute for Brunnholtz during the latter's illness, and partici-
pated in the arbitration to settle the difficulties in the
Raritan congregations, as well as in the organization of the
Ministerium of Pennsylvania in 1 748. He was a life-long
bachelor, noted for his eccentricities, and continued, until
the close of his life, in i 796, his attachments and visits to
the descendants of Muhlenberg, as he had previously been
devoted to their father. Tradition tells that the domestics
dreaded his appearance because of the excessively long
prayers which he made at family worship. In the various
difficulties which arose in his congregations and with his
neighbors Muhlenberg was always his trusted adviser.

With the pioneer missionary, Stoever, Muhlenberg had no
intimacy, although in i 748, at the intervention of Fresenius,
writing him a most kind letter of advice, and indicating
the way by which he might labor harmoniously and suc-
cessfully with the other pastors, who were about forming
the Ministerium of Pennsylvania. F'ifteen years later Mr.
Stoever entered the ministerium.

Besides the difficulties which he was called in to adjust
in the Raritan congregations in New Jersey and the Tul-
pehocken charge, the troubles of the congregation at Lan-

TROUBLES AT LANCASTER. 225

caster required his attention. Before Muhlenberg's arrival,
in the absence oi any other authorities to look after it this
congregation had put itself under the care of the Church
of Sweden. After the death of the Swedish pastor, Dy-
lander, who had preached regularly to the Germans of
Lancaster, a formal petition for a Swedish pastor had been
presented in 1741 to the King of Sweden, and a Mr.
Hedstrand of East Gothland was appointed and ordained
for the place, but could not enter upon the field, since the
expected means to defray his traveling expenses never
reached Sweden.^ But a man was not v,^anting for the
place, wdien a Mr. L. T. Nyberg, who in Sweden had heard
of the vacancy, introduced himself as ready to become
their pastor. It was not known at the time, but was dis-
covered afterward, that he was a Moravian. The conflict
was a violent one, and rent the congregation. Muhlenberg
proceeded thither in i 746, asserted the rights of the Lu-
theran portion, compelled Nyberg and his adherents to
withdraw and build a church of their own, and had the
congregation give the officials at Halle and London the
same authority as had been given by the three congrega-
tions when he had been called. The result, as above seen,
was the coming of Handschuh.

An example of one of Muhlenberg's missionary journeys
may be appropriately introduced. \\\ June, I 747, before
the arrival of Pastor Handschuh, Muhlenberg visited Lan-
caster on his way to Maryland. Throughout this entire
trip, which extended to Monocacy, near Frederick, Md.,
he met constantly the traces of Nyberg's influence, and
was compelled to vigorously assail them. One Sunday he
preached at Tulpehocken ; the next (21st), at Lancaster.
On Monday he found at Hanover, York County, the same
church conflict. The next day he preached in a large

1 Acrelius, p. 241.

2 26 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. xiii.

barn to a crowd of people assembled from far and near,
and baptized children, but declined to administer the Lord's
Supper. He and his companions rode until night overtook
them. A storm arose. The rain fell in torrents. The
road was seen only by the frequent flashes of lightning.
After a ride of thirty-six miles, through streams and mud,
half dead they reached their destination at two o'clock in
the morning. What was the goal ? A small " frame
church, and two parties in the congregation. "^

Notwithstanding the heavy rain of the next day, that
church contained an audience. Muhlenberg says :

Before we began the service I had them give me the church book, and I
wrote in it, in the Enghsh language, several articles, among others that our
German Lutherans confess the holy Word of God in the prophetic and apos-
tolic Scriptures, and besides the Augsburg Confession the other symbolical
books ; and, where it can be done, they have the sacraments administered
to them by regularly called and ordained ministers, and, according to their
rules, do not allow open, gross, and persistent offenders against the Ten
Commandments and the civil laws to be regarded as members, etc. This I
read publicly to the congregation, and explained it in German, and added
that he who would be and would remain such a Lutheran should subscribe
his name.

He continues to relate how while the Lutherans sub-
scribed, those who had been under Moravian influence
hesitated, until after a penitential service, in which Muhl-
enberg preached, they expressed their willingness to add
their narnes provided he would become their pastor. The
evidences of penitence were such that he did not feel justi-
fied in refusing the Lord's Supper to all ready to unite in
the subscription. He explains at length in his account his
reasons for insisting upon this. It would avoid endless
trouble in the future if the courts would have the confes-
sional position thus clearly stated in the English language.'-^
Nevertheless, he acknowledges that it was hard to decide

1 " Hallesche Nachrichten," old ed., p. 234; new ed., p. 352.

2 Ibid., new ed., p. 354.

CONFESSION BEFORE COMMUNION. 22^

on which side of the controversy the greater justice lay.
The greater part of those on the Lutheran side, he feared,
was composed of unconverted men, while the faith of the
Moravian party '' rested more upon deceptive fancies and
sensuous emotions, and not upon the alone saving words
of the prophets and apostles, in which Jesus is the corner-
stone." But " the Lutherans have the Bible and the cate-
chism, and this excites the hope that, in time, the Word
will come to them with saving power." ^

The next day he was at Frederick, preaching to a large
audience of Germans and English, and administering bap-
tism and the Lord's Supper. On his return journey he
had a long conversation with an English gentleman who
contrasted the apparently holy life and earnest devotion
of the Moravians w-ith the shameful life of a pretended
Lutheran preacher, by the name of Carl Rudolph, who
imposed on German emigrants in almost all their settle-
ments, beginning in Georgia and ending in New York.
Muhlenberg explained that he had no hatred to the per-
sons, but that he abhorred the methods of these oppo-
nents, and that Zinzendorf's principles, if consistently
adhered to, would compel him in Russia to adhere to the
Greek Church, in Catholic countries to be submissive to
the pope, among the Swass to adopt the propositions of
Berne, in England to subscribe to the Thirty-nine Articles,
and in Sweden to shield himself behind the Augsburg
Confession. The statement of these details is necessary
for a correct presentation of the nature of Muhlenberg's
work and an understanding of its manifold relations.

Arriving at York about noon on Saturday, he began the
preparation for the Holy Supper on the next day by a
searching examination of those who purposed to commune,
beginning with the parochial schoolteacher and the elders

1 Ibid., p. 354 sq.

22S THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. xiii.

of the church. At four o'clock preparatory service was
held. He preached on Matthew xi. 8 sqq. "The people
drank the Word as the dry earth does a summer shower."
Then he met the young people whom the teacher had
prepared for confirmation, and examined, instructed, and
exhorted them. After this he had a private interview with
some who had been awakened by his sermon. Early
Sunday morning he had private confession with a number
from a distance, and another public confession before the
regular service. Fully half the audience had to stand
outside of the church. A number of children were bap-
tized, fifteen were confirmed, and two hundred persons
received the Lord's Supper. Early on Monday morning
he held a service of prayer with the members of the con-
gregation in the town, and, bidding them farewell, pro-
ceeded on his wayr

The inner side of the pastoral work of Muhlenberg, as
recorded in the Halle ** Reports," well repays careful and
frequent reading. They afford most instructive examples
in pastoral theology, that are as valuable for their sugges-
tions as any theoretical treatise on the subject. The inter-
est of the friends of the Halle missions was maintained by
the full accounts which their missionaries, both in the East
Indies and in America, transmitted to them concerning the
traces of the blessing of God upon the Word as adminis-
tered through the missions. The triumphs of God's grace
in the hearts of men, and the evidence of this in the life,
were the subjects of their most frequent and earnest con-
sideration. The danger, of course, was ever present of
laying an excessive importance upon visible results, and of
losing faith in the efficacy of the Word, even when no such
tokens could claim attention. But with this caution in
mind, the accounts given must repeat in every age the
gratitude which, when first published, they awakened

PASTORAL EXPERIENCES. 22g

among the adherents of Halle. There are scores, if not
hundreds, of such examples, as they form a very large
portion of the Halle " Reports." We note a few belong-
ing to this earlier period.

One is that of a man in Philadelphia who, impoverished
by drunkenness and gambling, was compelled to emigrate.
Well instructed in religion, his profanity was freely ex-
pended upon those who were thought to err from the
Lutheran doctrine. Even Muhlenberg fell under his sus-
picions because his sermons did not bristle with polemics.
At last a lingering illness seized him. He realized the
guilt of his sinful life and his entire corruption. The Word
as taught him by the pastor brought him peace, and he
departed with hymns of praise upon his lips. " God," as
we hope, *' delivered this poor sinner as a brand from the
burning; his holy name be praised!"^

Another is that of a godly widow of a husband who
had been indifferent to the spiritual interests of his chil-
dren. The sons foUow^ed the course of the father ; the
daughters, that of the mother. The sons reviled the
Word of God, while the mother and sisters were most
regular in attendance and devout in worship. With tears
the widow repeatedly sought the consolation of the pas-
tor. God soon delivered her from her sorrow, after re-
ceiving the Lord's Supper and sending her thanks to the
fathers in Halle for their interest in neglected souls in
America.

A godly couple in Philadelphia, before Muhlenberg's
arrival and regular German services could be held, had felt
deeply their destitution. The husband learned Swedish,
in order that he might be edified by the preaching of the
gospel in the Lutheran Church ; but the wife had been
unable to make the same progress, faithfully as she had

* " Hallesche Nachrichten," old ed., pp. 149-151.

230 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. xiit.

tried. The prayers and hymns committed to memory in
her childhood had been her greatest comfort.

A boy, ten years of age, at New Hanover, was suddenly
taken ill. He called for his Testament, and, turning to
John iii. i6, read it several times, and added: "Dear
mother, with this text I will go to heaven."

Another child, six years old, was ill. Before dying, he
said, with surprising maturity of mind, to his father: "I
am going from this wicked world to heaven, where my
dear Redeemer Jesus Christ and all the holy angels dwell ;
there I will eternally praise my God, who has created,
redeemed, and sanctified me." He sank to rest as his
father sang a favorite hymn.

No more interesting example is given than that of the
venerable father of Conrad Weiser, the grandfather of Mrs.
Muhlenberg, one of Kocherthal's flock. At a great age
he journeyed to visit his relatives, and to converse on re-
ligious matters. So feeble was he that for twenty-four
hours after his arrival he was compelled to absolutely rest.
The knowledge of Scripture and the verses of hymns he
repeated astonished his spiritual adviser, so that he adds
to the account the remark :

Oh, how well it is when, during youth, a treasure has been gathered from
the living Word of God! Even though when, because of many hindrances,
it does not immediately bring forth fruit, nevertheless God remains faithful,
and does everything in his time. I have seen in this soul a beautiful ex-
ample of how the Spirit of God and the Word are united. It is a true joy
to see the old Evangelical Lutheran truths living in a soul. But how sad it
is when men, from a love for novelty, tread upon these venerable and pre-
cious treasures with their feet, and make new sects, which, while according
to the outward shell they appear somewhat more polished than it is in the
old way, nevertheless, so far as the kernel is concerned, the two are not
worthy of being compared. l

The searching character of his examinations as a faithful
physician of .souls may be learned from the following :

1 " Hallesche Nachi-ichten," old ed., p. 162 sq. ; new ed., pp. 244 sqq.

PASTORAL EXPERIENCES. 23 I

There was in New Hanover a venerable married couple who belonged to
the congregation. Their temperament was altogether melancholy, and they
were devoted to the riches of this world and the cares of their bodily support.
This had become such a habit that all our pains and labor seemed in vain.
With all this, they were outwardly honorable, strict and accurate in their
transactions and life, unwearied in their attendance upon divine service, and
never omitted morning and evening prayers. 1 think that such temperament
is the most apt of all to give the appearance of godliness and to deny its
power. When the point at which their hearts were sick was touched, they
were ready with numberless answers, some from God's Word, and others
from reason, and generally appealed to God, the Searcher of hearts. I and
my assistant, Mr. Kurtz, have, at various times, in love and earnestness, de-
clared to them the necessary truths. In all important articles of faith they
agreed with us, and when it came to the trial and appropriation of these
articles, they have already experienced much, and promised that, by God's
grace, they would apply the rest also to practice. If we look to the marks
which in renewal must necessarily follow repentance and faith, they are
sometimes very deficient. According to their confession, they are nothing
but poor penitents, but who as sinners have been pardoned and justified
through Christ ; and yet it would be more consolatory to us if we could have
perceived in them more and plainer marks of a thorough change of heart and
conversion.!

The labors of Muhlenberg and his associates were not
confined to those who came from Lutheran ancestry. It
was not an uncommon thing for them to report the baptism
of those who had been born and raised as Quakers, or of
those whose parents were Reformed.- Even the negroes
received their careful attention when an opportunity to
instruct them was offered.^ Everywhere their preaching
awakened interest, and drew large audiences. '* They
come," writes Muhlenberg, ''from near and from far; in
summer they dread no heat ; in winter, no rough roads
and weather."* The results were the same as in the par-
able of the sower. A most affecting incident is that at
Chester (March 15, 1745), where the Germans, "mostly
servants," in their joy at hearing once more a sermon
and participating in a service, *' crowded about me like

1 " Hallesche Nachrichten," old ed,, p. 167.

2 Jbid., p. i2>- ^ I^id'^ P- 47- ^ ^^'^'^-^ P- 1^5-

2 32 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. xiii.

children or fainting sheep who have no shepherd, and
wept."

" In Germany it is regarded a matter of no moment if
one, two, or three sermons be heard every Sunday ; here
many rejoice if they hear a sermon once a year. These
people in Chester, in six years, have been unable to hear
any German Evangelical preaching."^

During the earlier years of his ministry two communions
a year were held in each congregation. The week pre-
ceding, every one desiring to commune was expected to
go to the pastor's house, or to the schoolhouse, and confer
with him. If any necessity so advised, the pastor would
instruct or advise or reprove the communicant, according
to the circumstances. On Satuday evening the prepara-
tory service was held, and the sermon had especial refer-
ence to the circumstances which the pastor had learned in
his private conferences with his people during the week.
Then the communicants passed in line before the altar.
When any one who had been guilty of a public offense
approached, the pastor arrested the progress for a few
moments while public confession of the wrong was made,
and admonition to repentance, the sacred promise, the
prayers of the congregation for God's forgiveness, and the
personal forgiveness of all the members followed. Then
came the public confession and absolution.- After the
service those who had had differences with one another
repaired to the parsonage and were reconciled. ^

While the communion was being administered either a
hymn was sung, or the Passion history or the prayers ap-
propriate to the sacrament from John Arndt's devotional
book, *'The Garden of Paradise," were read.^

At funerals the desire of the people to have a regular

1 " Hallesdie Nachrichten," old ed., ]\ 58.

2 Ibid., p. 183 sq. a Ibid. ^ Ibid.

PASTORAL FIDELITY. 233

sermon preached was gladly complied with, as giving an
opportunity to reach a large audience that otherwise was
inaccessible. Weddings were also preceded by a sermon,
but were too apt to end in a carousal. The hymns of the
pastors were sometimes not well received by the careless
crowd that thronged such scenes, often uninvited ; but the
dancers were apt to feel the force of the discipline of the
church should they afterward desire to partake of the com-
munion.^

There were no Sunday-schools in those days ; but, when
the pastor was available, Sunday afternoon was not unoc-
cupied. The KinderleJire, or *' Children's Instruction,"
was faithfully employed by Brunnholtz, whose infirmity
kept him more closely to his parish than Muhlenberg, the
younger being instructed in the Small Catechism, and the
older and the servants in the '' Order of Salvation " and
Bible history.- Such instruction he found more directly
reached the people, and made a more permanent impres-
sion, than his sermons.^

The great anxiety of the pastors to find proofs of the
efTects of the Word in the lives of their hearers undoubt-
edly colors some of their complaints of the prevalent dead-
ness. This is especially the case with Brunnholtz, as he
continued his pastoral work amidst distressing physical
infirmities. Such statements as that *' the people are
mostly blind and dead," and without the experience of a
change of heart, ought not to be received as historical facts
without great discrimination. Even a great prophet erred
when under the juniper tree, and in the cave he despaired
of the efficacy of the Word (i Kings xix. 5, 10). Those
congregations were neither models of the higher form of
Christian earnestness, nor extraordinary examples of indif-
ference to religion. The seed was growing in secret in

1 Ibid., p. 182. 2 Jl)id., p. 125. 3 Ibid., p. 624.

234 ^'^^^ LUTHERANS. [Chap. xiii.

many a heart, where the Lord kept its fruits concealed
from the eyes of his too inquisitive servants.

Emigration meanwhile was constantly changing the
persons to whom the pastors ministered. The current from
Germany was flowing, for those days of inconvenient
transport, with astonishing rapidity. In 1749, 12,000
German emigrants landed in Philadelphia. The older
settlements were constantly being deserted by the more
enterprising of those who, by their thrift, had accumulated
something, for the more promising frontier, and their places
were taken by fresh arrivals from Germany. Muhlenberg
refers to this as very noticeable on his repeated visits to
communities beyond his own parish.

There was much ignorance and stupidity among them ;
but this was by no means the general character of the
population. The fifty kinds of hymn-books which Muhl-
enberg mentions as being brought by them to the services
show how devoutly they had clung to their religious books.
In many a home the ponderous family Bible was one of
the chief articles of furniture. Unlike its gilded successor,
it was most faithfully used. Its long introductions and
ample notes and indexes gave more apparatus than a
*' Teacher's Bible" of to-day. But beyond this, it was
often replete with doctrinal comments, practical applications
of the texts, devout prayers, with perhaps the Augsburg
Confession and other theological material. The reading
of such literature on Sundays trained at least some of
the Lutheran people into an acquaintance with Scripture
which would have compared most favorably with that of
the ministry in a later period. Many of such books are
still treasured as precious heir-looms in the homes of their
descendants.

Such people impressed their character upon the very
soil they cultivated. " Wherever," says McMaster, *' a

THE REDEMPriONERS. 235

German farmer lived, there were industry, order, and thrift.
The size of the barns, the height of the fences, the well-
kept wheat-fields and orchards, marked off the domain of
such farmer from the lands of his shiftless Irish neigh-
bors."^ "They were," says another American writer,
** an industrious, frugal, temperate people, tilling their
farms, accustomed to conflict with savage and other ene-
mies on the border, and distinguished for their bold and
independent spirit." -

Not all entered the country with equal advantages.
The poorer classes, unable to pay their passage, and fleeing
from oppression and starvation at home, sold themselves
for a term of years into slavery. This was not peculiar to
the Germans, but comprehended all nationalities. Nor
was the lot of a " redemptioner " in all cases a sad one.
In Maryland the laws early protected them, limiting the
days of work in summer to five and a half, and demanding
for them three hours of rest in the middle of the day during
the months of greatest heat. Some of the most honored
names in American history are those of " redemptioners."
Among them are those of Charles Thomson, the secretary
of Congress during the Revolution, Matthew Thornton, a
signer of the Declaration of Independence, and the parents
of Major-General Sullivan.^

But in Pennsylvania, where this institution began to be
common from about 1 740, and continued through nearly
two decades of the present century, it involved often the
greatest hardships. Germans were decoyed from their
homes by conscienceless agents, " the Newlanders," as
Muhlenberg terms them, who, by fabulous stories of the
wealth to be acquired and the easy terms by which passage

1 " History," vol. iii., p. 556.

2 Scharf's " History of Maryland," vol. ii., p. 423.

3 Ibid,, vol. i., p. 372 sq.

236 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. xiii.

could be secured, enticed unsuspecting emigrants into tlie
signing of papers in an unknown language, not only com-
mitting them and their children to slavery, but sometimes
separating husband and wife, parents and children. When
the yellow-fever prevailed in Chester in 1793, a cargo of
such '* redemptioners " was sent thither, and a market for
nurses opened.^ A most graphic description of the horrors
of this *' white slavery," by an organist of the church at
Providence, is given in Professor Seidensticker's '* History
of the German Society of Philadelphia."^ Muhlenberg
opposed it with all his might. His letters to Halle expose
at length the imposition practiced, warn all who are in
danger of being misled, and excite indignation at the re-
lation of the cruelties with which, in his experience as a
pastor, he had become so well acquainted. ^

1 McMaster, vol. ii. 2 Pages 22-24.

3 " Hallesche Nachrichten," old ed., pp. 997-1000; 1047 sqq.

CHAPTER XIV.

PROJECTS OF CHURCH ORGANIZATION.

As the congregations and pastors increased, it became
manifest that some form of organization uniting them more
closely than by their common dependence on Halle was
necessary. The common faith, common dangers, and
common wants of the Swedish and the German congrega-
tions elevated the first attempts above all the considerations
of language. The vacancy in the Swedish congregation in
Philadelphia had continued for two years, until in 1743
Rev. Gabriel Naesman succeeded the greatly lamented
Dylander. On his arrival he found that the congregations
at both Philadelphia and Kingsessing had suffered greatly.
Many had been attracted by the preaching of Whitefield ;
still more had been confused by the persistent efforts of
Zinzendorf The Swedish churches had been as much
exposed as the German to the encroachments of Mora-
vianism, especially through a Paul D. Brycelius, who had
accompanied Zinzendorf from Europe and been ordained
by David Nitzschmann, and who availed himself of the
vacancy to draw away as many of the Swedes as possible.
Brycelius was destined in the future to undergo two
ecclesiastical changes. In i 760 the Ministerium of Penn-
sylvania received him, on his renunciation of Moravianism ;
while in 1767 he was ordained an Episcopalian in England,
and sent as missionary to Nova Scotia. Besides detaching
a great many members for the Moravians, he had been the
indirect cause of leading others, tired of the confusion, into

237

238 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. xiv.

the English Church. Mr. Naesman was not equal to the
situation. He was unable to adapt himself to the circum-
stances. His efforts were well meant, but they suggested
the scholastic rather than the pastor. His long and
minute regulations he repeatedly read to the people ex-
cited no interest and little attention. When his sermons,
preached at the second service on Sundays in imperfect
English, would no longer command a sufficient audience,
he attempted the French, with no better success.

The two prominent laymen and intimate friends, Peter
Kock of the Swedish and Henry Schleydorn of the Ger-
man Church, projected the. plan of uniting the congrega-
tions using these languages in.to one body. They beheved
that if the two elements could be united into a German-
Swedish synod, they would be able much more readily to
recover from the effects of the Moravian influence, and to
protect themselves from the entrance and attacks of unde-
serving men. They succeeded in having a conference of
representatives of both sides held in Gloria Dei Church in
May, 1744. Nyberg insisted upon including the Mora-
vians because of their subscription to the Augsburg Con-
fession, which Muhlenberg firmly opposed. Naesman de-
clared that both were incompetent to decide the question.
Then when the question of church usages came up,
Naesman insisted that the order of the Swedish Church
must be binding on the Germans, because the Swedes had
come to this country first. This, of course, was imprac-
ticable. The Swedish liturgy was too elaborate for the
Southern Germans, and the intoning of the collects was
esteemed by them as a mark of a Romanizing tendency.
Neither the Swedes nor the Germans were prepared to
break their connection with the church at home. The
German congregations could not be changed into Swedish.
The Swedes also feared being outvoted by the Germans.

LAV EFFORTS FOR ORGANIZATION. 239

Mr. Kock was thwarted by his pastor, but not con-
quered. The scheme of union was so deeply cherished,
that he left no effort untried to effect it. To this end, he
determined that Mr. Naesman must be removed. Various
plans of persuading away failed, until at last the authorities
in Sweden accepted Mr. Kock's offer to pay the traveling
expenses of his successor. Mr. Naesman was, therefore,
greatly surprised when in November, 1 749, Rev. Israel
Acrelius arrived as provost of the Swedish churches, and
brought with him a communication from the archbishop
and consistory informing the pastor of Gloria Dei Church
to prepare for returning to Sweden in the spring.^

Meanwhile there had been a number of important
changes. Nyberg had been excluded from the Swedish
ministry. Peter Kock had died. A synod had actually
been held, and, strangest of all, Naesman had participated
in the religious services by which it was inaugurated. The
joint labors of Muhlenberg, Brunnholtz, and Handschuh,
in the spring of 1748, upon a liturgy had probably some-
thing to do with its formation. From the very beginning
the three congregations that had called Muhlenberg had
gone under the name of "the United Congregations."
Germantown was added, then Lancaster, then Tulpe-
hocken, then York. At this time, these, with their
" filials," or dependent churches or preaching-points, con-
stituted *' the United Congregations."- Pastor Hartwig,
of Rhinebeck, N. Y., had been at Raritan, N. J., aiding in
settling the difficulties of those most troubled churches in
that vicinity, and had come to Pennsylvania. The dedica-
tion of St. Michael's Church, Philadelphia, was to be an
occasion of especial importance and to bring together the
representative men of the Lutheran Church in America.

1 For particulars of above conference, see Acrelius, pp. 242-254.

2 " Hallesche Nachrichten," old ed., p. 122.

240 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. xiv.

The urgency of the congregation at Tulpehocken for the
services of Nicholas Kurtz as pastor, rendered his ordina-
tion necessary. No better opportunity could be had for
proceeding to the formation of a synod. The relation of
the Swedes to it was yet problematical. Nevertheless,
they did not decline to participate, urged, doubtless, by
the presence of the trustee of Gloria Dei Church, Mr. Kock,
who had more extensive plans for the new synod than were
apparent in the proceedings.

Before the public services, on August 23, 1748 (N. S.),
Brunnholtz, Handschuh, and Hartwig met as an examina-
tion committee. The questions and answers were after-
ward transmitted to Halle. The questions were criticised
as being too difficult to be answered in such a brief time.
The answers were, as a whole, approved as such as would
have done credit to candidates in Germany. Among the
obligations which he subscribed among the conditions of
his ordination is one to teach nothing, either publicly or
privately, in his congregations " but what is conformable
to the Word of God and the confessions of the Evangelical
Lutheran Church." Another pledges that he will "intro-
duce no ceremonies in the public service and administration
of the sacraments but those which have been introduced by
the college of pastors of the United Congregations, and use
no other formula but that which has been indicated to me
by the same."

On the next day (Sunday) St. Michael's was consecrated.
The procession from Pastor Brunnholtz's house was headed
by the Swedish provost, Sandin, followed by the other
clergy and the delegates from the congregations. " Come,
Holy Spirit, God and Lord," was sung. A letter from
the aged Swedish pastor at Wilmington, Tranberg, regret-
ting his absence and congratulating the congregation in
English, was then read. The address seems to have been

MINISTERIUM OF PENNSYLVANIA. 24 1

intended to give particular emphasis to the confessional
position of the congregation. The speaker said :

The foundation of this church was laid with the intention that the Evan-
gelical Lutheran doctrine should be taught therein according to the founda-
tion of the prophets and apostles, and according to the Unaltered Augsburg
Confession and the other symbolical books. . . . After this the entire build-
ing and its parts, as the pulpit, the baptismal font, and altar, were formally
dedicated to the preaching of the saving Word and the administration of the
Holy Sacraments according to our symbolical books. The Church Council
of Philadelphia were required to publicly and orally promise that, with God's
assistance, they would endeavor to preserve the church as long as they could
against fire, water, and other accidents, for the above-mentioned purpose
for their children and their children's children.

Another hymn was sung, and then six prayers were
offered, two in Swedish by the Swedish pastors, and four
in German by Revs. Brunnholtz, Hartwig, and Handschuh,
and Mr. Kock. After another hymn a child was baptized,
a sermon was preached by Rev. Handschuh, and then the
ministers with a few of the congregation received the
Lord's Supper. In the afternoon there was another pro-
cession to the church. Pastor Hartwig preached the
ordination sermon from Ezekiel xxxiii. 8, The Swedish
provost and the four German pastors ordained Mr. Kurtz.
The lay delegates stood in a semicircle about the altar
during the ceremony of laying on of hands and prayer.
The liturgical formula was read by Muhlenberg.^

The Ministerium of Pennsylvania began without any
formal constitution. The pastors present knew one another
as pledged to the same faith, and as those who would
make the same demands of others. The constitution was
to be developed in the life of the synod before it would
be reduced to writing. The minutes, signed by the four
German pastors from Pennsylv^ania and some of the dele-
gates, have been preserved." The Swedish provost and

1 " Hallesche Nachrichten," old ed., p. 285 ; new ed., p. 393.

2 Ibid., new ed. , pp. 208-211.

242 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. xiv.

Revs. Hartwig, Muhlenberg, Brunnholtz, Handschuh, and
Kurtz were the clerical members. The Swedish laity were
represented by Peter Kock. The entire church council
of the Philadelphia congregation, four lay delegates from
Germantown, three from Providence, three from New
Hanover, two from Upper Milford, one from Saccum,
three from Tulpehocken, one from Nordkiel, six from
Lancaster, and one from Earlingtown were present. The
synod consisted of six ministers and twenty-four lay dele-
gates exclusive of those from the Philadelphia church.
The congregation at York was represented by a letter,
regretting the absence of representatives because of the
distance and the short notice which had been received.

After a hymn, the object of the meeting was stated in
an address by Muhlenberg. He referred to the attempt
made five years before and its failure, and declared that
the cause of that failure was the Moravian influence ex-
erted through Nyberg. He dwelt upon the importance
of a closer union between the congregations. Every
member of the church, he said, had those for whose future
he was responsible. The parents must provide not only
for themselves, but for their children. " We are here to
provide, if possible, for yearly meetings of this kind. The
ministers present have not run of themselves, but have
been regularly called to the work. We all stand in con-
nection with the fathers in Europe."

The lay delegates were then called upon to give a report
concerning the efficiency of the pastors. The condition of
the parochial schools was next inquired into, and a sum-
mary of the reports put on record. The lay delegates
were then invited to give their opinion concerning the
recently prepared liturgy. Unanimous satisfaction with
the desire of the pastors to use a uniform order was ex-
pressed. The only criticism oflfered was as to the length

THE PROCEEDINGS. 243

of the public service, which, especially in extremely cold
weather, was burdensome to the people. The pastors
promised to deliberate on the subject before they sepa-
rated, and to comply with the request.

It was important to put on record a declaration why
other professedly Lutheran pastors had not been invited
to participate in the organization of the synod. It was
explained that they had, without foundation, accused those
who had come together in the synod as Pietists ; that they
were not regularly called pastors ; that they were unwill-
ing to adopt a uniform order of service and government ;
that they were subject to no consistorium, and were not
called to account by any authority for the proper exercise
of their office.

Muhlenberg admonished all the elders of the great
importance of their entire conversion to God in order to
properly discharge the duties of their office. It was de-
cided to hold the meetings annually, in Philadelphia and
Lancaster alternately. Two elders from each congregation
were to be sent, at the expense of the congregation, to the
next meeting at Lancaster. The Swedish provost made
an address in which he expressed his desire to be a mem-
ber of the body. This shows that his relation at the
meeting was rather that of an advisory than that cf a full
member. This seems to have been also the position of
Hart wig.

With great correctness, Professor Grabner designates
the proceedings of that day, August 26 (N. S.), 1748, as
** the most important event in the history of the American
Lutheran Church of the eighteenth century."

Although there is no formal constitution, we can with-
out difficulty read the main features of the organization.

It was a body consisting, first, of pastors officially called
and commissioned by the authorities in Halle, at the ap-

244 ^-^^ LUTHERANS. [Chap. xiv.

peal of "the United Congregations," and approved by the
church authorities of Hanover, as the Lutheran representa-
tives of the then reigning king of England ; and, secondly,
of other pastors concerning whose unity in the faith and the
regularity of whose call there could be no question on the
part of the authorities in Europe. The pastors were all,
responsible to those in Europe who had commissioned them.
They continued to transmit regular reports to these author-
ities, and were subject to their orders and discipline, as well
as dependent upon them, at least in part, for their support.
The determination of the ordination of a candidate for the
ministry was made by the pastors alone, subject to three
conditions, viz., that the applicant be one whom the
authorities in Europe would approve, that the examination
papers be transmitted and reviewed at Halle, and that a
call from a particular congregation be present. The final
decision in doctrinal and liturgical questions belonged to the
pastors, subject, of course, to advice and approval at Halle.

The lay delegates were, the church councils, or some of
the elders as their representatives. They gave a report to
the synod, when asked, concerning the work of their pas-
tors ; they were present and participated with the pastors
in making reports concerning the parochial schools ; they
presented requests to the synod ; they were consulted by
the pastors concerning liturgical and other questions, but
the decision on these subjects was reserved for the pastors,
acting under instructions from Halle. There was no vote
taken in the common assem.bly of pastors and 'laymen.
*' The recognition of a pastor by the synod was a pledge
that he was well prepared for the ministry and a man of
worthy character." i

There was as yet no president; but Muhlenberg, by
virtue of his first call and commission, had a preeminence,

1 Note to " Hallesche Nachrichten," new ed., p. 183.

THE OFFICE OF OVERSIGHT. 245

as bearing a special responsibility for all the rest. They
assembled during Saturday, spent Sunday in public wor-
ship, held the conference with the lay delegates on Mon-
day, adjourning generally by the middle of the afternoon,
after which they dined together. After the laymen had
finished their duties the pastors attended to such business
as especially belonged to them. This was the order for
many years.

Seven annual meetings were held, viz. : i 748, Philadel-
phia; 1749, Lancaster; 1750, Providence; 1751, Phila-
delphia; 1752, Germantown ; 1753, Tulpehocken ; 1754,
New Hanover. At the second meeting the first item of
business was " Pastor Muhlenberg's proposition concerning
the necessity of the annual election of an overseer of all the
United Congregations." Pastor Brunnholtz was elected,
although against the protest of the Philadelphia delegates,
who urged their pastor's delicate health and the already
too heavy burden which the care of his congregations had
imposed upon him. Not only was this office not recog-
nized by the authorities in Halle, who in all their corre-
spondence say not a word concerning it, since it seemed to
be an infringement upon the European superintendency of
the Pennsylvania churches,^ but from the very full ac-
count of the discussions at the meeting of the synod in
1760, the Halle editors of the *' Reports " have omitted the
section referring to this office, where it "is stated that bv a
unanimous vote the synod affirmed the necessity of such
an office. 2 Brunnholtz's health did not allow him to retain
it long, and it then was transferred to Muhlenberg, who
exercised it for many years. One or more of the Swedish
pastors was generally present, although not at Lancaster
in 1749, nor at Providence in 1751.

1 " Hallesche Nachrichten," new ed., note, p. 271.

2 See MS. in Archives at Mount Airy.

246 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. xiv.

The new synod was struggling hard for existence.
Whatever gains it was making were almost completely
lost sight of in the new demands which the constantly in-
creasing immigration made upon the pastors. The rein-
forcements sent them from Halle were entirely insufficient.
They were beginning to realize the fact that they could
not endure the same exposures and fatigues as during the
first years of their ministry in America. Their opponents
were active. Whatever errors they may have made in the
perhaps too indiscriminate judgment of those whose pres-
ence in the synod they at first deemed undesirable, were
used against them. Not only was the charge of Pietism
freely circulated, but it was said that they were, after all,
only secret agents of Zinzendorf, seeking by their synod
to reproduce his conferences.-^ Such reports were very
effective in prejudicing the people against the synod.
New pastors of good education and respectable character
from Germany entered the field which Halle could or
would not hold. Even Muhlenberg himself recommended
the congregation at Reading to petition the authorities in
Wiirtemberg for a pastor.

A most urgent appeal, signed by Muhlenberg, Brunn-
holtz, and Handschuh, was sent to both London and
Halle after having been adopted by the synod in 1754.
It is one of the most important papers in the Halle
*' Reports." The entire field is surveyed, the history of
German immigration traced, and the religious condition
of the immigrants described. The manner in which other
denominations and the Swedish Lutherans are aided by
foreign help is shown, and a very discouraging contrast is
drawn. The condition of each parish is then candidly and
at length set forth. Three great dangers they see threat-

1 MS. of Muhlenberg, September 22d, 1760, in "Archives of Ministerium
of Pennsylvania."

AN URGENT APPEAL. 247

ening the inner life of congregations, viz. : the assumption,
by the leading men of particular parishes, of the right to
dictate, as a compensation for the perhaps greater amount
expected of them for the pastor's support ; the lawlessness
of immigrants who abuse the freedom of the country,
want to break through all rules, and revile all good order,
the regular ministry, and divine service as papacy itself;
the introduction of worthless men into the country as pre-
tended ministers by "the Newlanders," who sell their
services from the ship to Lutherans willing to be deceived
in this way. The ** united pastors," they urge, are almost
powerless to resist. The people are, as a rule, poor. In
a congregation of three hundred members, scarcely fifteen
can be found able to contribute toward the building of
churches ; and the responsibility for debts incurred must,
therefore, as a rule, fall upon the pastors themselves.
Many thousands of Lutheran people are scattered through-
out North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey, New
York, etc. No provision is made for the traveling ex-
penses of the pastors, or suppHes for their places, if these
Lutherans are to be cared for. People come often one
and even two hundred miles to hear a sermon and receive
the sacrament, and weep bitterly over the destitution,
which no one endeavors to remove. They contrast the
condition of a pastor in the New with that of one in the
Old World. The latter has the assurance of necessary
support, of protection in his office, of all needed buildings,
of provision for the proper instruction of his people. The
former has none of these. Among ten families there is
scarcely one or two that contributes according to its prom-
ises. The sects diffuse among the people the ideas, to
which they lend too ready assent, that the pastors as well
as their hearers ought to work at a trade, cut wood, sow
and reap during the week, and then preach to them gra-

248 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. xiv.

tuitously on Sunday. They hear such things wherever they
go — in papers, in company, on their journeys, and at the
taverns. The picture is a very dark one. The pastors feel
that they are standing at the base of a vast mountain, up
whose steep sides^ they do not see how it is possible for
them to advance ; and yet tcJ recede or even to be station-
ary must be fatal. ^

Such representations probably had something to do with
the impression current for a while at Halle that Muhlenberg
was visionary and eccentric, so strange do his statements
seem to thosQ incompetent from personal observation to
appreciate the urgency of the situation in Pennsylvania. If
there was any time when, even for a moment, Muhlenberg
entertained the suggestion of transferring the care of the
Lutherans of Pennsylvania to the Church of England, it
was only at some such time, when he and his associates in
the synod were allowed to struggle on under such burdens
almost unaided, while union with the Church of England
would at once have provided all missionaries sent thither
with an appropriation almost sufficient for support, and
with far better protection against the prevalent disorder.
If the Lutherans in Europe could not meet the demands
of the hour, we can pardon the thought, which never be-
came a fixed purpose, that, sooner than have the thousands
for whose care he felt himself responsible neglected, some
other mode of relief would have to be sought.

Under these circumstances, combined with the deaths
of Heintzelmann and Brunnholtz, and the blunders of
Handschuh at Lancaster, Germantown, and Philadelphia,
there were no synodical sessions after that of 1754, until
the interest that seemed dead was revived in 1 760 by the
arrival of the Swedish provost Von Wrangel, and his at-

1 " Hallesche Nachrichten," old ed., pp. 662-689.

ALMOST LOST. 249

tempt to establish a German-Swedish synod. The pastors
were diligent, each in his own parish, and cooperated
cordially as individuals ; but we may almost say that the
synod died in its infancy, and that an entirely new organi-
zation arose in the latter year.

CHAPTER XV.

MUHLENBERG IN NEW YORK. — ACRELIUS AND
WRANGEL.

A VERY important interruption of Muhlenberg's work
in Pennsylvania was occasioned by his connection with the
old Dutch congregation in New York. In August, 17.50,
he had gone with his father-in-law, Conrad Weiser, up the
Hudson, and had been endeavoring to settle difficulties in
the congregations of Pastor Hartwig, who had been charged
with being a Moravian. Stopping in New York on his
return, he had been asked to aid in bringing order out of
confusion in the old church there, which had been rent
by the conflict between the Dutch and the German ele-
ments, and was suffering by the withdrawal of a number
of the Germans and the formation of a new German con-
gregation, served then by Rev. J. F. Riess. This was the
occasion of the friendly interview with Berkenmeyer pre-
viously mentioned.

The result was a most urgent appeal on the part of the
congregation for Muhlenberg to become their pastor, with
the prospect of extending his labor into that of thoroughly
organizing the growing but discouraged Lutheran Church
in the State of New York. After a conference between
the Pennsylvania pastors, temporary provision was made
for his congregations, and it was decided that he should
spend several months in New York. His service there
was at two periods, viz., from May 19th to the close of
August, I 75 I, and from May 9th to August 3, 1752. His

PREACHING IN THREE LANGUAGES. 25 I

presence brought unity and new life to the distracted
church. He overcame the language difficulty by preach-
ing in all three languages, Dutch in the morning, German
in the afternoon, and English in the evening, devoting a
large portion of his time to the study of the Dutch lan-
guage and to obtaining a more thorough acquaintance
with the English Bible. The committing to memory of
his Dutch sermons consumed for a while three days a
w^eek. He took charge also of the Dutch Church at
Hackensack. He mingled freely with the more prominent
persons in the city, and exchanged visits with the pastors
of other denominations. He was occupied with the prep-
aration of liturgical formularies adapted to his peculiar lin-
guistic relations, and had no hesitancy, w^here it could be
done to advantage, to avail himself of material found in
the Book of Common Prayer. His journals give many
gratifying evidences of the divine blessing on his labors.
We give only one example :

In the afternoon the church was too small, and a large crowd stood at the
door and about the windows. I preached in English on Luke xv. on the
prodigal son, and we sang from the Lutheran Hymn-book, translated into
English, " Jesu, deine tiefe Wunden."

A copy of the hymn-book which he used is before us.
It is interesting to have the very words which he " lined
out," in the not very smooth translation, for that audience
to sing.

Christ, thy holy wounds and passion,
Bloody sweat, cross, death, and tomb,
Be my daily meditation
Here, as long I live from home :
When thou seest a sinful thought
Rise within, to make me naught,
Show me that my own pollution
Caused thy bloody execution, i

1 " Psalmodia Germanica," or " The German Psalmody," translated from
the High Dutch. New York reprint, 1756, p. 16 ; first ed., London, 1722-25.

252 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. xv.

Never in my life have I seen such attentive hearers. God grant that all may
not be vain, but that something of his Word may be sown in the hearts and
bring forth fruit. The church-officers asked me to preach on next Tuesday,
smce the two Reformed churches have their services on Sunday, and many
of them are anxious to hear what a Lutheran minister preaches.

While he did not succeed in uniting the two New York
congregations, he nevertheless had much to show for his
two summer vacations. He secured a pastor for the old
congregation, in the person of Rev. J. A. Weygand, who
had been previously in the Raritan charge, and who con-
tinued the regular use of the three languages in public ser-
vices. But he brought back with him an enlarged view
of the field, and a much more thorough acquaintance with
the details of church organization, derived from his tem-
porary pastorate of an American Lutheran congregation
nearly a hundred years old, and organized upon the basis
of the Amsterdam church order. Muhlenberg was, to
the close of life, a growing man, availing himself freely of
all the opportunities within his reach, and directing every
element of his experience to his future work. The field
in Pennsylvania, also, was seen in another light when re-
garded at a distance and when isolated from daily contact
with its less important anxieties.'

As the summers of 1751 and 1752 were spent in New
York City, so those of 1758 and 1759 were spent in the
Raritan charge, N. J., where he believed his presence most
necessary. His conception of his call to America and
of his responsibility as president of the synod did not
allow him to regard himself bound so closely to any one
parish as to deter him from leaving it for more neglected
fields when the necessity was urgent. He states this,
with the limitations of his duty, in a letter to the New
York congregation, after he had been with them the first
time.

COOPERATION OF THE SWEDES. 253

My first and lawful call is for Pennsylvania. I cannot run, like other
vagabonds, from one place to another, neither can I move to another place,
without consent of my superiors and ordinary congregations. . . . My call
and my business in America have been these nine years past to gather our
poor and scattered Lutherans into congregations, and to introduce lawfully
called, ordained, and pious ministers. If I can do the same, by the help of
God, in New York, I will not fear or mind any trouble, persecution, or evil
or good report. But then, good people must not depend upon my staying
here or there, but thank God if they be provided with sound and faithful
ministers, and give me liberty to go from one place to another, and see how
far, by the assistance of God, I may add my mite to the edification of our
Lutheran Church in America, l

Meanwhile a most important adviser and assistant was
to be brought Muhlenberg in another of the Swedish pas
tors. The interest in the Swedish churches in America,
which had declined since the death of Bishop Svedberg,
had been revived by *' the pious archbishop, Dr. Jacob
Benzelius." '-^ Provost Sandin, who assisted in the organi-
zation of the Ministerium of Pennsylvania, was one of its
fruits. But his participation in those services was one of
his last acts. Before August, 1748, had passed, he was
at rest. Mr. Parlin, sent, through Kock's importunity, to
displace Naesman, although appointed in May, i 749, was
delayed in reaching his charge at Wicaco until July, 1750.
Six years later, on the departure of Acrelius, he became
provost, and died in 1757.

Israel Acrelius, pastor at Wilmington, Del, and provost
of the Swedish churches, arrived in November, 1749. His
period of seven years was marked by much activity. He
cooperated cordially with the German pastors, and at-
tended a number of the sessions of the synod. He pro-
vided for a meeting of the Swedish ministers three times
a year, once in each parish, beginning with the Lord's
Supper on Sunday, and occupied on succeeding days with

1 " Lutheran Church Review," vol. xii., p. 200 sq.

2 Acrelius, p. 336.

254 ^-^^^ LUTHERANS. [Chap. xv.

consultations upon official duties, one or more of the Ger-
man pastors being present at least once a year. He read,
at the meeting of the synod at New Hanover in 1754, a
Latin dissertation on '' The Origin and Progress of the
German Evangelical Congregations in Pennsylvania," ^
which was afterward circulated in Europe. This paper
reflects the prevalent discouragement :

It is yet a doubtful matter whether our German Evangelical Church will
stand or fall ; and it is improbable, if it were to fall, whether it could be
revived. The means to build churches, support ministers, build and sustain
schools are altogether inadequate for needy immigrants and a people scarcely
recovered from long servitude. What wonder if our weak powers are alto-
gether incommensurable with our godly desires ! 2

The list of congregations, which he gives in their Latin
form, will doubtless interest succeeding pastors :

Parochia Philadelphiensis, Francofurtana, Germanopolitana, Neshamensis,
Dublinensis superior, Tohiconensis, illaque ad furcas fluvii de la Ware, nee
non alia quKcunque prope Trajectum ad idem flumen, vulgo Roses-Ferry,
Saccumensis porro Milfordensis, Heidelbergensis juxta montes subcaeruleos
Weissenburgensis, Jordanensis, Macunshyensis, novae Goshehoppensis,veteris
Goshehoppensis, et quae in campo Indianorum sita est, vulgo Indian-Field :
Schippackensis quoque, novas Providentise, Pikespolitana, magnae Vallis,
Molotoniana seu Olyensis, nova Hannoverensis, Colebrookdahlensis, Vin-
centii Alsatise, Readingensis, Heidelbergensis, Kilonii septentrionalis, Tulpe-
hookensis, Lancastrensis, Carlopolitana, omnes et singulae intra Imiites Pen-
sylvaniae. His adnumerantur Ecclesia Fredericopolitana in Terra Marite,
vulgo Maryland : Cohenzyensis denique Rachewayensis, Leslyensis, Fosser-
bergensis, Hevinksachensis in nova Caesarea, novi Eboracensis, aliaeque.3

Acrelius' chief distinction is his very complete " History
of New Sweden," from which most of our knowledge of
the history of the Swedish churches is derived. Broken
down by fevers, which he ascribed to the climate, and dis-

1 Ibid., p. 312. The paper is published in "Acta Historica-Ecclesiastica,"
vol. XX., pp. 51 sqq.

2 "Acta Historica-Ecclesiastica," vol. xx., p. 57.

3 Ibid., p. 55.

THE GREATEST SWEDE. 255

couraged by his inability to solve the language question
in his churches, he returned to Sweden in 1756, and died
in 1800. His estimate of Muhlenberg should be ever
remembered :

Every right-minded person in the place must acknowledge that Mr. Muhl-
enberg is a pure Evangelical teacher and a chosen instrument of God, who
with wisdom, liberality, and zeal has gathered and built up the church of
Christ in a wild land, l

With Acrelius, Eric Unander had come, who was pastor
from 1749 to 1756 at Racoon and from 1756 to 1760 at
Wilmington. Lidenius was his successor in the former
place (1756-63), and Borell in the latter (1760-68).

But, however cordial Muhlenberg's relations with pred-
ecessors, with Charles Magnus Wrangel, the provost of the
Swedish churches from 1 759 to i 768, there came a man after
his own heart, and with whom he seems to have culti-
vated the closest intimacy of his life. He was a descend-
ant of the famous general of that name,^ and was still a
young man during his stay in America. After completing
his course at Westeras and Upsala, he had studied in
Gottingen, where he had received in 1757 the degree of
doctor of divinity. While serving as private chaplain to
the king, he was called to the provostship. On August
24, 1 760, he w^ent to Muhlenberg's home at The Trappe —
a day's journey then — to invite him to attend the approach-
ing meeting of the Swedish pastors. *' I was greatly
moved," says Muhlenberg, ** by his mild and humble man-
ners, and edified by his weighty conversation relative to
the kingdom of God."

At the Sw'cdish conference, which Muhlenberg attended
(September 14th), this impression w^as deepened by the
sermon with which, and the Lord's Supper, the conference

1 "History," p. 249.

2 Dr. Reynolds' Appendix to Acrelius' " History," p. 346.

256 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. xv.

was Opened. The instructions from Sweden, which were
read, explicitly directed the Swedish pastors to live in
harmony with the German Lutheran pastors and attend
their annual meetings. It is said that until his departure
Wrangel never missed a meeting of the synod. He
participated in the discussions and in the examination and
ordination of candidates, acted as arbitrator in difficult
cases, and with Muhlenberg prepared the congregational
constitution for the Philadelphia Church, which has had a
most important influence upon subsequent congregational
organization. When, by his advice, Muhlenberg moved
to Philadelphia in 1761, to bring the church there into
better order than it had previously enjoyed, their visits
were frequent, and sometimes, while they talked over their
common interests, so protracted, that the visitor was
compelled to tarry with his friend over night. When the
Barren Hill Church was oppressed by a most distressing
debt, Wrangel assumed the responsibility of one third of
it, and shared all the perils and anxieties of his friend.
Wrangel rescued the Germantown congregation from the
difficulties in which it had been involved during Hand-
schuh's pastorate.

How well he administered the afi"airs of the Swedish
congregations, then numbering about three thousand mem-
bers,^ Muhlenberg himself may tell. At the Swedish con-
ference in I 76 1, in a discussion on the language question,
Muhlenberg described the gloomy outlook for the Swed-
ish churches only a few years previously, when every effort
was put forth by the Church of England to attract its
members *' and thus to make an end to the Swedish Evan-
gelical Lutheran Church in this country." Then, address-
ing the provost, he said :

1 Nyberg, p. 149.

NEW LIFE.

257

Far be it from me to flatter you, as the world is wont to do, or to praise
you without cause. But with a good conscience and before God I can testify
to this, that under your care the Swedish churches are waking up, and flour-
ish and give assurance of a bright future, if the good work is only continued.
July 26th, 29th, and 30th I was at Kingsess, Caliconhook, Tenacuni, Amas-
land, and August 2d at Wicaco. In all these churches I was an eye-witness
of all the great changes which the merciful God has wrought among our
Swedish brethren and their English relations by means of your most faithful
services. In Kingsess I noticed with astonishment how from all sides, not
only the Swedes, but also the English and Germans, came together in large
crowds, how attentive they were, and how eager to hear the Word of God.
. . . Trustworthy and venerable Swedes said to me, that, owing to the inde-
fatigable labors of his Reverence the provost in visiting every family, and
his condescending instruction of the youth in Swedish and English, more
than twenty adult persons had already received baptism, who before had
been entirely ignorant and spiritually dead ; that others who for years had
not approached the Lord's Table now evinced a hunger and thirst for the
body and blood of the Lord ; that a number of adults who had never been
confirmed were carefully instructed by the provost and had now become
active members of the church ; that all those Swedes who had connected
themselves with the High Church at Chester had returned to the church of
their fathers ; and that even a number of influential English residents had
declared their readiness to join the Lutheran congregation in case a church
could be built, and there would also be English services in addition to the
Swedish. 1

1 Dr. Nicum in " Lutheran Church Review," vol. xii., p. 274 sq.

CHAPTER XVI.

SYNODICAL ORGANIZATION COMPLETED.

Wrangel's first visit to Muhlenberg had an object be-
yond that of inviting the latter to the Swedish conference.
It was to accomplish, if possible, the resuscitation of the
synod that for five years had been practically dead. Pos-
sibly the provost's purpose may not have been more than
to meet his German brethren. If so, the result was more
than he intended. Immediately after the adjournment of
the Swedish conference, Muhlenberg sent out, as the Halle
" Reports " say, '* a circular" ; but this meant also a long
letter, as several of them lie before us.^ The following
was sent to Pastor Gerock, of Lancaster :

Rev. and dear 'Brother: I take the liberty to announce that (D. V.)
on October 19th and 20th next, viz., on the twentieth Sunday after Trinity,
the Holy Supper will be administered, and on the following Monday a
fraternal pastoral conference will be held here in New Providence. The
reasons for it are unnecessary to state at length to any regularly called
minister who has at heart the welfare of our poor ecclesia plantanda in
the American wilderness ; much less is it necessary to present the motive,
since letters received from you several years ago make the strongest appeal
for such a fraternal meeting, and I have not forgotten them. The manner
of conducting the conference will be determined by those present according
to the mildness and humility which they have learned in following Christ,
and the gifts of the one Spirit given them, as far as each one is willing
to apply them to the good of the whole. All ambitious rivalry will be far
distant, and he who will humble himself as a child (Matt, xviii. 4) will be
the greatest. The advantages are manifold, and are best known to those
who have experience both in Europe and in this country. Although in this
country we are mostly dependent upon the vox populi, and are at a great

1 MS. in "Archives of Ministerium of Pennsylvania."
258

REORGANIZING THE SYNOD, 259

distance from our European mother-church, and are contending against many
sorrows and temptations, and have niany//^ desidcria, nevertheless we hope
that we poor preachers may have such freedom in our congregations as to be
able, now and then, to meet, to tell to one another our troubles, to partake of
the Lord's Supper together, to decide on cases of conscience, to edify one
another with accounts concerning the progress of the kingdom of God, and to
afford mutual encouragement under difficult official burdens. The congrega-
tions can have less objection to this, since they are not asked to send delegates,
but we are to hold only a pastoral conference, to which, however, every well-
disposed member is at liberty to come, and to be a spectator and listener dur-
ing our proceedings, and is invited also to partake of our humble hospitality.
The members whom we expect to attend this meeting, and some of whom
have advised the meeting, are the following. [Here followed the names of
Wrangel, Borell, Gerock, Weygand, Handschuh, and Hausile.] These pas-
tors have indicated their approval of the meeting, and, if nothing prevent,
expect to be present. Satan and his allies have tried and will continue to try
to prevent such fraternal union, because united power is stronger than their
king, and is harmful to him. But when a stronger is within us, there will be
no danger. In case you decide to come, my humble request is that you select
a text for the chief sermon on the twentieth Sunday after Trinity, suitable to
admonish us preachers of our pastoral duties, but so that the people may
also have a lesson. Because you do not understand our present church
constitution, I have sent a few lines to your church council. But I leave it
to your mature judgment whether to hand the letter to them or withhold it.

I remain, etc.,

H. Muhlenberg.
New Providence,

24th September, 1760.

The proceedings, which we have at considerable length,^
show no trace of a synodical organization. It was a con-
vention to deliberate concerning a future plan of proced-
ure. The eight topics of discussion were: " i. Whether
it be necessary and useful to continue an annual conven-
tion of the ministers and elders in the United German
Congregations? 2. What are the impediments to such
fraternal convention and union? 3. At what place should
the annual conventions be held? 4. What is the best

1 In "Archives of Ministerium of Pennsylvania." Much is omitted or
suppressed in the Halle "Reports," old ed., pp. 854-862; reprinted in
Grabner, p. 371 sq.

26o THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. xvi.

method to hold Kinderlehre ? 5. What is the most effect-
ive mode of preaching? 6. What practices are to be ob-
served in connection with the Lord's Supper? 7. Whether
pastors should be present or absent at wedding festivities?
8. Whether a president should be elected annually and
such provision should be made that he should make a
visitation in all the United Congregations, and should
attend the meeting of the Swedish Synod as a dele-
gate?" The last item, which is suppressed in the Halle
** Reports," Muhlenberg states " was answered by all with
aye," i.e., unanimously carried. Twelve pastors and cate-
chists were present, not all the names being published,
since one, at least, came uninvited. Laymen were present
from Philadelphia, New York, and Lancaster. Brizelius.
was recognized as a Lutheran pastor after he had signed
a document repudiating the Moravians, among whom he
had previously labored. A wider platform than that of
Halle is noticeable, scarcely half of the ministers having
been trained there, and Gerock, whose antagonism to
that tendency had been most pronounced, being one of
the most prominent members of the conference. The
movement in 1 760 is in all respects more comprehensive
and better adapted to the American surroundings than
that of 1 748. The former may be regarded as the perma-
nent and the latter only as the temporary foundation of the
present Ministerium of Pennsylvania.

The next year (1761) the synod is known by the title of
" The Annual Preachers' Assembly of the United Swedish
and German Ministerium." ' From 1762 the presence of
the lay delegates from most of the charges shows the
growing interest of the congregations. In i 763 the synod
adopted the proposal of the president to ask of the pas-
tors annual reports of baptisms, confirmations, and deaths.2

1 •' Hallesche Nachrichten, " old ed., p. 865. 2 jbid., p. 1125.

FII^ST SYNODIC A L CONSTITUTION. 26 1

Thus the Synodical Constitution gradually grew. The
date of its first being committed to writing and formally
adopted is not at hand. It was transcribed into the minute-
book begun in 1781, after having been in force years be-
fore.

The main features of this first Lutheran Synodical Con-
stitution in America are most important, as it forms the
basis of so many later synodical organizations. The name
is " The Evangelical Lutheran Ministerium in North Amer-
ica." 1 The confessional obligation is:

Every minister professes that he holds the Word of God and our symbol-
ical books in doctrine and life. [vi. 2.] In complaints brought against min-
isters, the subject of investigation must refer to : i. Positive errors opposed to
the plain teachings of the Holy Scriptures and our symbolical books, [v. 22.]

In reference to important cases of conscience and points
of doctrine, only ordained ministers have the right to vote
(iv. 2). Ministers licensed but not ordained were allowed
to perform pastoral acts only in congregations speci-
fied in their license (v. 29). The president " is to be
respected and honored as having the oversight, both dur-
ing the meetings of the synod and at other times" (ii. i).
Only ** the fittest and most learned" are eligible to the
office of secretary (iii. 2). The pastors are pledged not
to declare themselves independent of the synod as long as
they served congregations in North America (iv. 6, 2).
The lay delegates are heard in the beginning of the synod-
ical sessions, and then dismissed to their homes (v. 14 sq.).
After they are dismissed the ministers proceed to the con-
sideration of congregational affairs and questions of con-
science, committees of the older pastors being appointed
to recommend action (v. 21). This finished, they confer

1 This was afterward changed to " The German Evangelical Lutheran
Ministerium of Pennsylvania and Adjacent States." In 1882 " German " was
erased, thus going back to the Muhlenberg Constitution.

262 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. xvi.

concerning the blessings and the difficulties attending their
labors, report concerning baptisms, confirmations, funerals,
and communicants, and Hsten to the reading of the diaries
of the licensed candidates (v. 25). Ordination at special
conferences was not permissible, unless so ordered in a
given case by the synod (v. 31). Every pastor pledges
himself to endeavor to introduce into his congregations
constitutions corresponding as nearly as possible with those
now in use, and harmonizing with that of the ministerium
(vi. i). Every minister is required to use the liturgy in-
troduced (vi. 3), and gives a written promise to that effect
(iv. 6, 2). Every one absenting himself for three years
without excuse shall be expelled (v. 4). The other items
are chiefly composed of details for the carrying out of
these provisions.!

The preparation of a congregational constitution for
St. Michael's Church in 1762, by Muhlenberg, with the
advice and cooperation of Dr. Wrangel, was one of the
most important works of his life. Fully aware of the fact
that it would become the model of similar constitutions
throughout the country, these two great men gave to it
months of most careful and mature thought and deliber-
ation. '* If in his whole life," says Dr. Mann, *' Muhlen-
berg had done nothing else of a remarkable character, the
framing and introduction of this constitution in the Phila-
delphia congregation would suffice to crown his head with
lasting honor." ^

It was presented to the congregation after most earnest
prayer and admonition, as though it were one of the
more important acts in the lives of those present. Such
it was, since this constitution continues to live and exert

1 The Constitution is translated and published in " Lutheran Church Re-
view," vol. ix., pp. 255-269.

2 " Life of Muhlenberg," p. 370.

CONGREGATIONAL CONSTITUTION 263

its influence far and wide throughout the Lutheran Church
in all parts of America.

It was carried by the ministers throughout the wide limits of Pennsylvania
and adjacent States. It was inherited by new synods formed out of the
Pennsylvania Ministerium. It was carefully studied, and its main features
adopted by the preparer of the Formula of Government and Discipline of
the Synods of West Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia, and then became
that of the General Synod. The great body of the congregations in this coun-
try, outside. of the bounds of recent German synods in the west, are organized
on this plan."^

Like the Synodical Constitution, it had grown for years,
in an unwritten form, before it reached that which was
finally adopted. The offices of elder and vorsteJier existed
in the Philadelphia congregation from the very beginning.
We can trace them at any rate to 1734, and Weissiger's
mission to England and Germany.^ Dr. Mann suggests
that Zinzendorf's brief pastorate had some influence on
the subsequent organization.-^ Muhlenberg's papers were
laid before the elders and vorsteJier of the congregation
in Gloria Dei Church, as before seen. Brunnholtz, during
his pastorate, developed the organization further by ap-
pointing from the pulpit twelve men as elders, and then,
in connection with the elders appointed, electing four dea-
cons. This arrangement was destined to cause trouble
after Brunnholtz's death, when the congregation justly
complained that it was without representation in the coun-
cil except through the pastor's appointment. Muhlenberg,
however, in the constitution for The Trappe congregation
of 1750, provided for the election of the church council
by the whole congregation. It was to remedy the con-
fusion in the Philadelphia church that the preparation of

1 Dr. B. M. Schmucker, " The Organization of the Congregation in the
Early Lutheran Churches in America," p. 39.

2 See " Hallesche Nachrichten," new ed., pp. 52, 54.

3 " Life of Muhlenberg," p. 353.

264 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. xvi.

the new constitution was undertaken. It has not only
the benefits of Wrangel's thorough familiarity with the
Swedish Church organization, but also that of the experi-
ence which Muhlenberg had gained by his brief pastorate
of the old and well-organized Dutch Church in New York.
A study of this constitution is necessary for all who would
understand the church government within at least three of
the four general bodies in the Lutheran Church in America.
The pastors are required to preach according to the
Unaltered Augsburg Confession, not only publicly but
"briefly," and on the church festivals as well as on Sun-
days. The week-day services for edification which Wran-
gel had instituted are indorsed by the provision that the
pastors should be allowed during the week to hold meet-
ings for edification and admonition. This points clearly
to a provision somewhat difTerent from that which Boltzius
employed in his daily services in Georgia. The sacra-
ments are to be administered to those who, at least accord-
ing to the outward signs, seem qualified. The pastors are
authorized, according to God's Word, to forbid the com-
munion to those guilty of gross sin. They are not to re-
fuse to visit the sick, as soon as they are informed and
called for. The instruction of the children, both publicly
and privately, is made an important part of their duty.
They are also to have the supervision of the schools and
of the church library. They are to preside at or attend all
the meetings of the congregations. The meetings of synod,
called " the annual general church assembly," or '' con-
vention of regular ministers," they are required to attend,
unless their absence be justified by the most urgent neces-
sities, and they are also required to aid in supplying vacant
" United Congregations." No minister or student, not
examined, or regularly ordained and called " according to
our evangelical church government," is permitted to fill

CONGREGATIONAL CONSTITUTION. 265

the pulpit; but the pastors are permitted to allow "regu-
larly- called united pastors on a visit to preach for them,
for the encouragement of the congregation." Pastors
must be chosen on nomination of the church council, after
a trial sermon, and by a concurrent vote of two thirds of
the council and two thirds of the congregation ; an excep-
tion, however, is made if there be a difficulty to find a
pastor in America, where the power of the congregation
may be transferred, under certain limitations, to a consis-
torium or ministerium of the Lutheran Church in Europe.
The pastors are required to perform their ministerial acts
according to the liturgy already introduced, " until the
United Ministerium and the congregations regard it neces-
sary and profitable to provide a better one."

The perpetual right of the congregation to elect its
officers is estabhshed. The church council is made to
consist of the fourteen trustees, six elders, and six deacons
(yorsteJier), the two pastors being included in the trustees.
The trustees were to be chosen for Hfe, or until they should
prove themselves incompetent, or should resign. In 1791
this provision was changed so as to make the church coun-
cil consist only of the pastor, the elders, and the deacons.
The first constitution provided that all trustees, elders, and
deacons in office at the time when it was prepared should
be continued — the trustees as above, and the rest until
their successors should be elected for a term of three years.
The church council, on the day before each election, nom-
inated three times as many candidates as there were
vacancies to fill, and the election was then made from
these candidates by the congregation. In case one elected
declined, he was expected to pay " a considerable dona-
tion " into the treasury. Decisions in all important matters
must be made by two thirds of the church council and
confirmed by two thirds of the congregation.

266 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. xvi.

" The duties of the ruHng elders are, among others," the
setting of a good example ; the maintenance, in connec-
tion with the pastors, of pure doctrine and sound discipline ;
the payment of congregational debts, both principal and
interest ; providing for the support of the pastors ; super-
intending the keeping of accounts and their submission
to the trustees for audit; attending the school examina-
tions, and selecting one of their number as a delegate
to synod. "The duties of the vorstcJicr [deacons] are,
among others," the setting of a good example ; assistance
at public and special services, at the administration of the
Lord's Supper, and in the visitation of the sick; gathering
of the offerings and paying them to the elders ; maintain-
ing good order at pubHc worship ; collecting pew rents ;
etc. No complaints against pastors or other officers were
to be entertained unless sustained by two or three credible
witnesses.

The rights of members were to be conceded only to those
who were baptized ; who received the Lord's Supper; who
lived a Christian life ; who w^ere not engaged in any disrepu-
table occupation ; who contributed according to ability to
the support of the church, " be it little or much, though it
were only a cup of cold water" ; and who allowed them-
selves " to be corrected in brotherly love " when they do
wrong. 1

This constitution Is a lineal descendant of that of the
Lutheran Church in Amsterdam, through probably four
sources: i. Through the constitution of St. Mary's Savoy
Church, London, which is a revision of that of Amsterdam.
2. Through the constitution of the Georgia congregations,
which depends upon that of Savoy. 3. Through the con-

1 Constitution is printed in " Hallesche Nachrichten, " old ed., pp. 962-
971 ; condensed translation in Dr. Schmucker's " Organization of the Con-
gregation," etc. ; also, " Lutheran Church Review" for July, 1887.

THE FIRST LITURGY. 26 J

stitution of the Swedish churches in Pennsylvania and Del-
aware, organized in the seventeenth century by Fabritius
after the model of the Dutch church in New York which
he had served. 4. Through Muhlenberg's pastorate in the
Dutch Church in New York in 1751 and 1752.

Great stress is laid in the synodical as well as the con-
gregational constitution upon the uniform use of a liturgy.
This was one of the principal topics which occupied the
attention of the first meeting of the synod in 1 748. The
liturgy then adopted, which all were pledged to use in
their congregations, was not published until in the recent
edition of the Halle *' Reports," ^ but was current among
the pastors in manuscript. The history of this liturgy has
been traced by the most learned of Lutheran liturgiologists
in America, the late Dr. B. M. Schmucker.^ In a paper
presented before the synod in 1754 and then sent to Halle,
to which reference has been made before, Muhlenberg,
Brunnholtz, and Handschuh state concerning it that they
had made the Hturgy of the Savoy Church, London, its
basis, ''because we had no other at hand."^ It became,
however, a matter of surprise to this most competent of
liturgical critics to find that the Pennsylvania liturgy
shows little dependence upon the Savoy liturgy, but very
closely follows a family of Saxon and North German lit-
urgies. With these liturgies, which vary little from one
another, Muhlenberg's life in Germany had made him famil-
iar. They are the Liineburg order of 1643, used at his
home at Eimbeck ; the Calenberg of 1569, used at Got-
tingen during his student days ; the Brandenburg-Magde-

1 Pages 211 sqq. The Order of Morning Service is translated and printed
from Goering's MSS. by Dr. C. A. Hay, in his " Memoir of Goering, Loch-
man, and Kurtz," pp. 43 sqq,

2 " Lutheran Church Review," vol. i., pp. 16-27, 1 61-172.

3 Cf. supplementary statement in note from Muhlenberg's MS., " Hal-
lesche Nachrichten," new ed., p. 449.

268 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. xvi.

burg of 1739, used at Halle while he resided there; and
the Saxon of i 7 1 2, which he used when pastor at Grosshen-
nersdorf and which Zinzendorf also had at hand during his
career as Lutheran pastor and superintendent in Philadel-
phia. As only the Savoy liturgy was at hand, the order
of the various parts adopted was reproduced from memory.
Of the five variations which Dr. Schmucker has traced,
there is only one which is of any importance. A hymn
of invocation takes the place of the introit, and the con-
fession of sin precedes the kyrie. A similar confession of
sin occurs in the Calenberg and Saxon orders after the
sermon. Possibly the order of the Royal Chapel in Lon-
don, where Ziegenhagen was pastor, and in use also in
Georgia, where a German translation of the Book of Com-
mon Prayer was adopted, suggested the change of place.
The confessional prayer is that found in the Calenberg
liturgy.

This order was undoubtedly gradually formed during
the preceding years of the activity of the pastors before
its final shape as prepared at Providence (April 27-29,
1 748) and presented to the synod in 1 748, We know that
in the preceding year almost the same form was given to
Schaum when catechist at York.^ " We had heretofore
used a brief formula, but had nothing fixed and agreed
upon in all points, since we were awaiting the arrival of
more laborers, and to become better acquainted with the
circumstances of the country."

Concerning this order, the liturgical scholar before
quoted says :

The service reproduced in Pennsylvania is the old, well-defined, conserva-
tive service of the Saxon and North German liturgies. It is indeed the pure
biblical parts of the service of the Western Church for a thousand years

1 " Evangelical Review," vol. vii., p. 544; "Lutheran Diet" (1877),
P- 133-

THE LITURGY OF 174S. 269

before the Reforipation, with the modifications given it by the Saxon Re-
formers. It is the service of widest acceptation in the Lutheran Church of
middle and north Germany, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. ... It is
very fortunate for the Lutheran Church in America that the fathers gave
them at the beginning so pure and beautiful an Order of Service.!

Referring to the revision of this service as finally pub-
lished in 1 786, the same writer says :

These alterations in the Morning Service are all of a piece. Every one of
them is an injury to the pure Lutheran type of the old service. The chaste
liturgical taste of the fathers has become vitiated ; the accord of spirit with
the church of the Reformation is dying out gradually. The service of the
church is sinking slowly toward the immeasurable depths into which it after-
ward fell. The Order of Service of 1748 is beyond comparison the noblest
and purest Lutheran service which the church in America prepared or pos-
sessed until the publication of the Church Book. 2

We append a translation of this service, kindly furnished
by Dr. C. W. Schaeffer, who had prepared it for a portion
of the EngHsh translation of the '* Hallesche Nachrichten "
ye^ to be published.

CHURCH AGENDA (LITURGY) OF 1 748.

[The Agenda of 1748 was never printed; but each pastor provided himself
with a written copy for his own use. Two of these copies came into the
hands of the late Rev. Dr. J. W. Richards of Reading, who himself was a
descendant of the patriarch Muhlenberg. The oldest and most complete
copy came down from the hands of Pastor JACOB van Buskerk, and is from
the year 1763. It has the chapters and paragraphs numbered, while the
ritual and liturgical appointments are complete. The other copy is from the
hand of Pastor Peter Muhlenberg, who was in Dunmore County, Va., at
the time when this copy was written, that is, in 1769. Here the chapters
and paragraphs are not numbered. The directions for the several divisions
are not given in full ; but the liturgical material is complete.

What we here furnish in print is taken from the copy of Pastor Van Bus-
kerk, and varies from it only in certain unimportant parts, that have been

1 " Lutheran Church Review," vol. i., p. 171 sq.

2 /did., vol. i., p. 22.

2 70 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. xvi.

somewhat confused, the correction being supplied from the copy of Peter
Muhlenl:)erg. Notice of these variations is always given.

All the contents of the Liturgy are given, in regular order ; yet only the
more important parts are printed in full.]

CHAPTER I.

THE MANNER IN WHICH PUBLIC WORSHIP SHALL BE CONDUCTED IN ALL
OUR CONGREGATIONS.

^ I.
When the pastor enters the church the worship shall begin with the singing
of the hymn " Nun bitten wir den Heiligen Geist," either entire, or several
verses of it; or a verse of the hymn " Komm Heiliger Geist, Herre Gott."

After the singing of the hymn, or the verse, the pastor goes to the altar,
turns his face to the congregation, and says :

Beloved in the Lord!

Thus saith the High and Lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name
is Holy : I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite
and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart
of the contrite ones: I will not always chide, neither will I keep anger for-
ever : only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against
the Lord thy God.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to
cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Accompany me therefore in making confession of sins, saying :

I, a poor sinner, confess unto God, my heavenly Father, that I have griev-
ously and in various ways sinned against him ; not only by outward and gross
sins, but much more by inward blindness of heart, unbelief, doubt, despond-
ency, impatience, pride, selfishness, carnal lusts, avarice, envy, hatred, and
malice, and by other sinful passions which are naked and open in the sight
of my Lord and God, but which I, alas ! cannot so fully understand. But I
do sincerely repent, in deep sorrow, for these my sins ; and with my whole
heart I cry for mercy from the Lord, through his dear Son Jesus Christ,
being resolved, with the help of the Holy Ghost, to amend my sinful life.
Amen.

Lord God the Father in heaven, have mercy upon us. Lord God the
Son, Redeemer of the world, have mercy upon us. Lord God the Holy
Ghost, have mercy upon us and grant us Thy peace. Amen.

After the confession the hymn "AUein Gott in der Hoh sei Ehr " shall
be sung.

THE LITURGY OF 174S. 2JV

During the singing of the last verse the pastor goes to the altar, turns his
face to the congregation, and says :
The Lord be with you.
The congregation responds:
And with thy spirit.
The pastor says :
Let us pray.

Then he prays in the words of the collect which is appointed for the Sun-
day or the festival, in the Marburg Hymn-book. After the collect the lesson
from the epistle shall be read, being introduced with the following words :

Let us devoutly listen to the reading of the lesson for this day, from the,
etc.

^ 5-

Then shall be sung the principal hymn, selected by the pastor, from the
hymns in the Marburg Hymn-book — one familiar to the whole congregation.
The whole hymn, or only a part of it, shall be sung, as circumstances may
decide.

After the singing of the principal hymn the gospel lesson shall be read,
being introduced M'ith the same words as before the epistle. After the gos-
pel the pastor repeats devoutly the creed, in verse, " Wir glauben all." If
children are present to be baptized, the gospel and the creed are omitted.

Before the sermon the hymn " Liebster Jesu, wir sind hier," or " Herr
Jesu Christ, dich zu uns wend," is sung, either entire or in part.

Ordinarily, the sermon shall be limited to three quarters of an hour, or, at
the utmost, to one hour. If the pastor is moved to have an exordium or a
series of supplications before he begins the Lord's Prayer, he is at liberty to
do so. After the Lord's Prayer, as usual, [the gospel is read?] during which
reading the congregation shall stand. The sermon being concluded, nothing
else shall be read than the appointed church-prayer here following, or the
litany instead of it, by way of change ; and nothing but necessity shall occa-
sion its omission. . . .

After the general prayer petitions for the sick shall follow, in case request
has been made to that eflfect ; then shall follow the Lord's Prayer, and then
whatever proclamation and notices may be required. When all is done, the
pastor closes with the votum :

The peace of God, which passeth all understanding, keep your hearts and
minds, through Christ Jesus, unto eternal life. Amen.

M-
[This paragraph is taken from the copy of Peter Muhlenberg.]
Then a hymn shall be sung. After the sermon and the closing hymn the
pastor goes to the altar and says :

5 72 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. xvi.

The Lord be with you.

Cong. Resp. And with thy spirit.

Pastor, Let us pray.

Hold us up, O Lord, Lord our God, that we may live ; and let our hope
never make us ashamed. Help us by thy might, that we may wax strong;
and so shall we ever delight ourselves in thy statutes, through Jesus Christ
thy dear Son, our Lord. Amen.

After the sermon in the afternoon shall be sung the hymn "Ach, bleib bei
uns, Herr Jesu Christ." Then shall follow

The Benediction,
The Lord bless thee and keep thee, and give thee peace, in the name of the
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

Then a verse shall be sung at the close.

CHAPTER IL

OF BAPTISM AND WHAT IS TO BE OBSERVED AT ITS ADMINISTRATION.

[This agrees, nearly word for word, with the printed Liturgy of 1786.]
CHAPTER in.

OF PROCLAIMING THE BANS.

CHAPTER IV.

OF CONFESSION AND THE HOLY COMMUNION.

Ordinarily, whenever circumstances admit of it, the Supper of the Lord
shall be administered on Christmas, on Easter, on Pentecost. It may also
be administered at other times, as the necessities of the congregation may
demand.

The pastor shall give notice from the pulpit of the administration of the
Lord's Supper, one week or two weeks before the time of its celebration.
To this notice he shall add a short exhortation, and at the same time he shall
inform the people as to the day when they shall report themselves to him
and have their names recorded.

The pastor shall keep a register of the communicants,' which is to continue
in the care of the congregation.

In case the pastor should know that, among those who call upon him to
report their names for the Holy Communion, there is one or more who are
living in strife, or occasioning public scandal, and his own influence should

THE LITURGY OF 174S. 2/3

not be sufficient to remedy the evil, he may call ths vestry of the congrega-
tion together, and direct such offenders to appear before them, with their plea
and answer.

§5.

On the day before the administration of the Lord's Supper, and at the hour
appointed by the pastor, the communicants shall all assemble in the church,
when the following order shall be observed :

1. A penitential hymn, or a hymn suited to the object of the meeting, shall
be sung.

2. After the hymn the pastor, speaking from the pulpit, exhorts the peo-
ple to repentance ; and in the application makes use of what he may have
observed and learned about their spiritual state at the time when they reported
their names.

3. After the Lord's Prayer the pastor reads aloud the names of the com-
municants that have been reported to him.

4. After the reading of the names a verse is sung, and the pastor goes
before the altar and receives and writes the names of those persons w-ho, for
satisfactory reasons, could not report themselves before.

5. Then the pastor calls upon the male communicants first, to come before
him, and addresses to them the following questions :

I now ask you, in the presence of the omniscient God, and upon the testi-
mony of your own conscience :

I, 2. [The first two questions have been retained unchanged in all subse-
quent editions of the Pennsylvania Liturgy.]

3. I ask you : Whether you are fully resolved, with the help of God, to
yield yourselves entirely to the gracious direction of the Holy Spirit, by his
word ; in order that by the power, the help, and the grace of the same, sin
may be subdued in you, the old man with his evil deeds and corrupt affections
be weakened and overcome by daily sorrow and repentance, and that you may
win a complete victory over the world and all its allurements?

If this be your serious purpose, confess it and answer. Yes.

4. Finally, I ask you : Whether any one of you yet has, in his heart, any
complaint against another?

6. After these questions are answered then the pastor and all of them to-
gether kneel down, when one of the communicants leads in repeating the
confession of sin aloud, the pastor himself adding a short ejaculation thereto.

[The copy of Van Buskerk has no form of confession for this act ; but the
Muhlenberg copy supplies the following.]

I, a poor sinner, confess unto God, my heavenly Father, that I have griev-
ously and in various ways sinned against him, not only by outward, etc. ; • . •
with the help of the Holy Ghost to amend my sinful life. Amen. [The
same as under § 2.]

7. The pastor pronounces the absolution in the following words :

Upon this confession of sin which you have now made, I, a minister of
my Lord Jesus Christ, hereby declare, to all them who are truly penitent and

2 74 ^^-^ LUTHERANS. [Chap. xvi.

heartily believe in Jesus Christ, and are sincerely resolved, in heart, to amend
their lives and daily to grow in grace, to them I declare the forgiveness of all
their sins ; in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.
Amen.

But, on the other hand, I declare to all who are impenitent, to the hypo-
critical as well as the openly ungodlv, and I testify, by the Word of God,
and in the name of Jesus, that so long as they continue in their impenitent
state, loving sin and hating righteousness, God will not forgive their sins,
but retains their sins against them, and will assuredly punish and condemn
them for their iniquities, in the end, except they turn to him, now, in this
day of grace ; except they sincerely forsake all their evil ways, and come to
Christ in true repentance and faith ; which we heartily pray they may do.
Amen.

Then the service shall close with the singing of a verse, and the pastor
pronouncing the benediction.

[Here a leaf is missing from the Van Buskerk copy, that contained all of
the Retentio, after the words " openly ungodly," and the beginning of the
order for the Holy Communion. The missing portions are supplied from
the Muhlenberg copy. The Van Buskerk copy, which is defective in Sections
6 and 7, begins again in Section 8.]

THE HOLY COMMUNION.

The minister goes before the altar, places the bread and the wine in order,
then turns to the congregation and says :

Minister. The Lord be with you.
Congregation. And with thy spirit.
Minister. Let us lift up our hearts,
Congregation. We lift them up unto the Lord.
Minister. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Sabaoth.
Congregation. The whole world is full of his glory.

$8.
Before the communion the pastor addresses the communicants in the ex-
hortation here following.

Beloved in the Lord !

[Here follows Luther's Paraphrase of the Lord's Prayer, and his exhorta-
tion to the sacrament, exactly as it occurs in his " Deutsche Messe " (Ger-
man Communion) of 1526.]

The pastor turns his face to the bread and wine, and repeats the Lord's
Prayer and the words of institution.

Let us pray : Our Father, etc.

Our Lord Jesus Christ in the night ... in remembrance of me.

THE LITURGY OF 1748. 2 75

§ lO.
Then the pastor turns to the congregation and says :

Now let all those who are found to be prepared, by the experience of sin-
cere repentance and faith, approach, in the name of the Lord, and receive
the Holy Supper.

$ II.
In giving the bread the pastor shall say these words :

Take and eat: this is the true^ body of your Lord Jesus Christ, given unto
death for you ; may this strengthen you in the true faith unto everlasting life.
Amen.

In giving the cup :

Take and drink ; this is the true blood of your Lord Jesus Christ, of the
New Testament, shed for you for the forgiveness of your sins, unto everlast-
ing life. Amen.

% 12.

The communion being finished, the pastor shall say :

Oh give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good : Hallelujah.

The congregation responds :

And his mercy endureth forever : Hallelujah.

Then the pastor says the following collect :

We give thee thanks, O gracious God, our heavenly Father, because thou
hast refreshed us with these thy salutary gifts ; and we humbly beseech thee
to strengthen us, through tha same, in faith toward thee, and in fervent love
toward one another, through Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour. Amen.

Receive the blessing of the Lord.

The Lord bless thee and keep thee, etc. Amen.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

CHAPTER V.

THE BURIAL OF THE DEAD.

[This form is much more extended than what occurs in later editions.]

With this the interesting liturgy of 1748 comes to an
end. Both copies have forms for baptism and for the
marriage ceremony taken from the prayer-book of the
Church of England. The Muhlenberg copy has also a
German translation of the morning prayer and the form
for marriage as found in the Anglican liturgy.

1 The insertion of " tfue " was a concession to Revs. Wagner, Stoever,
etc. See Mann's "Life of Muhlenberg," pp. 185 sqq.

CHAPTER XVII.

RELATION OF MUHLENBERG AND HIS ASSOCIATES
TO OTHER COMMUNIONS.

The entire life and activity of the founders of the
Ministerium of Pennsylvania were such as could admit of
no doubt concerning their fidelity to the Lutheran Church.
They were Lutherans in cioctrine, in practice, in spirit.
It was not their calling to be scholastic theologians, or to
spend their time in detecting, classifying, and arranging
the various specimens of error current around them in the
different forms of religious life in the New World. They
were practical men, endeavoring to meet the demands of
a great crisis. But, at the same time, they never allowed
their confessional position to be concealed. Everywhere
and at all times they spake and taught and preached as
Lutherans. They never could have maintained friend-
ship with any one at the price of being silent concern-
ing any Lutheran doctrine, or of being regarded not true
to the full consequences to which their confession com-
mitted them. They were not the highest models of the
full joyousness of the Christian life and the sense of lib-
erty in bondage to faith, found in Christ's service, such as
the first period of the Reformation produced. Their judg-
ment was by no means infallible. In some more, in others
less, and in Muhlenberg more in his earlier than in his
later years, the weaker elements of Pietism may be traced.
But this only colored, it did not destroy, their Lutheran
character. The discriminative biographer of Muhlenberg

276

THE LIMITS OF LIBERALITY. 2'J'J

has well said it is a question *' whether without the Pie-
tistic element in his spiritual framework he would have been
that warm-hearted, self-denying, energetic, and humble
servant in the cause of the Master. Pietism was the form
under which, in those years, warm-hearted godliness almost
exclusively existed in Germany. . . . He could not abso-
lutely escape the influence of its weaker points ; its strong
ones never found a worthier or a more energetic and suc-
cessful representative." ^ But in another publication he
has also said : " Beyond any possible doubt, Muhlenberg
was by no means blind as to the weak points and the
dangerous one-sidedness of Pietism." ^

The perfect naturalness and frank sincerity of their
Lutheran convictions made them indifl"erent to inferences
from their conduct, concerning which others would have
been more painfully exact, whose regard for the reputa-
tion of maintaining, might sometimes exceed their regard
for the real possession of the Lutheran faith. They were
not, on the one hand, men of such broad liberality as to
ignore the existence of ecclesiastical distinctions ; their
pulpits were occupied only by ministers authorized and
indorsed by the pastors of the United Congregations. No
one, not even members of their own congregations, received
the Lord's Supper without a personal conference with the
pastor. But, on the other hand, they were not only
courteous but cordial, and sometimes even intimate, with
many Christians outside of the Lutheran Church. Their
very fidehty to the Lutheran faith rendered them glad to
recognize the most vital and important elements in that
faith wherever found.

Where the zeal of men led them into schemes for what
was regarded as overthrowing or confusing the faith of

1 " Life and Times of Muhlenberg" (Mann), p. 393.
^ " Lutheran Church Review," vol. v., p. 157.

278 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. xvii.

Lutheran Christians, or of leading them from its care and
supervision, no reputation for devotion to Christ sheltered
them against the condemnations of these loyal Lutheran
pastors. Muhlenberg, Acrelius, and Wrangel are, for
these reasons, most pronounced in their declarations
against Moravianism. To Muhlenberg, Zinzendorf — what-
ever might be his conceded excellences — appeared to be
the very incarnation of confessional indifferentism, and of
the unionism which ignored the historical development of
the church upon fixed principles. All the friendship he
showed to others was upon the assumption that they were
as faithful to the confessional position of their churches as
he was to his.

His intimate relation with the ministers of the Church
of England can be readily explained. The Lutherans and
EpiscopaHans had like legal recognition as churches, while
other denominations were without it. In England the
accession of the House of Hanover had rendered friend-
ship to Lutheranism more than usually cordial. The
relation of Ziegenbalg to the Church of England and to
the Lutherans in America formed a common bond. The
intimacy between the Swedes and the representatives of
the Church of England must also be taken into consider-
ation. There was no rivalry or conflict. The Church of
England never thought of sending German missionaries to
the German or Swedish missionaries to the Swedish Luth-
erans. The regularity of the call and commission of the
pastors from Halle was never questioned among them.
Muhlenberg wrote to the Lutherans of Nova Scotia in
1 771, that he had preached in an Episcopal Church,^ and
the language may mean that he did so more than once.
His junior contemporary, successor, and son-in-law, wrote
in 1797 :

1 In Roth's "Acadie and the Acadians," p. 297.

MUHLENBERG AND EPISCOPALIANS. 279

There is not a great difference in point of doctrine in all the Protestant
churches. . . . With the Church of England, however, the Lutherans have
and ever had a closer connection than with others, owing to a more perfect
similarity in church government, festival days, ceremonies, and even some
particulars in doctrine. The Episcopalian Church, indeed, does not call
itself after Luther's name ; but even the church called the Lutheran has not
that name by legal and public sanctions. In public acts it is called the Evan-
gelical Church. . . . The Reformed Church of England was, under Edward
VL and Queen Elizabeth, so modeled and modified that it bore the nearest
relation to the church established in Sweden, Denmark, Saxony, Prussia,
Hanover, Wiirtemberg, etc. The Lutherans have bishops, superintendents,
seniors, and inspectors. The Thirty-nine Articles fully agree with the
Augustan Confession, and every Lutheran can subscribe them. The two
German chaplains at St. James use a German translation of the English
liturgy. The King of Great Britain, as a Lutheran, is the head of the
Church of Hanover, and one of his princes, on this account, is entitled to the
bishopric of Osnaburg. At the accession of George L the agreement of both
churches was, by a conference of English and German divines, investigated
into and pronounced to be as perfect as possible, which removed the doubts
of their king, who is said to have declared that he would not renounce his
religion for a crown, l

We have before noticed the circumstances under which
there may have been, for a short time, some disposition on
the part of the Halle missionaries to have welcomed some
sort of organic union with the English Church. This was
in no way influenced by any doubt of the validity of their
ministry, or with the view of renouncing their character
as Lutherans. As we Igok back, the inconsistency of that
temporary position seems more and more surprising,
especially in men who could expose so well the fallacy of
a similar scheme on the part of Zinzendorf. Had they
entered the Church of England they would have persuaded
themselves that they were so doing while remaining true
to the faith of their church. Muhlenberg's position, there-
fore, was :

Our nearest and best friends and well-wishers are the upright, pious teach-
ers, elders, and members of the Established Church. They love, protect,
and stand by us wherever they can, and we in turn do for them, out of love,

1 Preface to " Six Sermons of Lawrence V. Buskerk," vol. i., p. 5.

28o THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. xvii.

whatever lies in our power. They favor us and give us perfect liberty, ac-
cording to the Word of God, both to teach and to live according to the articles
of our faith. We accord to them, cheerfully, the preference, because they
have the mother-church which is established by law. Their articles of faith
have been extracted from the Word of God as well as ours ; their church
prayers are taken from the Holy Bible as well as ours ; they have the two
holy sacraments, baptism and the Lord's Supper, as well as we ; their ex-
planations of their articles of faith are as good Evangelical Lutheran as one
could wish them to be ; in a Avord, the doctrines of the English Established
Church are more closely allied to ours than those of any other denomination
in the wide world. We, therefore, have always studied to live in harmony
with them.^

The great founder of the Lutheran Church in America
was giving away far more than he was conscious of.

The reports of the EngHsh missionaries and others to
the authorities in London contain a number of references
to a possible union with the Lutherans. The EngUsh
Church in Pennsylvania was numerically weak, and felt
greatly its relative insignificance. Thus a report to the
Bishop of London, in 1761, states that out of 280,000
white inhabitants 65,000 were church people, and then
adds, in a footnote, that of these 40,000 were Swedes and
German Lutherans, *' who reckon their service the same
as that of the church."^ \\\ 1764 Thomas Barton wrote
to the Society for the Propagation of Religion in Foreign
Parts, that the German Lutherans " had frequently in
their coetuses proposed a union with the Church of Eng-
land." This statement is an error. The " coetus " was a
German Reformed body. Had there been any synodical
action, we would be able to trace it. It may have been
incidentally introduced in the discussions. He continues :

Several of the clergy with whom I have conversed are desirous of address-
ing his Grace, my Lord Bishop of Canterbury, and my Lord Bishop of York

1 Letter to Nova Scotia (Nov. 15, 1771), Roth's "Acadie and the Aca-
dians," p. 296 sq.

2 Quoted in Wilberforce's " Protestant Episcopal Church in America,"

WR ANGEL REMOVED. 28 1

upon this subject. . . . The Germans in general are well affected to the
Church of England, and might easily be brought over to it. A law obliging
them to give their children an English education . . . would soon have this
effect. 1

When, in 1766, Brycelius went to London to receive
from the Church of England what would be regarded by-
it a more vaHd ordination, in order to labor among the Ger-
mans in Nova Scotia, Provost Smith of the University of
Pennsylvania suggested to the Bishop of London that to
make such a requirement of the Lutherans in America was
very impolitic ; and respectfully submitted the question as
to whether they could not be received '' without this." ^

When Dr. Wrangel was recalled to Sweden, it occa-
sioned a great stir among the Swedish churches. Nearly
three years transpired before he left. His close connection
with the German ministers and active participation in all
their movements seem to have been unsatisfactory to his
Swedish colleagues, and to have induced the complaints
which brought to him very unexpectedly, in May, 1765, a
letter of recall. The members of his congregations resented
the act of the Swedish authorities as an unjustifiable inter-
ference. There was much said concerning renouncing all
allegiance to a foreign church which assumed, without a
trial, to tear away a beloved pastor from a people devotedly
attached to him, and with whom he was wiUing to spend
his life. It was seriously proposed to petition the Bishop
of London to take the congregations of Wicaco, King-
sessing, and Upper Merion into his care, and ask him to
appoint Dr. Wrangel as the pastor, '' to officiate conform-
ably to the Hturgy of the Church of England." ^ When

1 " Papers Relating to the History of the Church in Pennsylvania," by
William Stevens Perry, D.D. (1871), p. 367.

2 Ibid., p. 412.

3 Resolutions (not offered) from Muhlenberg's diary. " Lutheran Church
Review," vol. xii., p. 199.

282 THE LUTHERANS, [Chap. xvii.

Dr. Wrangel left, he went home by way of England, car-
rying with him an important letter of introduction to the
Bishop of London from the Rev. Richard Peters. We do
not know whether Wrangel was informed of the contents
of the letter, and, therefore, whether it correctly states
Wrangel's position. The project may have been to unite
the smaller body with the great body of Lutherans, and
to have obtained the sanction of the Bishop of London to
this. The one theory is as plausible as the other.

Dr. Wrangel wants to take a just advantage of this general antipathy to the
Presbyterians, and to unite the great body of Lutherans and Swedes with the
Church of England, who, you know, are but few and in mean circumstances
in this province, but, were they united with the German Lutherans, we should
both become respectable. This Dr. Smith and I think may be done by the
means of our academy. We might have a professorship of divinity opened
in it wherein German and English youth might be educated, and by having
both languages as a part of their education they might preach both in Ger-
man and English in such places where there is a mixture of both nations.
This would conciliate us all and make us live and love as one nation. It is
a happy thought. I wish your lordship would talk with Dr. Wrangel and
encourage it all you can.i

Twelve years later, when the Revolutionary War had
severed the connection from the mother-church, and Epis-
copahanism in Pennsylvania was reduced to the merest
shadow, application was made to the senior of the Minis-
terium of Pennsylvania, by the Perkiomen parish of Epis-
copahans, for advice concerning the manner in which to
procure a properly ordained rector. A young man (Mr.
John Wade) was sent to him for examination. Having
found him *' sound in doctrine, agreeable with the Thirty-
nine Articles of the Church," and ** tolerably versed in
reading and explaining parts of the New Testament in
Greek," Muhlenberg (August 6, 1779) urged that he be
chosen by the parish. The ordination, he suggests, could

1 Ibid., p. 433.

MUHLENBERG ON EPISCOPACY. 283

be procured from *' a united Protestant ministry " as well
as from the Episcopacy. His precise words are of impor-
tance, since they express very clearly his opinion concern-
ing the office and prerogatives of diocesan bishops, and
showed that whatever may have been his inclination at
times for a union between the bodies, it was not in any
way determined by any preference for Episcopal authority.

The further examination and ordination may be easily obtained, if not by a
bishop, yet by a regular united Protestant ministry, which is the nearest
related to your Episcopal Church. For it is my humble opinion that in the
present critical junctures an examination and ordination of a regular Protest-
ant ministry may do as well as an Episcopal one. And since there is yet no
Episcopal jurisdiction established by law in the independent States of North
America, why should congregations be less destitute of the necessary means
of salvation, be neglected and destroyed only for want of an Episcopal ordi-
nation ? which is but a piece of pious ceremony, a form of godliness empty of
power, and may be of service where it is established by law, though it does
not appertain to the essential parts of the holy function l itself. In the Prim-
itive Christian Church, the ambassadors and ministers of Christ could impart
extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost unto believing candidates by prayers
and laying their hands upon them, but this prerogative is not continued, and,
while we may controvert forever about apostolical and Episcopal succession,
experience shows too plainly that neither Episcopal nor ministerial nor
Presbyterial ordination doth infuse any natural and supernatural gifts and
qualities ; otherwise we should not find so many counterfeited ministers,
refined hypocrites, and grievous wolves in the Christian Church on earth. 2

^ The ordination of Muhlenberg's eldest son, Rev. (after-
ward Major-General) Peter Muhlenberg, in London, in
1772, illustrates still further the principles which had
been current concerning some form of union with the
Church of England. The younger Muhlenberg had been
called to the pastorate of Lutheran congregations in Vir-
ginia. He could not be recognized by the laws of that
colony as a minister, unless he would submit to Episcopal

' Muhlenberg has in mind the German word "Amt," which he would
have expressed more correctly in English by " ministry."

2 MS. in Muhlenberg's papers. " Lutheran Church Review," vol. xii.,
p. 203 sq.

284 ^HE LUTHERANS. [Chap. xvil.

ordination. For that purpose he went to England, and,
with Rev. Wilham White, afterward Bishop of the Prot-
estant Episcopal Church in Pennsylvania, received ordina-
tion from the Bishop of London, after examination and
subscription to the Thirty-nine Articles. But by this
transaction it is wrong to infer that he intended to re-
nounce his character as a Lutheran minister. It is a
great inconsistency, but there seems to have been an
understanding on both sides that this position was to be
allowed. During his stay in London, before and after
the ordination, his associations were principally with the
Lutheran pastors. Although he did not visit the then
enfeebled Dr. Ziegenhagen until after the ordination, and
then received from him a decided protest against his
course, nevertheless his first act, on reaching London,
was to report to Dr. Wachsel of St. George's Lutheran
Church. Five of the six Sundays that he spent in
London, he attended morning service in one of the
Lutheran churches. He preached, after his ordination,
not in one of the English churches, but in the Savoy
Lutheran Chapel. The most frequent names in his
journal are those of Revs. Wachsel, Burgmann, and
Pasche.i It ought to be enough that, years afterward,
he wrote :

Brethren, we have been born, baptized, and brought up in the Evangelical
Lutheran Church. Many of us have vowed before God and the congrega-
tion, at our confirmation, to live and die by the doctrine of our church. In
the doctrine of our church we have our joy, our brightest joy ; we prize it the
more highly since, in our opinion, it agrees most with the doctrine of the
faithful and true witnesses of our Saviour Jesus Christ. We wish nothing
more than that we and our children and our children's children and all our
posterity may remain faithful to this doctrine. 2

1 Journal of Rev. Peter Muhlenberg, 1772. " Lutheran Church Review,"
vol. iv., p. 294 sq.

2 Signed as president to a circular to the members of the Evangelical
Lutheran Church of Philadelphia, March 14, 1804.

WHAT IS ORDINATION? 285

The whole aim seemed to be to obtain a recognition of
the legitimacy of the separate organization of the Lu-
theran Church in America on the part of the ecclesiastical
authorities in England. This was especially induced by
the impending change of language. ^While the congrega-
tions were German, there was less need of such formal
recognition ; but as the English language, which the
younger Muhlenberg had preached statedly in New Jer-
sey, was entering, some recognition of the entire regular-
ity of the Lutheran organizations was deemed by some a
matter of importance. Such it was to a greater extent in
Virginia than in Pennsylvania. However it may be ex-
plained, it is clear that those thus ordained regarded them-
selves none the less Lutheran than before. Dr. Kunze
says :

The bishops of London have never made a difficulty to ordain Lutheran
divines, when called to congregations w^hich, on account of being connected
with English Episcopalians, made this ordination requisite. Thus by bishops
of London the following Lutheran ministers were ordained : Bryselius, Peter
Muhlenberg, Illing, Hauseal, and Wagner. The last-mentioned was called,
after having obtained this ordination, to an Evangelical Lutheran congrega-
tion in the Margraviate of Anspach in Germany.

There has always been within the Lutheran Church,
since the controversy concerning Frederus .at the Refor-
mation period, a difference of opinion concerning the
nature of ordination. We must, therefore, understand
those Lutheran pastors who submitted to Episcopal ordi-
nation as not holding a very high position concerning the
rite. They probably regarded it, according to a very
widespread view, simply as a confirmation of the call of
their churches, and deemed it very appropriate if that call
would receive the widest recognition and confirmation
possible. They had no question as to the validity of their
preceding Lutheran ordination, and might, even after re-
ceiving ordination at London, have resorted to Halle for

286 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. xvii.

a similar ceremony if it would have been deemed expedi-
ent. The nephew and biographer of Peter Muhlenberg
gives us one of the chief reasons for resorting to the
Bishop of London : ** In order that he could enforce the
payment of tithes." ^

Amidst the embarrassments of the Revolutionary War,
Rev. William White, the organizer of the Protestant Epis-
copal Church, requested a conference with the Ministerium
of Pennsylvania with reference to a union. The minutes
of 1 781 state that his request was complied with. The
synod acted, however, with great caution. The confer-
ence did not form a part of the proceedings, or occur in
connection with the sessions. Mr. White was invited to
meet the pastors in Dr. Helmuth's house, where no result
followed the friendly interview. Dr. H. M. Muhlenberg,
Hartwig, Krug, Voigt, Schultze, Helmuth, Schmidt, Van
Buskirk, Kunze, and the two younger Muhlenbergs (F.
A. and H. E.) were the more prominent members at this
session. Two years later, Mr. Wade, above mentioned,
was examined by the ministerium and recommended to
study during the succeeding year under Muhlenberg, Sr.,
Schmidt, Helmuth, Kunze, and Streit, with especial refer-
ence to the doctrines of baptism, the Lord's Supper, and
predestination.^ Mr. Wade afterward became the first
Episcopal associate rector of the Swedish churches.

The pastors of the first period of the ministerium were
on friendly relations with Whitefield. Dr. Wrangelinter-
ested himself in securing for him an invitation to meet
with the members of the ministerium during the sessions
of 1763.'^ In urging this proposition Wrangel did not
forget the collections which Whitefield had made in Eu-

^ " Life of Major-General Muhlenberg," by H. A. Muhlenberg, p. 34.

2 MS. in " Minutes of Ministerium of Pennsylvania" (1783), p. 7.

3 " Hallesche Nachrichten," old ed., p. 1122.

IVHITEFIELD PREACHES IN ZION'S. 287

rope for the Impoverished Salzburgers. The presence of
a man who had pleaded eloquently in English pulpits for
contributions to build Lutheran churches in Georgia, and
with that eminent success which Benjamin FrankHn has
noted in a well-known passage in his autobiography, cer-
tainly deserved recognition, even apart from Whitefield's
services in awakening life in the Church of England and
in America. 1 But he was not in any way an advisory
member of the synod. He was present at the examina-
tion of the children of St. Michael's Church before the
synod, made a fervent prayer and an edifying address.
On the next day he bade the synod farewell, and re-
quested the prayers of its members.^ The next year he
was in attendance at the funeral of Pastor Handschuh.
In 1770 (May 27th) he preached by special invitation in
Zion's Church.^ As the circumstances have been the
subject of dispute, Muhlenberg's journal may here state
the facts.

Friday, May 25th. . . . Because I could not do otherwise, I wrote a few
lines to Rev. Mr. Whitefield, stating if he would preach for me on next Sun-
day night in Zion's Church it would be acceptable to me.

Sunday, May 27th. . . . Early in the evening Zion's Church was filled
with English and Germans of religions of all sorts. We two preachers went
to Mr. Whitefield's lodging and took him with us to the church, which was
so crowded that we had to take him in through the tower door. . . . He
complained of cold and hoarseness contracted at the morning service, but
preached with considerable acceptance from 2 Chron. vii. I, "Of the outer
and the inner glory of the house of God," He introduced some impressive
remarks concerning our fathers — Francke and Ziegenhagen, etc.*

1 " He was an evangelist of forgotten or ignored doctrines of the gospel; a
witness excluded from many pulpits of his own church because of his earnest-
ness in preaching the truth ; in some sense a martyr. This invested him with
interest in the eyes of our fathers, and his love to the Lutheran Church and
his services to it made him very dear." — Dr. C. P. Krauth, " Proceedings of
First Lutheran Diet," p. 290.

2 " Hallesche Nachrichten," old ed., p. 131.

3 Mann's " Life of Muhlenl^erg," p. 406.

* MS. in "Archives of Ministerium of Pennsylvania."

288 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. xvii.

Rev. Richard Peters, also a clergyman of the Church
of England, was a frequent visitor at Muhlenberg's house,
and preached in his pulpit, both at The Trappe ^ and, in
1 769, at the consecration of Zion's Church,- in the presence
of the ministerium. At the latter occasion, all of " the
high-church" clergy were present in their vestments, and
the prayers were read by Rev. Mr. Duchee, Dr. Muhlen-
berg concluding the service with an address. "^ The same
year Muhlenberg was made one of the trustees of the
Society for the Relief of Widows and Children of Clergy-
men of the same church.

Of the Presbyterians, the names of the two Tennents,
Gilbert and William, appear most frequently among the
friends of Muhlenberg. At a dinner which the members
of the ministerium had in common during the meeting of
1763, Rev. Gilbert Tennent presided, and, as the account
says, '' refreshed us with his edifying discourse." "* Presi-
dent Finley of Princeton College was also present. When
Muhlenberg took temporary charge in New York City, he
visited the clergymen of the principal churches and an-
nounced his presence and purposes. Among those with
whom he thus becamie acquainted, and who returned his
visits, was Rev. Ebenezer Pemberton, D.D. A long argu-
ment they had on repentance and faith, and as to whether
the Lutheran definitions were sufficiently accurate, has been
recorded.^

With Rev. Michael Schlatter, who was to the Reformed
churches of Pennsylvania what Muhlenberg was to the
Lutheran, there was a thorough understanding. The

1 " Hallesche Nachricliten," old ed., p. 850.

2 Ibid., p. 1247 sq.

3 For various explanations of these facts, see discussions in " Proceedings
of First Lutheran Diet," pp. 283-291.

4 " Hallesche Nachrichten," old ed., p. 1 129.

5 Und., p. 459.

MICHAEL SCHLATTER. 289

month after his arrival, in 1 746, Schlatter visited Muhlen-
berg at The Trappe, in order to advise with him. No
shadow seems to have ever darkened their friendship,
amidst circumstances where nothing would have been
easier than a collision and a break. Schlatter married a
daughter of one of the most prominent Lutheran laymen,
Henry Schleydorn, who has already been mentioned sev-
eral times. At Muhlenberg's funeral Schlatter was among
the mourners. How they strictly maintained the confes-
sional distinctions without destroying their cordiality and
cooperation is illustrated by an incident at Barren Hill in
I 762. The Lutheran pastor conducted service in the then
partly built church, and preached to his own congregation,
and to a number of the Reformicd who were present to
receive the Lord's Supper. After the sermon the Re-
formed pastor made a communion address. The audience
was then dismissed, the Reformed repairing to the school-
house, where Schlatter administered the communion to his
own people.^ The evils of union churches Muhlenberg
appreciated and describes ; ^ but did not hesitate to allow
the Reformed to use one of his own churches at times
when it would otherwise be unoccupied.^ He preached
the funeral sermon of the Reformed pastor Steiner, in
Philadelphia.'* Never hesitating to enter the pulpits of
other denominations where there was no warfare against
or antagonism to his own church or denial of its truly
Scriptural character, he was faithful at the same time in
preaching, maintaining, and defending the Word of God
as taught in the Lutheran confessions ; but he had too
high a regard for the pulpit to make it a place in which
to exhibit polemical zeal.

1 " Hallesche Nachricliten," old ed., p. 895 sq. 2 Ibid., p. 227 sq.

3 Mann's "Life of Muhlenberg," p. 452.

4 Ibid., p. 390; " Hallesche Nachrichten," old ed., p. 922 sq.

CHAPTER XVIII.

INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL GROWTH ; DECLINE OF
THE SWEDISH CHURCHES.

Steadily, above and beneath all the discouragements
and seeming confusion, the Lutheran Church was growing
in numbers and in organization. New congregations were
formed, and new laborers, however inadequate to what
seemed necessary, were added. Muhlenberg towers above
all his contemporaries, not simply as a leader but also as
the spokesman of his brethren. It must not be imagined
that his will and preference determined in all things the
course of the united pastors amidst the circumstances by
which Providence surrounded them. He knew how to
follow, and,' for this reason, he knew also how to lead.
There were certain fixed principles with respect to which
he was as firm as adamant ; as to the mode of their appli-
cation, he was a most careful student of the circumstances
of time and place, and of the gifts, the attainments, the
expressed wishes, and even the prejudices of those with
whom he dealt. His most cherished plans repeatedly en-
countered most effectual checks ; but he knew how to
revise his plans and to utilize new elements, which his
experience was constantly teaching him. Defeats only
summoned him to concentrate his powers in a new direction.
Every detail of the situation was not only kept in view,
but faithfully recorded in his journal. From the recon-
vening of the synod, in 1760, there was no further break
in its meetings. It lost its exclusively Hallean type by

290

MUHLENBERG'S COTEMPORARIES. 29 1

the introduction of some who had previously been outside
of the circle, with the result that charges against which
Muhlenberg had 'to contend from without he then had to
meet within the synod. This was seen in the defense
which he most successfully made against the formal com-
plaints of Rev. Lucas Rauss in 1761, who questioned his
Lutheran character. It only brought from him the em-
phatic words :

I defy Satan, and all the lying spirits who serve him, to prove against me
anything in conflict with the doctrine of the apostles and prophets and of our
symbolical books. I have often and again said and written that I have found
in our Evangelical doctrine, founded on the apostles and prophets and set
forth in our symbolical books, neither error, fault, nor anything wanting.

The names of the chief, contemporaries of Muhlenberg
are : Peter Brunnholtz, pastor in Philadelphia, arrived
1744, died 1757; John Frederick Handschuh, pastor at
Lancaster, Philadelphia, and Germantown, born 17 14, ar-
rived 1748, died 1764; John Nicholas Kurtz, pastor at
Tulpehocken and York, arrived 1 744, died 1 794 ; John
Henry Schaum, pastor in New Jersey, at York, and in
Bucks, Montgomery, Lehigh, and Berks counties, Pa., ar-
rived 1744, died 1 7 18; John Albert Weygand, pastor in
New Jersey and New York City, arrived 1 748, retired
1767, died before May, 1770; Lucas Rauss, assistant in
Philadelphia, catechist on the Hudson, pastor at York and
in Montgomery County, Pa., born 1724, arrived 1749, died
1788 ; John Siegfried Gerock, a Wiirtemberger, and, there-
fore, most probably a relative of the great Wiirtemberg
preacher and poet of the present century, pastor at Lan-
caster, New York, and Baltimore, arrived 1753, died 1787;
Bernard Michael Hausihl (Hauseal), pastor at Frederick,
Md., Reading, and New York, born 1727, arrived 1752 or
1753, died 1799, his loyalty to the British having caused

292 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap, xviii.

his removal to Nova Scotia during the Revolutionary
War, where he officiated as an ordained clergyman of the
Church of England, in virtue of an ordination in England
in 1785, and, at the same time, like Peter Muhlenberg, as
a Lutheran pastor ;i John George Eager, pastor first in the
Palatinate, then in Lebanon and York counties, Pa., New
York and Baltimore, born 1725, arrived 1752, died 1791 ;
J. D. M. Heintzelmann, associate pastor in Philadelphia,
arrived 175 1, died 1756; Frederick Schultz, associate at
New Hanover, pastor in Montgomery County, and in
Nova Scotia, arrived 1751, in secular pursuits, and not
regarded a successful pastor; WiUiam Kurtz, a younger
brother of J. Nicholas, pastor at Tohicon, New Holland, and
Tulpehocken, arrived 1754, ordained 1761; C. F. Wild-
bahn, licensed 1762, the former part of his ministry being
spent at Frederick, Md., and in York County, Pa., and the
latter at Reading, from 1782 ; John Andrew Krug, pastor
in Reading, Pa., and Frederick, Md., son-in-law of Hand-
schuh, arrived 1764, died 1796; John L. Voigt, pastor at
Germantown, and in Chester and Montgomery counties.
Pa., arrived 1764, died 1800; Christian Emanual Schultze,
associate pastor in Philadelphia, and pastor at Tulpehocken,
the son-in-law of Muhlenberg and father of the Rev. and
afterward Governor John Andrew Schultze, of Pennsyl-
vania, arrived 1765, died 1809; John George Jung, pastor
in Franklin County, Pa., and Washington County, Md.,
arrived 1 768 ; Justus H. Chr. Helmuth, pastor at Lancaster
and Philadelphia, born 1745, arrived 1769, died 1825;
John Frederick Schmidt, pastor at Germantown and Phila-
delphia, born 1746, arrived 1769, died 181 2; John Chris-
topher Kunze, pastor in Philadelphia and New York,
son-in-law of Muhlenberg, born 1744, arrived 1770, died
1807. Of these, J. N. Kurtz, Schultze, Helmuth, and
1 " Hallesche Nachrichten, " new ed., notes, p. 635.

A NATIVE MINISTRY. 293

Kunze have left the deepest impression upon the succeed-
ing history of the church. The descendants of these pas-
tors have accompHshed much, not only for the church their
fathers came to serve,^ but have been eminent in litera-
ture, in science, and in the politics of the country. A few
have also been prominent in another communion. Nor
must it be forgotten that the pioneer German missionary
in Pennsylvania, John Caspar Stoever, whose service on the
territory of thirteen years prior to Muhlenberg had made
him averse to the latter's more rigid form of organization,
had united with the Ministerium of Pennsylvania in i 763.2
The beginning had been made of an American Lutheran
ministry. Jacob van Buskirk was the first Lutheran born
in America to devote himself to theological study. He
was a member of the New York Dutch Lutheran family
which has already been mentioned, and of the congrega-
tion at Hackensack, N. J. There can be no doubt that his
studying for the ministry was one of the fruits of Muhlen-
berg's stay in New York and Hackensack during the sum-
mers of 1 75 I and 1 752. He was born in 1 739, and studied
first under Pastor Weygand in New York, and then, from
the close of 1759 until April, 1762, with Muhlenberg.
After pastorates in Montgomery County, Germantown,
Lehigh and Chester counties, he died in 1800. Rev. Will-
iam Graaf, a native German, studied theology with Muhl-
enberg, and was prepared for a service of over forty years
in the State of New Jersey, ending with his death in 1809.
WilHam Kurtz, partially prepared at Halle, finished his
preHminary education under the same teacher.

1 An illustration is found in the fact that of the five members of the faculty
of Pennsylvania College when the writer was a student there, four were
descendants of pastors of the Ministerium of Pennsylvania during Muhlen-
berg's life. They were Drs. H. L. Baugher (Eager), F. A. Muhlenberg,
M. L. Stoever, and C. F. Schaeffer.

^ " Hallesche Nachrichten," old ed., p. 1128.

294 ^^-^ LUTHERANS. [Chap, xviii.

After Dr. Wrangel came, this duty was transferred to
him. He had in his house what might be regarded a the-
ological seminary in a primitive form, with three students
" — Peter Muhlenberg, who had previously studied in Ger-
many, and took charge in New Jersey after being licensed
in 1 769 ; Daniel Kuhn, son of a prominent member of the
Lancaster congregation, and who, for a short time, served
the congregation at Middletown, Pa. ; and Christian Streit,
a member of one of the New Jersey congregations, who, after
entrance into the ministerium in 1769, served congrega-
tions at Easton, Charleston, S. C, New Hanover, and
Winchester, Va. Two other sons of Muhlenberg were
ordained in 1770, after a thorough training at Halle.
Frederick Augustus, after a pastorate at Lebanon and
New York, and founding the New York Ministerium, be-
came a member of Congress, and the speaker of the first
and third House of Representatives, as well as president
of the Pennsylvania Convention on the Federal Consti-
tution. The distinguished Rev. Dr. William Augustus
Muhlenberg, known as the founder of St. Luke's Hospital
and an order of deaconesses in the Episcopal Church,
and author of several standard hymns, was his grandson.
Henry Ernst was only seventeen years old when ordained.
He was first assistant pastor in Philadelphia, then in New
Jersey, then again in Philadelphia, until he was driven
thence by the capture of the city by the British, and then
pastor at Lancaster from 1780 until his death, in 1815.
His distinction as a botanist was not confined to this
country, and among his correspondents and visitors was
Alexander von Humboldt.

In I 769 the idea of the establishment of a seminary in
Philadelphia was suggested at the meeting of the minis-
terium. It gained strength with the arrival of so com-
petent a scholar as Kunze the next year, who was subse-

VIRGINIA. 295

quently professor both in the University of Pennsylvania
and in Columbia College, New York. An academy was
established to lay the foundation, but the project vanished
with the outbreak of the Revolutionary struggle, not to
be forgotten, but to be deferred for realization ninety
years afterward. The Orphans' Home which Muhlenberg
had in view, to be located somewhere in the neighborhood
of Chestnut Hill or Barren Hill, was also deferred until
after the middle of the succeeding century, when it act-
ually came into being only a few miles distant from the
spot contemplated.

The field had extended so that, in 1771, Muhlenberg
reports in Pennsylvania and in the adjacent provinces sev-
enty congregations, 'Marge and small." ^ Many of the
more enterprising of the Pennsylvania Germans had years
before pressed toward the frontiers of their State, and
then followed the prolongation of the fertile Cumberland
Valley into Maryland, and far beyond down into the
Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. They were largely fam-
ilies springing from those who had settled Montgomery,
Berks, Lancaster, and York counties, Pa., strengthened by
immigrants directly from Germany. It was to supply
the demands of this immigration that Peter Muhlen-
berg was called to the Valley of Virginia in 1772, with
Woodstock as his home and the center of his field, until,
in January, 1776, he exchanged his gown for a colonel's
uniform. The Madison County congregation in Virginia,
for which the elder Stoever had made collections in
Europe, had been served until about 1761 by Rev. G. S.
Klug. He made occasional visits to the Lutheran pastors
in Pennsylvania, and complained of his isolation ; but even
at that date the endowment of the church seems to have
been a hindrance rather than an advantage. The life of

1 Letter to Nova Scotia, Roth, p. 296.

296 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap, xviil.

the congregation was weak, and it lost many members to
the Dunkards. A schoolmaster from the Paradise con-
gregation in York County, by the name of Schwarbach,
served it, and afterward a Pastor Frank who had been
teacher in the Philadelphia congregation. Rev. Paul
Henkel, as missionary preacher, had the congregation for
a time under his supervision, Henkel was the great-
grandson of Rev. Gerhard Henkel, who had been active
in Pennsylvania and Virginia during the second decade of
the eighteenth century. He studied with Pastor Krug of
Frederick, and afterward lived at Newmarket, Va. His
services belong mostly to a succeeding period.

The current of emigration from Pennsylvania reached
even farther south. The Lutherans of North Carolina had
largely come thither before the Revolutionary War, from
about 1750, and settled in Rowan and Cabarras (then
Mecklenburg) counties. The Society for the Promotion
of Christian Knowledge had taken them under its patron-
age through the intercession of Velthusen. Their first
pastors were Adolph Niissmann and Gottfried Arnd. The
former was a converted Franciscan who had studied at
Gottingen ; the latter was a schoolmaster who came from
Germany with the former and was afterward irregularly
ordained in South Carolina. It is interesting to note that
these pastors came as the result of the sending, in 1773,
of two laymen, one from the Organ Church in Rowan
County, and the other from St. John's, Cabarras County,
first to Hanover, where the interest of the consistory
was gained, and then to London. The supervision of
the Lutheran Church in North Carolina was placed in
the hands of the consistory at Hanover, i.e., the Lutheran
consistory under George HI. of England. The consti-
tution of St. John's Church, recorded in the church
book by Pastor Niissmann, binds the pastor *' to con-

NORTH AND SOUTH CAROLINA. 297

fess with heart and mouth the symboHcal books of our
EvangeHcal Church," ^ and to send reports to Europe
every six weeks. The order of pubhc service was : hymn
of praise ; collect or epistle ; hymn ; reading of Script-
ures ; creed or a short Sunday hymn ; sermon ; a few
verses of a hymn; catechetical exercise; a long prayer;
benediction ; concluding verse of principal hymn. The
Marburg Hymn-book and liturgy of the German Court
Chapel, which we have before seen to have been a trans-
lation of the Book of Common Prayer, were to be used. 2
At the close of the Revolutionary War, the consistory of
Hanover paid to these congregations the collections that
had been made for them while communication had been
cut off.

At Charleston, S. C, Boltzius had administered the
Lord's Supper in 1734, and Muhlenberg had preached in
1 742, but a congregation was not founded until 1 755. The
first pastor was Rev. J. G. Friederichs, for a period of
six years, followed for two years by Rev. H. S. B. Word-
mann, who had labored in Pennsylvania. Rev. John
Nicholas Martin was three times pastor of St. John's —
1763-67, 1774-78, 1786-87. The careers of Revs. Hahn-
baum and Daser were brief. The records of the former
forbid the pastor to " be addicted to the English Articles "
and to attack the Church of England. The gown, wafers,
the church festivals, gospels and epistles, and the use of
the litany on Sunday afternoons, are required.^ Christian
Streit, who has been previously mentioned, was pastor
from 1778 until driven away by the vicissitudes of war,
there being a tradition of his arrest by the British in 1780.
Muhlenberg visited the congregation on his way to Eben-
ezer, in 1774, and was occupied with adjusting serious

1 Bernheim, p. 251. 2 Ibid., p. 253.

3 Horn's " Historical Sketch" (1885), p. 5.

298 THE LUTHERAh^S. [Chap, xviil.

difficulties, arising partially from its unsatisfactory organi-
zation and the lack of a proper synodical constitution.
He advised it to petition the Society for the Promotion of
Christian Knowledge for aid, and forwarded a copy of the
petition to Halle. But, on the question of leaving the con-
gregation because of its unsatisfactory condition, he gave
the following pointed advice to one of its members, by
stating the rule of his own personal course :

During the thirty-two years of my sojourning in America, time and again
occasions were given me to join the Episcopal Church, and to receive four or
five times more salary than my poor German fellow-members of the Lutheran
faith gave me ; but I preferred reproach in and with my people to the treas-
ures in Egypt. 1

At the time of this visit of Muhlenberg to the South, in
1774, Rev. J. S. Friederichs was laboring in isolation in the
Orangeburg district, and sought a personal conference, but,
being prevented, he was encouraged by a letter; while
there were two pastors, Revs. Martin and Hockheimer, in
the Saxe-Gotha township of Lexington County, both of
whom he met at Charleston. Rev. Bernard Hausihl (Hau-
seal), before mentioned, spent some time in South Carolina,
between 1763 and 1765, with his relatives, but had no
pastoral charge.

The Lutheran Church in Georgia had become distracted
by a controversy between its two pastors after Lemke
had died and Rev. C. F. Triebner, who shortly afterward
married the daughter of his predecessor, had taken the
vacant place. Not only the authorities at Halle, but the
Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge, com-
missioned Muhlenberg in 1774 to make a visitation and
pacify the contending parties. He reached Ebenezer,
accompanied by his wife and daughter, in November, and
remained there for three months. The result of his inves-

1 Letter of June 14, 1774, Mann, p. 455.

GEORGIA. 299

tigations was astonishment at the blunders made at Halle
in their mode of appointments. A mere novice had been
placed over the old and experienced pastor Rabenhorst,
who, in Muhlenberg's opinion, was the very kind of man
needed in Pennsylvania. No one, he was convinced, could
save the congregations from destruction except the pastor
who had been so greatly wronged. But what could men
in Germany know and advise about matters in America ?
The errors were inevitable. Rabenhorst knew the field ;
Triebner's confidence that he understood it perfectly was
what might have been expected from his youth and inex-
perience. The open hostility was removed by Muhlen-
berg's efforts ; but the irritation that had been produced
continued to trouble the congregations for years.

A thorough revision of the church constitution was made
by Muhlenberg, and signed by the pastors and members
of the congregations. He found also that the charters
were so worded that, strictly interpreted, the property
could be alienated from the Lutheran to the Church of
England. Before he left Georgia he had secured from the
court at Savannah a change which protected the Lutheran
interests.^

The Salzburgers suffered much during the Revolution-
ary War. Pastor Rabenhorst died about 1777. Pastor
Triebner sympathized with the British, and left with their
troops for England on the termination of the war. The
church at Ebenezer had been used, first as a hospital, then
as a stable ; the presence of a licentious soldiery demoral-
ized many of the people. When independence was de-
clared, the Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowl-
edge withdrew its support.

In his last years, disabled from active work and calmly
waiting in his home at The Trappe, to which he had retired

1 Strobel, p. 162 sq.

300 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap, xviii.

in 1776, for the call to enter his eternal rest, Muhlenberg's
thoughts were often and long upon the suffering Ebenezer
colony. His journals and correspondence show his intense
interest that they should be provided with a suitable min-
istry. Once it was nearly arranged that his son, Frederick
Augustus, should be the pastor; but the pressure to enter
upon a political career was too strong, and instead of going
to Georgia he went to Congress. In 1785 deliverance
came : Rev. John E. Bergman, a Saxon, a graduate of
Leipzig and a man of learning, who, notwithstanding the
fact that his habits were rather those of the student than
of the pastor, gained the confidence and esteem of the
people, and at his death, in 1824, left a precious memory.
He officiated at Savannah as well as at Ebenezer.

Returning to Pennsylvania and going northward, the
two congregations in New York claim attention. Christ's
Church (the " High German "), after having several un-
fortunate experiences, had been served for brief periods
by Revs. Eager, Gerock, and Roeller. Frederick Augus-
tus Muhlenberg was pastor from 1773 to 1776, until driven
from the city by the approach of the British. Of the
old Trinity Church, Hausihl was pastor from 1770 until
1783. The church building was burned in a great con-
flagration in 1776. Hausihl was an ardent loyalist, prom-
inent in social circles, and a trustee of Columbia College.
On the evacuation of the city he left, with the larger part
of his congregation, for Nova Scotia, settling at Halifax,
and receiving ** orders " from the Church of England. In
January, 1784, the remnants of Trinity Church and Christ's
Church were united as '' The Corporation of the United
German Lutheran Churches in the City of New York."

While pastor in New York, Frederick Augustus Muhlen-
berg attempted in 1774 to organize a ministerium for the
State of New York. Concerning the fact that any meet-

IMAIXE AND NOVA SCOTIA. 3OI

ingwas actually held, we are in ignorance; but Dr. Kunze,
who ought to be most competent authority, declares :

To the late Dr. Henry Muhlenberg belongs the immortal honor of having
formed in Pennsylvania a regular ministry, and, what is somewhat remark-
able, to one of his sons, who officiated as Lutheran minister from the year
1773 to 1776 in the city of New York, that of having formed the Evangelical
Ministry of New York State. ^

The thought was carried out in 1786.

To Waldboro', Me., forty families or more of Germans
had been decoyed by flattering promises which were never
fulfilled, as early as 1 740. The French and Indians cap-
tured the place in 1746, burning the houses and either
killing the inhabitants or taking them to Canada as cap-
tives. Still more glowing accounts of the prospects
brought a larger colony, many of whom shared a similar
fate at a later invasion. Nevertheless, throu<j-h German
thrift, the place grew ; but spiritually the people were at
the mercy of adventurers. In 1774 Hartwig was called
by them as pastor, and visited the settlement. But noth-
ing important was accomplished until a later time.-

Lutheran emigration to Nova Scotia had begun about
1750. In 1752 a Lutheran congregation in Halifax was
recognized in a will, and in 1761 St. George's Lutheran
Church was built, in which Lutherans were served by rec-
tors of the Church of England. The simple-minded peo-
ple were satisfied with a service in the German language,
without regard to confessional distinctions. This parish
became the scene of Hausihl's labors after he left New
York. Lunenburg, whose name indicates the origin of a
large portion of its people, seems to have had no one who
could in any way claim to be a Lutheran minister, until

1 Kunze's " Hymn and Prayer-book " (New York, 1795), Appendix, p. 143,

2 Dr. H. N. Pohlman, " The German Colony and Lutheran Church in
Maine," " Evangelical Review," vol. xx., pp. 440-462.

302 THE LUTHER A XS. [Chap, xviii.

Brycelius was sent thither in 1767, after Muhlenberg had
made various efforts to have the place otherwise supplied.
He received English ordination in London, in order to ob-
tain due legal recognition.^ But the people were dissatis-
fied with what they regarded as duplicity on his part, and
held meetings in order to procure a pastor true to the
faith of the Lutheran Church. Another correspondence
with Muhlenberg followed. Gerock was called, and de-
clined. A special commissioner was sent to personally
confer with Muhlenberg, as senior of the Ministerium of
Pennsylvania, for a member of that body. Muhlenberg
himself was called, at the advice of Rev. Michael Schlatter,
and actually took the call into serious consideration, in
1775. Finally, Rev. Frederick Schultz was sent from
Pennsylvania in 1772, and served the Nova Scotia con-
gregations for ten years. His successor, John Gottlob
Schmeisser, was sent by Freylinghausen from Halle, and
remained pastor from 1782 to 1806. The testimony given
him by the director at Halle says :

I give you this assurance that he is firm in the doctrine of our Evangel-
ical Lutheran Church, as it is grounded in the Holy Scriptures, and from
them set forth in the Augsburg Confession and the other symbolical books of
our church ; and from the departures from the faith now so common in Ger-
many he is far removed. 2

The Swedish churches on the Delaware had received a
blow in the recall of Wrangel from which they never re-
covered. While it did not completely break their relations
with the German pastors, there was no longer any inti-
macy. It rendered the younger members of the churches
more and more dissatisfied with the control exercised over
them from Sweden. The demand for English services

1 Brycelius received Episcopal ordination twice, viz., from the Moravians
in 1743, and in England in 1767.

2 Letter in Roth, p. 341.

IVRANGEL'S RECALL RESENTED.

303

was growing. In 1773 two Sundays were devoted to
English and the third to Swedish service in the church at
Wilmington. Nils Collin, the last of the pastors sent from
Sweden, who arrived in 1770, was alread}^ petitioning to
be recalled. Goransson, who had preached an English
sermon at the consecration of the church of the Ministerium
of Pennsylvania at Pikeland, became provost, and did not
bring much dignity to the position.^

The spirit of independence which was pervading the
country was felt in the Swedish congregations. Daniel
Kuhn, from the congregation at Lancaster, who, after hav-
ing studied under Wrangel, had been intrusted with con-
gregations by the ministerium, had gone to Sweden to
continue his studies. The council of Gloria Dei Church
petitioned (May 14, 1774) the archbishop and consistorium
in Sweden to appoint Mr. Kuhn as assistant pastor. They
frankly said that they wanted *' a preacher of their own
choice, and a native American." A few months later, they
asked that Mr. Kuhn be appointed successor to their pas-
tor, Goransson, who had announced his resignation. These
requests were not granted. The correspondence Is court-
eous, but shows that the authorities in Sweden insist upon
retaining the control of the appointments, as long as they
are expected to contribute to the support.

In 1 786 Collin was appointed pastor of the churches in
the neighborhood of Philadelphia, the church council of
Gloria Dei expressing their approbation, upon the condi-
tion that the right of the congregation to choose a pastor
** from this side of the water " should be respected. Three
years later the final break was effected. A letter from
the Swedish archbishop of June 25, 1789, begins:

As his Majesty finds satisfactory reasons, on account of which the congre-
gations shall in the future choose their own preachers from those born in

1 See examples from records in church registers, Grabner, p. 397.

304 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap, xviii.

their country, rather than have them provided with Swedish missionaries at
the expense of the Swedish crown, his Royal Majesty has directed me to
express his agreement with this decision of the congregations.!

Permission was given the Swedish pastors to return as
soon as the necessary arrangements could be made. Dr.
Collin, as is well known, remained, dying in 183 1.

Whither were the Swedish churches to look for Amer-
ican-born pastors who could officiate acceptably in Eng-
lish ? Their first thought was not in the direction in which
they subsequently went. Of Wrangel's three students,
they had asked fifteen years before for Daniel Kuhn.
Now they made earnest efforts to induce Christian Streit
to resign his field at Winchester, Va., and become an asso-
ciate pastor in the Swedish-American field, but were un-
successful. As there was no American Lutheran minister
to be had, they called upon Rev. John W^ade, an Episco-
palian but the former theological pupil of Muhlenberg, who
had been examined by the Ministerium of Pennsylvania in
1 78 1 , and placed under the care of the Muhlenbergs, Kunze,
Helmuth, and Streit. Thus unintentionally the ministerium
had helped the Swedes in their transition.^ Mr. Wade be-
came assistant in the Raccoon or Swedesboro Church- in
1788. The charters in Pennsylvania were changed so as
to allow the pastors to belong to either the Lutheran or
the Episcopal Church ; and the Wilmington Church, whose
pastor from i 792 was an Episcopalian, soon followed. In
1803 the first Episcopal confirmation at Wilmington oc-
curred. Dr. Collin during his career had eight Episcopal
assistants. The congregations were independent for a long

1 Grabner, p. 402.

2 The note of Dr. Reynolds in his translation of Acrelius, p. 262, is liable
to be misunderstood. The probabilities are that Dr. Reynolds himself had
been misled. Rev. Charles Lute was a Swedish, not an American, Episcopal
minister. See Norberg's " Svenska Kirka Mission," p. 188 ct passim, where
the name is given as Rev. Carl Johan Lunt.

AMERICAN PASTORS DEMANDED. 305

time of any nearer connection with either denomination.
But tiie name *' Lutheran" was ehminated after a genera-
tion or two had been thus trained. Since 1846 the charter
of Gloria Dei has declared its full connection with the
Episcopal Church, and the rest have followed the same
course.

We must ascribe the loss of these early churches not to
any doctrinal, liturgical, or even linguistic reasons. If pas-
tors had been furnished from Sweden fully able to preach
English the rupture might have been delayed, but it would
still have come. American ecclesiastical interests could
not be properly cared for by consistories and bishops on
the other side of the Atlantic. A church to flourish per-
manently in America must be supplied with pastors whose
ancestors for generations have lived and labored in Amer-
ican congregations, and have grown into the knowledge of
the field from their earliest childhood. The condition of
the Episcopal Church in America, as long as it was de-
pendent upon England for its government and ministry,
shows that, even where the language problem is not in-
volved, the obstacles to progress amidst such connections
are almost insurmountable.

We have gone beyond the limits of the present period,
as the subsequent history of these churches was hastening
so rapidly toward a conclusion as to justify the anticipa-
tion. Our aim has been to give a general view of the
Lutheran Church in America as it appeared at the time of
the death of Muhlenberg. So closely was he identified
with all its interests, and so prominently does he appear
in all its parts from Nova Scotia to Georgia, that the his-
tory of the church, from his landing in 1 742 to his death
at The Trappe, October 7, 1787, is scarcely more than his
biography. For ten years he had lived in partial retire-
ment, preaching occasionally as he was able, but inces-

306 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap, xviii.

santly active with his pen in advising and directing those
at a distance. The same thorough grasp of all details, the
same effort to provide for congregations and the synod the
most thorough organization, the same pastoral fidelity in
caring for the spiritual interests of individual souls, both far
and near, mark the close as well as the beginning of his
career. In the late Rev. Dr. W. J. Mann he has had a
biographer in every way worthy of the subject. The ser-
mons preached and published after his death by Dr. J. C.
Kunze in New York and J. H. Helmuth in Philadelphia,
are valuable testimonies of the esteem in which he was
held by his contemporaries. The great interest shown
among Lutherans in Pennsylvania in connection with the
centennial of his death indicated how strong was the tradi-
tional attachment in the churches which he founded and
in which he ministered. The old church which he built at
The Trappe still stands, preserved as nearly as possible in
the condition in which it was when he preached from its
pulpit. Under the shadow of its wall is his grave, with
the appropriate inscription :

QUALIS ET QUANTUS FUERIT

NON IGNORABUNT SINE LAPIDE

FUTURA SECULA.

PERIOD III.
DETERIORATION,

A.D. 1787-1817.

CHAPTER XIX.

RATIONALISM AND INDIFFERENTISM.

Another period begins with the death of Muhlenberg.
Its coming may be clearly traced in the preceding years,
when the influence of the leader is gradually withdrawn
from active labors. His younger contemporaries were men
of the same spirit ; but the very fact that they were not
compelled to struggle so hard to maintain the interests of
the Lutheran Church prevented them from rising to such
heroic undertakings, and also diminished the rigor with
which they guarded the distinctive features of Lutheran-
ism. Lutherans they all were, true to the whole body of
the confessions to which they had given their pledge ; and
yet they were inclined to abate somewhat in reference to
the mode in which this faith should be defended. They
had been educated under another generation of teachers
at Halle, and felt the influence of the weakening, although
not yet of the surrender, of these teachers to the fast ap-
proaching era of destructive criticism. They had been
pupils of Semler in theology, in the first stages of his
career. With the deterioration that followed they were
well acquainted, and looked with dismay into the future
that awaited the Lutheran Church in Germany. Hel-
muth, in whom the emotional especially predominated,
poured forth his sorrow and apprehensions concerning the
spread of rationaHsm in a letter to the elder Muhlenberg, in
1785, which the latter answered in an equally touching let-
ter, declaring that such news must only drive one to prayer,

309

310 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. xix.

but, at the same time, assuring the younger leader that
all such error must, according to God's Word, at last dis-
appear, and that only the truth could be permanent. " Less
learned men," said Muhlenberg, " sneered at Bengel's pre-
dictions concerning the approaching end of the world, but
nevertheless the times showed that some of the signs of
tlie end were appearing." ^ The darker grew the pros-
pect, the nearer these men felt to all earnest Christians
of other denominations, and, while doing so, thought that
some of the tests heretofore deemed necessary might be
removed. That this was not done with sufficient discrim-
ination, the result proved. The founders of the Minis-
terium of Pennsylvania had not been extremists, and a
departure from their position was, in the beginning, a well-
meant but unfortunate compromise. This was promi-
nently manifest in the revised Synodical Constitution of
1792.

Before, however, this constitution was adopted, the New
York Ministerium, projected, as we have seen, by Freder-
ick Augustus Muhlenberg, had become a reality in 1786
(October 23d), under the leadership of Dr. Kunze. At
its foundation it comprised three pastors (Kunze, Schwerd-
feger, and Moller), and the congregations in New York
and Albany. At least eight regular Lutheran pastors
within its te^-ritory, with their congregations, stood aloof,
among whom were Pastor Sommer of Schoharie, son-in-
law of Berkenmeyer, who represented the latter's antipathy
to everything that came from Halle, and the then aged
Pastor Hartwig, who preferred to continue' his frequent
visits to his old friends in Pennsylvania. During the first
ten years of its existence it comprised thirteen pastors,
four of whom came from the Ministerium of Pennsylvania;

1 LeUer of Septeml)er 29, 1785, in "Archives of Ministerium of Pennsyl-
vania."

CONSTITUTION OF 1192, 3 I I

one (Braiin) was a convert from Romanism, two had been
pastors in the island of Curagoa, three had come directly
from Germany, where they had been educated, and three
were pupils of Dr. Kunze who were ordained by the
synod.^ The first constitution was that then in force in
the Ministerium of Pennsylvania, so far as it was appli-
cable. Of this, a revision was made in 1792. A peculiar-
ity of this constitution was the provision which it made for
the election of a president for life. Another was in the
introduction of lay delegates as full members of synod,
participating in the sessions with privileges equal to those
of the pastors.

The constitution of the Ministerium of Pennsylvania of
1 792 was in part the work of the same hand ; for Dr.
Kunze's membership in the Ministerium of New York had
not severed his connection with that of Pennsylvania. By
a strange provision a minister could belong to both min-
isteriums at the same time. When, therefore, in 1791,
the corporation of Zion's and St. Michael's, Philadelphia,
petitioned the ministerium for lay representation in synod,
Drs. Kunze and Helmuth were appointed a committee to
prepare a plan by which such representation could be in-
troduced. The result was the thorough revision of the
Synodical Constitution.

Instead of *' The EvangeHcal Lutheran Ministerium in
North America," its sphere was geographically restricted
in the title '' Evangelical Lutheran Ministerium in Penn-
sylvania and the Adjacent States." Instead of being free
from all linguistic or national limitations, it became the
^^ German''' Ministerium; just one hundred years after-
ward, the word '' German " was erased. The office of
"senior" was instituted as distinct from that of ''presi-
dent" Three orders of ministers were established, viz.,

1 Nicum, p. 54.

312 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. xix.

ordained ministers, licensed candidates, and catechists.
The New York Ministerium, the same year, recognized
the two former orders but not the last. Both constitutions,
in the same words, give all ordained ministers (the officers
excepted) the same rank, privileges, and titles. " They
have, therefore, in their congregations no overseer except
the above-mentioned officers, and these only so far as this
constitution imposed upon them the duty of communicat-
ing their thoughts and good advice." (Art. I., %i.) This
shows a reaction against the authority over " the United
Congregations " with which Muhlenberg had regarded
himself invested. The felt want of ministers is seen in
the same section of both constitutions giving all ordained
pastors the right to instruct candidates for the office. The
licentiate system is perpetuated from the former period ;
but the right of licentiates to perform ministerial acts is
limited to the congregations with which the ministerium
has intrusted them. Catechists were prohibited from
confirming and from administering the Lord's Supper,
but were placed under the supervision of a neighboring
pastor, who performed these acts as there was need. The
licentiates, but not the catechists, had a vote at the meet-
ings of synod.

The most serious change in these constitutions is the
elimination of all confessional tests. The only allusion,
and that of a very remote character, is where catechists
are required to preach the Word of God in its purity,
''according to the law and the gospel." All reference to
either the Augsburg Confession or to the other symboli-
cal books, so prominent in the first constitution, has van-
ished. But too much must not be inferred from this.
The congregational constitutions and the ** reverses," or
confessional pledges, do not seem, at least in New York,
to have been changed, and in these the former require-

CONFESSIONAL LAXITY. 313

ments remained. In the New York MInlsterlum, in 1793,
Rev. G. H. Pfeiffer was admitted after he had answered
the question " Whether he beheved all the divine Word
of the Old and New Testaments, and accepted the doc-
trines of the symboHcal books." The " revers " of Rev.
George Strebeck, in i 796, binds him in a similar way to
" God's Word and the symbolical books of our church." ^
Even as late as 1805, the Ministerium of New York re-
quired a pastor who came from the Methodists, Rev. R.
Williston, to declare his acceptance of the Unaltered
Augsburg Confession. But in Pennsylvania the decline
at first was more rapid. Before the year 1800, and prob-
ably with the new constitution, the formula for the
** revers " of catechists had become only :

I, the undersigned, promise before God and my Chief Shepherd, Jesus
Christ, that I will preach Goa's Word in its purity, according to law and
gospel, as it is presented, according to its chief parts, in our catechism and
hymn-book. I promise also diligently to hold instruction for children, to
visit the sick, to feed souls, and to administer holy baptism according to the
order of Jesus Christ.

But, however insufficient the catechism and the hymn-
book as confessions, they were Lutheran standards, and
the contents of the Lutheran faith were not formally
denied.

Great inconsistencies with sound Lutheran practice,
great obscuration of the clearness of the Lutheran faith, as
well as an alarming condition of widespread spiritual tor-
por, can be clearly traced in the succeeding history of
the mother-synod. It is a great exaggeration, however,
to consider it at any time a rationalistic body. There was
never any express renunciation of the distinctive doctrines
of Lutheranism, which always had outspoken confessors
among the more prominent members. The existence of

1 Nicum, p. 70.

314 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. xix.

the counter-current was deeply lamented, but they excused
themselves from a more decided protest by their confi-
dence that errors which they abhorred and condemned
could not live long, but must inevitably in a short time
run their course. It is only when these departures from
the faith of the Lutheran Church, of men in many respects
to be venerated for other distinguished services, are cited
as a model for future generations, that this darker side of
the picture should be closely examined. Facts and cita-
tions in abundance could be introduced, but to what end?
The lesson has been learned, and is universally acknowl-
edged. In the rural districts, among those ordinarily in
obscurity at synodical sessions, the more pronounced forms
of rationalism were to an extent current, and often were
repelled by humble people who had been trained under
more wholesome influences. In 1813 we find in the min-
utes of the Ministerium of Pennsylvania a complaint from
three congregations in Ohio, that their pastor was no
longer faithful '* to the old Lutheran doctrine," and Dr.
Lochman was appointed to admonish him ** to abide by
the old pure doctrine and to make no innovations." Two
years before, the same synod had warned the traveling
missionary, Paul Henkel, to beware of camp-meetings.
The representative men of the synod, such as Helmuth,
H. E. and H. A. Muhlenberg, Lochman, J. G. Schmucker,
were neither rationalistic nor friends of ''new measures."
Dr. Endress, of Lancaster, showed some sympathy with
the type of theology which we will find prevailing in the
New York Ministerium. Dr. Helmuth's relations with
the Moravians were very intimate, and the proceedings
of their conferences were eagerly read and preserved by
him. With this, he undoubtedly became infected with
the Moravian aversion to expHcit theological definitions,
and communicated this tendency to his pupils. There

QUITMAN'S CATECHISM. 315

was no formal rejection or antagonism to the old faith,
except by a few relatively obscure men, whose influence
was not regarded sufficient to occasion much trouble. The
old synod was very tolerant ; this was her chief error.

In the New York Ministerium, the process, which at
first was less rapid, finally burst through all barriers with
the death of Dr. Kunze, in 1807. This was due in large
measure to the overpowering influence of Frederick Henry
Quitman, D.D., pastor at Rhinebeck, a graduate of Halle,
a former pastor in Curagoa, and in 18 14 a doctor of div-
inity of Harvard, He was a man of commanding pres-
ence, who stood in the midst of his brethren like Saul
among the hosts of Israel, and by his intellectual force
silenced opposition. A member of the Ministerium of
New York from 1796 until his death, in 1832, he was for
twenty-one years its president.

The catechism prepared by Dr. Quitman, and published,
"with consent and approbation of the synod," in 1814, is
a monument of the dominant tendency of the time. In
elegant English, entirely above the comprehension of
children, and in an order and with a vigor that showed a
trained logician, an entirely new exposition of the faith
of the church was proposed as a substitute for Luther's
Catechism.

It starts out with the assumption that '* the grounds of
rational belief are natural perception, the authority of
competent witnesses, and unquestionable arguments of
reason." It denies that man has been deprived of free
moral agency. The divine image has only been stained
by sin. The catechumen is taught " to respect humanity "
and ''never to disgrace our dignity." That Jesus Christ
is true God is not taught. A great deal is said of his
'* divine authority " and '' divine mission " and ** divine
commission." That he is called '' the Son of God " is ex-

3l6 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. xix.

plained *' as well on account of his exalted dignity, and
preeminence above all created beings, as on account of the
great love which his heavenly Father manifested for him."
So ''he is called our Lord," "because God has committed
to him the government of the church." He suffered and
died, in order to '' seal the doctrine which he had preached
with his blood." '' The forgiveness of sins " in the Apos-
tles' Creed is interpreted as referring to " the sentiments
of charity " we should exercise " for every one who has
erred from the way of truth." Baptism has no more
meaning than to signify that '' as water cleanses our
bodies," *' so we find in communion with Christ whatever
is necessary to purify our souls." The renunciation of
the devil in baptism is a reminiscence of the days of early
Christianity, when converts from heathenism thus obliged
themselves '' to forsake all idolatry and the sinful pageantry
connected with it." Instead of the blessing which the
Lord bestows in his Holy Supper, upon which Luther's
Catechism dwells, this New York catechism has the fol-
lowing :

What profit does the worthy communicant derive from this sacrament?

He thereby strengthens his attachment to his Lord and Saviour, and his
affection to his fellow-men ; excites himself to new resolutions of holiness ;
increases his inclination and sense of his duty to promote the cause of Christ;
sets a good example to those around; and renews his impressions of the
saving and comfortable doctrine of the death and resurrection of Christ.

The identity of the resurrection body with that which
we have in this life is denied, and i Corinthians xv. 50,
''Flesh and blood cannot inherit," etc., is cited as the
proof-text.

In a sketch of the history of religion, in the appendix,
Luther's silence in his later years in regard to " improve-
ments by his friends" is urged as showing that "he ap-
proved of these emendations." In his list of eminent

F. C. SCHAEFFER. 317

theologians of the Lutheran Church, no reference is made
to the dogmaticians of the sixteenth and seventeenth cent-
uries, but, with a few whose inchision in such hst would
be generally approved, the names of Semler, Ernesti,
Jerusalem, Michaelis, Doderlein, Koppe, are commended
as advocates of the freedom of thought introduced by the
Reformation. There can be no mistaking the type of
theology which such a catechism represented. It was a
skillful effort to Americanize German rationaHsm, and sub-
stitute it for the type of theology according to which the
foundations of the church in America had been laid. But,
as could be anticipated, it failed to obtain any extensive
circulation. The stepson of its author, Dr. P. F. Mayer,
provided, silently and without synodical authority, an edi-
tion in English of Luther's Catechism, with proof-texts
— a revision of a previously issued book ; and the synod,
with equal silence, seems to have used it, since the '' au-
thorized " catechism was unsold and brought loss to its
publisher.^

The synod was more orthodox than its president.
Gradually a band of men of entirely different spirit grew
within it, and the lines were clearly drawn between the
two tendencies. Dr. Frederick Christian Schaeffer (born
1792, died 1 831), pastor in New York, son of the pastor at
Philadelphia, Dr. F. D. Schaeffer, and the eldest of four
brothers whose learning and influence continued to con-
tribute greatly to the development of the Lutheran Church
in Maryland and Pennsylvania, was the most pronounced
in his opposition to the current which was sweeping the
New York Ministerium no one could tell whither. But he
had to struggle as a very young man against those who in
age were his fathers. Nor was the Ministerium of Penn-
sylvania satisfied. Whatever may have been the confusion

1 Dr. B. M. Schmucker, " Lutheran Church Review," voh v., p. 174.

3l8 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. xix.

there, a formal protest was made when the delegate of
the latter body, in 1819, sought to rebuke what was re-
garded the deeply rooted Socinianism by preaching to the
New York Ministerium on the text, i John i. 7.

Long before this, viz., in the year of Muhlenberg's
death, a catechism had been published for the congrega-
tions in North Carolina by Dr. Velthusen, of Helmstadt,
which is pervaded by the same tendency as that of Dr.
Quitman. 1

Such teaching soon showed its entire inability to live in
America. It never gained a hold among the people ; it
never very extensively affected the ministry. Its worst
evil was the loss of time and energy, and the deadness
and indifference which it fostered. It bore within it the
seeds of its own ruin. A bold and defiant criticism must
itself fall beneath its own weapons. The necessities of
the Christian life demand a positive faith, and turn from a
reHgion of doubt and uncertainty, as patients soon desert
a physician who has no remedies for diseases.

The unionism which prevailed was partly a symptom
of the coming danger, and partly a reaction from it. In
New York the tendency at first was toward the Episco-
pal Church. In 1797, under the leadership of Dr. Kunze,
the resolution was passed :

That on account of an intimate relation subsisting between the English
Episcopalian and Lutheran churches, the identity of their doctrine and the
near approach of their church discipline, this consistory will never acknowl-
edge a newly erected Lutheran church in places where the members may
partake of the services of the said English Episcopal Church. 2

1 " It is superficial, vague, unevangelical, exalting human reason, and de-
grading the work of Christ. . . . We are grateful to a loving Lord that our
churches generally derived their men and books from Halle rather than from
Helmstadt." — Dr. B„ M. Schmucker, in " Lutheran Church Review," vol.
v., p. 170.

2 Dr. Nicum explains reasons for this action in his ** History," p. 76 sq.

CONFUSION IN THE SOUTH. 319

The records of the convention of the Episcopal Church
of the same year show that negotiations were actually in
progress for a union.

In 1797 the Rev. Thomas Ellison, Rector of St. Peter's, Albany, com-
municated to the convention the interesting intelligence that some Lutheran
clergymen had, in the name and on behalf of the consistory of the Lutheran
Church in the State of New York, intimated to him a desire to have it pro-
posed to this convention that their church might be united with the Prot-
estant Episcopal Church in this State, and that their ministers might receive
Episcopal ordination.

It was referred to a committee with Bishop Moore as
chairman, but fell through. Bishop Perry ^ gives certain
reasons, but, on the Lutheran side, others could without
doubt be found.

Seven years later the resolution was unanimously re-
pealed.

The first separate EngHsh Lutheran congregation or-
ganized in this country was Zion's, New York, formed out
of Dr. Kunze's German Church in 1796. Li 1805 the
pastor, Rev. George Strebeck, carried a large number of
its members, and members of Christ's Church, with him
into the Episcopal Church, and founded St. Stephen's
Church. Five years later, Rev. Ralph Williston, who had
been a Methodist and became pastor of Zion's in 1805,
took the entire congregation, or as much as had been left
after Mr. Strebeck's defection, into the Episcopal Church.

In 1 794 the Lutheran ministers in North Carolina, be-
fore the formation of any synod, ordained Robert Johnson
Miller, a Scotchman, and pledged him to '' ye Rules, or-
dinances, and customs of ye Christian Society, called ye
Protestant Episcopal Church in America."^ Under this
pledge, Mr. Miller was pastor of Lutheran congregations
for twenty-seven years. In 18 10 Gottlieb Schober, a

1 Perry, vol. ii., p. 150. 2 Bernheim, p. 339.

320 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. xix.

lawyer and former member of the North Carolina legis-
lature, fifty-four years old, and to the end of his life
professing to be also a Moravian, was ordained by the
North CaroHna Synod, which had been formed in 1803, by
Arnd, Miller, Storch, and Paul Henkel. After the Epis-
copal Church was estabhshed in North Carolina, and Mr.
Miller had entered it, the Lutheran Synod and the con-
vention of that church entered into an arrangement for
exchange of delegates, having the right not only of a seat,
but also, except when a division was called for, of a vote
in each body.i

The current in South Carolina was in another direction.
There, in 1 788, five Lutheran and two Reformed pastors
united in a Corpus Evmigeliciun or ''Uitio Ecclesiastica of
the German Protestant Churches." The Lutheran pas-
tors were pledged by the constitution to the symbolical
books. The organization disclaims the idea of any re-
nunciation of his denominational confession by any of the
members. Two lay delegates were provided for each of
the fifteen congregations — of which nine were Lutheran —
represented. The Charleston pastors were never mem-
bers. It was short-lived, no meetings having been held
after 1794.'*^

In Pennsylvania the struggle for the German language
drew the Lutherans and the Reformed more closely to-
gether. Muhlenberg and Schlatter had maintained their
intimacy, without thinking of ignoring or confounding the
important denominational principles which separated them.
But as the importance of sound doctrinal teaching fell
into the background, the language became the watchword
which awakened greater zeal than that of faith. As a
rule, the churches in the rural districts were union churches.
These were sometimes occupied by union congregations,

1 Bernheim, p. 460 sq.

2 " Constitution and Proceedings " in Bernheim, pp. 291-303.

FRANKLIN COLLEGE. 32 I

havinof one church council, in which the two confessions
were indiscriminately mixed, but having, at the same time,
two pastors, one for the Lutheran and the other for the
Reformed members.^ Intermarriage, without any change
of faith on the part of either husband or wife, threw the
family religious life into confusion, as some of the chil-
dren would follow the father, and others the mother.
Among the people the saying was current that the sole
distinction between the churches was that the Lutherans
began the Lord's Prayer with Vater unscr, and the Re-
formed with Unser Vater. The Reformed Synod indorsed
Dr. Helmuth's " Evangelisches Magazin " for circulation
in its congregations.

There had been cooperation between the Lutherans and
Reformed in Franklin College, at Lancaster, Pa. This in-
stitution had been the result of the efforts made by Ben-
jamin Franklin to anglicize and educate the Pennsylvania
Germans, from whom, it had been feared, with their lack
of schools, a new heathenism was impending. With
Franklin that heathenism meant nothing more serious than
illiteracy. The Act of Incorporation of 1787- prescribes
that the board of trustees shall consist of fourteen Lu-
therans, fourteen Reformed, and the rest from other Chris-
tian communions without distinction. Among the first
trustees were Drs. Helmuth and H. E. Muhlenberg, Revs.
J. N. Kurtz, C. E. Schultze, Jacob van Buskirk, John
Herbst, and F. V. Melsheimer, and General Peter Muhl-
enberg. The Catholic priest at Lancaster was included.
The president was to be chosen alternately from the Lu-
theran and Reformed churches. The purpose of the insti-
tution was stated as " to promote accurate knowledge of
the German and English languages — also of the learned

1 Such congregations are still in existence.

'^ A translation into German in "Acten eur Neuesten Kirchengeschiclite,"
vol. ii. (1791), p. 366 sq.

322 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. xix.

languages — of mathematics, moral and natural philosophy,
divinity, and all such other branches of literature as will
tend to make men good and useful citizens."

The first president was Dr. Henry Ernst Muhlenberg.
His inaugural, June 6, 1787, most forcibly shows the value
of a Christian education. He chose for it a text, Ephe-
sians vi. 4, " Bring them up in the nurture and admonition
of the Lord," and claimed that the religious instruction
was to be the main object that should be kept in view in
all the instruction.^

Another member of the ministerium was in the faculty,
viz., the Rev. F. V. Melsheimer, sometimes called the Father
of American Entomology, who had the comprehensive de-
partment of " Greek, Latin, and German." It was well at-
tended, there having been one hundred and twelve stu-
dents in the English department alone during the first year.
But the financial management was such that it soon de-
generated into what was little more than a local academy,
until, in 1850, the funds accruing from the sales of lands
given by the State in Venango, Bradford, and Lycoming
counties — part of them subsequent oil-fields — were divided
between the Lutherans^ and the Reformed.

The original idea of providing for theological instruction
in Franklin College was not speedily abandoned. In 1818
the Ministerium of Pennsylvania appointed a committee,
which, in connection with a similar committee of the Re-
formed Church, should prepare a plan for a joint educa-
tional institution in connection with Franklin College.
The next year the institution in view is referred to as a

1 Eine Rede, gehalten den 6ten Juny, 1787, bey der Einweihung von der
Deutschen bohen Scbule oder FrankHn Collegium in Lancaster, von Gottbilf
Hen. Mublenberg, Principal des Collegium, etc. (Lancaster, 1788), p. 15. •

2 Tbe Lutberan sbare went to found tbc F'ranklin professorship in Penn-
sylvania College, Gettysburg, filled from 1850 to 1883 by nominees of the
Ministerium of Pennsylvania.

A LUTHERAN-REFORMED SEMINARY. 323

joint theological seminary. The report of the committee,
of which Dr. J. G. Schmucker was chairman, gives a thor-
oughly elaborated plan. The name was to be *' The
Theological Seminary for the Education of Pious Young
Men to the EvangeHcal Ministry." There were to be two
professors, one elected by the synod of each denomination,
and eighteen trustees, also equally divided. Among their
duties, they were to '' watch against the gradual introduc-
tion of error, and lead the students to a knowledge of
unadulterated truth " ;- but what this error and this truth
are is not specified. A '' Magazine " was to be published
by the faculty, to which the pastors of both synods were
expected to subscribe, and for which they were to secure
subscriptions within their congregations. The professors
were to be members of the board, with both a seat and
vote, except in matters of personal interest. Both synods
were to make equal annual contributions toward the sem-
inary.

This was a scheme that could not be realized. It was
only one of the manifestations of a desire for union be-
tween these two large German bodies in Pennsylvania,
which frequently came to view during this and the early
part of the succeeding period. An historian of the Re-
formed Church has well said:"^

It must be confessed that many ministers of the Reformed and Lutheran
churches favored the organic union of these two bodies, not because tliey
had reached a proper doctrinal basis for such union, but because they knew
little and cared less about the questions at issue between them.

A very interesting indication of the current tendency-
was the publication, in 181 7, of the '' Gemeinschaftliches
Gesangbuch " as a substitute for the hymn-book prepared

1 MS. "Archives of Ministerium of Pennsylvania" for 1820.

2 " Historic Manual of the Reformed Church in the United States," by
Joseph Henry Dubbs, D.D. (Lancaster, Pa., 1885), p. 265.

324 ^-^^ LUTHERANS. [Chap. xix.

in 1787 by Muhlenberg, Kunze, and Helmuth. It was
intended for the use of both the Lutheran and the Re-
formed, was recommended by the synods of both churches
in Pennsylvania, and bore the indorsement of Dr. Quitman
that " it is far better adapted to our present times than
those now used at pubHc service in the German Protestant
churches of our country." The relative merits of these
books may be estimated according to these professions
when the words of the eminent Presbyterian professor,
Dr. J. W. Alexander, of Princeton, in criticism of German
hymns, are remembered :

** In looking through Knapp, I observe, with pain, that
the nearer we come to our own day, the farther we are
from the cross ; more of the Muse, less of the Redeemer. "1

Nevertheless these movements — strange as the state-
ment may seem — were partially reactionary against the
widespread rationalistic influences that were entering.
When the most vital and most central doctrines were
assailed, it was not unnatural for Christian ministers of
diverging confessions to feel drawn toward each other in
their defense. There would be more sympathy between
a conservative Lutheran and a conservative Reformed
theologian than between him and the professed Lutheran
theology represented by the catechism bearing in 18 14 the
indorsement of the New York Ministerium. Where Lu-
therans were all in confusion because of the defection of
prominent pastors and professors in Germany and Amer-
ica, it was not strange for other Lutherans to find sympa-
.thy in the association of those of a more positive faith
within the Reformed Church.

So much must be said, in order to interpret correctly
the position of the more earnest men of this period. But
there is a darker picture — perhaps the darkest in the his-

1 Schaff's " Kirchenfreund," vol. ii., p. 91.

THE RURAL PARISHES. 325

tory of the Lutheran Church in America — that dare not
be passed over by one who would be a faithful historian.
It is that of not a few pastors, orthodox in the general
sense of the term, not from deep personal conviction, but
from intellectual indolence and motives of expediency.
Settled in the midst of large parishes of from six to twelve
congregations, ministering to an uneducated rural popula-
tion, they preached the Word of God, but wxre occupied
with the secular demands of their farms as much as with
the spiritual interests of their people. That close personal
dealing with individual souls that characterized the minis-
try of Muhlenberg and Brunnholtz was an impossibility.
The pastor scarcely knew, even by name, the thousands of
members in his parish, as he passed on Sunday, with all
haste, from one church to another. A few volum.es of
sermons, from which to gather material ready for prompt
use in the pulpit, and the local newspaper were probably
the sole reading with which he supplemented the theolog-
ical course he had received from some pastor thoroughly
preoccupied with other duties. Not indifferent to attend-
ance upon synodical sessions, where, for a time, the pro-
ceeds of certain European legacies were divided into small
shares among those present, the connection of such pastors
with the body was otherwise so loose that they were
ready on the least provocation to declare themselves inde-
pendent, and insisted that it was the office of the synod
only to give advice, which, at their pleasure, they were
free to accept or reject. There were no educational or
missionary enterprises that could enlist their interest.
Was it a wonder that, under a ministry thus secularized,
the hearing of the Word and the receiving of the sacra-
ments degenerated into purely mechanical services, that
church discipline almost completely vanished, and that,
amidst the great progress which the last three quarters of

326 • THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. xix.

a century has witnessed within these congregations, the
"rehcs of this ecclesiastical semi-barbarism have not alto-
gether passed away? What the feudal lord was in the
middle ages, the Pennsylvanian German pastor among
both Lutheran and Reformed closely resembled J

But such degeneracy was not without its protest from
the synod itself. A printed ''Appeal," sent out in its name
in 1810, states the case most forcibly:

When the writer sat down to comply with the duty intrusted him by the
synod, the earlier years of his pilgrimage in this western land came into lively
remembrance. The simplicity of life, the warm love to religion and the wor-
ship of God, the kind and cordial demeanor of our dear country people of
those days, passed in review. With the warmest emotion he thought of the
many nights he had spent in their dwellings, of the touching prayers offered
by the fathers of families about the hour of midnight to the throne of Jesus,
of the conversations, prolonged into the stillness of the night, with the fathers
and mothers, generally concerning the preaching of the Word heard the pre-
ceding day. Religion was actually with many the chief thing.

It was a general custom, when a pastor spent the night with country peo-
ple, for him to devote the evening to godly conversation with the members of
the family, to which the nearest neighbors were ordinarily invited ; they
sang, they prayed, and then, quickened anew to spiritual life, retired to rest.

It belongs, of course, chiefly to the ministers to care for your congrega-
tions ; if they do not themselves pray, if they have no true feeling for relig-
ion, how is it possible for them to quicken the same in your hearts? Alas-!
it is often the case that the pastor thinks that he has discharged fully his
duty when he regularly gives his services in preaching, etc. ; this is indeed
praiseworthy, but it is not enough. A minister should always manifest the
warm heart of a parent for the members of his congregation. He should
not always speak in the formal tone of the preacher, but in that of the father,
who wants to deliver his child from a nearly impending danger, with the
warmth and earnestness of one who runs to the rescue and stretches forth
his arms to help. He should try to learn to speak as Jesus did during the
days of his walk upon earth. 2

1 This has been treated at large in " Der Deutsche Kirchenfreund "
(Schaff), vol. ii. (1849), pp. 129-140.

2 "Ansprache an die gesammten Glieder der Dcutsch Ev. -Lutlierischen
Gemeinen in Pennsylvanien und den benachbarten Staaten " (Philadelphia,
181 1 ), p. 20.

CHAPTER XX.

SOME DIFFICULT PROBLEMS.

As before intimated, the language question occupied
much attention and excited intense feeling during this
period. In New York the process of anglicizing was
much more rapid, and there was no permanent recession
from the use of English introduced by Muhlenberg in the
services of Trinity Church, New York City. Dr. Kunze
preached in English, and published an EngHsh hymn-book
and an English edition of Luther's Catechism. Afterward
he obtained an English-speaking assistant in Rev. George
Strebeck. He opposed the formation of a separate Eng-
lish congregation, holding that English services should be
held regularly in the German church. The separation of
the English congregation, in his opinion, did not obviate
the necessity for the continuance of English services in
the German church. While there was possibly an inter-
ruption during the first pastorate of the elder Dr. Geissen-
hainer, in Dr. F. C. Schaeffer an able preacher in both
languages was provided. Throughout the State the pro-
cess was so rapid that, in 1807, the English became the
official language of the ministerium, and so continued until
1866.

The antipathy to English, on the one hand, and the
anxiety to have regular English services, on the other,
occasioned a violent struggle in the congregation in Phila-
delphia, of which Drs. Helmuth and Schmidt v.-ere the

327

32 8 THE LUTHERANS, [Chap. xx.

pastors, which culminated in 1806 in the founding of St.
John's EngHsh Church. The advocates of EngUsh, under
the leadership of General Peter Muhlenberg, who had been
president of the corporation, had not intended to form a
new congregation, but insisted that a third pastor should
be called who would officiate in English. The feeling
was intensified by the impression, upon the part of the
opponents of the proposition, that Rev. H. A. Muhlenberg,
afterward minister to Austria, then completing his studies
under Dr. Kunze, was to be the English pastor. At the
election, January 6, 1806, 1400 votes were polled, the
majority against the proposition being 1 30. Prior to this,
the controversy had been carried into the ministerium,
which at its meeting, in Germantown in 1805, passed the
resolution that it ** must remain a German-speaking min-
isterium," and forbidding the introduction of any measure
" which would necessitate the use of any other language
than the German in synodical sessions." English-speak-
ing Lutherans not understanding German were encouraged
to form themselves into congregations, with the promise
that they would be recognized and admitted to synodical
privileges, provided they would submit to the constitu-
tion. In a long private letter to Dr. Helmuth, Dr. H.
E. Muhlenberg, in commenting on this action, urges the
great importance of having pastors in all the congregations
able to perform official acts in both languages, and states
that while he has found it necessary at Lancaster to sepa-
rate the catechumens according to the language that each
understands, he has found it profitable to instruct the
German catechumens in the P^nglish translation of their
catechism, and. the English catechumens in the German
original. The same year his congregation at Lancaster
declined to contribute to the synodical treasury until young
men should be educated so as to be able to preach in Eng-

A CHURCH TRIAL. 329

lish. General Peter Muhlenberg's appeal during this con-
troversy has been previously referred to.^

Nine years later the controversy broke out afresh in the
old church in Philadelphia. Another swarm of young
people were clamoring for English services. The conflict
was still more bitter. Disorderly congregational meetings,
and even blows, were the result. An important legal suit,
with such prominent counsel on both sides as is indicated
by the names of the two Ingersolls, Binney, and Rawle,
was instituted against Frederick Eberle and others, ** for
conspiring together to prevent the introduction of the
English language into the service of St. Michael's and
Zion's churches." 2 They were convicted, but were par-
doned by Governor Snyder. Horace Binney said in the
argument :

Let me now state to those Germans who are listening to this brief history
of their society, what this history has made prophecy for all future times,
that with the revolution of every fifteen or twenty years, so long as this
bigoted exclusion of the English service shall endure, those who at the begin-
ning are the enemies of the English will at the end of the period become its
repentant friends. I ask those who know the nature of man, Is it possible
in the center of an American community to rear children to the use and per-
fect understanding of the German language? Instances there maybe; the
diligence of some parents may do much, and the docility of some children
may do more ; but I speak of children in general. There is no doubt, it
cannot be. How, then, are Zion's and St. Michael's to be recruited? How
is the church to be maintained in even its original strength? Not by streams
from the native fountain, the well of pure and refreshing waters, but by the
turbid current that is rolled to this country by the discontent and restlessness
of Europe. The church must depend upon emigration. The emigrant must
supplant the native ; and when he has been long enough in this country to
rear an American family, that family must be rejected by the church to make
room for a fresh importation of strangers and aliens. What the cause of the
prosecutors is to-day, will, therefore, twenty years hence be the cause of

1 A translation was published in " The Lutheran," Philadelphia, August 5,
1892.

2 Its details are preserved in a bound volume of 240 pages, viz., " Trial
of Frederick Eberle and others at a nisi priiis court, held at Philadelphia,
July, 18 1 6." Philadelphia, 181 7.

330 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. xx.

these defendants ; their cause against some more recent swarm of emigrants,
who, after experience has operated upon parental afifection to turn these de-
fendants from the error of their position, will conspire to rivet upon their
children the same pernicious rule which they have conspired to rivet upon
their predecessors.!

The ultimate issue was the formation of St. Matthew's
Church, in which a number Vho had opposed the move-
ment which led St. John's out of the mother-church par-
ticipated.

How intelligent men could, in their prejudices, be ever
brought to such extremes as those which were advocated
by the opponents of the use of the English in the services of
the church, is almost inconceivable. The " Evangelisches
Magazin " contained in 1813 a series of articles under the
title " Appeal to the Germans in America," which cannot
be read without mingled amazement and amusement.
They urge Reformed and Lutherans to stand together
against all attempts to introduce the English. The Eng-
lish language, it is said, is too poor to furnish an adequate
translation of the German prayers and hymns and books
of devotion. '^ The Episcopal Church is not Lutheran, as
many ignorant persons imagine ; nor is the Presbyterian
Church Reformed. Both vary from us in their confessions
of faith." English congregations could not, according to
this writer, remain either Lutheran or Reformed, because
" our religious writings are all German." Children of
German parents, as they become anglicized, are said to
grow in frivolity and indifference to religion. If the Jews
have preserved the Hebrew language in their services for
so many generations, why, it is asked, may not the Ger-
mans, in the same way, maintain their national distinctions?
With the utmost simplicity the writer says :

Wliat would Philadelphia be in forty years if the Germans there were to
remain German, and retain their language and customs? It would not be

1 Hiid., p. 100.

TRANSITION OF LANGUAGE. 33 I

forty years until Philadelphia would be a German city, just as York and Lan-
caster are German counties. The English would be driven to the bushes if
they would build no longer in the southern part of the city. What would be
the result throughout Pennsylvania and northern Maryland in forty or fifty
years? An entirely German State, where, as formerly in Germantown, the
beautiful German language would be used in the legislative halls and the
courts of justice.

It is Interesting to put such arguments side by side with
Luther's words in his *' Deutsche Messe " (1526):

I have no regard for those who are so devoted to but one language, and
despise all others ; for I would like to educate youth and men, who might be
of service to Christ and converse with men also in foreign lands, so that it
might not be with us as with tlie Waldenses and Bohemians, who have so
confined their faith to their own language that they cannot speak intelligently
and clearly with one until he first learn their language. But the Holy Ghost
did not so in the beginning. He did not wait until the whole world came to
Jerusalem and learned Hebrew, but He gave various tongues for the ministry
of the Word, that the apostles might speak whithersoever they went.

The castles in the air built by these visionaries dissolved
alrnost before they could be sketched upon paper, but
were quickly followed by other dreams, that kept them in
inactivity until almost fatal injury was inflicted by the pro-
tracted delay. The warnings of far-seeing men like the
Muhlenbergs, true to Luther's instructions, were met by
stolid opposition ; and some of the best friends of the
Lutheran Church, despairing of .success under a leadership
of those so utterly ignorant of their surroundings, and so
different in spirit from Luther, gradually drifted into other
churches. The transition in language was readily effected,
and without loss, in places where, as in Lancaster and
Reading, under Muhlenberg's son and grandson, the plans
of the patriarch were carried out and his spirit prevailed.
But where this was neglected, the loss was immense.

Reference has already been made to the beginnings of
the work of the church in educating candidates for the
ministry. Muhlenberg, with his many cares, we have

332 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. xx.

found making the start, Wrangel continuing the work, and
Kunze following. The plan of the last was very compre-
hensive, as he laid the foundation in what was to have
been a Lutheran college in Philadelphia, which was in
existence from 1773 to 1778. It was followed by the es-
tablishment of a German department in the University of
Pennsylvania, under Dr. Kunze from 1780 to 1784, and,
after his removal to New York, under Dr. Helmuth. One
of the inducements that called Dr. Kunze to New York
was the prospect of a similar department in Columbia
College, which would also comprehend a professorship of
theology that he was to fill. The year in whiph Dr. Kunze
went to New York, Revs. J. N. Kurtz, C. E. Schultze,
and H. E. Muhlenberg were elected trustees of Dickinson
College, Carlisle, Pa.

Dr. Kunze's project was not successful ; he never lect-
ured on theology in Columbia College. But help for the
educational work came from another quarter. Hartwig,
who was a bachelor, had accumulated large lands, by
judicious purchases, with a view to the ultimate service of
the church, amounting in I 761 to sixteen thousand acres,
but which afterward decreased to one third, through the
management or mismanagement of the agent who had
charge of them in the old age of their owner.

When Hartwig died, July 16, 1796, this estate was left
to found an institution for pastors and missionaries, the
venerable pastor having been especially interested in the
neighboring North American Indians. Drs. Kunze and
Helmuth were named as the directors of the institution ;
but when the latter, on account of the distance, declined
serving, Dr. Kunze, with the sole surviving executor, pro-
vided for the opening of the seminary in 1797. But the
plan was a novel one. Dr. Kunze was constituted theo-
logical professor in New York, Rev. A. T. Braun, of

THEOLOGICAL INSTR UCTION.

333

Albany, was made the classical Instructor in Albany, and
Rev. J. F. Ernst was sent to Otsego County, to occupy
Hartwig's lands and to teach the youngest pupils. Thus
were established an embryo theological seminary in New
York, a college in Albany, and a preparatory department
where Hartwick Seminary now stands. Under this pro-
vision. Dr. Kunze became the theological preceptor of
P. F. Mayer of Philadelphia, H. A. Muhlenberg of Reading,
F. W. Mayer of Albany, J. P. Hecht of Easton, and others.
Rev. A. T. Braun succeeded to the place on the death of
Dr. Kunze, and held it until 1811, among his pupils hav-
ing been Dr. John Bachmann, of Charleston, S. C. The
location was fixed finally in 1812, when the buildings were
begun, where in 181 5 Dr. E. L. Hazelius became principal
and professor In theology, with the son of the president of
the New York Ministerlum, John A. Quitman, afterward
a distinguished general in the Mexican War and governor
of Mississippi, as his assistant.^

The purpose of Pastor Hartwig to provide for missionary
work among the Indians was not forgotten. Professor
Braun had been a Roman Catholic missionary among the
Indians. All his linguistic attainments were offered for
this service. Dr. Kunze prepared an elaborate plan, which
he sent to Halle and also laid before President Washington.
The latter decided that Congressional action would be re-
quired before a beginning could be made.^

In Pennsylvania Vn^c have already noticed the founding
of Franklin College and the proposed seminary In con-
nection with it. Instruction for the ministry was entirely
in the hands of pastors. Among them, however, the joint
labor of Drs. Helmuth and Schmidt had a semi-official

1 See article " The Beginning of Hartwick Seminary," " Lutheran Quar-
terly," vol. xxiii., p. 206 sq.

2 Plitt's " Geschichte der Luth. Missionen," p. 268.

334 ^^^^ LUTHERANS. [Chap. xx.

character, and they were considered as the faculty of a
private theological seminary. Dr. Geissenhainer, Sr., while
in Pennsylvania, and afterward in New York, Dr. H. E.
Muhlenberg and his successor Dr. Endress, Rev. J. Goer-
ing, and afterward Dr. J. G. Lochman, of Harrisburg, were
eminent as private theological instructors. The synod, on
several occasions, appointed pastors, who were to be re-
garded its official theological instructors. In the next
period. Dr. D. F. Schaeffer, of Frederick, Md., and S. S.
Schmucker, of New Market, Va., appear.

In 1805 the Ministerium of Pennsylvania issued an
especial appeal to its congregations for provision for the
increase of the ministry. This educational movement was
originated by the development of what we now know as
home missions. The Lancaster conference presented to
the synod in 1804 a plan for traveling missionaries, which
was adopted. It had in view the twofold object of provid-
ing pastors for vacant parishes and of gathering the scat-
tered and uncared-for people into congregations. With-
in a few years much was accomplished. The names of
J. G. Butler, whose erratic course in his earlier years had
given Muhlenberg great trouble,^ John Stauch (Stough),
and Paul Henkel are eminent among these devoted mission-
aries of the Ministerium of Pennsylvania. They covered
a great extent of territory, westward far into Ohio, laying
the foundations for the numerous Ohio synods of to-day,
southwestward into the Holston region of Tennessee, and
southv/ard through Virginia into North Carolina. While
Stauch at first explored and supplied the valley of Virginia,
especially Rockbridge, Botetourt, and Montgomery coun-
ties, in 1807, he became finally the pioneer of Lutheran-
ism in Ohio, and Henkel's center was ultimately at New
Market, Va. Rev. Simon was appointed for western and

1 See documents in Archives at Mount Airy.

GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENSION. 335

northern Pennsylvania and Ohio in 1808. Nine years
later we find the name of the pioneer Lutheran missionary
in India from America, "Father" Heyer, on the list of
these traveling missionaries ; and within three years his
field extended into the States of Indiana and Kentucky.
After an experience of a quarter of a century as a home
missionary, he was to enter upon the work for which he
will be chiefly remembered, during an interruption of which
he was to resume his first employment and found a synod
in Minnesota. Those may indeed be referred to as the
days of small things, but they were not days of such en-
tire deadness and inactivity as are sometimes imagined.

The New York Ministerium had extended its operations
into Canada before the close of the preceding century, a
scion of the Schoharie colony having reached the Williams-
burg region already in 1771 ; but the pastors sent thither
in succession left the Lutheran Church, and, in after-years,
the disbanded and scattered people had to be reorganized.
As this period closes, eflforts are being made toward oc-
cupying western New York.

When the tercentenary of the Reformation was cele-
brated in 181 7, the Lutheran Church in America had but
three synods, Pennsylvania, New York, and North Carolina.
Some of the district (then called " special ") conferences of
the mother-synod were, however, assuming synodical pro-
portions, and gradually growing into synodical organiza-
tions. They printed and distributed their own minutes,
with their own parochial reports, and their own action con-
cerning the affairs of the congregations in their bounds.

The pastor at Charleston, S. C, belonged to the New
York Ministerium. Pastor Dreher, of South Carolina, be-
longed to the North Carolina Synod. In Georgia the in-
timacy of Rev. C. F. Bergman (died 1824) with Bishop
Asbury of the Methodist Episcopal Church had been fol-

336 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. xx.

lowed by the abandonment of the Lutheran interests at
Savannah in 1804, until they were revived in 1824. In
the old Ebenezer colony, the delay of English services
and the deterioration of church discipline led to the with-
drawal of a large portion of the people to the Methodist
and Baptist churches founded in the vicinity.^

Some account of the literary history of the church up to
this time, beyond what has been incidentally introduced
otherwise, may be given most appropriately here. Allu-
sion has already been made to the hymn-book of 1786,
and the deterioration shown in the '' Gemeinschaftliches
Gesangbuch " of 181 7.

Muhlenberg had complained greatly of the variety of
hymn-books in use in the congregations, and generally
within the same congregation. Of these, the Marburg
hymn-book gained precedence, and an American edition
was published by Christopher Saur, Germantown, in 1762.
It contains, besides over six hundred hymns, the litany, a
number of prayers, the Small Catechism, the gospels and
epistles, with a collect for each Sunday and festival, and
the history of the destruction of Jerusalem.

The Marburg book was generally supplanted by the
hymn-book of the Ministerium of Pennsylvania of 1786.
This was prepared by a committee composed of Drs. H.
M. Muhlenberg, Kunze, Helmuth, and H. E. Muhlenberg,
with instructions to follow the order of the Halle hymn-
book, to omit none of the standard hymns of Luther and
Paul Gerhardt, to omit the gospels and epistles for the
apostles' days and other unusual festivals, also the history
of the destruction of Jerusalem, the prayer-book, and the
catechism. A new prayer-book was prepared for the ap-
pendix by Dr. Helmuth. The chief part of the editorial
labor was done by Dr. Helmuth, who is responsible for

1 Strobe], p. 244 sq.

THE PENNSYLVANIA HYMN-BOOK. 337

the many changes made in the hymns. Muhlenberg's con-
tribution to the work was the preface, and participation
in the selection of hymns, his infirm health rendering any
active share in the more critical editorial labors impossible.
In the second edition (1795) the gospels and epistles and
collects of the Marburg book are introduced, showing that
their omission in the first edition had not proved satisfac-
tory. With all the defects resulting from the efforts of
Dr. Helmuth to conform the older Lutheran hymns to a
more modern standard, the collection is one of a most
conservative Lutheran character. " From the treasures of
German Lutheran hymnology," says Dr. Mann, Muhlen-
berg ** offered to the congregation a collection showing his
preference for the older hymns of the church, without
neglecting those of a later period. . . . There are elements
in the book of 1786 for which we would not like to make
Muhlenberg responsible. What he says in his preface on
the principles which ought ever to guide those who are
intrusted with collecting hymns for the use of congrega-
tions, and those who furnish the music corresponding to
the sacred character of divine worship, has not lost its
value at the present time." ^ After maintaining its position
for nearly half a century, it was gradually supplanted by
other books, until a new effort was made to secure uni-
formity in the hymn-book of 1849, in the preface of which
Dr. Demme refers to the causes that had led to the diver-
sity that then existed, and shows how the church had not
gained, but had lost, by the disuse of the book of i 786.

Muhlenberg was the advocate of the principle which has
been expressed recently in the " Common Service," having
written in i 783 :

It would be a most desirable and advantageous thing if all the Evangel-
ical Lutheran congregations in the North American States were united with

1 " Life of Muhlenberg," pp. 499, 500.

338 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. xx.

one another, if they all used the same order of service, the same hymn-book,
and, in good and evil days, would show an active sympathy and fraternally
correspond with one another, l

While the Hturgy of 1786 is essentially the same as that
of 1748, there are important changes, according to the
action of the ministerium in 1785, when Muhlenberg had
ceased to attend its sessions. These must be regarded
as due chiefly to the president, Dr. Helmuth. Dr. B. M.
Schmucker affirmed that " they are all of a piece. Every
one of them is an injury to the pure Lutheran type of the
old service."^ Among them is the substitution of an ex-
temporaneous prayer or one of the morning prayers for the
collect for the day from the Marburg hymn-book. The
same rubric remains, however, for the constant use of the
same general church prayer, or the litany. A new gen-
eral prayer is substituted for the one of i 748. This gen-
eral prayer reflects the struggle for language in the words :

And since it has pleased Thee chiefly, by means of the Germans, to trans-
form this State into a blooming garden, and the desert into a pleasant pastur-
age, help us not to deny our nation, but to endeavor that our youth may be
so educated that German schools and churches may not only be sustained,
but may attain a still more flourishing condition.

The first Lutheran liturgy published in America was
still earlier, being that for the Nova Scotia churches in
1775. It is without any order for Sunday services. The
general prayer to be used at every Sunday service is given.
The order for baptism is without any reference to original
sin, and that for the Lord's Supper shows a great weaken-
ing, although the word " triie " is used in the formula of
distribution. It must be the work of Rev. F. Schultz.
Its existence was scarcely known until recently, through
present pastors in Nova Scotia.

The first book used in English services In this country

1 Mann, p. 501. 2 " Lutheran Church Review," vol. i., p. 22.

FIRST ENGLISH HYMN-BOOK. 339

was the *' Psalmodia Germanica," a translation of hymns
from the German, published in London in 1722-25, second
edition 1732. A reprint of the third edition was pub-
lished in New York in 1756, and used in the English ser-
vices of the Dutch (Trinity) Church, and in the church at
Hackensack, N. J. Thence it was probably introduced
into the other churches along the Hudson. The one hun-
dred and twenty-two hymns comprised many of the
standard compositions of Luther, Gerhardt, etc. Several
of these translations of Jacobi are in use in the English
Church Book (Nos. 404, 573). "The collection is made
up of the choicest hymns of the best authors. It is after a
very pure Lutheran type. If the translations only had the
same merits and excellencies as the originals, the ' Psalm-
odia' would have been invaluable."^ We give a few of
the first lines of hymns, to show what was sung almost a
century and a half ago in the English language in this
country :

- Now the Saviour comes indeed.
How shall I meet my Saviour?

0 Lamb of God, our Saviour.
Christ was to death abased.

Come, Holy Ghost; come, Lord our God.

Lord, thine image thou hast lent me.

Commit thy ways and goings.

Dearest Jesus, we are here.

Never will I part with Christ.

God is our refuge in distress.

Ye Christians, pluck your courage up.

Shan't I sing to my Creator?

'Tis sure that awful time will come.

Eternity! tremendous word.

Jesus, Jesus, naught but Jesus.

Dr. Kunze published in 1 795 '' A Hymn and Prayer
Book for the Use of such Lutheran Churches as use the

1 Dr. B. M. Schmucker, in " Lutheran Church Review," vol. vi., p. 232.

340 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. xx.

English Language." It may be called the first model of
the present English Church Book. It contains two hun-
dred and forty hymns. Of these a large number are taken
from the " Psalmodia Germanica," others from the Mora-
vian book of 1789, with a liberal proportion of selections of
English hymns, chiefly from Watts. Besides the hymns,
there is a translation of the liturgy of 1786, the gospels
and epistles, the Small Catechism, '' Fundamental Ques-
tions," Starke's ** Order of Salvation " as translated by Dr.
Wrangel, "A Table of Christian Duties," ''A Short Ac-
count of the Christian Religion," *'A Short Account of the
Lutheran Church," the seven penitential Psalms, and prayers
for Sunday mornings and evenings, and week-day morn-
ings and evenings. Excellent in conception and in its
selections, the book lacks much in purity and correctness
of English style. In the appendix to the hymns. Dr.
Kunze, Rev. George Strebeck, and Rev. J. F. Ernst con-
tribute translations of their own. The Augsburg Confes-
sion was translated for the book by Mr. Strebeck, but as
the size of the volume would not admit of its inclusion, it
was not set up. In the preface Dr. Kunze declares that it
is a moral impossibility for the children of German parents
to leave the Lutheran Church for no better reason than that
they are unable to understand the German language.

For they have, at their confirmation, entered the solemn promise of faith-
fulness, as long as they find the doctrine consonant to Scripture. ... I know
of no authority commissioned to discharge any one from this obligation,
except the interference of conscientious scruples about the salubrity of the
doctrine. Any other consideration that ever induced a person to break up
the membership with a congregation, was a violation of honesty; for such
membership is founded on a contract.

Two years later, the founding of Zion's Church, New
York, was followed by the appearance of another book,
modeled after Dr. Kunze's, by his former pupil and asso-

NEIV YORK HYMN-BOOKS. 34 1

ciate, Rev. George Strebeck.^ The proportion of transla-
tions retained is very small. The apology of the difficulty
of the meters is made for the omission, and the hope is
expressed that " none will be so bigoted to mere name
as to censure us for making selections from authors who
are not of our own profession in religion." The liturgy is
somewhat changed. The doctrinal articles of the Augs-
burg Confessions are included.

The defection of Strebeck to the Episcopal Church was
followed by another book, prepared by his successor. Rev.
Ralph Williston,^ under the authority of Dr. Kunze, as
president of the ministerium, who certifies in a testimonial
found on one of the first pages to the thoroughly Lutheran
character of the collection, every one of the hymns having
passed beneath his criticism. This book obtained wide
circulation within the New York Ministerium. Many
copies are found in Philadelphia, where it was used in St.
John's Church, whose pastor, Dr. P. F. Mayer, was installed
by Mr. Williston. The liturgy again receives modifica-
tions, and shows the 'influence of the Episcopal prayer-
book. The formula of distribution in the Lord's Supper
has become: ''Jesus said," etc. The gospels and epistles
are printed in full, but neither the catechism nor the Augs-
burg Confession are given.

When Mr. Williston, with his congregation, entered the
Episcopal Church, a hymn-book and liturgy were published
by the ministerium, under the editorship of Drs. Quitman

1 "A Collection of Evangelical Hymns, made from Different Authors and
Collections, for the English Lutheran Church in New York," by George
Strebeck. New York, printed by John Tiebout (Horner's Head), No. 358
Pearl Street, 1797.

2 "A Choice Selection of Evangelical Hymns from Various Authors, for
the Use of the English Evangelical Lutheran Church in New York," by
Ralph Williston. New York, printed and sold by J. C. Totten, No. 155
Chatham Street, 1806.

342 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. xx.

and Wackerhagen.^ It contained five hundred and twenty
hymns, and " a new and enlarged hturgy," in conformity
with the relaxed doctrinal position of its editors. The lit-
urgy studies variety, giving two forms of confession of sin,
and two other prayers to be used after the singing of the first
hymn. Instead of the uniform general prayer, upon the
necessity of which the Pennsylvania liturgies of 1748 and
1 786 insist, instructing that no other prayer be used except
under very unusual circumstances, the New York gives
eight from which the pastor may select. ** Supremely
exalted and adorable Jehovah," *' Infinite and incompre-
hensible Jehovah," " Self-existent and infinite Jehovah,"
have become favorite modes of addressing God, instead of
the nearer and more familiar term of ** Father, reconciled
in Christ." A variety of *' Benedictions " is given. There
is a table of '* Gospels and Epistles," with the advice that
" there is an impropriety in congregations confining them-
selves, year after year, to these portions." All allusion to
original sin is omitted from the baptismal address, which
dwells upon the significative character of the sacrament.
The Lord's Supper is preceded by the invitation : *' I say
to all who own him as their Saviour, and resolve to be his
faithful subjects: ye are welcome to this feast of love."
The formula of distribution has, *' Jesus said," and the
rubric says that the ** minister is at liberty to substitute
any other words 'in place of these."

Contemporary with these later efforts were those of Rev.
Paul Henkel, both in German and English, whose mission-
ary zeal did not prevent him from attempting to preserve

1 "A Collection of Hymns and a Liturgy for the Use of Evangelical Lu-
theran Churches, to which are added Prayers for Families and Individuals."
Published by order of the Evangelical Lutheran Synod of the State of New
York. Philadelphia, printed and sold by G. and D. Billmeyer, 181 7.

LITURGIES AND CATECHISMS. 343

orthodox teaching in rhymes of a not very high Hterary
standard.

At the close of this period the Ministerium of Pennsyl-
vania was preparing a revised liturgy, which was submitted,
approved, and published in 18 18, bearing on every page
the marks of the prevalent deterioration. The rubric
allows the pastor to substitute an extemporaneous for the
general prayer, which the preceding liturgies required to
be uniform, and other lessons for the gospels and epistles.
''The responsive character of the service is almost entirely
lost. The New York Hturgy has evidently been before
the revisers and influenced them.

A translation of the Augsburg Confession into English
had been made by Weygand of New York, and published
in 1755, as an appendix to a volume of sermons translated
from P. S. Nashkow, a Danish preacher, by J. S. Magens,
a wealthy member of Trinity Church. Brunnholtz pub-
lished an edition of Luther's Catechism in 1 749 in German,
and an English translation made by himself and Peter Kock,
the Swedish-American merchant, the same year. It is
interesting to note that Mr. Kock's share in the translation
was undertaken first for the benefit of his own children,
who were unable to understand the catechism sufficiently
in German and Swedish. In 1761 Provost Wrangel pub-
lished either a new translation or revision of this.^

American explanations of the catechism, either upon the
basis of Luther's or independent of it, began to be abun-
dant. Such were published by Dr. H. E. Muhlenberg
(1796),'^ Dr. J. G. Schmucker (1804), Paul Henkel (German

1 On American editions of the catechism see Dr. B. M. Schmucker,
"Lutheran Church Review," vol. v., pp. 87 sqq., 165 'sqq. On English
translations of Augsburg Confession, same writer, ibid., vol. vi., pp. 5 sqq.

2 Translated into English by Dr. F. A. Muhlenberg, Gettsyburg, 1857.

344 ^-^^ LUTHERANS. [Chap. xx.

1811, English 1 8 16), Dr. P. F. Mayer (18 16), C. F.
Temme (Nova Scotia, 18 16), Dr. J. G. Lochman (German,
2d. ed. 1808; English 1822). Dr. Quitman's Catechism
has already been given a fuller notice.-^

From 181 1 to 181 7 the Ministerium of Pennsylvania had
its organ in the " Evangelisches Magazin," ably edited by
Drs. Helmuth and Schmid, and invaluable for its histori-
cal material.

Drs. Kunze and Helmuth both published volumes of
poems. The latter is more of a true poet, reflecting thd^"
new school of poetry that was gaining influence in Ger-
many. His poetical contributions were numerous, many
having been printed and distributed on festive occasions
throughout his church. Enough of them on loose leaves
are preserved to fill a large volume. Dr. Kunze, as a poet,
was less emotional, and more didactic and reflective. An
admirer of Watts, he expressed the wish that the hymns
of that English hymn-writer should be followed as a model
in German, and gives an illustration by translating the
hymn beginning ''Join all the glorious names." Dr.
Kunze's largest prose work^ treats of doctrinal questions
from the practical standpoint, and is learned, sober, and
devout, avoiding no controverted question because it is
controverted, but with calmness and impartiality stating
the argument for the Lutheran position. Dr. Helmuth,
the mildest and most peaceful of all our eminent pastors,
has left a polemical treatise as, next to his poems,^ his
chief literary monument. Among the rest, Goering, F. D.

1 On explanations, Dr. B. M. Schmucker, " Lutheran Church Review,"
vol. v., pp. 165 sqq.

2 " Ein Wort fiir den Verstand und das Herz vom rechten und gebanten
Lebenswege," von Johann Christoph Kunze, A.M. (Philadelphia, 1781), p.

243-

3 " Betrachtung der evangelischen Lehre von der heiligen Schrift und
Taufe," etc., durch J. H. Christian Helmuth (Germantown, 1793), p. ZZ^-

THE YELLOW FEVER OF 1793. 345

Schaeffer, J. G. Lochman, and J. G. Schmucker are espe-
cially to be mentioned. The last published in 181 7 a com-
mentary on "The Revelation of St. John," in two octavo
volumes. Dr. Lochman, beside other work, wrote in
English on the ** History, Doctrine, and Discipline of the
Lutheran Church." ^ Goering and F. D. Schaeffer entered
into popular polemics, the former against the Baptists, and
the latter against the Methodists.

But probably as interesting and edifying as any was Dr.
Helmuth's little tract concerning his experiences during
the epidemic of yellow-fever in 1793, in which — it seems
almost incredible — six hundred and twenty- five of the
members and adherents of his congregation died, and re-
peatedly he passed a large part of the day even to nightfall
in his graveyard, burying the dead as rapidly as the graves
could be prepared. Amidst these scenes of sorrow his
heart was joyful in communicating the consolations of
the gospel to the sick and dying, and noting how they
triumphed over disease and death. His diary, speaking of
cases where he believed his ministry blessed to the salva-
tion of the dying, adds :

*' My God, what happiness to be the deliverer of a single
soul! I would not exchange the scenes of death in Phil-
adelphia for the whole world."

The greater the danger, the greater the need, he be-
lieved, for the public services of God's house. Early in
the morning, both on Sundays and week-days, the church
was open for a service of not over a half or three quarters
of an hour, and he preached as a dying man to dying men,
having the attendance and attention of a large number
who at other times were indifferent to religious matters.
Discarding the ordinary artificially prepared sermon, he
spake as an afflicted father to his stricken, terrified, and
1 Harrisburg, 181 8.

346 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. xx.

bewildered children. ** Never, during the entire period of
our ministry," he writes, *' was preaching to us such a
heartfelt work as we found it during these weeks of suf-
fering; and never, we confidently believe, were we more
serviceable to the Lord than at that time."^

Two interesting historical facts ought to be here pre-
served as bearing upon the prominence of the mother-
church of Philadelphia. One is that of the letter of Wash-
ington acknowledging the congratulations sent him on his
election to the presidency, and testifying to the patriotism
of the German Americans during the Revolutionary War.
It is addressed " To the Ministers, Churchwardens, and
Vestrymen of the German Lutheran Congregation in and
near Philadelphia," and among other things says: ** From
the excellent character for diligence, sobriety, and virtue
which the Germans in general who are settled in America
have ever maintained, I cannot forbear felicitating myself
on receiving from so respectable a number of them such
strong assurances of their affection for my person, confi-
dence in my integrity, and zeal to support me in my
endeavors for promoting the welfare of our common
country."

The other is the following entry on the journals of the
House of Representatives of the United States, Philadel-
phia being at that time, 1 799, the capital :

Thursday, December 26th. This being the day appointed by the resolu-
tion of Congress for the funeral procession in honor of the memory of George
Washington, late general of the armies of the United States, the House pro-
ceeded to the German Lutheran Church, where they attended the funeral
oration prepared and delivered on the occasion by Major-General Lee, one
of the members of the House for the State of Virginia.

1 The account of Dr. Helmuth was translated by Rev. Dr. A. J. Weddell,
and published in "The Lutheran," Philadelphia, during April and May,
1867.

WASHINGTON'S FUNERAL. 347

It has been sometimes affirmed that in this oration first
occurred the ascription to Washington of the title, *' First
in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his country-
men." This is erroneous, as these words are found in the
series of resolutions passed by the House a few days pre-
vious, on the announcement of Washington's death.

PERIOD IV.
REVIVAL AND EXPANSION.

A.D. 1817-1860.

CHAPTER XXL

NEW FACTORS. — THE GENERAL SYNOD.

The tercentenary of the Reformation in 1817 ushered
in a period of great changes and wonderful activity. Noth-
ing was clearer than that Lutheranism in America could
not continue to develop its interests in the quiet and
gradual way that had hitherto prevailed. New issues were
upon it, which it could not evade, and which even forced
into activity the most conservative, except in the secluded
recesses of the most remote country districts.

The extension of territory to the westward, the founding
of new States and Territories, the construction of roads and
canals, gave an impulse to immigration from the older
settlements in the East. Immigration in America during
the present century has proceeded in parallel columns, fol-
lowing the lines of latitude, unless an exception be found
in western New York, where the Hudson River and Erie
Canal turned the overflow of the southeastern corner to
some extent toward the lake shore. The Pennsylvania
Lutherans as a rule found a home, when they went west-
ward, in central Ohio, Indiana, and lUinois, as those States
were founded. North Carolina poured its people into Ten-
nessee, and thence, with Virginians, who settled Kentucky
and southern Ohio, into southern Illinois. Such immi-
gration was imposing new responsibilities and making new
demands.

The cessation of immigration to a very great extent
since the Revolutionary War had enabled the population

351

352 THE LUTHEl^ANS. [Chap. xxi.

to become more thoroughly assimilated to permanent con-
ditions in America. The strenuous advocates of Pennsyl-
vania Germanism had no thought of any allegiance which
they owed to the country whence they came. It w^as a
nativistic clannishness, which they thought compatible with
loyalty to American institutions. The German element
had been prominent among the founders of the govern-
ment, and was becoming more so. The Lutherans of
Pennsylvania had furnished the first speaker of the national
House of Representatives, the president of the Pennsyl-
vania convention to deliberate on the Constitution of the
United States, a United States senator, and, during the
period on which we enter, several governors, one John
Andrew Schultze (1823-29), a former pastor in the min-
isterium, and a grandson of Muhlenberg. In New York
one of the most prominent laymen of the Schoharie dis-
trict, William C. Bouck (1842-44), reached the same place.
Descendants of American soldiers, of members of the con-
ventions to frame the State constitutions, of the Colonial
and State legislatures, were scattered throughout the con-
gregations, and mingled with those who, without military
or political honors, had intimate business relations through-
out the land.

The new demands created the need of a wider education
than had hitherto been furnished. The boundaries of the
church, and even of common national origin, were disap-
pearing beneath such pressure. The leaven was constantly
working downward, especially when, under the adminis-
tration of Governor Wolf (1829-35), the Pennsylvania
common-school system was introduced. Intermarriage
with the English and Scotch- Irish elements was becoming
frequent ; and the effects were felt, partially in the current
away from the German churches thus formed, or where
the religious convictions of the Lutheran wife were stronger

JV£PF WAVES OF IMMIGRATION. 353

than those of her husband, in the new names of the second
generation, clearly not of German origin, appearing on the
registers.

Candidates for the Lutheran ministry were in attendance
at the denominational and other colleges that were coming
into existence. Columbia College, New York ; the Uni-
versity of Pennsylvania ; Dickinson College, Carlisle ; Jef-
ferson College, Canonsburg; either had or were soon to
have students and graduates in the Lutheran churches and
ministry. The influence of Christian scholars of decided
convictions and of other forms of religious life upon those
thus trained was inevitable. When the Presbyterian
Church established its theological seminary at Princeton,
N. J., in 18 1 2, Lutheran candidates for the ministry were
soon among its students, and found there students from
the Episcopal and perhaps other churches, with whom they
became intimate. Who w^ould aflirm that the influences
there exerted were not to be preferred to the neology
that had gained the upper hand at all the centers in Ger-
many? When the Lutheran Church in Germany could
offer nothing better, it was only natural to look beyond
the Lutheran Church for the advocates of a more posi-
tive faith. Nor, under these circumstances, was it to be
wondered at that an open door was found in some places
for revivalistic methods, which were becoming prevalent
throughout the country.

Just at this time new movements enter from Germany.
The East, as it sends its thousands westward, is replenished
by a new immigration. While the East absorbs a large
portion^, the wave does not stop there, but runs through
the channels made by those who have preceded, until it
reaches the very frontier. During this period over a mill-
ion and a half of Germans came. To show the progress,
the following table for one year every decade is service-

354 ^^^ LUTHERANS. [Chap. xxi.

able. The number of German immigrants landing in the
United States were: In 1820, 999; 1830, 2658; 1840,
30,904; 1850,83,921; 1860,57,404. From 1820 to 1892
the number of German immigrants was 4,731,023. Among
them there were large numbers of Lutherans. Settling in
the larger cities, as many of them did, they filled the old
churches, and rendered them indifferent to the loss of the
descendants of their founders. At other places, where a
mingling in the same congregation suggested difficulties,
they rendered necessary the founding of new congrega-
tions. They helped greatly to check the movement toward
the obliteration of denominational distinctions that was
in operation. In the State of New York they gradually
brought the ministerium back from the English into the
German language, and saved it from the Socinianizing tend-
ency, against which its best men were battling. The gather-
ing of their children into churches and Sunday-schools was
a great stimulus to missionary enterprise.

With these new immigrants the national spirit was
stronger than with their predecessors of the eighteenth
century, however much some of the latter may have
struggled for language. Religious motives had largely
prompted the latter; and they came, crushed and humili-
ated by their poverty and distresses, to seek whatever
home God would allot them. The later immigrants were
thoroughly sensible of the new glories of their fatherland,
to which more recent years had made them the heirs.
They came from a Germany whose language had been
enriched by the literature of Schiller and Goethe, and
whose thought had been deepened by the speculations of
Kant and Hegel. Even the humiliations to which the
Napoleonic wars had subjected them had only served to
unify their national feeling, and, as the yoke of their oppress-
or was removed, to stimulate their national pride. While,

REACTIONARY GERMAN MOVEMENTS. 355

as a rule, a better class of people, if education and position
be considered, than the peasantry who had preceded them,
their faith only too often had been completely supplanted
by wild ideas of intellectual hcense, or of visionary indi-
vidualism. Those among then! who clung to the church
were in constant danger of being withdrawn from its com-
munion or neglecting its worship through the example and
teachings of the representatives of the more distinctively
German national spirit in America. The German secular
press of*to-day is a sufficient illustration of what is here
stated. As usual in every extremity, the Lord of the
church provided, in time, among the immigrants of the
nineteenth century, at least a few pastors, thoroughly
trained in all the later phases of German thought, and the
heirs of all that was best in her history, to stand as the
representatives of a purer and more positive faith, and to
aid in staying the current of infidehty and socialism that
was threatened.

A more positive faith was awakening in Germany itself.
The year 181 7 was that of the Theses of Claus Harms,
and of the formation of the Prussian Union by King Fred-
eric of Prussia. Unjust and oppressive as the latter was
to the Lutheran Church, it was a well-meant but unfortu-
nate attempt to bring together the friends of a positive faith
within both confessions. Its great theologian, Schleier-
macher, is to be judged very differently, as he rises above
the prevalent rationalism, from one who, starting in a con-
fessional camp, would reach Schleiermacher's theological
standpoint. However open to criticism, the movement was
positive and upward. Nor were these church movements
in Germany without their students in the Lutheran min-
istry in America. The periodicals for which they sub-
scribed, and the books which they imported and marked,
are constantly accessible.

356 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. xxi.

The movements preliminary to the Prussian Union of
1 817 combined with the feeling caused by the common
interests of language and intermarriage among the Re-
formed and Lutherans in Pennsylvania to suggest the
thought of a union betwee'n the two denominations. This
does not seem to have been embodied in any formal action.
The proposed common theological seminary has already
been mentioned. The Reformed, with the Episcopalians
and Presbyterians, were invited by the Ministerium of
Pennsylvania to unite in the celebration of the tercente-
nary of the Reformation.

The answer of Rt. Rev. William White, of the Protestant

Episcopal Church, was directed to Rev. Dr. G. Lochman,

and was as follows :

Philadelphia, October 14, 1807.

Reverend Sir : I received the letter with which you honored me, dated
July 23, 181 7. In answer I take occasion to inform you that it will give me
great satisfaction to join with the reverend ministers and with the whole
body of the Lutheran Church, in this city, on the day appointed, in return-
ing thanks to Almighty God for the beginning of the blessed Reformation
in the three hundredth year preceding ; and in raising up for that purpose
the great and good man who has transmitted to your church his name, and
whose praise is in all the churches of the Reformation.

This occasion must, of course, be the more welcome to me on account of
the agreement in doctrine which has always been considered as subsisting
between the Lutheran churches and the Church of England ; the mother of
that of which Lam a minister.

You will probably be aware, reverend sir, that, under the existing institu-
tions of the Episcopal Church, it is irregular to have especial subjects of
celebration, unless it be the act of the whole body, or at the call of the civil
authority. We have had no opportunity of taking the sense of our general
convention on the subject.

That the Lutheran churches may always, as heretofore, be prominent in
the profession of God's holy and eternal truth, and that you, reverend sir,
may be an instrument in the hand of God to that effect, is the wish and the
prayer of, reverend sir,

Your brother in Christ, and very humble servant,

Wm. White.

Dr. W. A. Muhlenberg has said : " In the case of any
one coming into our church who had been confirmed by

DIVISION OF THE MINISTERIUM. 357

a Lutheran clergyman, Bishop White did not think it
necessary to repeat the rite." ^

The celebration undoubtedly had its effect in quickening
the pastors and their churches to a higher appreciation of
what was involved in their Lutheran confession. After
deliberating, therefore, on the project of a union seminary
with the Reformed Church, and recommending a union
hymn-book, it was natural for the Ministerium of Pennsyl-
vania to resolve, in 1818, that, " in its judgment, it would
be well if the different Evangelical Lutheran synods in the
United States were to stand, in some way or other, in true
union with one another," and to appoint its officers to
correspond with the other two synods (New York and
North Carolina) on the subject. •

The motive seems to have been more than a centraliz-
ing one. It was a provision having reference to a further
division of the ministerium that seemed inevitable. The
Ohio Conference was already taking measures to become
a separate synod. The Virginia Conference, it was fore-
seen, must speedily follow. Even the Lancaster Confer-
ence, with its missionary zeal, could not be absolutely
depended on to be content with the more slow and delib-
erate policy that prevailed at the center. The aim was to
find some way whereby the unity of organization might
be maintained while local interests might be more effi-
ciently administered by a subdivision, and then to ask New
York and North Carolina to unite with the new districts of
the old Ministerium of Pennsylvania in forming a central
body. An amicable controversy with the North Carolina
Synod on the validity of ministerial acts performed by
licentiates had, no doubt, something to do with the propo-
sition. North Carolina disliked the entire licentiate sys-
tem, but emphasized much " the necessary unity with the

1 Sermon at The Trappe, p. 26.

358 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. xxi.

mode of procedure of our brethren in the Lutheran Minis-
terium in Pennsylvania, which should be preserved as a
holy sanctuary." ^ There was prolonged correspondence
on the subject, and the younger synod felt aggrieved that
twenty-nine licentiates should, with the twenty-two or-
dained ministers of the mother-synod, answer their pro-
tests adversely. A decision of a general body was longed
for.

In North Carolina, therefore, the thought was welcomed,
especially as the negotiations of that synod with the Epis-
copalians and their exchange of delegates enabled it to
prize the more highly a more thoroughly organized form
of government. Rev. G. Schober was sent to the meeting
of the ministerium at Baltimore, in 1819, with instructions
to do all in his power to bring the proposed union about.
He was appointed a member of the committee that pre-
pared '* A Proposed Plan,"- which was adopted by a vote
of forty to eight.

In New York the thought met with favor, but the plan
adopted by Pennsylvania was unanimously rejected and a
committee appointed to correspond further on the subject.
New York preferred to have an annual interchange of
delegates among all the synods.-^

In Ohio, where the synod was organized in 181 8, the
plan was rejected, largely in consequence of an anonymous
document giving eight objections to it. Among these
were such as the following : The introduction of uniform
hymn-books and liturgies is contrary to Art. VII. of the
Augsburg Confession ; the freedom and parity of the min-

1 " Minutes," 1816, p. 10.

2 Plan is given by Rev. J. W. Early in article on " The Organization of
the General Synod," drawn mostly from manuscript records of the Ministe-
rium of Pennsylvania, " Lutheran Church Review," vol. xi., pp. 61 sqq.

3 " Americanische Ansichten von dem Gottesdienst und andern Eigenheiten
der Deutschen " (Philadelphia, January, 1820), p. 46.

THE HAGERSrOWN COiVVENTION. 359

istry is infringed upon, since the delegates to the General
Synod will usurp their rights ; an act of incorporation will
follow, and the resolutions will be enforced by the strong
arm of the law ; the Ministerium of Ohio must remain a
German-speaking body, and, in the General Synod, the
English will soon prevail ; etc.^

Undaunted, however, the Ministerium of Pennsylvania,
sustained by North Carolina, pursued its course and in-
augurated the plan. The convention to adopt a constitu-
tion was held in Hagerstown, Md., beginning October 22,
1820. New York thought better of its action the preced-
ing year, and sent two clerical delegates. The Virginia
Conference of the Ministerium of Pennsylvania, which had
become a separate synod that year, and which, with the
congregations in Maryland, now formed the Synod of
Maryland and Virginia, was represented. Altogether
there appeared four synods, with eleven clerical and four
lay delegates, eight from Pennsylvania and seven from the
other synods. But the North Carolina Synod had been
broken four months before by the withdrawal of the
pastors and congregations which formed the Tennessee
Synod.

At the next meeting of the Pennsylvania Synod, in face
of a protest from one of the pastoral charges, the consti-
tution of the General Synod was adopted, after a long
discussion, by the overwhelming majority of sixty-seven
to six. But when the General Synod at last convened at
Frederick, Md., October 21-23, 1821, there were but ten
delegates present, six of whom (Drs. J. G. Schmucker,
G. Lochman, and C. Endress, with three laymen) were
from the Ministerium of Pennsylvania, while Revs. G.
Schober and D. Scherer represented North Carolina, and
Rev. D. F. Schaeffer and a lay delegate Maryland and

1 Ibid., p. 46.

36o THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. xxi.

Virginia. New York was not represented in any conven-
tion until 1837. Oliio elected delegates for the conven-
tion of 1823, but when it was learned that the Ministerium
of Pennsylvania had withdrawn, they did not attend/ and
this synod never joined the General Synod.

The withdrawal of the Ministerium of Pennsylvania, in
1823, was due to the fact that the leaders of that synod
were unable to overcome the opposition of the congrega-
tions in the rural districts. The Reformed as well as the
Lutheran Church was passing through a crisis. A coun-
try schoolteacher, by the name of Carl Gock, published a
small volume, in which he excited the prejudices of the
country people against the projected General Synod of
the Reformed Church. The scheme was declared to be a
plan of the ministers to tread the rights of the people under
foot. An entire chapter was devoted to a picture of the
despotism exercised by Catholic priests in Europe, and
a warning that the formation of a General Synod was at-
tended with such perils. Another chapter dwells on the
great evils of theological seminaries, and urges that the
money of the people would be better spent in the estab-
lishment of elementary schools. All the proceedings of
a General Synod, it is urged, will be in English, and the
rights of the German will be given away, because the lay
delegates will not know what is transpiring. It will be
*' an aristocratic spiritual congress." As to the expenses,
** who is to pay ? We farmers. Collections upon collec-
tions," etc.-

Ludicrous though the book appear to those who read it

1 Spielman, p. 15.

2 The writer becomes most eloquent in the apostrophe:

" Spirit of Washington, appear from the spirit world, quicken in us the
true sense of freedom, in order that the foundation thou hast laid we may
defend even with our blood."

PENNSYLVANIA WITHDRAWS. 36 1

now, such prejudices diffused far and wide among ignorant
and narrow-minded people were sure to do damage. So
closely connected were the Reformed and the Lutherans
— worshiping in many places in the same churches, bound
together in a most tangled web of intermarriages, and
politically combined against the imagined encroachments
of the Anglo-Americans — that any matter of general in-
terest in one communion was almost as deeply felt in the
other.

The country clergy, from the beginning, had not cared
much for the General Synod, which had its chief advocates
in Philadelphia, Harrisburg, York, Lancaster, and Reading.
While they had generally voted for it, they made no
efforts, when the excitement against it arose among their
people, to instruct them or withstand the current, but ac-
quiesced and carried their demands to synod.

The form of the opposition, however, was that the Gen-
eral Synod interfered with the plans that had been pro-
jected for a closer union with the Reformed, and the es-
tablishment of a Lutheran- Reformed theological seminary.
Congregations in Lehigh County petitioned the synod, for
this reason, to ''return to the old order of things"; and
the synod, in the spirit of charity toward its congregations,
in order that nothing might interrupt the mutual fraternal
love that subsisted between the brethren, consented, by a
vote of seventy-two to nine,^ to desert the child which it
had brought into being.

The General Synod must be regarded as a very impor-
tant forward movement, and its influence as beneficial. It
necessarily was not without the weaknesses that character-

1 The nine were : Dr. G. Lochman, Revs. J. Herbst, B. Keller, C. F.
Cruse (afterward an Episcopalian, and translator of Eusebius), and J. Schnee ;
and the lay delegates Barnitz of York, Stoever of Germantown, Schmeiser of
Gettysburg, and Bohn of Berlin.

362 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. xxi.

ized the Lutheran Church in America at that time. One
who ignores the entire historical development will find
much to criticise and condemn, when examined from the
standpoint of what is demanded by consistency with
accurate theological definitions and clear conceptions of
church polity. But he will find just as much that incurs
the same judgment in the proceedings of the synods that
united to form it. The faults peculiar to each synod were
lost, while only the common faults of them all remained.
The General Synod was a protest against the Socinianizing
tendency in New York and the schemes of a union with
the Reformed in Pennsylvania and with the Episcopalians
in North Carolina. It stood for the independent existence
of the Lutheran Church in America, and the clear and
unequivocal confession of a positive faith. It failed, as its
founders in the several synods had failed, in specifically
determining the contents of this faith. It was not ready
yet, as these synods were not ready, to return to the foun-
dations laid by Muhlenberg and his associates, and from
which there had been a general recession from twenty-five
to thirty years before. Lament defects as we may, the
General Synod saved the church, as it became anglicized,
from the calamity of the type of doctrine which within the
New York Ministerium had been introduced into the Eng-
lish language. It had an outlook that included in its sweep
the entire church in all its interests, as the reports on the
state of the Lutheran Church, in the various synods of the
country and throughout the world, appended to its min-
utes, show.

Between the General Synod and the bodies that stood
outside of it there was no antagonism. Synods, within
and outside of the General Synod, interchanged delegates.
Pastors and congregations of the Ministerium of Pennsyl-
vania warmly sympathized with movements occurring in

STRUGGLING IN WEAKNESS. 363

the General Synod, and freely contributed to them. Con-
cerning this relationship, Dr. S. S. Schmucker has testi-
fied:

Much might be said of the honorable manner in which the greater part
of the brethren and churches in East Pennsylvania and elsewhere, whilst
yielding to the prejudices of the weaker members, yet continued to afford
their substantial and increasing aid to every good work undertaken by this
synod, so that much of the credit for what has been achieved is justly due to
their cooperation. ^

But for many years it was numerically small, and could
claim scarcely more than to keep in remembrance the idea
of the desirability of a general organization of synods in
the probable distant future. After the withdrawal of the
mother- synod, its members living west of the Susquehanna
had formed the West Pennsylvania Synod in 1823. For
eight years, until 1831, it comprised the three relatively
small synods of North Carolina, Maryland and Virginia,
and West Pennsylvania. The Hartwick Synod — a child
of the New York Ministerium — was admitted that year,
and four years later came the South Carolina Synod. In
1837 the New York Ministerium returned. In 1829 there
were one hundred and twenty-»three ministers in the syn-
ods not connected with the General Synod, and seventy-
four within it. In 1834, out of 60,971 communicants the
General Synod had 20,249, and the Ministerium of Penn-
sylvania 26,882.

The experience of the church of former days had to be
lived over, and the value of a confessional position to be
learned by all alike, amidst the conflicts to maintain denom-
inational existence through which they passed. Indefi-
nite and unsatisfactory although that of the Ministerium
of Pennsylvania was, nevertheless there remained in its

1 " Retrospect of Lutheranism" (Baltiniore, 1841), p. 19.

364 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. xxi.

congregations the traditions of a better period, which were
never entirely forsaken, and a conservative spirit combined
with sincere and unobtrusive piety in many cases where
the appearances would have denied it. There was genuine
life there, awaiting the hour for a fuller development. It
was not an unmixed evil that all the synods were not in-
cluded in the General Synod, and that the growth was in
parallel lines. In many of the congregations of the Gen-
eral Synod the conservatism was almost equally as strong
'as in the older synods which stood aloof; and from the
laity, again and again, as in the Pennsylvania Synod of
18 1 3, came forth those who could not accept of the more
radical positions of professors and leaders, which they saw
were different from the spirit and temper of the religion of
their fathers and mothers.

Within the General Synod, the process of anglicizing
proceeding with greater rapidity, the lack of the presence
of confessional safeguards was more quickly felt, as the
influence of other denominations became more pressing.
According to the conception of prominent leaders, the
General Synod was nothing more than the realization of
Zinzendorf's dream of 1742,^ which the coming of Muhlen-
berg had so quickly dissipated. But there were always
those who, however peaceful and sometimes inconsistent,
were at heart true to the faith of the church, and hoped to
see the General Synod, to which they were most heartily
devoted, still clearer in its testimony.

The establishment of a theological seminary was one of
the first subjects to which the attention of the General
Synod was called. It was introduced by a letter of Rev.
Dr. F. W. Geissenhainer, Sr., who had been a privat-
docent at Gottingen and a succcessful instructor of candi-
dates for the ministry in New York and Pennsylvania. If

1 See Chapter xi., pp. 197 sqq.

S. S. SCHMUCKER. 365

the two older synods had remained in the General Synod,
the seminary would probably have been established in
eastern Pennsylvania. With the Susquehanna the eastern
and northern boundary of the General Synod, the location
of the seminary at Gettysburg, in 1826, was natural. The
first professor elected was a young man, twenty-seven
years old, who for nearly half a century exercised, as pro-
fessor, author, and ecclesiastical leader, a most powerful
influence.

Samuel Simon Schmucker was the eldest son of Rev.
Dr. J. G. Schmucker. Born in 1799, he was early placed
under the care of his father's theological preceptor and
lifelong friend. Dr. Helmuth, of Philadelphia.^ He left
the University of Pennsylvania at the close of the sopho-
more year, but was graduated while a theological stu-
dent at Princeton. He graduated at Princeton Theologi-
cal Seminary in 1820, having been a pupil of Drs. A.
Alexander and S. Miller, and a fellow-student of Bishops
Mcllvaine and Johns of the Episcopal Church, and of
Dr. Charles Hodge. From 1820 to 1826 he was pastor
at New Market, Va., and its vicinity. In 1823 he first
appeared as a delegate to the General Synod, and at
once assumed the leadership. While at New Market he
became theological preceptor of a number of candidates
for the ministry. In 1822 he prepared the *' Formula
for the Government and Discipline of the Lutheran
Church," for the Synod of Maryland and Virginia, which
was afterward adopted by the General Synod, and deter-
mined the organization and administration of its congre-
gations and synods. From the convention to establish
the General Synod in 18 19 until 1870 he was present,
either as visitor or as delegate, at every convention.

1 May 4, 1807, Dr. Helmuth writes: "If the little man were my own
child, I could not wish for him more good from the Lord."

366 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. xxi.

The associations formed during his student days in
Philadelphia and at Princeton were maintained and ex-
tended. He was on terms of intimate friendship and cor-
respondence with many of the leading divines of other
churches, and active in the American Tract Society and
other general organizations. The May anniversaries in
New York were habitually attended. He was one of the
first advocates of the movement that culminated in the
formation of the Evangelical Alliance in 1846, and at-
tended the opening sessions in London, in company with
other representatives from the General Synod. He threw
all the energy of his life into the General Synod and the
institutions at Gettysburg, withholding from them no
amount of personal sacrifice or toil. Perfectly imper-
turbable, he moved forward toward the end in view without
regard to obstacles. Never have higher executive abilities
been at the service of the church. He was excelled by
colleagues and pupils in width and depth of scholarship,
in critical skill, and in love of research — he was neither an
exegete nor an historian nor a dogmatician, in the proper
sense of the term — but was distinguished for acuteness
and his desire to reduce everything to the most logical
and systematic form. The effect of the later Pietism was,
however, clearly discernible in the standard of theological
education presented in his inaugural, where he urged that
theological professors must not be rigid in demanding
thorough preparation of recitations by their students.
" Too great rigor of recitation would force the student of
humbler talents to subtract from the hours of devotion
that he may add to those of study. Such intellectual
pressure, long continued, would impair the spirituality of
his religious exercises." His advice was that if a student
were suffering from any ''doubts and fears," he should
suspend his studies for the time, and " devote whole days

THE GETTYSBURG SEMINARY. 367

to practical reading and exercises, until he regain a pre-
ponderance of spiritual feeling."

His theological standpoint can never be involved in
controversy ; he was too outspoken in confessing it. Be-
ginning with a more conservative position, he soon publicly-
protested, from the professor's chair and from the press,
not only against the distinctive Lutheran doctrines con-
cerning the sacraments, but against those of original sin
and the Person of Christ. In his ** Popular Theology,"
his " Lutheran Manual," and " American Lutheranism
Vindicated," he teaches what he regards a modified Lu-
theranism, which retains the elements of truth found, as
he believed, with a number of errors, in the Lutheranism
of the Augsburg Confession. In the '' Definite Synodical
Platform," prepared by him in 1855, he expurgated and
changed the doctrinal articles of the Augsburg Confession,
and, in a preface, states what he regards the five errors of
that document.^

These, however, were only individual opinions of the
most influential professor. No colleague ever indorsed
them. The seminary was placed by the General Synod, in
1825, upon the most unequivocal basis of a subscription
to the Augsburg Confession.

In this seminary shall be taught, in the German and English languages,
the fundamental doctrines of the sacred Scriptures as contained in the Augs-
burg Confession.

Every professor was required to declare :

I believe the Augsburg Confession and the catechisms of Luther to be a
summary and just exhibition of the fundamental doctrines of the Word of
God.2

The interpretation made afterward to justify the teach-
ing that there were errors in the Augsburg Confession,

1 For a critical estimate of Dr. Schmucker's position, see Schaff, "Amer-
ica, Political, Social, and Religious," pp. 287 sqq.

2 " Catalogue and Constitution for 1840,*' p. 10.

368 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. xxi.

was by restricting its correctness to what were regarded
the ''fundamental" doctrines, and finding the errors on
points that were deemed non-fundamental. On this sub-
ject there was violent controversy for many years.

It is affirmed, on the one.hand, with undoubted correct-
ness, that this affirmation placed the seminary and the
General Synod upon higher confessional ground than had
been occupied by the Ministerium of Pennsylvania since
its departure, in 1792, from its earliest constitution. It
was a pledge to a distinctively Lutheran position. Such
an affirmation could never have been enforced in the Pro-
posed Lutheran-Reformed seminary which the ministerium
had had in mind. It could not have been exacted of
those who believed the confession to be in error on those
points which divide the Lutherans from the Reformed.
In justice, however, to those who might seem to have been
acting a false part in making this affirmation while they
believed the confession to contain errors, it must be stated,
on the other hand, that the full force of the declaration
was not so clearly apparent in a period directly following
one when, as we have seen, the greatest Hving theologian
of the Lutheran Church in America could distinguish no
difference between the Augsburg- Confession and the
formularies of the Church of England. Since these sub-
jects have been dealt with more critically, they impose
new responsibilities.

The influence of Hartwick Seminary, under Drs. Ha-
zelius and Miller, was of an irenic character, and was not
widely felt. However warm his sympathy for the Lutheran
Church, the writings of the former, and especially his " His-
tory of the Christian Church," show the impress of his
Moravian training, his careful avoidance of precise doc-
trinal distinctions, and tendencies which, in the lives of more
aggressive pupils, could readily become far more serious

''AMERICAN LUTHERANISM:' 369

than in one so universally beloved for his mildness and
gentleness of character. At Lexington, S. C, Dr. Haze-
lius is not known to have varied from what he was at
Hartwick. Nor, under his successor, Dr. L. Eichelberger,
was the Seminary of the South involved in any controversy.

Dr. Benjamin Kurtz, the grandson of Rev. J. Nicholas
Kurtz, had not enjoyed a college education, but his supe-
rior mental gifts and pulpit power soon gave him eminence.
After some years in the pastorate, he had gone to Ger-
many to secure contributions for the Gettysburg Seminary,
and, after exciting great interest and enlisting the favor
of even the King of Prussia (before whom he preached), the
King of Wiirtemberg, etc., he had become editor of '' The
Lutheran Observer" in 1833. This he edited with much
vigor until 1858. - He was the advocate of '* New Meas-
ures," revival meetings, etc., and the severe antagonist of
confessional Lutheranism and liturgical worship in any
shape or form, and the powerful auxiliary of the professor
at Gettysburg, although the prudence of the latter was
doubtless frequently offended by the ardor and violence
of his colleague.

At Wittenberg Theological Seminary, Springfield, O.,
established 1845, Dr. Samuel Sprecher, who became pro-
fessor in 1849, was in general sympathy with the position
of his teacher. Dr. Schmucker, and proved a most eloquent
advocate of this modified or "American Lutheranism."
In later years he has frankly stated the manner in which
he has reached another conclusion, and his readiness to
accept the position of the Halle theologians.^

With growing classes of students instructed in this new
theology, the conservatives in the General Synod were

'Lutheran Evangelist," May i, 1891. Also January 15, 1892: " I can
say, as I could not formerly, that, like Spener, I can for myself accept
the symbols of the church without reserve."

1
now

370 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. xxi.

comparatively helpless, until the establishment of the
"Evangelical Review" at Gettysburg, in 1849, as their
organ, in which, under the editorship, first of Dr. W. M.
Reynolds and then of Dr. C. P. Krauth, Sr., it became
soon manifest that the conservative element was strong
and was constantly gaining.

The congregations were rapidly passing from German
to English. A ministry was arising entirely cut off from
the literature in which the faith of their fathers was main-
tained and defended. All their authorities, their com-
mentaries, their aids in the study of theology, were those
of other churches. They knew little of Lutheran theology
except as they learned it from the Calvinistic or American
writers. The religious excitements which periodically
pervaded the country — returning waves of the influences
originating at Halle, but, without the restraints of a con-
fessional balance, running into extremes — soon found in
them earnest advocates ; and with them entered a differ-
ent spirit from that of the Lutheran Church.

More harmful than any positively erroneous teaching
propounded from the professor's chair or issued from the
press, was the lack of cultivation of any decided form of
church life. The seminary course was very brief, and the
teaching scarcely rose above, if it equaled, the standard
of the better catechetical instruction. There was even a
tendency to depreciate sacred learning, as relatively unim-
portant, and to throw all stress upon devotional exercises.
The teaching became hortatory instead of doctrinal, and
no longer covered the full extent of revelation. There
was more success in home missionary work than in build-
ing up established congregations and instructing experi-
enced Christians. Young pastors uninstructed in the
modes adopted by the Lutheran Church, and sincerely
earnest in the endeavor to be faithful, readily adopted the

PARALYSIS OF CHURCH LIFE. 37 1

methods of other churches. The old ways of the fathers
were looked upon with suspicion. Where this was
avoided, in the uncertainty and wish to compromise, the
most deplorable inactivity and stagnation resulted. The
peril of compromises on church principles lies in the paraly-
sis of church life, by the endeavor of antagonistic parties
to forbear doing aught that might offend those with
whom they differ, and thus doing nothing. Where in-
tense conviction enters, it bursts the shackles of compro-
mises, and is fearless in adopting what it regards the most
efficient measures to discharge its full duty. A Lutheran
Church life can never be nourished except in accordance
with the principles of that church. Methodism, Presby-
terianism, or Anglicanism within the Lutheran Church
soon runs its course. The Lutherans of America, who
imagined that the salvation of their church was dependent
upon its adoption of the peculiarities of its neighbors, were
only temporarily misled. They were yet to awaken to
the realization of the rich provision their church contained
for the full development of all their spiritual capacities.
The more they realized this, the more could they appre-
ciate conceded excellences in other forms of Christianity
when exercised within their own peculiar spheres. But
however sure it is that the church ultimately regains its
lost vantage-ground, the lamentable results of the losses
suffered meanwhile by inaction remain. Dr. Hazelius, e.g.,
deplored greatly the widespread abandonment of family
worship, as one of the consequences of the teaching that
all prayers except those made extemporaneously are form-
alism. The layman who found it difficult to offer a free
prayer banished the prayer-book from his altar, as though
by its use he would do God dishonor; and the next step
was that prayers in the household entirely ceased.

The Ministerium of Pennsylvania was protected, not by

372 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. xxi.

a clearer confessional position, but partly by the German
language and partly by the resources which were open to
its pastors by their access to German Lutheran literature.
There were also a number of learned and influential mem-
bers belonging to the synod, of a more decided and con-
servative tendency, even though some of them had not
fully realized the necessity of a much higher confessional
obligation than had hitherto been imposed. All was con-
fusion ; and it is idle, as is sometimes attempted, to discuss
the question as to the degree of error of either body. The
question really to be met is, as to the readiness to remedy
the evil which originated from defects existing in the Min-
isterium of Pennsylvania before it separated into different
synods, and which had been perpetuated both in the orig-
inal synod and in all her children. The question, too,
was not one pertaining directly to efficiency in the more
ordinary duties of the pastorate, but especially with re-
spect to the prerequisites for success in the future devel-
opment of the entire church, and its relation to the various
new issues which, with that development, she was called
upon to meet. In other words, how was the position of
the founders of the church in America to be regained?
Before this period closes we will recur to the later phases
of this burning question.

CHAPTER XXII.

A MISSIONARY ERA.

An indirect result of the establishment of the Theolog-
ical Seminary at Gettysburg was the origin of the first
Lutheran college, in 1832. When the seminary was
started a large number of the students were found defi-
cient in preparation. Accordingly, one of the first class,
David Jacobs, a graduate of Jeflferson College, Canons-
burg, Pa., was asked to open a gymnasium or academy.
This he did with two pupils, June 25, 1827. From this
beginning came Pennsylvania College. But before the
teacher who had begun the work could participate in the
opening of the college, he had fallen in November, 1830,
at the age of twenty- five, a sacrifice to his zeal and devo-
tion to the cause. His brother, Michael Jacobs, D.D., was
connected with the gymnasium and college from 1829 until
187 1. Rev. H. L. Baugher, D.D., a graduate of Dickin-
son, succeeded David Jacobs. The first president was
Charles Philip Krauth, D.D,, from 1834 to 1850, and the
second. Dr. Baugher, from 1850 to 1867. The college
drew its students from all over the country, from Canada
to South Carolina and Texas. It not only has educated
its thousands, but has been the parent of similar institu-
tions, whose presidents and professors received their edu-
cation in its halls. Besides most powerfully influencing
the literary culture of the anglicized portion of the Lu-
theran Church, it has educated prominent clergymen
of other denominatioris, and has able representatives in

373

374 ^-^^ LUTHERANS. [Chap. xxii.

public life. With the professors mentioned, the names of
Drs. W. M. Reynolds, M. L. Stoever, and F. A. Muhlen-
berg should be associated as most important during this
period. Through their efforts an English Lutheran liter-
ature began to be issued.

Provision for beneficiary education followed. Long be-
fore this, the German Society of Philadelphia had aided
some candidates for the Lutheran ministry. A fund for
the education of poor students grew into a Parent Edu-
cation Society, established in 1837, which held its meet-
ings during the sessions of the General Synod, and showed
continually increasing efficiency. Before this, in 1830, a
Sunday-school Union had been formed, of which Rev. C.
F. Heyer was the agent, who, during the first year, trav-
eled nearly five thousand miles, preached in three hundred
places, and established a large number of Sunday-schools.
From twelve to fifteen thousand Sunday-school books and
tracts had been sold and distributed.

A home missionary society in connection with the Gen-
eral Synod had been established before 1837. In that
year, Rev. C. F. Heyer, one of its six missionaries who
had been sent to explore the entire Mississippi Valley and
to ascertain all German settlements, reported that he had
traveled thousands of miles, and found places for at least
fifty missionaries. Meanwhile the Ministerium of Pennsyl-
vania was not inactive. A similar society was connected
with it, and in 1836 Rev. Ezra Keller reported extensive
explorations through the present West Virginia and Ohio,
into Kentucky, Indiana, and Illinois, laying the foundation
for the present churches of those regions, traveling three
thousand miles, and preaching eighty times. Between the
mission work of the two bodies there was no conflict, or
even rivalry.

The foreign mission work began on a very comprehensive

RHENIUS OF PALAMCOTTA. 375

plan. A constitution was adopted and officers elected, in
1837, for a Foreign Missionary Society of the Evangelical
German Churches in the United States. The Ministe-
rium of Pennsylvania was represented by delegates, among
whom was Rev. Dr. C. W. Schaeffer. Representatives of
the Reformed and Moravians were among the officers
chosen. Cooperation with the American Board of Com-
missioners for Foreign Missions was declared in the con-
stitution to be one of its objects. The efforts to secure
the cooperation of the other German churches failed, ex-
cept some collections in the Reformed Churches. Auxil-
iary societies were formed in the various synods. The
mission of Rev. Dr. Rhenius at Palamcotta, India, received
whatever contributions were gathered during the first
years.

It had been the policy of the Church Missionary Society
of England, organized in 1799, and representing what were
afterward known as Low Churchmen, for many years to em-
ploy German missionaries educated at Basle or Berlin, per-
fectly content with their non-episcopal ordination. C. L. E.
Rhenius (born 1 790) had been one of the most successful of
their missionaries, first at Madras, where he translated the
Bible into Tamil, and afterward in the Tinnevelly dis-
trict, at the extreme south of the western coast of India.
Establishing Christian villages into which he gathered his
native converts, he had under his care over eight thousand
souls of native Christians. Founding a seminary and pre-
paring native pastors, in 1832 an irreconcilable difficulty
occurred in connection with their ordination. Dr. Rhenius
insisting upon a Lutheran ordination as sufficient, while
the society for which he had labored, and which continued
in all other respects to yield to his judgment, decided that
they must be ordained by a bishop of the Church of Eng-
land. The result was the dismissal of Dr. Rhenius, whose

376 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. xxii.

hold, however, upon the natives was so great that, in com-
pliance with their entreaties, he returned to the field. He
made his appeal to the Lutheran churches throughout
the world to sustain him. The German Foreign Mission-
ary Society, representing almost exclusively the General
Synod, pledged two semi-annual appropriations of one
thousand dollars each for his support. The Society of the
South Carolina Synod sent him a press. The Society of
the Ministerium of Pennsylvania appropriated and sent
five hundred dollars. But before the reHef became very
effectual, the veteran missionary had departed this life,
leaving a memory prized alike by his brethren, who ap-
preciated his devotion to his Lutheran principles, and by
his former associates, who regretted them as marking a
strange infatuation in the course of an otherwise most
excellent man. After his death his associates complied
with the requirements of the Church Missionary Society.
The work of Rhenius had enlisted much attention both
in this country and in Germany, even before his separa-
tion from his English connections. The East India " Re-
ports," published regularly at Halle, from the sending out
of the earlier missionaries from that institution, contain
extensive selections from his published reports. In the
chapter concerning the Salzburgers we have learned -how
the Halle pastors in America prized these journals and
read them to their congregations and commented upon
them. The copies sent to old Zion's Church, Philadelphia,
some of them, with manuscript papers lying beneath their
leaves over a century old, are now at Mount Airy. They
extend from Ziegenbalg to Rhenius. Father Heyer, the
pioneer foreign missionary of the Lutheran Church in
America, was a child of Zion's Church, and the older re-
ports or the later ones, as they regularly appeared, could
not have escaped him, during his youth as a Sunday-school

CHARLES FREDERICK HEYER. 377

teacher and a member of the Mosheim Society, and his
subsequent years as a theological student of the pastors
of the congregation. Schwartz, the greatest of Lutheran
missionaries in India, had left Halle only nine years before
Helmuth, Heyer's preceptor, entered. Whether the zeal
of Heyer as a home missionary was kept burning by the
latest reports from Rhenius, as published in the same
journals years after he had been laboring in what was
then the West, we do not know. But his clear acquaint-
ance with the situation and prompt determination indicate
that it was strongly probable.

In 1 84 1 he was appointed by the Mission Society of
the General Synod missionary to India; but when the
arrangement was made that he should go under the gen-
eral supervision of the American Board of Commissioners
for Foreign Missions, he declined, and offered his services
to the Missionary Society of the Ministerium of Pennsyl-
vania in a letter beginning :

Baltimore, June 3, 1841.
Dear Brother : I should prefer going into the heathen world under the
direction of an Evangelical Lutheran Missionary Society, rather than be de-
pendent upon other Christian denominations ; therefore, I take the lil:)erty
of addressing myself to your missionary society. Should the brethren feel
disposed to send me as a missionary among the heathens, then the following
conditions are to be borne in mind.

The committee to which this letter was referred, with
the dilatoriness and timidity that so often have character-
ized the mother-synod, reported their pleasure in perceiv-
ing ** how much Brother Heyer is devoted to the cause of
Christ," but regretted that ** we have not sufficient means
at hand to form and maintain a heathen mission"! But
Rev. Dr. C. F. Demme was equal to the occasion, and,
seconded by Rev. Dr. J. C. Baker (under whose preaching,
thirty years before, Heyer had decided to enter the minis-
try), he silenced all opposition, and raised the synod to a

378 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. xxii.

higher standard by moving the resolutions, which were
unanimously carried, that began American Lutheran for-
eign missions in India.

These resolutions of June 7, 1841, were:

Resolved, That, in reliance on divine Providence, we commence a heathen
mission.

Resolved, That we receive Brother Heyer as missionary in our service ;
however, his offer to invest one thousand dollars of his own property, the
interest of which to aid in the support of the mission so long as he is con-
nected with it, be not accepted.

Resolved, That the executive committee be solicited immediately to enter
into correspondence with Brother Heyer, in order to carry the above resolu-
tions into effect.

Resolved, That we recommend to the executive committee Hindostan as a
missionary field, for their consideration.

Resolved, That the treasurer, the Rev. Dr. Becker, be requested to address
a circular to the different missionary societies of our church, informing them
of the above resolutions, and invite them to cooperate with us.

Rev. Charles Frederick Heyer was no longer a young
man, and to many it seemed a mistake to send one of his
years into an untried field, where he would have to wrestle
with the difficulties of a new language, and be exposed
to severe physical hardships. But his nearly a quarter of
a century's experience as a traveling home missionary
had peculiarly fitted him for the work ; and to the end of
life, all the energy and enthusiasm of youth carried him
forward in incessant labor for the cause of his Master.
Born in Helmstadt, Germany, July 10, 1793, he came to
America in 1807, studied theology under his pastors, Drs.
Helmuth and F. D. Schaeffer in Philadelphia, and at
Gottingen, was licen.sed as a candidate in 181 7, and im-
mediately began his labors as a home missionary, with
Meadville, Pa., as his center.

Sunday, October 3, 1841, was a notable day in the his-
tory of the Lutheran Church, when fourteen or fifteen
pastors of the ministeriums of Pennsylvania and New York,

THE GUNTUR MI SSI OX. 379

and the synods of Ohio, Maryland and Virginia, with a
large audience, gathered in St. Paul's (German) Church,
Philadelphia, and, after listening to a sermon from the
new missionary, on Jonah ii. 3, "Arise, go unto Nineveh,"
etc., heard the charge addressed him by Rev. Dr. Baker.
He sailed from Boston, October 14, in company with
some missionaries of the American Board. From the ship
he sent his farewell greetings to his friends (he had left
his children in America).

All ready to begin our voyage. I feel calm and cheerful, having taken
this step after serious and prayerful consideration. The smiles of friends
have cheered and the approbation of the churches encouraged me thus
far. But I am well aware that, ere long, amidst a tribe of men whose lan-
guage will be strange to me, I shall behold those smiles only in remem-
brance, and hear the voice of encouragement only in dying whispers across
the ocean, and then nothing but the grace of God, nothing but a thorough
conviction of being in the path of duty, nothing but the approving smile of
Heaven, can keep me from despondency.!

Beyond the fact that the Telugus in India offered a
desirable field of labor, and the instructions that he should
see if such reports which came from the American Board
were correct, he had little to guide him. He had ex-
pected to be determined largely by the instructions of
Rhenius, of whose death he did not hear until he reached
India. In September, 1842, he reported that he had
located at Guntur, a city two hundred and thirty miles
north of Madras, and thirty-five miles from the western
coast. He had reached there July 31, 1842, and been
encouraged to locate by a Mr. Stokes, an official of the
English government. In July, 1844, Rev. Walter Gunn
and wife, sent by the Missionary Society of the Gen-
eral Synod, were welcomed by Father Heyer, as reinforce-
ments in the work he had begun. Before the close of
1844 seventeen converts had been baptized as the first-

1 " The Lutheran Observer," October 29, 1841.

380 THE LUTHERANS. [Chai-. xxii.

fruits of the mission. An arrangement was made, during
a visit of the pioneer missionary to America, in 1846,
whereby the General Synod assumed the entire care of
the mission, while the Ministerium of Pennsylvania pro-
vided for the support of Dr. Heyer. In assuming this
work the executive committee of the General Synod's
society pay a most graceful tribute to those who had
made the beginning :

We feel constrained to pay a passing tribute to the Missionary Society of
the Pennsylvania Synod, for their devoted zeal and activity in the missionary
work. To that society we owe the successful establishment of the mission
at Guntur. To them belongs the proud distinction of having sent the first
Lutheran missionary from the United States. And right and proper was it
that the oldest Lutheran synod in this country, the mother of us all, should
take the lead in this noble enterprise. It was in "strict unison with the spirit
which characterized the founders of that venerable . body in leaving their
fatherland to establish a branch of our Lutheran Zion in the then wilderness
of America. It was providential, whether we consider the man sent, those
who sent him, the time, or the section of country in which he commenced his
labors. 1

On his return to India in 1849 Dr. Heyer founded an-
other mission center in the Telugu country, in the Palnaud.
In 1850 the neighboring Rajahmundry field, with its two
missionaries, Groenning and Heise, was transferred to the
care of the American Evangelical Lutheran Missionary
Society by the North German Society, upon the condition
that it was forever to remain a Lutheran mission. In
1857 Dr. Heyer wrote: *' The sun of my life is sinking,
the day is waning, and the shades of evening are rapidly
approaching," and left India, as he supposed forever, little
anticipating that twelve years later he would return to re-
organize a portion of the field that sorely needed his atten-
tion. The missionaries of the General Synod associated
with him, besides those mentioned, were Cutter and Snyder,
and, for a brief season, Martz. Gunn was an early sacrifice

1 " Minutes of General Synod for 1848," p. 55.

HOME MISSIONS. 38 1

to the work, having died July 5, 185 1, as Snyder, the
nephew of Dr. G. B. Miller of Hartwick, was a later victim
to the climate. The immediate results of this period were
small, compared with the dimensions that the field has
since assumed. They had to lay the foundations on which
a second generation of missionaries have built. Heyer's
temperament would never have allowed him to remain
long at one post, or to have been content with the slow
and gradual work of those who build. With truly apos-
tolic spirit, he was ever pressing into territory where
Christ was not known, or his worship neglected, and
opening the doors for others to enter. His report to the
General Synod of his exploration of the Mississippi Valley,
that he had found places for fifty preachers, might well be
applied to his foreign missionary work. It was his calling
to find places and prepare the way for those who were
to do the thorough, methodical, and slow work, whereby
ultimate success was to be attained. When he withdrew in
1857, the Ministerium of Pennsylvania, then in the General
Synod, appointed no successor. Revs. E. Unangst, D.D.,
and A. Long (died 1866) had been sent to India by the
General Synod in 1857.

As might have been anticipated, the attention paid to
the beginning of the foreign mission work prevented any
great extension of home mission work during the decade
1840-50. It was not until 1845 that the Home Missionary
Society of the General Synod was organized, and its results
for a long time were feeble. Nor does the Ministerium
of Pennsylvania show much life in this direction until in
the fifties ; then we find some aid given a mission among
the North American Indians in Michigan, and a number
of mission-points in Canada and Wisconsin sustained or
aided, as was the case shortly afterward in Minnesota.
The synods that bear those names are in part the fruit of

382 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. xxii.

that activity. The New York Ministerium had a great
responsibiHty thrown upon it by the enormous German
immigration to that State, and the development of its west-
ern counties, and met it well, as the mother-churches of
Buffalo, Rochester, Utica, Syracuse, Lyons, etc., founded
during those years, show. Its missionary boundaries ex-
tended to the north into Canada. In New Jersey the
churches at Newark and Elizabeth were founded. In
Boston it made an unsuccessful effort to establish both
an English and a German church.

The Ohio Synod was all missionary territory. With
such pioneer missionaries as John Stauch and Paul Henkel
were associated the two Stecks (J. M. and M. J.), father
and son, at Greensburg, Pa., and Lancaster, O. The
names of Andrew and Charles Henkel, Manning, Wagen-
hals, Greenwald, Mechling, Spielman, Roof, soon appear.
In the years 1837 and 1838, twenty pastors in this synod
served no less than one hundred and ninety-five con-
gregations. A pastoral charge extended over several
counties, and from twenty to twenty-five miles had to
be traveled in filling the necessary appointments every
Sunday. This was demanded by the great scarcity of
ministers. With all this labor, the support was the most
meager. A couple of hundred dollars, without a parson-
age, was the frequent income of the largest parishes. A
log hut, with a single unplastered room, furnished with a
table and a few chairs or benches, together with a place of
resting for the night, was often the only home to which
the pastor, wearied from his exhausting journeys, returned.
One ^ of those earnest men who has survived to write the
history of those days, and upon whom we rely for these
facts, adds :

Even in 1840, during my canvass as agent tlirough a portion of the synod-
ical territory, I enjoyed the fraternal hospitality of three pastors educated in

1 Rev. C. Spielman, in his " History."

JV£IV SYNODS. 383

Germany, who, with their families, lived in such log huts. Nevertheless
they were entirely contented and satisfied in them ; a proof that great earthly
possessions and outward display are not necessary for the true welfare of
men. Children of God, united by true faith to their Lord, and having his
peace in their hearts, live more happily in their poor and plain huts than the
children of this world in their transitory glory and earthly magnificence, l

Laboring with their own hands during the week, even
weaving the cloth from which their garments were made,
and manufacturing their sugar and syrup from the maple
forests which surrounded them, any progress in scholarly
attainments could not have been expected. Their ser-
mons doubtless showed the effects of their distractions,
and their congregations, like- many in Pennsylvania, were
not thoroughly developed. But where there was the
willingness to make these sacrifices, the response to the
appeals to build the institutions at Columbus was more
prompt than among those who were strangers to such self-
denial.

The growing demands for more aggressive home mis-
sionary work broke through synodical boundaries. The
older synods, not ready to respond promptly to the call
of the hour and to make sufficient provision to engage
the zeal of their younger members, were left behind, while
many of their more active young men organized new
synods. This was rendered possible by the increasing
number of young ministers, furnished by the institutions
at Hartwick and Gettysburg, who were able to preach
with acceptance in the English language and to adapt
themselves to the changing circumstances of American life.
That there was much doctrinal indefiniteness, and the
lack of a clear conception of the mission and work of the
Lutheran Church, and a frequent desire to introduce
methods alien to its spirit, must be freely conceded ; and in
their zeal there were occasional attacks upon what every

1 I did., p. 139.

384 ^^^ LUTHERANS. [Chap. xxir.

true and intelligent Lutheran should hold dear as his own
life, as the columns of the sole church paper published
within the General Synod at that time will clearly show.
But if, on the other hand, the more conservative portion
of the church had shown more of that life which began to
characterize it toward the close of this period, many of the
conflicts would have been avoided. When the pastoral
zeal of Falckner and Boltzius and the missionary zeal of
Muhlenberg and Heyer were absent from the great body
of those who professed to hold the same faith, or where
this zeal could not appreciate the growing necessities of
the change of language and nationality, methods which
sometimes might lie open to the charge of being revolu-
tionary might be anticipated. Even the so-called " new
measures " gained an influence among Lutherans only
where what might be called ** old measures " had not been
energetically administered. But where such breaks had
been once made, the doors were open to all sorts of indi-
vidualism, that could be justified by no apology, and that
delighted in proclaiming their radicalism, until the new order
was driven more and more back into the channels of the
old faith and life of the church. We may well cover with
the mantle of charity most of the doctrinal discussions and
synodical deliverances of those days. In order to under-
stand them much must be read between the lines. No-
where is the old adage more applicable : Qitmn duo idem
diacnt, non est idem.

In New York the break began in 183 1, by the forma-
tion of the Hartwick Synod, which entered the General
Synod at its next convention. But in 1837 the Hartwick
Synod was not advanced enough for a few of its members,
who founded the Franckean Synod, which pressed '' new
measures " to the extreme, laid little stress on an educated
ministry, and in its " Declaration of Faith," abandoning

WITTENBERG COLLEGE. 385

the Augsburg Confession, taught, according to the deci-
sion of a vice-chancellor of the State of New York, an
entirely different doctrine on '* three essential particulars."
This may be noted as the perpetuation of the doctrinal
tendency that had been strong in the New York Minis-
terium, and previously found expression in Dr. Quitman's
Catechism. It can in no way be regarded as having any-
thing whatever to do with influences that had entered from
either Hartwick or Gettysburg. It had been imported
from Gottingen, and had been taught in the State of New
York long before a General Synod was thought of. The
decision of Vice-Chancellor Sandford says of the Franck-
ean Declaration :

I. It does not maintain and declare the doctrine of the Trinity, or that the
three Persons constituting the Godhead are equal in power and glory ; or
even that there are three Persons constituting the Deity. 2. It does not
declare or admit the divinity of Jesus Christ, or his equality with God the
Father. 3. It does not teach or declare that man will be condemned to
punishment in a future state, because of original or inherited sin, unless it
be repented of ; or that it condemneth all who are not born again of water
and the Holy Ghost. 1

The same process broke off several small synods from
the Joint Synod of Ohio, the first in 1840, which soon
found their way into the General Synod, and grew rapidly
after they had a literary and theological center in Witten-
berg College and Seminary, Springfield, O., founded in
1845, aricl presided over successively by Drs. Ezra Keller
and S. Sprecher. These institutions were, during this
period, the most advanced in their advocacy and develop-

1 Sandford's "Chancery Reports," vol. i. ; also in separate pamphlet:
" State of New York in Chancery. Philip Knisken and others v. Philip
Weeting, the Evangelical Lutheran Churches of St. John's at Durlach and
St. Peter's at New Rhinebeck and Sharon and others. Opinion of the Hon.
Lewis H. Sandford, Assistant Vice-Chancellor, July 17, 1844," etc., etc.
New York, printed by William Osborn, 88 William Street, 1845, pp. 72.

386 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. xxii.

ment of the so-called American Lutheranism, since there
were strong influences at Gettysburg modifying and coun-
teracting the teaching of its most prominent theologian.

In 1842 ten pastors, under the leadership of Dr. W. M.
Reynolds, then a professor in Pennsylvania College, Get-
tysburg, left the Ministerium of Pennsylvania and formed
the East Pennsylvania Synod, covering precisely the same
territory.

In 1845 a number of pastors in Pennsylvania, west of
the Alleghany Mountains, belonging to several synods,
being on territory claimed both by the synods of Ohio and
of West Pennsylvania, in order to insure harmonious
cooperation formed the Pittsburg Synod, which, on ter-
ritory settled mostly by the Scotch- Irish, carried on with
great success and spirit numerous missions, and extended
its missionary activity as far west as the Mississippi
Valley. It acted upon the principle that wherever there
were those uncared for the synod had the right to enter,
when the proper call came. It was especially active in
Canada, and even as far south as Texas. The synod was
composed largely of young men, and its missionary oper-
ations were guided chiefly by the unwearied activity of
Dr. W. A. Passavant, whose small journal " The Mission-
ary " for a number of years enlisted and maintained great
interest in these undertakings. The great extension of the
missionary operations of the synod required the most thor-
ough organization of its resources. A missionary president
had the immediate care of the missions. The system of
synodical apportionments, now widely used, was first in-
troduced by the Pittsburg Synod. Within this synod Dr.
Passavant, with the cooperation of Revs. G. Bassler and H.
Reck and others, had laid the foundations for institutions
of mercy within the Lutheran Church by the establish-
ment of the Orphans' Home, first at Pittsburg, afterward

THE PITTSBURG DEACONESSES. 387

remov^ed to Zelienople and Rochester, Pa., an infirmary at
Pittsburg, and a Deaconesses' Institute at the- same place.
These institutions were only the beginning of similar ones
with which he was to be more or less directly connected in
the succeeding period, at Boston, Mass., Mount Vernon,
N. Y., Jacksonville and Chicago, 111., and Milwaukee, Wis.
The deaconesses for his institute came from Kaiserswerth
in 1849, and were accompanied by Pastor Fliedner. This
institution soon found one to emulate it in that projected
by Dr. W. A. Muhlenberg in New York in 1845, but not
formally organized until 1852. Both founders incurred
much distrust and suspicion of a secret inclination toward
Romanism by the revival of this ancient institution of the
Christian Church, which has now its advocates in almost
all the Protestant denominations. The church was not
ready for the work when introduced by Dr. Passavant ;
but the few deaconesses of his institute did most efficient
service, especially in cholera epidemics, during the Civil
War, and in starting and administering the numerous in-
stitutions which he was called to undertake.

The Pittsburg Synod, as the result of a missionary
tour to Canada in 1849, by the Rev. G. Bassler, had
gathered the scattered congregations into a conference
of that synod in 1853, which in 1861 became a separate
synod. Prior to this the long neglected people had almost
despaired of relief. No better evidence of their extremity
and their earnestness could be afforded than the journey
of the layman, Adam Keffer, from Vaughn to the meeting
of the Pittsburg Synod, to implore its aid in securing a
pastor. A large portion of the five hundred miles he
traveled on foot.

Before considering new elements that enter here into
the history of the Lutheran Church in America and had
much to do with what transpired during the later years of

388 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. xxii.

this period, we take a brief survey of the more prominent
men and the Hterature that appear up to this time.

The mother-church in Philadelphia had as its first pas-
tor, from the withdrawal of Dr. Helmiuth in 1820 until
1834, Dr. F. D. Schaeffer (died 1836), for a number of
years senior of the ministerium. The venerable Dr. J. D.
Kurtz, son of Rev. J. Nicholas Kurtz, pastor until 1833
in Baltimore, died in 1856, in his ninety-third year, par-
ticipating in occasional ministerial work until three years
previously. Dr. J. G. Lochman passed away at Harris-
burg while the bells were tolling for the deaths of Adams
and Jefferson, in 1826, having reached only the prime of
his ministerial career. Dr. J. G. Schmucker, active in so
many of the enterprises of his day, died at an advanced
age, in 1854.

Dr. C. F. Demme (i 795-1863), the son of an eminent
general-superintendent of Altenburg, first the assistant and
afterward the successor of his father-in-law, Dr. Schaeffer,
at Philadelphia, was one of the most eloquent preachers
and distinguished scholars in the Lutheran Church of this
country, and, during his prime, the most influential mem-
ber of the Ministerium of Pennsylvania. The official
publications of the ministerium during his membership,
and particularly the liturgy of 1842 and the German
hymn-book of 1849, were prepared chiefly under his
editorship. He was the theological preceptor of a num-
ber of candidates for the ministry.

Of the pastors of Trinity Church, Reading, Dr. H. A.
Muhlenberg became member of Congress, minister of the
United States to Austria, and died in 1844, while the
democratic candidate for the governorship of Pennsylvania.
Dr. Jacob Miller (i 788-1850), his successor, was noted for
the strictness of his adherence to the Lutheran faith,
among many who were far less rigid. Dr. J. W. Richards

PROMINENT MINISTERS. 389

(1803-51), a grandson of Muhlenberg, was a president of
the ministerium, and contributed much toward exciting
interest in its earlier history. Dr. J. C. Baker, of Lancas-
ter, was an earnest pastor, and a man of mild disposition,
warm sympathies, and wide outlook. Rev. B. Keller was
an indefatigable agent, who has his monument in the edu-
cation work and Publication House, now of the General
Synod, and was one of the founders of the Philadelphia
Seminary. Rev. William Beates, a pupil of Helmuth, was
senior of the ministerium from 1836 until his death, in
1867.

Dr. C. F. Schaeffer, youngest son of Dr. F. D. Schaeffer,
was pastor in Pennsylvania, Maryland, New York, and
Ohio, and enjoyed the distinction of having been pro-
fessor in three theological seminaries, viz., that of the Ohio
Synod at Columbus (1840-43), that of the General Synod
at Gettysburg, Pa. (1856-64), and that of the Ministerium
of Pennsylvania at Philadelphia (1864-79). He was one
of the most prolific writers among his brethren, being a
frequent contributor of most scholarly articles to the *' Lu-
theran Intelligencer," '* Evangelical Review," the " Biblio-
theca Sacra," etc. His translation of Kurtz's '' Sacred
History " remains still a text-book in many theological
seminaries ; that of Lechler on Acts, belonging to the
Lange series of commentaries, was published in the next
period. Dr. Schaeffer was a most careful and accurate
teacher, and exerted his chief influence from the professor's
chair. He was the chief advocate of a higher confessional
position in his synod, and, although at first meeting with
a temporary check, was at last enabled to see his proposi-
tions adopted.

Dr. J. G. Morris, still preaching, lecturing, and writing
with vigor, was already, early in the decade between 1830
and 1840, one of the most active and prominent of our

390 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. xxii.

ministers in all good works. He had studied theology at
Princeton, and had been a member of the first class with
which the seminary at Gettysburg had opened in 1826;
in 1829 a delegate to the General Synod and chairman of
the first committee that was announced; in 1831 the
founder of *' The Lutheran Observer " ; in 1832 a member
of the first board of trustees of Pennsylvania College ; he
has been actively identified with almost all the boards of
the General Synod, and twice its president. He has pub-
lished many books, both Lutheran and scientific. One of
his chief distinctions has been the interest that he has
quickened, by a number of volumes and numerous articles
in the church papers, in everything pertaining to the life
of Luther. Although having completed his ninetieth
year, he is president of the Maryland Historical Society,
and is engaged in establishing a society of American Lu-
theran Church History.

An older contemporary of Dr. Morris in the Maryland
Synod, and his predecessor in Lutheran journalism, was
Dr. D. F. Schaefi"er, of Frederick, Md. (i 787-1837), an-
other son of Dr. F. D. Schaeffer, who, amidst exhausting
pastoral duties, found time to be a faithful theological in-
structor, was one of the most active friends of the General
Synod, its secretary from 1820 to 1831, its president from
1 83 1 to 1835, and the editor of the admirably conducted
''Lutheran Intelligencer" from 1826 to 1831.

Farther south, Dr. Eichelberger at Winchester, Va.
(which he left for the Theological Seminary at Lexington,
S. C, in 1853), ^rid Dr. J. Bachman of Charleston, S. C,
renowned as the associate of the Audubons in ornithology
and mammalogy, were the most prominent.

In New York, Drs. Pohlmann of Albany, G. B. Miller
of Hartwick Seminary, and G. A. Lintner, a graduate of
Union, editor of the *' Lutheran Magazine," are to be

THE OHIO SYNOD. 39 1

mentioned among the English-speaking, and Dr. C. F. E.
Stohhnann among the German, pastors. Dr. H. I. Schmidt,
after leaving Gettysburg, Pa., was a learned professor of
Columbia College, New York.

The Theological Seminary of the Ohio Synod was
opened at Canton, O., October 15, 1830, because the pro-
fessor who was elected by the synod was at that time
pastor of five congregations in the neighborhood.^ The
next year it was removed to Columbus, O. Professor
W. Schmidt died at the age of thirty-six, in 1839. Dur-
ing the professorship of Dr. Schaeffer, in 1843, two dele-
gates were sent to the Ministerium of Pennsylvania, in
order to secure its cooperation in the sustaining of the
seminary and the supply of students. Rev. W. F. Leh-
man, who became theological professor in 1847 ^"^^^
served until near. his death, in 1880, was a child of the
mother congregation in Philadelphia. Capital University,
the collegiate department growing out of the necessities
of this seminary, was founded in 1850. Dr. W. M. Rey-
nolds was called from Gettysburg to the presidency.
Revs. C. Spielman and Professor Lehman were among
those who followed him. *' The Lutheran Standard " was
estabHshed in 1842, under the editorship of Dr. Green-
wald for two years, who was again its editor from 185 i to
1854. The names of Spielman, Lehman, and Worley
occur among the others who edited it in the interests of a
decided confessional Lutheranism during this period.

Of the younger men, besides those elsewhere referred
to, may be mentioned Dr. A. H. Lochman, pastor at
York; Dr. C. W. Schaeffer, pastor at Harrisburg and Ger-
mantown ; Dr. W. J. Mann, the associate of Dr. Demme ;
Dr. C. F. Welden ; Rev. A. T. Geissenhainer, a diligent
liturgical scholar ; Dr. J. A. Seiss, pastor at Cumberland

1 Spielman's " Geschichte," p. 36.

392 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. xxii.

and Baltimore, Md., who in 1858 succeeded Dr. P. F.
Mayer, in Philadelphia; Dr. C. P. Krauth, Jr., and his
friend Dr. B. M. Schmucker, both beginning their ministry
in the South and afterward laboring together in the synod
which ordained their fathers ; Dr. S. W. Harkey, who,
after a successful pastorate at Frederick, Md., became
president of Illinois State University ; Dr. Charles A.
Hay, who in 1844 became professor of Hebrew at Gettys-
burg, and from 1848 to 1865 was an active pastor; Drs.
F. R. Anspach, G. Diehl, E. W. Hutter, and F. W. Conrad,
the future editors of the '* Observer" ; Dr. T. Stork, who
left Philadelphia to develop the educational resources in
his native South, and returned at the beginning of the
war to Baltimore ; Dr. D. F. Bittle, the founder of Roan-
oke, as his brother, Dr. D. H. Bittle, was the founder of
North Carolina College ; Dr. J. A. Brown, pastor at
Reading and professor in South Carolina, of Quaker par-
entage, who had come into prominence by an attack of
great vigor upon the theology of his predecessor at
Gettysburg; Dr. G. F. Krotel, pastor in Lebanon and
Lancaster, almost in his youth one of the best known
members of the Ministerium of Pennsylvania. The Ten-
nessee Synod was known through the Henkels and Stier-
walds and Foxes. \\\ the Joint Synod of Ohio the name
of Dr. Matthias Loy is associated with nearly every pub-
lication of value that has been issued during the last third
of a century, but his remarkable activity was just beginning
as this period closes. To enter into the same critical ex-
amination of the literature as has been done in preceding
periods is manifestly impossible ; the nearer we reach the
present, the less we can enter into details and the more
we must confine ourselves to tracing tendencies and stat-
ing principles the explanation of which will be found in
the history that has preceded.

CHAPTER XXIII.

THE CONFESSIONAL REACTION.

About the middle of this period new elements entered
which greatly influenced the subsequent development.

The circumstances connected with the formation of the
Tennessee Synod, by a break from the North CaroHna
Synod, have been the subject of controversy. When the
case is fully reviewed, beneath the personal motives which
may have contributed to the result those connected with
an important doctrinal divergence must be conceded.
Paul Henkel, the pioneer missionary of the Ministerium of
Pennsylvania, and one of the founders of both the North
Carolina and Ohio synods, and his four sons, were men
of great force of character and depth of personal convic-
tions. Without much learning of the schools, they were
persevering students. The extremes to which measures
were pressed in the South against which their traditional
Lutheran spirit rebelled, drove them to the study of the
old standards of the Lutheran Church, its confessions of
faith, and the writings of Luther. They were as fearless
and outspoken as they became firm in their conviction
that the Lutheran Church in America had drifted from its
moorings. Many of their attempts may be criticised as
ill-advised, as also their earlier literature falls beneath the
tests of even a moderate standard of excellence. But time
has vindicated their sincerity, earnestness, and the correct-
ness of their judgment on not a few points upon which
they were greeted with opposition and ridicule. They

393

394 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap, xxiii.

were, in the twenties, the most vigorous assailants of both
the Ministerium of Pennsylvania and the General Synod.
The formal questions addressed to the former, challenging
its Lutheranism, were not deemed worthy of an answer.
The constitution of the General Synod it published with
a commentary, not altogether fair and yet not altogether
wrong. It left its permanent monument in the English
translation of the ''Book of Concord." This work was
■due largely to the energy of S. G. Henkel, M.D., a physi-
cian and grandson of Paul Henkel. The risk was great,
and the mode he undertook to publish the book from his
own press was most heroic. The translators were three
members of the Henkel family, and Revs. J. Stirewalt,
H. Wetzel, and J. R. Moser. The first edition, published in
185 I, was followed by a second in 1854, revised by Dr.
Krauth, Sr., of Gettysburg, Professor Lehman and Dr.
Reynolds, of Columbus, Dr. J. G. Morris, and C. F.
Schaeffer. Nor was it the only service of the kind which
was rendered the church. A volume of selections from
Luther on the sacraments served to show plainly what
was the teaching of the great reformer. Without any
great display of missionary activity, the Tennessee Synod
grew steadily in the States of North and South Carolina,
Virginia, and Tennessee. In i860 the ministers in Ten-
nessee formed the Holston Synod, and since then the
Tennessee Synod has no pastors or congregations in the
State of that name.

In Germany the effort made in 181 7 by King Frederick
William III. to unite " the two slightly divergent confes-
sions," the Lutheran and the Reformed, met with a far
different result from what had been anticipated. The
process seemed simple enough. The Reformed were
thought to have universally abandoned the doctrine of
absolute predestination, and the Lutherans that of the

THE BUFFALO SYNOD. 395

real presence. *' But," as a theologian of the Union,
Hagenbach, remarks, "it is plain that a union which
merely cancels differences, and destroys one zero by an-
other, is neither real nor satisfactory." ^ It only served
to bring out into still greater prominence the confessional
antithesis, when the attempt was made in Prussia to fur-
nish the churches with a uniform liturgy. It proved to be
too positive for the adherents of the theology of lUumin-
ism, too Lutheran for the Reformed, and too Reformed
for the Lutherans. It set earnest minds to thinking, drove
men to the study of the sources of the confessional diver-
gence, which had largely been forgotten, and revived the
lines of demarkation that had been gradually fading.
Strange to say, *' even the same peacemakers who wxre
called to give their aid to the Union, such as Schleier-
macher, started the discussion of these differences." ^
After long delays, it was not until 1830 that the hturgi-
cal revision had reached such shape that it could be in
any way enforced.

Among decided Lutherans it met with a twofold recep-
tion. Some refused absolutely to recognize the Union,
formed separate congregations, and carried on a most active
controversy against what they believed to be a most gross
form of ecclesiastical tyranny. Others, remaining in the
Union, did not fail to continue to utter a most decided
protest, and, by learned publications, to give testimony to
their Lutheran faith.

Among the Separatists, or " Old Lutherans," as they
were called, were some who ultimately came to this coun-
try because of their fidehty to their confession. Rev.
Johannes A. A. Grabau, pastor of St. Andrew's Church,

1 " History of the Christian Church in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth
Centuries," vol. ii., p. 350.
2//;/V/., p. 351.

396 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap, xxiii.

Erfurt (born 1804, died 1879), a graduate of Halle, made
his opposition so prominent that he was deposed from
office and imprisoned for a year. Emigration being finally
determined upon, he sailed, with one thousand adherents,
from Hamburg, in July, 1839. The most of the colony
settled in Buffalo, N. Y., and its neighborhood, where four
churches under his care sprung up, and an institution
(Martin Luther College) began to train candidates for the
ministry. From these foundations there was formed in
1845 the Buffalo Synod, or ** Synod of Exiles from the
Lutheran Church of Prussia." It consisted, in the begin-
ning, of four pastors and eighteen lay delegates. It grew
little externally, but has retained a large portion of the
descendants of the immigration. Its strength was for a
long time largely spent in defending itself against the un-
tiring polemics of the Missouri Synod, with which it dif-
fered on the doctrines of the church and the ministry and
ordination, and assumed what the latter synod regarded a
hierarchical position.

In the beginning of the year (1839) that the found-
ers of the Buffalo Synod reached their future home
from the Atlantic coast, a far stronger accession to the
Lutheran Church entered "the West," from the Gulf of
Mexico by way of the Mississippi River. In Saxony the
Lutheran reaction had found its most zealous advocate in
Martin Stephan (born 1777), who combined the spirit of
an intense Pietism with the most rigid adherence to the
orthodoxy of the Lutheran Confessions. As pastor of St.
John's Church, Dresden, his sermons, which were chiefly
calls to repentance, drew large audiences and created deep
interest. He supplemented his public services by private
devotional exercises and ** conventicles," prolonged until
late in the night. His advice was sought by large num-
bers concerned about their personal religious life. Ham-

THE MISSOURI SYNOD. 397

pered by his ecclesiastical connections, he consulted Dr.
Benjamin Kurtz, when in Germany to collect for the Get-
tysburg Seminary, concerning the planting of a Lutheran
colony in America, and, when the magistrates were exer-
cising unusual supervision over his meetings, concerning
which some suspicions of wrong were being entertained,
he took measures to carry out his plans. With his unu-
sual power over men, a band of six clergymen and eight
hundred souls were collected, who were ready from relig-
ious motives to accompany him. Five vessels sailed ; the
first, the " Amalia," was never heard from ; the rest
reached New Orleans at the beginning of January, 1839.
It was difficult for the spell which their leader held over
them to be broken. Even on board the vessels that car-
ried them across the ocean, they signed a declaration of
absolute submission to his authority. But the rumors of
his secret sins at last were fully confirmed. The preacher
who had awakened so many to a sense of sin was found
to have become, in his old age, a deceiver. Deposed and
excommunicated, he was sent away from his people, to
pass his last days in obscurity.

Three of the four pastors in the company were closely
related, viz., the brothers O. H. and C. F. W. Walther, and
their brother-in-law, E. G. W. Keyl. The fourth was
Rev. G. H. Lober. Some of the immigrants settled in St.
Louis, where the elder of the brothers Walther became
pastor. The larger portion found a home in Perry County,
Mo., divided among several parishes, served by the three
remaining pastors. Christ Church (Protestant Episcopal)
of St. Louis gave Pastor O. PL W^alther's congregation
the use of the basement of their building, for a merely
nominal rent, for three years' service, and this courteous
act has never been forgotten by the large mother-church
of the Missouri Synod, which was thus cared for in the

398 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap, xxiii.

days of its poverty. The elder Walther died in 1841, and
was succeeded by his brother, whose Hfe is so closely con-
nected with that of the powerful synod which he organized,
and which was the expression of his own spirit, that even
the details of his private biography belong to the history
of the church. Muhlenberg and Walther are the most
prominent figures in the history of the Lutheran Church
in America up to this time.

Walther was by no means a spiritual child of Stephan,
completely as, at one time, he was beneath the influence
of the latter. He went to Stephan for advice in an ad-
vanced stage of his spiritual struggles. The son, grandson,
and great-grandson of pastors, he had already become a
university student before he possessed a Bible, when he
purchased one with his last penny, not knowing whence
the necessities of life would be supplied. Up to that
time he acknowledges his great want of acquaintance with
the most elementary Scriptural truths. Rationalism dom-
inated everywhere. His purpose to study for the min-
istry had been formed by reading Schubert's '' Life and
Work of Oberlin." At the University of Leipzig Walther
became one of a band of students who repeated over
again the experience of the students at Cambridge in the
sixteenth century in their study of the Word of God, and
suggest the Wesleys of the eighteenth century and the
Tractarians of the nineteenth century at Oxford. They
met for prayer, the reading of Scripture, and the discus-
sion of practical religious questions. They attended also
a Collegiuvi PJiilobiblicuvi held by Professor Lindner, for
the spiritual edification of students. They soon became
accustomed to the terms of ** Mystics," " Pietists," ** ob-
scurantists," "hypocrites," "fanatics," with which their
fellow-students reviled them. While in the beginning
they thought nothing of confessional distinctions, as they

C. F. W. WALTHER. 399

advanced in knowledge and in depth of religious experi-
ence they could not refrain from comparing their relig-
ious convictions with the confessions of the churches, and
inquiring where they belonged, whether to the Lutheran,
or the Reformed, or the United Church. The writings of
Arndt, Francke, Bogatsky, Spener, Rambach, Fresenius,
etc., were diHgently read. A legaHstic element colored
their entire conception of religion. Walther especially
passed through a period of great spiritual anguish, full of
doubts and conflicts, and in danger of breaking down phys-
ically under the strain, until a letter of Stephan pointed
him to the sure source of peace and joy in Christ. Dis-
abled from university work, and confined to the par-
sonage of his father by a serious pulmonary trouble, he
read with avidity Luther's w^orks found in his father's
library, and thus laid the foundation for theological at-
tainments which the learned faculties of the university
could not supply. Following the custom of candidates in
Germany, he taught for some years before taking charge
of a congregation, during which time his theological posi-
tion was more thoroughly matured. He was ordained
and became pastor at Braunsdorf, Saxony, in January,

1837.

Soon the pastorate involved him in new conflicts.
What was the earnest young pastor to do when he en-
countered on every hand the marks of the spiritual deso-
lation from which he had just escaped? How could he
use a rationalistic liturgy, a rationalistic hymn-book, and
rationalistic school-books ? It was not in his power or the
power of the congregation to change them. The superin-
tendent upon whom rested the responsibility was also a
rationalist. His own father had little sympathy with his
son's zeal. What was he to do as a preacher? Was it
not his duty with all plainness and directness to rebuke

400 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap, xxiii.

sin? And yet what heed should be given to the censures
of those placed above him, protesting against such attacks
upon his congregation ? Saxony was indeed exempt from
the Unionistic oppression of Prussia; the old oath to all
the Lutheran Confessions was still extant ; but to young
Walther this was a mere comedy, with liturgy and hymn-
book teaching another doctrine, and the church authorities
conniving at all efforts to supplant what was most vital in
the confessions. With great joy, therefore, he welcomed
Stephan's invitation to aid in the establishing of an ideal
church in America, in which an escape would be made
from the compromising relations in which he had found
himself entangled.

No time was lost after the arrival in preparing for the
future development of the church. In the summer of
1839 a circular was issued announcing that a gymna-
sium would be opened on October 1st in Perry County,
Mo., giving full instruction in all branches preparatory
to the German university course. The younger Walther
was at the head of the faculty, and associated with him
were three candidates, Fiirbringer, Brohm, and Biinger,
who had belonged to the circle of students at Leipzig
with whom Walther had prayed and struggled into the
light. What difference did it make that the building was
a primitive log-house with only three or four windows
and a door, as long as the institution was furnished with
such a faculty? They at once found pupils among the
immigrants, whose subsequent career proved the justice of
their course. It was the beginning of the great institu-
tions of Missouri Synod, at Fort Wayne, Ind., St. Louis,
Mo., Springfield and Addison, 111., which have sent their
hundreds, if not thousands, of ministers throughout our
whole country, with scarcely a State in the Union where
they have not been active. The young professors were

SPIRITUAL CONFLICTS. 4OI

unconcerned about their support ; they labored on in the
confidence that if the Lord had a work to be done, and
he had called them to it, they would be amply provided
for. Can any one doubt what would have been the fate
of these immigrants if they had not drawn their pastors
from their own people, and had been content to rely
upon Germany to supply the constantly expanding neces-
sities of their work ? We need only contrast the history
of this development with that of the Dutch and Swedish
churches of our first period, and even with that of the
other German churches up to a comparatively recent time,
to learn the lesson that church progress in America is
largely conditioned upon the supply of the pastorates of
our churches by young men selected from our own congre-
gations, and trained for this work in our own institutions,
however humble and primitive those institutions may be.
New responsibilities meeting them with the deposition
of their leader, awakened new conflicts. They had to
justify their course not only before the world and their
people, but before their own consciences. Was not the
emigration a sin ? Were they warranted, without a clearer
indication of Providence, in abandoning the places where
they had been put, by God's call, in Germany? Were
they actually ministers, properly called and properly ad-
ministering the Word and sacraments to their congrega-
tions? Should not those who had come against God's
will, and with duties still to be fulfilled in Germany, return,
and be released from their previous obligations in a legal
way, before they could expect God's blessing upon their
labors in the New World ? Such were the questions they
discussed with one another, and deeply pondered in their
hearts. A most tender conscience did not cease to harass
Walther with accusations concerning his want of full fidelity
as a pastor, and to suggest that one who had been so remiss

402 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap, xxiii.

in duty should abandon the office ; and yet he knew well
how to advise his elder brother that all such doubts were
to be explained by the lack of complete surrender of the
heart to Christ. More important than all excerpts from
the theologians concerning the regularity of the call to the
ministry was it to have the assurance of the personal call
to his kingdom of grace. This was the spiritual prepa-
ration through which he reached his decisions concerning
the doctrine of the church, which, embodied in theses,^ and
defended in 1841, in a discussion at Altenburg, lay at the
foundation of all the efforts subsequently made by Walther
within the sphere of church organization. Whatever
Donatistic tendencies may have led to the emigration are
repudiated by his clear statements of the relation of true
churches to those bodies, where, with the preaching of
the Word and the pure sacraments, there is much error:

The external separation of a heterodox communion from an orthodox church
is not a necessary separation from the universal Christian church ; nor is it
a relapse into heathenism, and does not deprive that communion of the name
of " church."

Even heterodox communions have church power : among them tlie bless-
ings of the church are given in a valid manner, the ministry is exercised, and
the sacraments administered with validity, and the keys of the kingdom of
heaven are employed.

Even heterodox communions are not to be disbanded, but only to be
reformed.

This was directed especially against the error of Ste-
phan that there was no salvation outside of the Lutheran
Church.

In accepting the call to the congregation in St. Louis
a few weeks later, Walther did so with the formal state-
ment that he was then convinced that bis sin in connec-
tion with the emigration had not been such as to disqualify
him from the pastoral office. The pastorate involved

1 The theses are found in Gunther's " Lebensbild," pp. 44-46.

WALT HER AS A PREACHER. 403

many cares, not the least of which was the mastery of the
principles of church government, and the embodiment of
them in a congregational constitution, for which the con-
temporary constitution in Germany gave him Httle help,
and the previous work of Lutherans in America was ex-
cluded by the confusion and manifest abuses everywhere
prevalent among them. Upon these earlier years rests
his chief reputation as a preacher. His sermons were
faithfully written out, and although most of them were
not published until after his death, they have all the fresh-
ness of recent compositions. When, in 1874, Dr. A.
Bromel completed his scientific criticism of the great
preachers of the Christian Church, he began with Chrysos-
tom and ended with Walther. Of Walther he says :

He prays so ardently ; he quotes the most precious verses and passages ;
he knows how to speak so forcibly from heart to heart ; he knows always, as
one of deep experience, how to put in the center the chief theme of the gos-
pel, viz., consolation in the forgiveness of sins, that, from beginning to end,
he is heard with the greatest joy. The old preachers of the Lutheran Church
are so hard for us to use, because their form of preaching is so entirely foreign
to our mode of discourse. We have to do violence to ourselves in order to
avoid taking offense at their mode of expression. In Walther it is entirely
different. He is as orthodox as John Gerhard, but as fervent as a Pietist ;
as correct in form as a university or court preacher, and yet as popular as
Luther himself. If the Lutheran Church will bring its doctrines again to the
people, it must be as faithful and definite in its doctrines, and as to form as
interesting and thoroughly adapted to the times, as is the case in Walther.
He is a model preacher in the Lutheran Church. How different would it be
with the Lutheran Church in Germany if it had many such preachers !l

A few themes which he has drawn from his texts, and
upon which he has elaborated his sermons, will serve as
fair specimens of the general character of his sermons :
** Nothing but faith renders us worthy to receive the Holy
Supper " ; '' How can a man know whether he be a temple
of the Holy Ghost? " ; '' How foolishly they act v/ho will

1 Vol. ii., p. 307.

404 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap, xxiii.

not sincerely confess before God their sins"; ''The two
important truths contained in the words : ' Jesus receiveth
sinners.' " While his discourses are full of the comfort of
the gospel, they are no less faithful declarations of the
law, solemn warnings, and calls to repentance to the im-
penitent and careless. Whitefield scarcely could have
spoken with more directness and pungency. Most forcibly
has he condensed the faith of the Lutheran Church into
a summary in an eloquent passage in one of his sermons :

It teaches that God hates no man, that he loves all men, and wills that all
men be saved. It teaches, further, that the Son of God has propitiated God
for all men, and redeemed them ; that he has blotted out the sins of all men,
and purchased for all the forgiveness of their sins, and a perfect righteous-
ness. It teaches that God passes over no one, but earnestly urges every one
to receive his grace. It teaches that the gospel is a great universal absolu-
tion, which God has already proclaimed to all men, which every one can take
to himself, and every cme — even the greatest sinner — can depend upon as
certainly as God is true. It teaches that even those who have fallen often
can return and again find grace. It teaches that the decisive question is not
whether man feel grace and peace wath God, and the forgiveness of sins, but
whether he believe the promise of grace^nd forgiveness ; for as man believes
from the heart God to be, whether angry or gracious, so is he. It teaches
that only two classes of men will not be saved, viz., those who want to help
themselves out of their sins, and those who want to remain in their sins.

A most prominent feature in his sermons is his high
appreciation of his adopted country, accompanied by the
exhortation that the advantages of living in such a country
as America brought corresponding responsibilities :

We live here in a State in wdiich the church enjoys a freedom unsurpassed
since its origin, and at present to be found scarcely anywhere else in the
world. Our rulers, instead of allbwing attacks to be made upon the rights
of the church, exert all their power for the protection of these rights. We
have here full liberty to regulate everything according to God's Word and the
model of the church in its best days, and to give our church a truly Christian
and apostolic form. If we take a glance at our old German Fatherland, how
entirely different do we find it! There the church is bound in chains. False
teachers, in most churches and schools, have been forced upon the congre-
gations, and the few true ministers have their hands bound. The books
which must be used in church and school are filled with the poison of false

SIHLER AND IVYNEKEN. 405

doctrine. A Christian father can scarcely have the enemy of Christ, as he
must regard his pastor, baptize his child without receiving abuse. If he
appeal to Christian liberty, he is regarded a rebel. How happy, then, are
we, compared with our brethren in our old Fatherland!

The congregation, growing in strength, built in 1842
its first church building, and two years later determined
to assume the entire responsibility for the gymnasium then
in Perry County.

The next year the controversy with the Buffalo pastors
began. Up to the time of the pubHcation of Pastor
Grabau's '' Hirtenstimme," in December, 1840, a union
between the two bands of Lutheran colonists, who had
much in common, had been hoped for. But in this pub-
Hcation Pastor Walther found many of the errors which
he had entertained while under Stephan's influence, and
which had been surrendered only after most severe strug-
gles. He regarded them as thoroughly Romanizing, and
expressed himself with entire freedom. The controversy
continued for many years.

In 1844 *' Der Lutheraner " was founded as an organ
for the exposition and defense of the doctrines of the
Lutheran Church by the Missouri pastors. This attracted
to them a number of pastors who, either in isolation or
in synodical organizations with which they had little sym-
pathy, had been laboring upon the same principles. Prom-
inent among them was Rev. Dr. William Sihler (born
1 80 1, died 1885), in early life a Prussian lieutenant, whose
military education had been received at Berlin, with Von
Moltke as one of his fellow-students, and who, after his
graduation in philology and philosophy at Breslau and
Berlin, had been a colleague of the theologian Philippi,
as professor in a gymnasium at Dresden. He was then
pastor of a congregation, and a member of the Joint Synod
of Ohio. Another was Rev. F. C. D. Wyneken, a gradu-

406 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap, xxiii.

ate of Gottingen and Halle, then at Fort Wayne, a mem-
ber of the *' Synod of the West," belonging to the General
Synod, and constantly on the defensive because of the
opposition of the members of his synod to the conservatism,
which they regarded Romanizing. When Wyneken read
the first number of the " Lutheraner," he cried out : ''Thank
God! There are still more Lutherans in America."

The formation of a synod soon followed. The prelim-
inary conference was held at Cleveland, O., in May, 1846.
The outlines of a constitution were drawn up, which were
afterward laid before a still larger conference at Fort
Wayne, Ind., in July, 1846. All things being ready,
April 26, 1847, the " German Evangelical Lutheran Synod
of Missouri and other States " assembled at Chicago, and
Pastor Walther became its first president. The synodical
roll contains the names of twenty-two pastors and two
candidates. Besides the Saxon pastors, the Synod of
Ohio and the conference in Michigan both contributed
members. Thirteen years later, when this period of our
history ends, the Missouri Synod has grown into four dis-
trict synods, aggregating 121 ministers, 154 congregations,
and 24,537 souls. The latest statistics (1893) are: Min-
isters, 1237 ; congregations, 1724; communicants, 330,000.

The leading features of the synodical constitution of this
influential body, as they have been gradually developed
from the principles laid down at the beginning, should be
known by all seeking an acquaintance with the present
condition of the Lutheran Church in America. Among
the conditions of admission are : the reception of all the
symbolical books as " the pure and uncorrupted explana-
tion and statement of the divine Word " ; renunciation of
all mingling of churches and faiths ; the use of pure
church- and school-books ; the regular call of pastors ;
the use of the German language in synodical sessions.

THE COMMISSION TO GERMANY. 407

Orthodox pastors not authorized by their congregations
to act as their representatives may be admitted as advis-
ory members. The synod is divided into district synods
holding annual sessions, while the synod assembles as a
whole every three years. The synod is regarded only an
advisory body in matters pertaining to the government of
the individual congregations. Synodical resolutions are
not in force until ratified by the congregations. Every
district president, during his three years' term of office, is
required to make a visitation of all the congregations, in
which he hears at least one sermon of the pastor and crit-
icises it, attends the catechetical instruction for the same
purpose, examines into the use of liturgical forms, the
nature of the service held on week-days, and the manner
in which the pastor administers the private care of souls.
The congregation and schools are subject to a similar in-
spection. District synods may be divided into a number
of smaller districts, for a more thorough visitation.

In 1850 Walther ceased to be a pastor, and became
professor of theology in the seminary, then established
at St. Louis, giving his lectures for some months in his
own dwelling. The same autumn he was reheved of the
presidency of the synod by the election of Wyneken, who
had succeeded him as pastor at St. Louis. In August,
185 1, Walther and Wyneken were sent to Germany by
their synod to confer with the more conservative Lutheran
theologians of Germany, and especially with William L5he,
of Neuendettelsau, who had shown himself a warm friend
of the Missourians, and had sent them a number of young
pastors from his seminary, but with whom a misunder-
standing had arisen. In the published writings of Lohe
the Missourians thought they could detect the same dan-
gerous hierarchical principles on account of which they
had been so long in controversy with the Buffalo Synod,

4o8 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap, xxiii.

while Lohe, in turn, had feared that the extreme congre-
gationaUsm of the Missourians would end in the overthrow
of all church order. Notwithstanding the very cordial
meeting between them, and their deep interest in their
mutual work for the Lutheran Church, the hopes enter-
tained that a permanent settlement would be reached were
fruitless. They were welcomed wherever they went, espe-
cially by Guericke at Halle, Kahnis at Leipzig, Harless
at Dresden, H5fling, Thomasius, Hofmann, and Delitzsch
at Erlangen. At the latter place Walther spent a month,
finishing, with the aid of the University Library, his book,
'' Kirche und Amt." They were candid in dissenting from
what they regarded the inconsistencies of their friends
and hosts. ^ Their presence greatly increased the interest
that had been felt in Germany for the Lutheran Church
in this country.

The monthly theological journal, the '' Lehre und
Wehre," founded in 1853, enabled Professor Walther to
enter more fully into the discussion of topics for the pas-
tors, while the '' Lutheraner " was devoted to the edifica-
tion of the people. About this time began the discussions
with the Iowa Synod.

This synod was formed August 24, 1854, by pupils of
Lohe who were dissatisfied with what they regarded the
extreme Congregationalism of Missouri, and its denial of
the existence of open questions in theology. Missouri
maintained that there were no questions that were extra-
confessional. Among the open questions for which Iowa
contended was the tolerance within the Lutheran Church
of subtile chiliasm. The proposition that the pope is
Antichrist, taught in the Smalcald Articles, was insisted
upon by Missouri-, and denied by Iowa, as essential to the

1 See " The Delegation of the Moravian Synod in Germany," " Evangel-
ical Review," vol. iv., pp. 63, 544.

THE IOWA SYNOD. 409

integrity«of a pledge to the Lutheran Confessions. The
Iowa Synod planted itself upon an unconditional subscrip-
tion to all the doctrines contained in the Lutheran Con-
fessions, but has maintained that the confessions must be
understood in their historical relations. They are '* not a
code of law of atomistic dogmas of equal value and equal
weight, but an organic expression of the living connection
of the faith of the church. Accordingly there is a dis-
tinction to be made between the dogmas properly speak-
ing and other parts of the symbols; as, e.g., the frequent
exegetical, historical, and other deductions, illustrations,
and demonstrations. Only the former, i.e., the dogmas,
constitute the confession. What the symbols state as
a confession, this it is to which the synod is bound." ^
Hence, the Iowa Synod, from the beginning, protested
against what it regarded '' a legalistic misuse of the sym-
bols." Iowa took a position between Missouri and Buffalo
in respect to the ministerial office. It agreed with the
former in teaching that the ministerial office was originally
given by God to the church, but differed from it by deny-
ing that the office had been given the individual members,
and insisting that it always belonged to the church in its
totality.^

Rev. G. Grossman, who had been sent by Lohe in 1852
to Saginaw City, Mich., to establish a Teachers' Seminary
for the Missourians, removed the next year to Dubuque,
la., and founded the Theological Seminary of the Iowa
Synod. Here he was joined shortly afterward by Rev. J.
Deindorfer, who had also been a member of the Missouri
Synod. In September, 1854, Rev. Sigismund Fritschel,
trained at Nuremberg and Neuendettelsau for the mission-

1 Dr. S. Fritschel in " Distinctive Doctrines and Usages" (Philadelphia,
1893), p. 66.

2 Ibid., p. 69.

4IO THE LUTHERANS. [Chap, xxiii.

field, began his work in the institution as a theological
professor, which, interrupted for three years, was resumed
at St. Sebald, la., in 1858, and still continues. His
brother, Gottfried Fritschel, became a professor in the
same seminary in 1857, and was active with his pen and
from his chair until shortly before his death, in 1889.
Under these professors the German Iowa Synod has be-
come one of the largest synods in the country, covering
a wide area of geographical territory. Its chief develop-
ment belongs to the succeeding period, in which its semi-
nary was moved first to Mendota, 111., and then back again
to Dubuque, la., where it had started thirty-eight years
before.

The Rev. F. Schmid, who began in 1833 3- niission
among the North American Indians in the neighborhood
of Ann Arbor, Mich., gathered around him a number of
pastors, chiefly from the Missionary Seminary at Basle,
who labored with great self-denial and success among the
German immigrants. The conference, which for a number
of years they maintained, became in i860 the Synod of
Michigan.

In May, 1848, the Rev. J. Miihlhauser, who had labored
for ten years with great success in establishing the church
at Rochester, N. Y., entered into the service of the Amer-
ican Tract Society for Wisconsin. He found it a vast
mission-field. With three other pastors, in December,
1849, he founded at Milwaukee the Synod of Wisconsin,
which received reinforcements of pastors from the Rhen-
ish Missionary Seminary at Barmen, where its founder
had been educated, and financial aid from the Ministerium
of Pennsylvania. Although the seminary at Barmen be-
longed to the Union, the Wisconsin Synod inserted in its
constitution a clear confessional obligation to all the sym-
bolical books.

THE NOR WE GIA NS. 4 1 I

The mission work begun in Texas by Rev. C. Braun, of
the Pittsburg Synod, was prosecuted by pastors drawn
chiefly from the Chrischona Institute, near Basle, who
formed in 1851 the Synod of Texas.

The great Scandinavian immigration was only at its
beginning. From 1841 to 1850 the number of immigrants
from Norway and Sweden is reported by the census as
having been 13,903, and from 185 1 to i860, 20,931.
Compared with the figure of 560,483 from 1881 to 1890,
the number is indeed small ; but it was sufficiently large
to demand earnest efforts to supply the immigrants with
the means of grace. These efforts resulted in laying the
foundation of several large Scandinavian synods in the
West.

A small band of Norwegians in 1825 were the pioneers.
After nine years' stay in the neighborhood of Rochester,
N. Y., they removed in 1834 to La Salle County, 111.
Others followed them in 1837. During the next decade
the State of Wisconsin received many Norwegian settlers,
who continued to pour into Illinois, as well as in less de-
gree into Iowa and Missouri. Their first pastor was a
Dane, Rev. C. L. Claussen, who came to this country in
1843, to labor as a schoolmaster among the neglected
Norwegians. But their spiritual destitution was so great
that he yielded to an urgent call from those in the Mus-
keego settlement, near Milwaukee, and was ordained by
Rev. L. Krause, of the Buffalo Synod. When the reg-
ularity of his ordination was afterward questioned, he
submitted the case to the faculty of the University of
Christiania, who decided '' that the circumstance that an
ordination is performed by a minister, and not by a bishop,
cannot, in and of itself, destroy the validity of a ministe-
rial ordination."!

1 "Evangelical Review," vol. iii., p. 405.

412 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap, xxiii.

As the missionary zeal of Pastor Schreuder had en-
kindled interest in the neglected Norwegians of America
in the heart of Claussen, so it also led to the sending
of Rev. J. W. Dietrichson to America. Both desired to
follow the earnest pastor to Africa, and were thus brought
to this country. Pastor Dietrichson devoted himself,
during his stay (1844-45) to the collecting and organizing
of congregations, and then returned to Norway, to awaken
interest and to aid in providing the congregations he had
gathered with pastors. From 1846 to 1850 he was again
laboring in Wisconsin. The formation of the synod known
as '* The Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran Church in
America," in 1853, was the result, Claussen being its first
president. Revs. A. C. and H. A. Preus, U. V. Koren,
and P. L. Larsen were among its more prominent mem-
bers. The influence of the Missouri Synod upon this
body constantly grew, until, near the close of this period,
it united in the Theological Seminary at St. Louis, Larsen
having been its first professor there.

Other Norwegians were united with Swedes in the
Synod of Northern lUinois, belonging to the General
Synod. Paul Andersen, educated in Beloit College, Wis.,
was not only the founder of both the Norwegian churches
in Chicago, but cared for the Swedes until they found a
true shepherd in Rev. E. Carlson.

Elling Eilsen was a Norwegian revival preacher who
came to America in 1839. The synod which he founded
in 1846 was always small, and was reduced ten years later
by a serious division. It was a movement favoring an
uneducated ministry, lay preaching, and other irregulari-
ties discountenanced by the rest of the Norwegians. The
synod suffered a third reorganization and division in 1876.
Eilsen was a follower of Hans Nielsen Hauge (1771-
1824), who pursued a similar course in his native country.

THE SWEDES. 413

Swedish immigration began somewhat later; but the
Swedes were thrown earHer into close connection with the
Americanized portion of the Lutheran Church. Rev.
Lars Paul Esbjorn is universally acknowledged as the
founder of the Swedish Church in America of the nine-
teenth century. Born in 1808, he arrived in this country
in 1849, burying two children, and himself prostrated by
cholera, before he reached his destination in the Missis-
sippi Valley. Important aid was afforded him in his work
by the American Home Missionary Society, and by the
Lutheran Churches on the eastern coast, amonsr which he
made an extensive tour, urging the claims of the scattered
Swedes. Connected, along with his other Swedish breth-
ren, with the Synod of Northern Illinois, he became in
1858 Scandinavian professor of theology in lUinois State
University, Springfield, 111. In i860 the Scandinavians
separated from the Synod of Northern Illinois and the
institution at Springfield, founding the Augustana Synod,
and the Theological Seminary, first at Chicago, then at
Paxton, and now at Rock Island, 111. In the seminary of
the Augustana Synod Esbjorn labored for two years,
returning to Sweden in 1862, and dying in 1870. Among
the men most actively identified Avith him in organizing the
Swedes into a compact, vigorous, active, and efficient body
were: his successor as professor, T. N. Hasselquist, D.D.
(died 1 891), E. Carlson, D.D. (died 1893), E. Norelius,D.D.,
and J. Swensson (died 1873). Compared to its present
proportions, the Augustana Synod, as organized in Rock
County, Wis., June 5, i860, with 27 pastors, 49 congrega-
tions, and 4967 communicants, was a mere handful. One
of its founders,^ reviewing the past, traces the guiding
hand of Providence in the fact that '' the Swedish Evan-
geUcal Lutheran Church in America was founded before
1 Dr. E. Norelius, in " Lutheran Church Review," vol. v., p. 27.

414 ^■^^' LUTHERANS. [Chap, xxiii.

the time when the tide of laxity in doctrine and practice
swept over the old Fatherland," and recognizes ^ the valu-
able educational process through which the Swedes had
passed during their connection with the Synod of North-
ern Illinois.

It should not be forgotten that one of the chief obstacles
against which they had to struggle was the vigorous at-
tempt, made through a Rev. G. Unonius, to carry both
Norwegians and Swedes into the Protestant Episcopal
Church, upon the ground that the Episcopal organization
of the churches of Norway and Sweden rendered the
Episcopal Church of this country their proper spiritual
home."-^ The question was effectually settled at that time,
and will not be likely to claim any attention in the future.
The Danes, thus far, are few in number, and mingled with
the Norwegians, the languages being scarcely more than
dialects of the same tongue, readily understood by both
nationalities.

1 Page ZZ-

2 Dr. W. M. Reynolds, in " Evangelical Review," vol. iii., pp. 412 sqq.

CHAPTER XXIV.

GROWTH AND CONFLICTS IN THE OLDER SYNODS.

It was manifestly impossible for the development
within the portion of the Lutheran Church that had been
planted by Muhlenberg to be unaffected by these new
forces. It was subject to their constant criticism. The
reality, the vigor, the warmth, the solidity of a true Lu-
theran Church life were presented by living examples
among many of the immigrants, in their poverty and iso-
lation. They awakened reminiscences of the days of
Muhlenberg and his immediate successors. They were an
effectual answ^er to the charge that true spirituality and
fidelity to the Lutheran confessions were incompatible,
and that a Lutheran Church in America was possible only
by discarding its distinctive features and learning of
others.

But they were not the only influences that were work-
ing. Students were beginning to arise among the minis-
try who were not content with what they had learned in
the seminary or read in the periodical religious literature
of the day. The contemporary literature of Germany
was making its impression upon only a few, it is true, but
these few were among the more influential. As early as
1843 the first edition of the ''Dogmatic Theology" of
Dr. H. Schmid, of Erlangen, had appeared, consisting of a
copious selection of definitions from the Lutheran theolo-
gians of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, method-

415

4l6 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. xxiv.

ically classified. It proved of untold value to American
pastors. Some of them, not acquainted with the German,
had a system of Lutheran theology, which they could
read in the Latin of the theologians quoted. Even those
acquainted with the German found in it what was far
superior to the writers of the Supranaturalistic school, upon
whom they had hitherto depended. Dr. J. G. Morris de-
termined that it should appear in English, and divided the
translation among the two Drs. Krauth, Dr. Baugher, Sr.,
Dr. H. L Schmidt, and Dr. C. A. Hay. Although a
generation elapsed before a translation appeared, the effects
of the work were soon apparent. From the seminary at
Gettysburg the elder Dr. Krauth wrote :

Our verdict is unequivocally in behalf of the study, the thorough study, of
this theology. We would have it thrown over our church with a liberal hand ;
we would have our ministers acquainted with the symbolical books ; we would
have them all versed in the distinctive theology of the church. We would
have introduced into our theological schools the study of the symbols, and
didactic and polemic theology so administered as to bring to view pure,
unadulterated Lutheranism. . . . Some points may be found untenable ;
some may need modification ; the defense of the whole may be placed in
some respects upon a surer basis ; but, take it all in all, we do not expect it
ever to become obsolete, i

A translation of the " Epitome Credendorum " of Dr.
Nicholas Hunnius was made and printed at Nuremberg
in 1846 by a translator and printers with a limited knowl-
edge of the English language, and sent to this country,
where it was not without its influence among those who,
in their desire to learn, were willing to overlook its many
blunders.

The discussions connected with the Prussian Union
were eagerly read. The writings of Hengstenberg, Sar-
torius, Rudelbach, Guericke, Thomasius, Harless, found
those who were ready and able to utilize them in theolog-

1 " Evangelical Review," vol. i., pp. 128 sqq.

STUDY OF GERMAN THEOLOGY. 417

ical discussions, as the pages of the '' EvangeHcal Review "
show.

The new interest felt in German theology in other de-
nominations also reacted upon the Americanized Lutheran
Church. At Andover, Dr. Park ; at Princeton, Dr. Charles
Hodge ; at Union, Dr. H. B. Smith, were able, from their
studies in Germany, to expound to their pupils and diffuse
in their writings the peculiarities of historical Lutheran-
ism, and even to concede its strength, where among Amer-
ican Lutherans only weakness had been found. But
still greater was the impulse imparted by the coming of
Dr. Philip Schaff to Mercersburg in 1843, ^.nd the higher
value set upon German theology in consequence of his
tireless literary activity. Long before any other denomina-
tions than his own were influenced from this source, the
Lutheran Church in Pennsylvania, so closely connected
with the German Reformed, responded to it. It checked
the current from English and American and turned it
toward German sources, from w4iich it had been unnat-
urally separated. The " Kirchenfreund," begun by Dr.
Schaff at Mercersburg in 1848, and continued afterward
by Dr. W. J. Mann, was announced on its title-page to be
the *' Organ for the Common Interests of the American
German Churches," and it proved to be a powerful de-
fense against extravagances from which both churches
were suffering, and a valuable auxiliary of the '' EvangeH-
cal Review." Even the '' Mercersburg Review " ^ opened
its pages, in its opening volume (1849), to Schmid's ex-
hibition of the Christology of the Lutheran Church, as
presented in the translation of Dr. Krauth, Jr. This im-
pulse was, of course, not directly toward the confessional
Lutheran position, but it was indirectly so, by bringing the
Americanized German churches back toward their histori-

1 Vol. i., pp. 272 sqq.

41 8 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. xxiv.

cal moorings. In his lectures delivered before the Church
Diet at Frankfort on the Main in 1 854 ^ Dr. Schaflf has given
a full and very valuable estimate of the position and divi-
sions at that time of the Lutheran Church in America,
and of its relations to the Reformed Church. While this
sketch at the time of its pubHcation did not escape criti-
cism, its general correctness and the accuracy of its clas-
sifications, from the standpoint of that time, when read
forty years later, must be admitted. Dr. Schafif has
especially shown the extent of the departure that had
occurred in the left wing of the General Synod, not only
from historical Lutheranism, but from what he regarded
Evangehcal Christianity. Nor is he less faithful in his
criticism of the weaknesses of the Ministerium of Pennsyl-
vania. But he notes the conservative reaction in the
older bodies, as '' in consequence partly of the growing
study of German theology, partly of occurrences in a
sister-church," while at the same time expressing his per-
sonal conviction of the hopelessness of attempts at union
within the Lutheran Church upon the strict confessional
basis of all the symbolical books. The ** new measures,"
which had been extensively introduced into both churches,
were most effectually antagonized by Dr. Schaflf's col-
league. Dr. J. W. Nevin. The debt of gratitude due him
for this and other services by the Lutheran churches was
formally expressed by the late Dr. C. P. Krauth, Jr., in
introducing Dr. Nevin to the Ministerium of Pennsylvania
at Lancaster, Pa., in 1874.

Personal acquaintance with staunch advocates of old
Lutheranism, such as Pastor Wyneken, during his life in
Baltimore and his membership in the General Synod, also
contributed to strengthen the growing tendency among

1 "America, Political, Social, and Religious," by Dr. Philip Schaff, New
York, 1855.

LOHE. 419

the younger ministers."^ Pastor Lohe, whose interest in
the work in America had been stimulated by Wyneken's
visit to Germany in 1841, and who had aided him in the
preparation of his book *' Die Noth der deutschen Lu-
theraner in Nord-Amerika," issued from 1842 to 1866 a
monthly journal, ** Kirchliche Mittheilungen aus und iiber
Nord-Amerika," not only abounding in information con-
cerning the progress of the missions connected first with
the Missouri and afterward with the German Synod of
Iowa, but also freely criticising the tendencies which they
encountered, and chronicling the progress which conserva-
tive principles were making. Even though this journal
sometimes was misled in its polemics, and fell into error
from the natural tendency of those imperfectly acquainted
with the field to give accurate reports, it could not fail to
influence the progress of events in this country, while it
brought material support from Germany for the destitute
points in the far West. One of the prominent features of
the journal before the separation between Lohe and the
Missouri Synod was the attention paid to the missions
among North American Indians that the Missouri Synod
had established or acquired in Michigan at Frankenmut,
Siboying, and Bethany, where Rev. August Cramer was
the chief missionary. It was unfortunate that doctrinal
dissensions between the founders of the Michigan and
Missouri synods interfered with unity of action in their
missionary endeavors among the heathen, and that there
was further embarrassment by the subsequent aHenation
of Lohe.

As the conservative wing of the General Synod grew
in strength and decision, the prospects of drawing into it
a large portion of the independent synods grew brighter.

1 Of this Dr. A. Spaeth has given an illustration in his sketch of Dr.
Krauth, Jr., " Lutheran Church Review."

420 THE LUTHERANS. [CuAr. xxiv.

The Ministerium of Pennsylvania sent more of its students
to Gettysburg. In 1850 it transferred to Pennsylvania
College its interests in Franklin College at Lancaster, thus
founding a professorship the nomination of whose incum-
bent was guaranteed it. The Lutheran trustees of Frank-
lin College, nearly all of whom were from the ministerium,
were added to the board of Pennsylvania College. Dr.
F. A. Muhlenberg, a great-grandson of the patriarch,
filled this chair with distinguished ability from 1850 to
1867. In 1848 the proposition of endowing a German
professorship of theology in the seminary at Gettysburg
was made. The next year it was accepted, and Dr. C. F.
Demme nominated as professor. Upon his declinature
the ministerium in 1852 undertook to endow a German
professorship in Pennsylvania College. Dr. W. J. Mann
was elected in 1854 to the professorship, and, upon his
declinature, Dr. C. F. Schaeffer, who was also assigned
duties as German professor of theology in the seminary,
and was formally inducted into office in April, 1856.

At the opening of the sessions of the General Synod at
Charleston, S. C, in 1850, the retiring president, Dr. C.
P. Krauth, Sr., preached a sermon that gave no uncertain
sound. It began with the sentence :

" The time has perhaps arrived in which it becomes the
duty of the Lutheran Church in the United States to ex-
amine its position and to determine its future course."

The sermon is a plea for a higher regard for the chief
symbol of the Lutheran Church, the Augsburg Confes-
sion, and for a more rigid enforcement of the acceptance
of its doctrines. It led the way toward the advance which
was subsequently made. Translated into German, it was
repubhshed in Rudelbach and Guericke's " Quarterly,"
and awakened interest on the other side of the ocean. ^

i The original was published in " Evangelical Review," vol. ii., pp. I sqq.

PENNSYLVANIA RETURNS. 421

The year 1853 marks a very strong movement, that
promised to make the body organized a third of a century
before more of a General Synod than it had ever been be-
fore. The confessional, tendency seems to be breaking
down all obstacles and sweeping everything before it.
When it met at Winchester, Va., the Ministerium of Penn-
sylvania, the Synod of Northern Illinois, the Pittsburg
Synod, and the Synod of Texas applied for admission.

The action of the Ministerium of Pennsylvania had not
been taken without a considerable struggle. The clerical
vote had been thirty-seven for entrance, and fourteen
against it ; but the lay delegates were almost evenly
divided, fifteen voting for the General Synod, and fourteen
against it. The resolutions determining the application
became very important eleven years later. They are :

Resolved, i. That this synod renew again its active connection with the
so-called Evangelical Lutheran General Synod of the United States of North
America, approving of the principles laid down in its constitution for the
government of the several Evangelical Lutheran Synods of which it is com-
posed, and in regard to their relation to each other, and their mutual active
operations.

2. That this synod regards the General Synod as an association of Evan-
gelical Lutheran synods, entertaining the same views of the fundamental
doctrines of the gospel, as these are expressed in the confessional writings of
our Evangelical Lutheran Church, and especially in the Unaltered Augsburg
Confession, and that we advert to the fact that the General Synod is denied
the right by its constitution of making any innovations or alterations of this
faith. See Article 3, Section 2, ^ 3.

3. That this synod, in its union with the General Synod, retains its consti-
tution and form of government, and also the right to regulate its own internal
affairs, as previous and heretofore,

4. That we neither intend, nor ever expect, that the principles which have
hitherto governed our synod in respect to church doctrine and church life
shall suffer any change whatever by our connection with the General Synod ;
but that, should the General Synod violate its constitution, and require of
our synod, or of any. synod, as a condition of admission or continuance of
membership, assent to anything conflicting with the old and long-established
faith of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, then our delegates are hereby re-
quired to protest against such action, to withdraw from its sessions, and to
report to this body.

422 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. xxiv.

5. That we again earnestly request the Synod of Ohio, and all other Evan-
gelical Lutheran synods that are not yet connected with the General Synod,
to join us in uniting with it on the same principles, so that the individual
parts of the Evangelical Lutheran Church may labor unitedly and more effi-
ciently for the general welfare of the whole church.

The form of the confessional subscription of the minis-
terium was discussed at the same meeting in a paper pre-
pared, according to appointment, by Dr. C. F. Schaeffer.^
The resolution with which it closed was deemed too rigid,
and a substitute offered by Dr. W. J. Mann was adopted :

Whereas the Evangelical Lutheran Church has, of late, arrived at clearer
views of its doctrinal and other distinctive features ; and whereas we are
justified in expecting that both the internal and external welfare of our church
will be thereby essentially promoted ; and whereas we recognize the impor-
tance of an historico-confessional basis for the church ; therefore. Resolved:

{a) That we also, ii^ common with the Evangelical Lutheran Church of
our fathers, acknowledge the collective body of the symbolical books as the
historico-confessional writings of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, and that
we also, like the Evangelical Lutheran Church of former times, accord to
the Unaltered Augsburg Confession and Luther's Small Catechism an espe-
cial importance among our symbolical books generally.

{b) That we enjoin it upon all the ministers and candidates of our church,
as their duty, to make themselves better and more thoroughly acquainted
with these venerable documents of the faith of our fathers than has hitherto
been the case with many.

(<-) That it is not by any means our intention thereby to diminish the ab-
solute authority of the Holy Scriptures, but much rather to place them in the
clearest light possible, and that we by no means design through these symbols
to place constraint upon the consciences of any, but much rather, through
them to bind the conscience to the Holy Scriptures, as the divine source of
truth.

Such was the confessional basis which the Ministerium
of Pennsylvania placed upon record in entering the Gen-
eral Synod, and against which no protest was heard upon
its admission.

A similar conflict had occurred in the Pittsburg Synod,
where the vote for union with the General Synod had
stood: for Union: clerical 10, lay 7; against: clerical 9,

^ See " Evangelical Review," vol. v., pp. 189-213.

CHARLES F. SCIIAEFFER. 423

lay 3. A resolution was added referring to the constitu-
tional inability of the General Synod to make any altera-
tion in matters pertaining to the faith of the church, and
therefore the want of authority to depart from the doc-
trines of the Augsburg Confession.

At this meeting of the General Synod, the address before
the Historical Society by Dr. C. F. Schaeffer was a further
development of the principles that had been so prominently
set forth at Charleston, S. C, by Dr. C P. Krauth, Sr.
To one to-day reading this paper on '' The Present Tran-
sition State of the Church," it cannot but seem remarkable
that at the time it was deemed inadvisable to print it.
Just a quarter of a century later, two manuscript copies
were in the hands of the editors of the two Lutheran re-
views, and narrowly escaped simultaneous publication at
Philadelphia and Gettysburg.^ It is a sober review, and
a clear and candid examination of the progress that had
been made on the questions of language, education, be-
nevolent operations, and doctrines and religious usages.
The future could scarcely have been forecast with greater
accuracy if he had been endowed with the gift of proph-
ecy, when he closed with the words : " The future histo-
rian of the church will, by the blessing of God, be able
with truth to speak of such numbers, such learning, such
piety, such educational and missionary efforts, in connec-
tion with the EvangeHcal Lutheran Church in America,
as now scarcely exist in our imagination. Then will the
church accomplish her great mission, and then will glory
be given to * God in the highest.' "

Learning and piety cannot be reckoned in statistics ;
but where there were 200,000 communicants then, there
are 1,200,000 now.

Those within the General Synod who antagonized the

The paper is found in " Lutheran Church Review," vol. vii., pp. 185 sqq.

424 ^^^ LUTHERANS. [Chap. xxiv.

confessional position were not silenced by the growing-
strength of the conservatives. They were all the more
active and aggressive. Dr. Benjamin Kurtz, the editor
of the " Lutheran Observer," filled that journal weekly
with attacks upon the conservative position, arraigning
the Lutheran Confessions, even the Augsburg Confession,
for their alleged remnants of Roman error, and denounc-
ing all liturgical worship as formalism. Dr. Passavant's
*' Missionary," published at Pittsburg, grew into a large
weekly, and became the able organ of the conservatives,
especially as it was enriched by the contributions of Dr.
C. P. Krauth, Jr.

Suddenly, in 1855, there came through the mails to
many of the pastors a small pamphlet called " Definite
Sy nodical Platform." The introductory note stated that
it was prepared by consultation and co5peration of minis-
ters belonging to difi'erent eastern and western synods of
the General Synod. It claimed to accord with the Gen-
eral Synod's basis, since it did not add a single sentence
to the Augsburg Confession, and did not omit *' anything
that has the least pretension to be considered ' a funda-
mental doctrine of Scripture.' " It affirmed that Luther
and his associates changed their opinions on subjects
treated in the Augsburg Confession, and '' seven years
later taught purer views in the Smalcald Articles." It
professed to specify the doctrines of the Augsburg Con-
fession that should be retained, and those which should be
rejected. Accordingly it formally repudiated the follow-
ing errors which it claimed were in the Augsburg Confes-
sion, viz., the approval of the ceremonies of the mass,
private confession and absolution, denial of a divine obli-
gation of a Christian Sabbath, baptismal regeneration, and
the real presence of the body and blood of the Saviour in
the eucharist

THE DEFINITE PIATFORM. 425

Some of these charges could have no weight among an
educated ministry. The Augsburg Confession, e.g., refers
to the Lord's Supper by the name '* mass," without in any
way compromising the abhorrence of its adherents toward
*' the mass " as understood in the Roman Catholic Church.
To the present day Scandinavian Lutherans designate
their chief service on the Lord's Day as *' the mass." But
it was not so easy a matter to dissipate the prejudices of
people to whom such words of the confession as these
were read : '' Ours are falsely accused of abolishing the
ceremonies of the mass." Between the ''private" — that
is, individual — ''confession" of the Lutheran, which is a
voluntary privilege of a sin-burdened conscience, and the
private, or enforced, confession of the Romanist, demanded
as a condition of the forgiveness of sins, there is all the
difference in the world. Nowhere is this difference more
clearly explained than in the Lutheran confessions. But
the similarity of terms was employed to excite a storm of
prejudice.

It was advised that the " Platform " be adopted by the
synods in the General Synod, with the resolution " that
we will not receive into our synod any minister who will
not adopt this ' Platform.' " The effect would have been
to have excluded from the General Synod all who denied
that the Augsburg Confession taught the alleged errors.

The " Definite Platform " erased the ''descensus " from
the Apostles' Creed ; the clause that regeneration is " by
baptism and the Holy Ghost," from Art. II. of the Augs-
burg Confession ; the declaration that it is lawful to use the
ministry of evil men, from Art. VIII. ; and the statement
that the grace of God is offered in baptism, from Art. IX.
Art. X. was amended to read : " In regard to the Lord's
Supper, they teach that Christ is present with communi-
cants under the emblems of bread and wine." Art. XI.

426 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. xxiv.

was erased. Art. XII. had an addition made to the title,
and read, " Of Repentance (after backsliding)." We will
not go further in the enumeration. In all the articles the
condemnatory sections are rejected. Even the deniers of
the Trinity are not condemned. The second part of the
'' Platform " was a polemic upon the " Symbolic Errors
Rejected." Again the changes were rung upon "the
ceremonies of the mass," ''exorcism," ''private confes-
sion," etc. Even the Lutheran doctrine of the coniimi-
nicatio idioniatitin was interpreted as teaching that " the
Divinity was conceived and brought forth by the frail
mortal, the Virgin Mary " — an error which Luther and
the Lutheran confessions expressly repudiate.

The effect of the publication was far different from what
was anticipated. It was indorsed by one of the smaller
synods in Ohio, but everywhere else it aroused intense
indignation, as a misrepresentation and detraction of the
Lutheran Church. In vain did the professor of theology
at Gettysburg acknowledge that the anonymous pubHca-
tion came from his hand. He soon found that it was
the great mistake of his life. Dr. Mann lifted the con-
troversy above that of the weekly paper by publishing
his book entitled "A Plea for the Augsburg Confession."
The author of the platform replied in " Lutheran Sym-
bols, or American Lutheranism Indicated," in which he
endeavored to prove that the " Definite Platform " repre-
sented the historical position of the Lutheran Church in
America. Dr. Mann answered in an historical monograph
of permanent value, " Lutheranism in America," the titles
of the two books correctly indicating the different con-
ceptions of the two writers concerning the work and future
mission of Lutherans in this country. Rev. J. N. Hoffman
also entered into the controversy with his little book
"The Broken Platform." His associate in Reading, Dr.

CHARLES PORTERFIELD KRAUTH, 427

J. A. Brown, followed in 1857 with '' The New Theology,"
and as a director of the Theological Seminary preferred
charges of departure from his professional obligation
against the author of the ** Platform." These proceed-
ings were arrested by the intervention of Dr. Krauth, Jr.,
who did not deem his former instructor's course such as
to warrant action.

Meanwhile, in April, 1856, Dr. C. F. Schaeffer had en-
tered upon his duties as professor in the seminary and
college at Gettysburg. In his inaugural he took an ad-
vanced confessional position. Two systems of theology
were taught in the same seminary, directly antagonistic
on the points of controversy. The professors were
brothers-in-law, and the personal factor which character-
ized the discussions in the papers was carefully excluded
from the seminary. The students were soon divided, but
the gain was constantly upon the conservative side.

One of the most important papers called forth by the
publication of the '' Definite Platform " was the declaration
made by the Pittsburg Synod at its meeting at Zelien-
ople, Pa., in 1856. It was prepared by Dr. C. P. Krauth,
Jr., unanimously adopted, and afterward became the basis
of a declaration by the General Synod. Of this *' Decla-
ration " the most significant statements are the following:

That while the basis of our General Synod has allowed of diversity in re-
gard to some parts of the Augsburg Confession, that basis never was de-
signed to imply the right to alter, amend, or curtail the confession itself.

That while this synod, resting on the Word of God as the sole authority
in matters of faith, on its infallible warrant rejects the Romish doctrine of
the real presence or transubstantiation, and with it the doctrine of consub-
stantiation ; rejects the mass, and all ceremonies distinctive of the mass ;
denies any power in the sacrament as an opus operatum, or that the blessings
of baptism and of the Lord's Supper can be received without faith ; rejects
auricular confession and priestly absolution ; holds that there is no priesthood
on earth except that of all believers, and that God only can forgive sins ; and
maintains the sacred obligation of the Lord's Day ; and while we would with

42 8 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. xxiv.

our whole heart reject any part of any confession which taught doctrines in
conflict with this our testimony, nevertheless, before God and his church, we
declare that, in our judgment, the Augsburg Confession, properly interpreted,
is in perfect consistence with this our testimony — and with Holy Scripture
as regards the errors specified.

That while we do not wish to conceal the fact that some parts of the doc-
trine of our confession in regard to the sacraments are received in different
degrees by different brethren, yet that even in these points, wherein we, as
brethren in Christ, agree to differ till the Holy Ghost shall make us see eye
to eye, the differences are not such as to destroy the foundation of faith, our
unity in labor, our mutual conhdence, and our tender love.

That if we have indulged harsh thoughts and groundless suspicions, if we
have without reason criminated and recriminated, we here humbly confess
our fault before our adorable Redeemer, beseeching pardon of him and of
each other, and covenant anew with him and with each other, to know noth-
ing among men but Jesus Christ and him crucified — acknowledging him as
our only Master, and regarding all who are in the living unity of faith with
him as beloved brethren.

Nor was the discussion confined to the General Synod.
The other Lutheran bodies in America were all disturbed
by the charges made against the Augsburg Confession,
and the proposition to mutilate and amend it. Among
other indications of this general interest were four '' Free
Evangelical Lutheran Conferences," held from 1856 to
1859, for the discussion of the Augsburg Confession, ar-
ticle by article. The participants were members of the
synods of Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York.
In the first three, held at Columbus, Pittsburg, and Cleve-
land, Professor VValther was the chief speaker.

As the time for the meeting of the General Synod in
1857 approached. Dr. C. P. Krauth, Jr., published a series
of articles in ** The Missionary," maintaining the great
importance of the General Synod, and urging a clearer
statement of its doctrinal basis. Never was the cause of
the General Synod pleaded with more eloquence. He
asserted that it was the hope of the Lutheran Church of this
country, " the offspring of a reviving Lutheranism, born
in the dawn that followed the night which fell upon our

THE GENERAL SYNOD'S BASIS. 429

church in this land, when the patriarchal luminaries of
her early history had set on earth, to rise in heaven." Its
formation was a great act of faith. When it became com-
pletely organized, " it was the only voluntary body on
earth pretending to embrace a nation as its territory, and
bearing a Lutheran name, in which the fundamental doc-
trines of Lutheranism were the basis of union." " Heaven
pity the fate of the man who looks upon the General
Synod as having been a curse to the church, or an ineffi-
cient worker in it — who imagines that the Lutheran Church
would be stronger if the General Synod were weaker."^

In advocacy of the necessity incumbent on the General
Synod to assert her purpose to maintain her original doc-
trinal position. Dr. Krauth was not yet ready to recom-
mend the indorsement of any of the symbolical books
beyond the Augsburg Confession. The distinctions
since made by advocates of the General Synod against
more rigidly confessional bodies owe their origin largely
to these articles of Dr. Krauth, in which he speaks of the
Augsburg Confession as " the symbol of Lutheran cath-
olicity ; all other distinctive portions of the ' Book of
Concord ' are symbols of Lutheran particularity, creeds
of Lutheran churches, but not, in an undisputed sense,
creeds of the Lutheran Church." The acceptance of the
other confessions is within the liberty of Lutherans, but
the refusal to accept them is not a necessity. The ac-
ceptance of the doctrinal articles implies the acceptance
of the articles on abuses. For brevity's sake they are
not specified, because the errors enumerated are rejected
by all Protestants. The word '' fundamental " in the con-
fessional basis he interpreted as that which is fundamen-
tal to Lutheranism, i.e., to that system of Christianity of
which the Augustana is the confession. He was satisfied

> " The Missionary," April 30, 1857.

430 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. xxiv.

even with the statement that the fundamental doctrines
were taught " in a manner substantiallycorrect," since one
who beHeves that they are taught in a manner absohitely
correct holds, of course, that the manner is also substan-
tially correct. He defended the reservation of the General
Synod in not deciding the question whether the Augsburg
Confession, as to its very letter, were or were not correct.
He terms the extremes between which the General Synod
stood as symbololatry and schism.

Standing, therefore, on the old formula of the General
Synod, he urged that the ambiguities connected with it
rendered a further definition desirable. It should make
it clear that no ecclesiastical body should be recognized as
Protestant, much less as Lutheran, which does not beheve
the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the
Word of God. It should recognize no body as Lutheran
which does not make the Augsburg Confession, unmuti-
lated and unchanged, the subject, or part of the subject,
of its confessional affirmation. In indorsing the doctrinal
articles, the statement should be made that the other parts
of the confession are not rejected. A clear statement
should also be made of what doctrines are '' fundamental
as terms of admission to our ministry and of the union
of synods with her." In advocating this, he classifies
the doctrines of the Augsburg Confession as comprising:
I. Those fundamental to Christianity, confessed in Arts.
I., III., VIII., XVI., XVII., and XIX. 2. Those funda-
mental to Protestant Christianity, as confessed by all the
Evangelical Churches of the Reformation : Arts. II., IV., V.,
VI., VIL, XIII., XIV., XV., XVIII., and XXI. 3. Those
in which there seems to be a difference between the
Lutherans and the Reformed, but in fact there is none :
Arts. IX., XL, and XX. 4. Doctrines peculiar to the
Evangelical Lutheran Church : Arts. X. and XII. Of

AN EDUCATIONAL PROCESS. 43 I

these, Art. XII. " has a few words in which the confession
deviates from the views of some Evangelical Christians,
but on which our General Synod would stand with the
Confession." Art. X. is the only one in which " there is
a confessed distinction between the Lutheran Church and
the other churches of the Reformation." The unity on
this article, he argues, is found in what it implies rather
than in what it expresses, viz., in the divine appoint-
ment and perpetual obligation of the Lord's Supper, the
rejection of transubstantiation and the doctrine of the
mass, the administration in both kinds, and the necessity
of a living faith for enjoying its blessings. " Securing
these points, let the General Synod allow perfect freedom,
as she has hitherto done, to reject or receive the rest of
the article."

The whole argument is intended to show that any re-
vision or amendment of the confession can accomplish
nothing, and that if the Lutheran Church cannot unite on
the Augsburg Confession, it cannot unite on anything.^

Deep as was the impression made by the articles, and
especially by detached portions of the argument, there
was no direct effect produced upon the meeting of the
General Synod. The conviction was strengthened that
no countenance must be given any effort to amend the
confession, but even the most conservative wxre content
to await the course of events before taking a forward
move. The argument undoubtedly understated the posi-
tion occupied by the conservatives. It is a brilliant ex-
ample of the educational process by which the ablest of
the theologians of the Lutheran Church of America was
growing into far more decided convictions, and was rising
to a much higher standard. Dr. Krauth had not yet re-
turned to the position of Muhlenberg and his associates.

1 "The Missionary," May 7, 14, 1857.

432 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. xxiv.

His standard then was as yet that of the best of Muhl-
enberg's successors, who resisted rationalism and stood
firmly for Evangelical Christianity, but who had not been
brought to the full appreciation of the importance of that
which the Lutheran Church insisted on maintaining against
the opposition of those forms of Christianity with which it
had most in common.

Among the movements to resist the confessional tend-
ency was the organization in 1857 of a new synod in
Maryland, under the leadership of Dr. B. Kurtz, which
took the name of the Melanchthon Synod, and justified
its occupation of the territory of the Maryland Synod
upon the principle of " elective affinity." This synod
made the following *' Declaration of Faith," upon the re-
port of a committee of which Dr. B. Kurtz was chairman :

I. We believe the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the
Word of God, and the only infallible rule of faith and practice.

II. We believe that the fundamental doctrines of the Word of God are
taught in a manner substantially correct in the doctrinal articles of the Augs-
burg Confession :

I. The divine inspiration, authority, and sufficiency of the Holy Script-
ures. 1 2. The unity of the Godhead and the trinity of Persons therein. 3.
The deity of our Lord Jesus Christ. 4. The utter depravity of human nature
in consequence of the fall. 5. The incarnation of the Son of God, and his
work of atonement for sinners of mankind. 6. The necessity of repentance
and faith. 7. The justification of a sinner by faith alone. 8. The work of
the Holy Spirit in the conversion and sanctification of the sinner. 9. The
right and duty of private judgment in the interpretation of the Holy Script-
ures. 10. The immortality of the soul, the resurrection of the body, the
judgment of the world by Jesus Christ, with the eternal blessedness of the
righteous and the eternal punishment of the wicked. II. The divine insti-
tution and perpetuity of the Christian ministry, and the ordinances of baptism
and the Lord's Supper. 2

1 Important as this article is, the Augsburg Confession took it for granted,
and is silent on the subject. The Formula of Concord alone among the
Lutheran confessions has stated it.

2 These are the articles of the Evangelical Alliance, slightly amended.
The changes are that No. 2 of the Alliance articles is made No. 9 in those

THE MELANCHTHON SYNOD. 433

But while we thus publicly avow and declare our convictions in the sub-
stantial correctness of the fundamental doctrines of the Augsburg Confession,
we owe it to ourselves and to the cause of evangelical truth to disavow and
repudiate certain errors which are said by some to be contained in said con-
fession: I. The approval of the ceremonies of the mass; 2. Private con-
fession and absolution ; 3. Denial of the divine obligation of the Christian
Sabbath ; 4. Baptismal regeneration ; and 5. The real presence of the body
and blood of the Saviour in the eucharist. With these exceptions, whether
found in the confession or not, we believe and retain the entire Augsburg
Confession, with all the great doctrines of the Reformation.

The most significant act of the meeting of the General
Synod at Pittsburg in 1859 was the admission of the
Melanchthon Synod by a series of resolutions offered by
Dr. Krauth, Jr., in which, however, the synod is very
mildly requested to erase from its ** Declaration " its im-
plied charges against the Augsburg Confession. The vote
admitting it stood ninety-eight to twenty-six, the entire
delegation from the Ministerium of Pennsylvania, with the
Scandinavian delegates, Esbjorn, Hasselquist, and Klove,
being recorded in the negative. A large portion of the
conservatives, who would otherwise have voted against the
admission, felt that their cause was secure in the hands of
the mover of the resolutions, and that they had gained a
victory by forcing the synod to terms which involved the
rejection of its former attitude to the confession.^ Thus
was foreshadowed the action which was to be taken in the
admission of the Franckean Synod at York in 1864. The
dissatisfaction of the Ministerium of Pennsylvania was
openly expressed at its next meeting, both in the report

of the Melanchthon Synod ; " his mediatorial intercession and reign " is erased
from No. 5 ; Nos. 3 and 6 in the Melanchthon articles are new, and there is a
verbal change, probably for brevity's sake, in the last article.

1 See Dr. Krauth's explanation in " Proceedings of First Lutheran Diet"
(1^77)) P- 142. " It was the thoroughgoing opposition which he had felt
and shown to the admission of the Melanchthon Synod which made him the
proper person to offer this resolution."

434 ^^-^ LUTHERANS. [Chap. xxiv.

of its president (Dr. Welden) and in that of the delegates
to the General Synod.

Beneath all these agitations the external activity of the
church was manifesting much progress. At Gettysburg
the college was under the presidency, beginning with
1850, of Dr. H. L. Baugher. It was strengthened by the
addition of the two professorships of the Ministerium of
Pennsylvania. In the South, Roanoke College, founded
in 1853, is a monument to the earnestness and untiring
zeal of its first president, Dr. D. F. Bittle (born 181 1,
died 1876). North Carolina College, Mount Pleasant,
N. C, under the presidency of his brother. Dr. D. H. Bittle,
had made a promising beginning in 1858, when it was
overtaken by the calamities of the Civil War. In 1858
Dr. T. Stork had been called from Philadelphia to the
presidency of the new college at Newberry, S. C. Dr.
J. A. Brown had become professor of theology, succeed-
ing Dr. L. Eichelberger, who had retired, the seminary
having been removed from its former abode at Lexing-
ton, S. C. The youthful son of Dr. Stork, afterward
Dr. Charles A. Stork, a graduate of Williams College,
had become professor of Greek. Hartwick Seminary,
New York, under Dr. G. B. Miller, was sending forth a
small but valuable addition to the ministry. Wittenberg
College and Seminary at Springfield, O., were becoming
aggressive rivals of Gettysburg. A western college had
been established, first at Hillsboro, and, after its incorpo-
ration in 1852, at Springfield, 111., under the name of Illi-
nois State University. Dr. F. Springer was its first presi-
dent, succeeded by Dr. S. W. Harkey, and in 1857 by
Dr. W. M. Reynolds. It included a theological depart-
ment, with Dr. Harkey as professor, with whom Professor
L. P. Esbjorn was afterward associated as Scandinavian
professor. Still farther west, Dr. Reuben Weiser was at-

THE COLLEGES. 435

tempting the establishment of an EngHsh Lutheran college
in Iowa.

The growing conservatism at Gettysburg had probably
much to do with the founding of the Missionary Institute
at Selinsgrove, Pa., by Dr. B. Kurtz in 1 85 8, for the ed-
ucation of men advanced in life, for whom a shortened
course was provided. Dr. H. Ziegler, the professor of
theology, gradually reached a very decided conservative
and confessional position. Dr. P. Born, the present first
professor of theology, was the first principal of the classi-
cal department. At AUentown, Pa., the Collegiate Insti-
tute was under joint Lutheran and Reformed control.
Dr. W. M. Reynolds was for several years its principal.
The feeling was growing in the Ministerium of Pennsyl-
vania that from it an institution for that synod might
develop, as was afterward the case, in the establishment
of Muhlenberg College (1867). Synodical academies at
Greensburg and Zelienople, Pa., were preparing the way
for a college in the Pittsburg Synod.

A retrospect will lead to the conclusion that the multi-
plication of colleges to such extent was in advance both
of the call and of the necessities of the church. Three
colleges for the English-speaking portion of the Lutheran
Church during this period — one East, one South, one
West — would have answered all demands. Apart from
the expense involved, it was impossible to secure from the
Lutheran people a sufficient number of competent scholars
who could be made professors in the true sense of the
term — men who could rise, whenever necessary, above
mere text-book drill, and prove themselves thorough
masters of their departments, and who, enthusiasts in de-
votion to their particular branches, were able to inspire
others with their own enthusiasm. In most of these feeble
institutions, teachers, half or even one fourth supported.

436 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. xxiv.

struggled to fill two, three, or even four departments ; and
a mere vague and superficial idea of the topics hurried
over was the result. Nothing could be done thoroughly.
The life was taken out of the instruction, because the
teacher could not live in the branch which he taught. The
local advantage was therefore more than balanced by the
deterioration in the quality of the work done. The min-
istry, in most cases, did not obtain that thorough and
many-sided liberal culture which a college course was
supposed to represent, and this was felt also in their
theological training. The weakness of an older was used
as an argument to start new institutions, content to ap-
proach the low standard of those v/hich preceded. The
lack of intelligent directors was as lamentable as that of a
well-equipped faculty. It may serve as a partial expla-
nation of the confusion that prevailed that there was not
a single professor of theology in the English seminaries
in the North who had obtained the liberal training of
a full college course, except the professor of German
theology at Gettysburg. The controversy connected
with the " Definite Platform," prepared and published
under a supervision characterized by the same defects,
may be the more readily understood when this is remem-
bered.

There was a field open to the Lutheran Church which
it neglected to cultivate. Its colleges might have exerted
a vast influence upon the country, and attracted large
support from the general public, if, instead of being feeble
imitations of the American colleges around them, they
had been modeled after the best German gymnasiums,
and, in their management, there had been a wise combi-
nation of German thoroughness with sympathy for Amer-
ican institutions. As it was, German sources were the
very last to be consulted, and German standards the very

HEYER IN MINNESOTA. 437

last to be considered, and then only after those of other
than German origin had shown their appreciation for
them. On the other hand, the German-American colleges
in the West were too exclusively occupied with the prep-
aration of candidates for the ministry to give the neces-
sary liberal culture. They were modeled more after the
preparatory schools for missionary seminaries in Germany
than after those which trained students for a university
course. Their professors were strangers to this country,
noticed chiefly the weaker sides of American education
and American religious life, and were unable to sufficiently
appreciate their new relations to adapt the instruction to
the new demands.

The missionary work was being energetically conducted.
In 1853 the mission in India had grown so as to justify
the organization of the Synod of India, with Father Heyer
as its president. The reports to the General Synod in
1869 indicate the increase of missionaries, but, as might
be expected, only the feeble beginnings of the communi-
cant membership. The statistics were : missionaries, 10;
communicants, no; catechists, 3; colporteurs, 3; schools,
21 ; teachers, 22 ; scholars, 485 ; natives preparing for the
ministry, 4.

The development of home missions was encouraging.
Between 1857 and 1859 the General Synod sustained
sixty-seven missions, while some of the district synods, as
the Ministeriums of Pennsylvania and New York, and the
Pittsburg and Allegheny Synods, had their independent
mission work, which rivaled that of the general body.
One of the most interesting pictures presented is that of
the aged Father Heyer, who could not rest after his return
from India in 1857, but proceeded to the western frontier,
and withstood the winters of Minnesota, as he had the
torrid heat of India. He was sent thither by the General

438 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. xxiv.

Synod's board, and was further aided by the Ministerium
of Pennsylvania. In November, 1857, he made St. Paul
his home, and began to gather together the scattered Ger-
mans. Those discouraged to-day because of the slowness
of the Lutheran Church to enter the field may be encour-
aged when they compare his reports concerning the im-
mense loss occasioned by previous delays, and the oppor-
tunity which he feared had been lost, with those collected
by Dr. Carroll concerning the present strength of the Lu-
theran Church in the twin cities of Minnesota. He had
to solve the problem of the erection of a church building
as the center for his work. It was a hard struggle, but
he was equal to it. His desire to found an English church
at St. Paul was deferred. Over the prairies of Minnesota
he went, sometimes, as in India, in a primitive ox-cart, bap-
tizing children, preaching, and prospecting for places in
need of Lutheran pastors, until at length, in a very few
years, the Synod of Minnesota was the result.

Considering what was done for the English work in
the Mississippi Valley during the decade 1850-60, the re-
suits at the present are disappointing. The colleges then
founded have disappeared. There are no congregations
of strength. The causes may probably be traced to the
uncertain and indefinite doctrinal position then taken, which
encouraged entrance into other churches, except where
connection with the Lutheran Church was perfectly con-
venient, and which developed a form of church life that
obliterated, to a great extent, distinctive Lutheran features.
The later development on this territory is more encourag-
ing, as the adherence to the Lutheran faith has been more
positive.

A very important event was the founding of the Church
Extension Society by a convention at Frederick, Md,,
May 19, 1853, for furnishing poor and destitute congre-

ENGLISH LUTHERAN LITERATURE. 439

gations with church buildings. The end in view was the
securing of a capital of $50,000, to be devoted to loans
upon secure mortgages, without interest. A very small
portion of the desired amount accumulated during this
period ; but this agency has been one of the chief means
by which the General Synod has advanced. In 1893 the
Board of Church Extension reported assets of over $247,-
000, a large portion of which, however, was in lots, do-
nated at various points, for future churches, and in prop-
erties from which little can be realized.

A Publication Society was formed in 1855. It was in
answer to the general demand for better acquaintance with
the doctrines and history of the Lutheran Church. It
aimed to furnish both translations and original works in
this interest. Rev. B. Keller was its indefatigable and suc-
cessful agent, who canvassed the churches and secured a
handsome beginning of an endowment. A building had
been rented and a depository opened on Arch Street, near
Eighth, Philadelphia. In 1859 a direct connection of the
society with the General Synod was effected.

Contributions toward an English Lutheran literature
were abundant during the decade 1850-60. Some have
been already mentioned. We add the principal publica-
tions not yet referred to. Among the controversial works,
Dr. Bachman's contributions, as a naturalist as well as theo-
logian, to the discussion of the unity of the human race
took a side then deemed unscientific, against Nott, Gliddon,
Morton, Agassiz, etc. Since then, scientific skepticism has
gone to the opposite extreme, the unity of all forms of
animal life being maintained by the advocates of the evo-
lutionary hypothesis. Dr. J. A. Seiss, then pastor in Bal-
timore, was in controversy with Dr. Richard Fuller on
the subject of baptism. His book " The Baptist System
Examined," published in several editions, was the final re-

440 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. xxiv.

suit. Dr. Seiss's lectures on "The Last Times," in which he
advocated the pre- millennial return of Christ, had already
attracted attention, and given him a wide reputation both
in this country and in Great Britain. His *' Digest of
Christian Doctrine" (1857) was an attempt to supply a
felt want, that was well executed. It is a very brief state-
ment of theological definitions from recognized Lutheran
theologians. His ** Gospel in Leviticus " (republished in
London) and '* Book of Forms " were just about appear-
ing. ** The Evangehcal Psalmist," of which he was chief
editor, did much toward preparing the way for " The
Church Book " and its proper use. Dr. Morris published
a number of interesting small volumes illustrative of events
in the life of Luther, as well as a memoir of John Arndt.
Dr. C. P. Krauth's translation of Tholuck on " The Gos-
pel of St. John," Dr. C. F. Schaeffer's translation of
Kurtz's *' Sacred History," Dr. C. W. Schaeffer's '' Early
History of the Lutheran Church," ''Family Prayers," and
translation of Bogatsky's " Golden Treasury," Dr. G. F.
Krotel's book on the beatitudes, and his translation of
Ledderhose's " Life of Melanchthon," Dr. M. L. Stoever's
" Life of Muhlenberg," Dr. S. S. Schmucker's " Lutheran
Manual," and some practical works by Dr. B. Kurtz and
Dr. T. Stork, belong to this time.

There was no lack of church periodicals. The same
principles apply to them we have already noted in refer-
ring to the multiplication of colleges. Important as the
church paper is for diffusing the life of the church among
the people, we can in no way determine how efficiently
this is accomplished by the number of journals that attempt
it. The aim too often is to prevent information and dis-
cussions from reaching those who would be apt to be influ-
enced thereby. The editors and contributors, giving their
services in general gratuitously, and overburdened with

THE CHURCH PAPERS. 44!

other labors, as a rule feel themselves, or are found to be,
entirely incapable of representing to their readers all the
interests of the church fairly and impartially. Each is
apt to stand only for a side of the truth, and that often a
narrow one, while other sides of the truth, and other truths
just as important, are excluded or overlooked. Notwith-
standing these defects, the church could not do without
them, and a debt of gratitude is due many disinterested
laborers in this sphere. In the '' Lutheran Observer," until
1858, Dr. B. Kurtz continued to wage a warfare against the
incoming wave of '' symbolism," as he called it, and from
which he apprehended grave consequences, Drs. Anspach
and Diehl having succeeded him as this period closes.
In ''The Missionary," Dr. Passavant was communicating
most interesting facts concerning the progress of missions
throughout the country, and had gained a co-laborer in
Dr. Krauth, Jr., whose theological articles were at the
time heavy reading for a weekly, but had a powerful and
permanent influence upon the educated ministry. In
*' The Standard" of Columbus, O., Dr. Greenwald for a
portion of this period had been with all mildness but firm-
ness pleading for fidelity to the confessions. '' The Evan-
gelical Lutheran" and ''The Olive Branch" represented
the interests of Springfield, O., and Springfield, III, the
former under the editorship of Rev. V. L. Conrad, and the
latter under that of Dr. S. W. Harkey. " The Lutheran
Home Journal " was a family m.agazine of much interest
and a high literary standard, issued by the Board of Pub-
lication at Philadelphia. "The Evangelical Review," be-
fore mentioned, of Gettysburg, Pa., was the great repository
of articles of permanent value, that render it almost as
important for the American student of Lutheran theology
to-day as when its numbers were issued. It was the
chief link, of this period, between Lutheran theology and

442 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. xxiv.

the Lutheran Church of America that used the EngHsh
language.

Among the German papers, the *' Kirchenbote " of
Gettysburg, and then of SeHnsgrove, represented the
American Lutheran, and the *' Zeitschrift," under Pastor
S. K. Brobst of AUentown, the confessional position, in
which it was supported by the ** Herold " of New York.

PERIOD V.
REORGANIZATION

A.D. i860 .

CHAPTER XXV.

THE ERA OF DISINTEGRATION (1860-67).

The period beginning with i860 and extending to the
present is remarkable especially for the enormous immi-
gration to this country, which has carried w^th it a large
Lutheran population. Vast as w^as the immigration of the
preceding period, it can bear no comparison with this.
The Norwegian and Swedish immigration, from 1861 to
1870, numbered 117,798, from 1871 to 1880, 226,488, and
from 1 88 1 to 1890, 560,483 persons. The Danes num-
bered from 1861 to 1870, 17,885, from 1871 to 1880,
34,577, and from 1 881 to 1 890, 88,102 persons. They
may all, with a very few exceptions, be counted baptized
members of the Lutheran Church. From these three Scan-
dinavian countries alone over one million of population
has been added to that for whose care the Lutheran Church
is responsible. Over four millions of Germans entered
America during the same time, among whom were large
numbers of Lutherans. Finland, the Baltic Provinces of
Russia, and Iceland contributed also their thousands.
Nor must it be forgotten that the statistics given are those
solely for the United States, and do not include the par-
allel wave of immigration to Canada, which is not divided
by any ecclesiastical lines from the Lutheran Churches of
America. The St. Lawrence has proved to be a less for-
midable ecclesiastical barrier between the Lutherans on its
two sides than has been the Potomac.

The effects of this immigration are seen in the growth of

445

446 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. xxv.

the cities and their immediate surroundings, and in the
great expansion of the population in the West. The rural
districts and the smaller towns of the East have not gained
much from it. The South has received few of the immi-
grants, except in Texas. New York and Brooklyn, and the
numerous smaller cities along the line of the old Erie Canal,
have been favorites. Thence the line may be traced
westward, through Ohio, until at length, increasing through-
out Indiana and Illinois, there is found in Wisconsin and
"Minnesota and North Dakota a preponderance of the
Lutheran element, even exceeding that of eastern Penn-
sylvania. As a consequence, there were in the city of
Chicago in 1893 as many communicants in the Lutheran
churches as in the Episcopalian, Presbyterian, and Method-
ist combined. In Chicago, St. Louis, Cleveland, Buffalo,
Detroit, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, and St. Paul, the Lutheran
Church stood first in numbers. The number of communi-
cants in Wisconsin has grown until they are now more
than all those in the country in 1850. Minnesota in 1890
had 143,522 Lutheran communicants; those in 1850 in
the United States numbered 143,543. Illinois in 1890
was within five thousand of the number reported for the
whole country in 1840. The city of Chicago alone ex-
ceeded by seven thousand communicants the number
reported for the whole country in 1820. While tens of
thousands are without the means of grace, and thousands
of others have entered other denominations, these figures
represent the tenacity of the Lutheran faith, and the ear-
nestness of the immigrants, in their poverty, to provide
churches and pastors for themselves and their children.

This immigration has made the Lutheran influence felt
outside of purely ecclesiastical circles. It has entered even
into the calculations of politicians. On the question of
" prohibitory legislation " the various denominations of this

THE BENNETT LAW. 447

country have been much agitated. A number of ecclesias-
tical bodies have entered at various times, as organizations,
into the movements for the enactment and enforcement of
such laws. The General Synod and a number of its dis-
trict synods are on record upon this side. With them, on
this subject, the Swedish Augustana Synod of the General
Council has been in full accord. There has been no ques-
tion in any of the Lutheran synods concerning the great
sin not only of drunkenness, but also of intemperance that
even does not reach the line of drunkenness. The Synod
of Missouri and the synods affiliated with it have waged a
relentless war against the saloon. To those coming from
countries where the moderate use of beverages which when
drunk in great excess lead to intoxication is universal, but
where such abuse is most rare, the radical remedies pro-
posed by prohibitory legislation have seemed oppressive.
There has never, however, been that direct opposition to
prohibitory legislation by ecclesiastical action that there
has been in its favor in the bodies mentioned. It would
become such, however, the moment that there would be
legal interference with the use of wine in the Lord's Sup-
per. Where this subject, therefore, has been a prominent
factor in party politics, the presence and attitude of the
large Lutheran population have been matters of concern
to those most deeply interested in the result.

There was a direct issue in the year 1890, in a number
of the Northwestern States, in which the vote of the mem-
bers of the Lutheran churches changed the current not
only of State, but of national, politics. A revised school law,
especially in the States of Wisconsin and Illinois (known
in Wisconsin, from its author, as '' the Bennett Law "),
not only required that certain branches should be taught
in English, but placed all schools, including the parochial
schools, under State supervision. The synods of the

448 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. xxv.

Synodical Conference and the Synod of Iowa, in which the
parochial school system has been developed with greatest
success, cooperated with the Roman Cathohcs in a most
thoroughly organized resistance, which overthrew the party
in power in the States in which such legislation was pro-
posed, and secured the permanency and independence of
the parochial schools. While the church as such has noth-
ing to do with politics, yet when Christian men are con-
vinced that an attempt is made by the state to interfere
with the church's legitimate work, they cannot be expected
to do otherwise than to resist by every lawful and honorable
means. These instances are cited here only as illustrations
of the growing importance that is conceded to the Lutheran
element in American society. The country has learned,
to an extent, to recognize its significance, and to be in-
terested in ascertaining who these people are, and whence
they came, and whither they are tending.

To one viewing this period from the inside, it divides nat-
urally into three sections, according to the prevaihng tend-
ency. There is, first, an era of disintegration (1860-67);
secondly, of reconstruction and reorganization (1867-77);
and, thirdly, of the reapproach and readjustment to one
another of the separated portions (1877-93).

In i860 the General Synod numbered two thirds of the
Lutheran Church in this country, having 864 out of 13 13
ministers, and 164,000 out of 235,000 communicants. All
hopes of centralization seemed to depend upon the main-
tenance of its numerical integrity. It was in the interest
of this centralization that the conservatives had yielded
so much in the terms upon which the Melanchthon Synod
had been admitted. The disintegration began soon after-
ward, and at first did not seem to be very formidable.
At Springfield, III, the Swedes and Norwegians of the
Synod of Northern Illinois provided for a professorship in

THE AUGUSTAN A SYNOD. 449

Illinois State University, which was filled by Professor L.
P. Esbjorn. Although the preponderance of sentiment
within the synod and at the institution was on the conserv-
ative side, the Scandinavians felt insecure because of the
heat of the controversy raging among their American
brethren, in which the Scriptural character of the Augs-
burg Confession as a whole, and of certain of its articles,
which they held sacred, had been calleci in question. The
timidity of the General Synod in dealing with the case of
the Melanchthon Synod had alarmed them. They de-
clared that they had evidence that efforts w^ere being made
to change the nature of the doctrinal obligation of their
professor of theology, although they alone were responsi-
ble for his support. The Swedes are a peace-loving peo-
ple ; and sooner than be subjected to the annoyance of
an incessant controversy for years, they determined, with
their Norwegian brethren, to withdraw, and to allow the
Americans alone to fight the battle. Their professor left
the seminary very suddenly, and their students also with-
drew, in February, i860. A convention was held in
Chicago by their pastors, who on May 7th formally dis-
solved their union with the Synod of Northern Illinois.
A series of preambles precedes the resolution of withdrawal :

Whereas we are fully convinced that there is a decided doctrinal difference
in our synod ; and whereas there in reality already exists a disunion, instead
of union, in the synod ; and whereas strife and contention tend to destroy
confidence, and to weaken our hands and retard our progress ; and whereas
we are liable at any time, by an accidental majority of votes against our doc-
trinal position, to have a change forced upon us ; and whereas it is our high-
est duty to maintain and preserve unmutilated our confession of faith, both
in our congregations and in the theological instruction imparted to, and the
influence brought to bear upon, our students, who are to be the future min-
isters and pastors of our congregations ; and whereas our experience clearly
demonstrates to us that we cannot be sure of this, in the relations we have
heretofore sustained.!

1 " The Missionary," May 17, i860. Compare ibid.^ May 24th,

45 O THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. xxv.

Dr. E. Norelius, one of the participants in this confer-
ence, writing twenty-five years afterward, says : ** It must
be acknowledged that the severance of our connection
with the Synod of Northern IlHnois took place in a kind
of revolutionary way ; but even in this we may behold the
guiding hand of God."^ The immediate effect undoubt-
edly was a weakening of the conservatives. A blow was
dealt the young institution, then under the guidance of
Drs. S. W. Harkey and W. M. Reynolds, from which it
never recovered. Slowly it declined, until, after the val-
uable property was saved to the Lutheran Church by the
maintenance of the mere form of a college by the Minis-
terium of Pennsylvania, it was finally transferred, early in
the seventies, to the Missouri Synod, for its now flourish-
ing Practical Seminary. When in June, i860, the Scan-
dinavians completed the organization of their synod, they
called it the Augustana Synod, and their new college,
founded shortly afterward at Paxton, III, and thence
transferred to Rock Island, was called Augustana College,
both names being intended as clear and distinct confessions
of adherence to that fundamental creed of Lutheranism
which they had thought to be imperiled by their previous
associations. They thus proclaimed that, whatever might
be the extent to which Americans allowed the existence
of errors in the Augsburg Confession to be an open ques-
tion, the Swedes and Norwegians would proceed quietly
and peaceably to the building up of their churches, and the
development of their work according to the faith therein
taught. Had they done otherwise, and allowed their ad-
herence to the Augsburg Confession to admit of doubt,
their relations to their home churches in Europe would
have been jeopardized. The Swedes were not ready to
renounce the decree of the Council of Upsala of 1593^

1 " Lutheran Church Review," vol. v., p. '^Z'

THE CIVIL WAR.

451

Church conflicts were almost forgotten in the civil agi-
tations of the close of i860 and the subsequent year.
The passions aroused in the bitter discussions which pre-
ceded the clash of arms, and all the extravagances of de-
nunciation that marked the utterances of the press and
the declamations of public speakers during the war, un-
doubtedly had their effect in intensifying the violence of
ecclesiastical controversy when it again broke out. In
those days it was impossible to judge questions with judi-
cial fairness and to look dispassionately upon two sides
of an argument. Men were either intense partisans or
were silent. Arbitrary measures which would scarcely be
entertained in time of peace were deemed perfectly justi-
fiable in time of war. What Christian men would persuade
themselves to be right in the State they were ready to
introduce and defend in the church. The church press
could not but be infected by the spirit which controlled
the secular press.

But before this increased partisan rancor could occasion
a rupture, one had occurred in the separation, four years
previously, of the Southern synods from the General
Synod by the lines of two hostile armies. Such was the
confusion and uncertainty attending the opening of the
war in the spring of 1861, that it was deemed advisable to
postpone the meeting of the General Synod until the fol-
lowing year. When it met in Trinity Church, Lancaster,
May I, 1862, the excitement connected with the war was
intense. A dark shadow had fallen over many a house-
hold of those there represented, by the sacrifice of some
cherished member. The daily anxiety for others exposed
to the perils of the battlefield and camp was intense. The
horrors of war as seen in hospitals, and in trains laden
with wounded carried North, were indescribable. That
some action concerning the conflict would be taken, and

452 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. xxv.

that this action would be most pronounced against the
South, could readily have been expected. The General
Synod, accordingly, sent a committee to President Lincoln,
communicating resolutions characterizing " the rebellion
against the constitutional government of this land " as
** most wicked in its inception, unjustifiable in its cause,
unnatural in its character, inhuman in its prosecution, op-
pressive in its aims, and destructive in its results to the
highest interests of morality and religion." One supple-
mentary resolution expressed ** decided disapprobation of
the course of those synods and ministers, heretofore con-
nected with this body, in the open sympathy and active
cooperation they have given to the cause of treason and
insurrection " ; and another conveyed the sympathies of
the General Synod to '' our people in the Southern States,
who, maintaining true Christian loyalty, have in conse-
quence been compelled to suffer persecution and wrong;
and we hail with pleasure the near approach of their de-
Hverance and restoration to our Christian and ecclesiastical
fellowship."

It is a question whether the last resolution did not form-
ally convey to the Southern synods their exclusion, or,
at any rate, suggest that, without a change of attitude
concerning the issues of the war, their return would not
be desired. Whatever may have been the intention of
the General Synod, they quickly so interpreted it. Con-
demned by the body to which they had belonged, they
determined not to wait for the end of the war, but to
organize a new general organization immediately. " The
General Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in
the Confederate States of America " was organized at
Concord, N. C, May 20, 1863, withdrawing from the old
General Synod five of its district synods. When peace
was finally established, the resolutions of 1862 were a bar

THE GENERAL SYNOD, SOUTH. 453

to the return of the Southern synods. But if they had
been the only obstacles, they would doubtless have been
overcome. If the church in the North would have re-
mained united, the Southern synods would soon have
resumed their former place. The close of the war came
when a separation between the Northern synods seemed
imminent. The attention of the church was concentrated
upon the controversy that was raging in the church
papers. Another seminary had been established in Penn-
sylvania, representing the conservative element, which had
attracted to its support many of the most prominent pas-
tors in the General Synod. The leaders of the South-
ern General Synod, most of them young men, were in
accord with the growing conservative tendency, even
though the life of many of the congregations was greatly
affected by influences proceeding from the denominations
around them. Their " Book of Worship," pubhshed dur-
ing the war, showed an advance in this regard upon the
*' Hymn-book " of the church in the North. In 1866 it
was therefore decided to perpetuate the General Synod
of the Confederate States, under a new name, viz., "The
EvangeKcal Lutheran General Synod in North America."
A Pastoral Address was issued, in which the reasons were
assigned for its separate existence. The progress of the
Lutheran Church in the South, it was urged, was depend-
ent partially upon its more complete independence of the
North. Southern Lutheran institutions, and Southern
Lutheran literature adapted to the peculiar wants of the
church in the South, were especially necessary. It was
also affirmed :

The little progress which the Lutheran Church has made in this country,
North and South, is to be accounted for, in great measure, by the extreme
latitudinarianism which she has taught and practiced. It has been too much
the practice of her ministers to seek to make the impression on the public

454 ^-^^^ LUTHERANS. [Chap. xxv.

mind that in no important particular do we differ from other denominations.
Tlie consequence is the want of that church love so essential to the success
of every church, and which we see so strongly developed among the Baptists,
Presbyterians, Methodists, and Episcopalians. This fact also accounts for
the easy transition of our ministers and members to the communion of other
churches. As Lutherans we have an historical prestige and a confession of
faith which, the property of other denominations in our midst, they would
virtually eclipse the success of every church wanting these. Why, then, do
we not avail ourselves of the armor furnished to our hands, and get to our-
selves a name and position which shall be the glory of Protestantism? Let
us, then, at this particular juncture of our church, plant ourselves firmly
upon the Augsburg Confession, the proud bulwark of Protestantism, de-
spite all opposition, from whatever source, arrayed against us. . . . We
would seek to perpetuate our organization further, because of the distraction
and contentions in the General Synod of the United States. From its rise
to the present time it has been convulsed and torn by internal dissensions.
At its late meeting at Fort Wayne, Ind., the Pennsylvania Synod withdrew,
with the probability of others pursuing a like course.

Throughout the war the Lutheran churches, on both
sides of the Hne, suffered greatly. The losses of those in
the North were chiefly of the soldiers who fell in battle or
from disease. The battle of Gettysburg raged around the
institutions of the General Synod. From the cupola of
the Theological Seminary the Union generals, Reynolds
and Buford, made their observations at the opening of the
first day's engagement, and from that of Pennsylvania
College General Lee surveyed the left center of the Union
line, before the famous charge of Pickett was ordered on
the afternoon of Friday, July 3, 1863. In the retreat of
the first day the lines of battle swept through the grounds
of both institutions, and as they passed over them they
left in their track the dead and dying. For many weeks
the buildings were used as hospitals. \\\ the haste, books
were taken from the library shelves of Pennsylvania Col-
lege, and used to support the heads of the wounded laid
upon the floor. The blood-soaked volumes of venerable

DESOLATIONS OF WAR. 455

theologians of former centuries, with pages still cemented
by the life-current that flowed from the hearts of dying
heroes, remain as records, more eloquent than any writ-
ten language, of the horrors of war. The damages were
speedily repaired by contributions from the churches.

But the heaviest losses were those of the South. The
Shenandoah Valley, through which the two armies so
frequently moved, and in which they met, contained many
Lutheran congregations. The churches farther South
suffered greatly from Sherman's march to the sea. The
venerable Dr. Bachman, of Charleston, S. C, was one of
the heaviest losers, and with him the entire church, by the
burning of his valuable library with his manuscripts. He
also suffered painful physical violence from one of the
lawless bands that, under the pretended sanction of mili-
tary law, traversed the country to rob and to injure all
who withstood them. With the exception of Roanoke
College, all the institutions in the South were closed.
Their students and those who would have become such
were, as a rule, taken, wilhngly or unwillingly, into the
Southern army. The funds of many of these institutions
were invested in Confederate securities, and, with the fall
of the Confederacy, became worthless. Newberry Col-
lege was emptied of its students for use by the Con-
federate government, and the building was left in a con-
dition that rendered it for years unfit for its intended
purpose. The Theological Seminary was closed during
the second year of the war, thus leaving the South with-
out any provision for theological instruction until after the
return of peace.

The most serious break in the General Synod began in
1864. In 1839 a resolution had been passed condemning
alike the Franckean and Tennessee synods, as representing

456 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. xxv.

the two extremes inimical to union in the Lutheran
Church. When an effort was made, therefore, in 1857,
to rescind the action concerning the one, the action con-
cerning the other had, as a matter of course, to receive
the same treatment. With the ban upon them removed,
the Franckeans were encouraged by the admission of the
Melanchthon Synod to hope that without any formal ac-
ceptance of the Augsburg Confession they might also be
received. At first the case was promptly disposed of by
a resolution that they would be admitted '' so soon as
they shall give formal expression to their adoption of the
Augsburg Confession as received by the General Synod."
This was intended to bring the question of the relation of
the Franckean Synod to the Augsburg Confession before
that body, and to make their reception at a subsequent
convention of the General Synod contingent upon their
own action. But the subject was reopened the next day
by the presentation of a paper from the delegates, in which
they declared that in adopting the constitution of the
General Synod the synod had " understood that they
were adopting the doctrinal position of the General Synod,
viz., ' That the fundamental truths of the Word of God
are taught in a manner substantially correct in the Augs-
burg Confession.' " This led to a reconsideration of the
vote, and a protracted debate, resulting in the admission
of the synod by a vote of ninety-seven to forty, '' with the
understanding that said synod, at its next meeting, declare,
in an official manner, its adoption of the doctrinal articles
of the Augsburg Confession as a substantially correct exhi-
bition of the fundamental doctrines of the Word of God."
This resolution established the principle that a synod
could be admitted to the General Synod without any
official action of adoption of the Augsburg Confession

THE CRISIS AT YORK. 457

preceding, solely in reliance upon the prospect of such
action in the future. The assurance of the delegates was,
for the time, accepted as equivalent to the official action
of the synod. What added to the embarrassment in the
admission of the Franckean Synod was that that synod
had, instead of the Augsburg Confession, its own confes-
sion of faith, in which the distinctive doctrines of the
Lutheran Church were not contained. This confession,
or ''Declaration," was as follows:

1. We believe the Scriptures are the inspired Word of God, and contain
an infallible rule of faith and practice for mankind.

2. That there is one true and living God, called and made known by rev-
elation under the name of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost ; infinite and im-
mutable in all natural and moral perfections, the Almighty Maker of heaven
and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.

3. That man was created in the image of God, free from sin and every
moral imperfection ; that he fell by disobedience from this state, and became
morally depraved in his nature ; and that, in consequence of his sin, he trans-
mitted his moral pollution and sinful propensities to all his posterity.

4. That Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, in the fullness of time
was manifested in the flesh, and is the only Redeemer ; that he was crucified,
dead, and buried; that he arose from the dead, ascended into heaven, and is
now exalted at God's right hand, to make intercession for the whole human
race.

5. That God, who is rich in mercy, has not left mankind to perish in that
state of misery which they have deserved by their sins, but has, in his infinite
love, provided a way of salvation, through the atoning death of Jesus Christ,
his beloved Son ; that his sacrifice has made an ample and sufficient atonement
for the sins of the whole human race ; and that the saving benefits of the
atonement are freely and sincerely offered to all men by the gospel, but that
those only who repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ will be saved.

6. That men are not justified on account of any merits or works of their
own, but are freely justified by faith in the atoning blood of Christ, for whose
sake only God pardons sin.

7. That the Holy Ghost is given to quicken and renew the hearts of men,
and that the influences of the Spirit and of the Word of God are indispen-
sably necessary to bring sinners to repentance, produce saving faith, sanctify
the soul, and perfect our holiness.

8. That there is a necessity of a radical change of heart, and that none
should be admitted to membership and privileges of the church but such as

458 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. xxV.

give a credible evidence of being born again, and are living according to the
precepts and requirements of the gospel.

9. That Christ has instituted the ordinances of baptism and the Lord's
Supper for the perpetual observance and edification of the church ; baptism
is the initiatory ordinance, and signifies the necessity of holiness of heart, and
the Lord's Supper is frequently to be celebrated, as a token of faith in the
atonement of Christ, and of brotherly love.

10. That the keeping of the moral law as a rule of life, a conscientious
and uniform attendance upon public and private worship, and an entire sub-
mission to the regular authority and discipline of the church, and observance
of all its institutions, and whatever else may tend to promote the glory of
God and the salvation of men, are duties which every Christian is under sol-
emn obligation to perform.

11. That Jesus Christ will come the second time, when he will judge the
world in righteousness ; that there will be a resurrection of the dead, both of
the just and unjust ; and that he will receive the righteous into life eternal,
but the wicked will be sent into endless punishment.

The protest presented against the admission of a synod
whose relation to the Augsburg Confession was regarded
as thus indeterminate, by the delegates from the Ministe-
rium of Pennsylvania, and a number from the Pittsburg
Synod, New York Ministerium, Maryland, East Pennsyl-
vania, English Ohio, Olive Branch, Illinois, Northern
Illinois, and English Iowa synods, stated that the admis-
sion of the Franckean Synod was a violation of the con-
stitution, since it was conceded that the synod had not
complied with the constitutional requirements. The
answer, prepared by a committee, affirmed that there was
no violation of the constitution, since the Franckean Synod
" has really, although not formally, complied," and *' the
constitution of the General Synod is indefinite In its re-
quirements on this point." The delegates of the Minis-
terium of Pennsylvania presented a paper reciting the
conditions upon which their synod had united with the
General Synod in 1853, viz., that '* should the General
Synod violate its constitution, and require of our synod

AMENDED DOCTRINAL BASIS. 459

assent to anything conflicting with the old and long-estab-
Hshed faith of the EvangeHcal Lutheran Church, Jihen our
delegates are hereby required to protest against such
action, to withdraw from its sessions, and report to this
body." As they regarded the action of the General
Synod as unconstitutional, they felt themselves, by the
terms of their appointment, obliged to withdraw, in order
to report to their synod. However others may have
regarded and represented it, they did not regard their act
as severing the connection of the ministerium with the
General Synod. *' We did not dream," a subsequent
report says, '' that our synod, or any synod, would permit
a delegation to take such an important step." The with-
drawal from the General Synod, in their opinion,, would
require the formal action of the ministerium itself. Neither
did they regard their act in withdrawing to report as
recommending to their synod the severing of its connec-
tion with the General Synod. They believed it to be
within the province of the ministerium to say whether or
not, under the circumstances, it should remain or with-
draw.

But the conservative element was yet to gain a most
important advantage in what seemed the hour of its de-
feat. The feeling grew that the precedent established by
the admission of the Franckean Synod, unless guarded by
a more specific statement of the doctrinal standard in the
constitution, would be susceptible of the greatest abuse,
and decisive measures should be taken to remedy the evil.
The withdrawal of the Pennsylvania delegates had also
made an impression, and there was a widely felt desire to
prevent the ministerium itself from withdravv^ing. This,
it was hoped, could be accomplished by an amendment to
the constitution which would be satisfactory to its mem-

460 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. xxv.

bers. The amendment proposed, and afterward adopted
by the vote of the synods, was as follows :

Article III., Section 3. Article as amended.

All regularly constituted Lutheran All regularly constituted Lutheran
synods holding the fundamental doc- synods, not now in connection with
trines of the Bible as taught by our the General Synod, receiving and
church, not now in connection with holding, with the Evangelical Luther-
the General Synod, may at any time an Church of our fathers, the Word
become associated with it, by adopt- of God as contained in the canonical
ing this constitution and sending del- Scriptures of the Old and New Testa-
egates, etc, ments, as the only infallible rule of

faith and practice, and the Augsburg
Confession, as a correct exhibition of
the fundamental doctrines of the di-
vine Word, and of the faith of our
church, founded upon that Word,
■ may, at any time, become associated
with the General Synod, by comply-
ing with the requisitions of this con-
stitution and sending delegates, etc.

In addition to this, the main resolution of the Declara-
tion of the Pittsburg Synod at Zelienople, in 1856,^ was
adopted, in which the alleged errors in the Augsburg
Confession are denied and repudiated.

With this action, especially when it became manifest
that the amendment to the constitution would be adopted
by a sufficient number of synods, the Ministerium of
Pennsylvania was satisfied. Meeting the same month in
which the sessions of the General Synod were held at
York, it approved the course of its delegates in withdraw-
ing to report, but deferred further action until, the next
year, as no convention of the General Synod would be
held in the meantime. In 1865 it resolved to maintain
its connection with the General Synod and to send a del-
egation to the next convention, because of its conviction

1 See above, p. .

THE PHILADELPHIA SEMINARY. 46 1

that the action of the General Synod, subsequent to the
withdrawal of the delegation, was promotive '* of the unity
and purity of our beloved Zion " ; but in so doing the min-
isterium reasserted the right, accorded its delegates on
their admission in 1853, to withdraw and report whenever
a violation of the constitution would seem to occur.

It is probable that if there had been no further cause
of friction during the interim, the Ministerium of Pennsyl-
vania would have participated in the organization at Fort
Wayne in 1866, without conflict or objection, and the
General Synod would have remained unbroken. But in
the fall of 1864 the Theological Seminary in Philadelphia
was estabhshed by the Ministerium of Pennsylvania. The
idea of such an institution had been cherished ever since
the days of Muhlenberg. The pastors of Zion's Church,
Philadelphia, from Muhlenberg to Mann, had acted as
theological preceptors of private students. Dr. C. F.
Demme had gathered a library with reference to the pro-
posed seminary. Dr. C. F. Schaeffer's efficient services
at Gettysburg had not dissipated the hope of the ultimate
estabhshment of a seminary either in Philadelphia or at
Allentow^n for the training of German- American pastors.
Rev. S. K. Brobst, the editor of the '' Zeitschrift," was
indefatigable in his efforts to have the hope realized. This
was developed in a vigorous discussion at the meeting of
the ministerium in 1859, at which Rev. B. Keller and Drs.
Krotel and Passavant urged the desirability of a concen-
tration of the strength of the church at Gettysburg, and
succeeded in temporarily checking the movement. But
the demand for German pastors was increasing above what
Gettysburg could supply. It claimed the attention of the
ministerium in the spring of 1864, one of the projects
contemplated being to strengthen the force at Gettysburg.
The events at York, however, induced some of those who

462 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. xxv.

had been pleading for such union to feel favorably dis-
posed, under certain contingencies, toward a new seminary.
The time had come when the ministerium had to provide
for the training of its candidates according to the confes-
sional obligations which it demanded of them on ordina-
tion. The professors into whose care it intrusted them
must hereafter be pledged to this position. One name,
viz., that of Charles Porterfield Krauth, was upon many lips,
as that of the most thoroughly trained Lutheran theolo-
gian in America, and there was a general desire that he
should be placed in the professor's chair, as the exponent
of the theology of the Lutheran confessions. His exhaust-
ive articles in the *' Lutheran and Missionary," of which he
was editor-in-chief, 1861-67, ranked with the most schol-
arly defenses of the faith of the Augsburg Confession which
had ever been made. If the chair at Gettysburg, vacated
by the resignation of Dr. S. S. Schmucker, had been filled
by his election, the ministerium would in all probabil-
ity have felt that his presence was a guarantee that the
future ministers would be furnished with the necessary
defenses against all radical tendencies. When the election
resulted differently, it was no antipathy to the professor-
elect, who had done good service in the battle against the
" Definite Platform," that turned the sentiment of a large
portion of those who had hitherto been averse to another
seminary toward the prompt execution of the project
proposed but not acted upon at the regular sessions of
the ministerium, and the enlargement of its scope beyond
that of a seminary for German pastors. At a special meet-
ing at Allentown, July 26 and 27, 1864, it was resolved
to establish the seminary. Three professors ordinarii and
two professors extraordinarii were elected. Of the pro-
fessors ordinarii, Dr. C. F. Schaeffer was elected for the
intermediate, or German-English, Dr. W. J. Mann for the

INFLUENCE OF THE SEMINARY. 463

German, and Dr. C. P. Krauth for the English depart-
ment. Drs. C. W. Schaeffer and G. F. Krotel were elected
professors extraordinarii. Events moved more rapidly
than had been anticipated. The seminary opened October
3, 1864. The high character and extensive influence of
this strong faculty attracted large numbers of students.
A building had to be provided, and new responsibihties
in the support of professors and students met ; but the
churches pf Pennsylvania and New York, and especially
those of Philadelphia, responded most generously. Ninety
years after it had first been propounded, the project of
Muhlenberg was at last realized. The success which has
attended the seminary has been due, not to its accidental
location in a city, but, first, to its historical position on
the very spot of the earliest struggles of the Lutheran
Church in America, and as the heir of the labors and in-
stitutions of the founders of the church ; secondly, to its
geographical position in the very focus of the large Ger-
man-American population of eastern Pennsylvania and
New York City and its suburbs ; and, thirdly and chiefly,
to the fact that it has never wavered in its devotion to the
Lutheran Church, and in expounding Lutheran doctrines
with all clearness and decision.

Great as was the gain to the church, it was not sur-
prising that the establishment of the seminary occasioned
some feeling. The seminary of the General Synod was
reduced by the withdrawal of students to the smallest
number in its history. There was an acknowledged
abruptness about the sudden removal of one of the pro-
fessors from the old to the new seminary, which un-
doubtedly is greatly to be regretted. Many whose sym-
pathies were entirely conservative were not prepared for
the movement. It was too sudden. The successful efforts
for the endowment of the new seminary, shown by the

464 ^^^^ LUTHERANS. [Chap. xxv.

beginning made in the chair provided for by Charles
F. Norton, were met by corresponding efforts to endow
the older institution. The new seminary lengthened the
course to three years ; so did the older seminary, which
also increased the number of its professorships. When
the directors of the Ministerium of Pennsylvania appeared
in their usual place in the board of the seminary of the
General Synod, they were informed that, by the establish-
ment of a seminary of its own, the Ministerium of Pennsyl-
vania had lost its right of representation^.

The General Synod met at Fort Wayne, Ind., May 16,
1866. The delegation of the Ministerium of Pennsylvania
started thither fully expecting to participate in all the
proceedings. When the time came for their credentials to
be presented, the president (Rev. Dr. S. Sprecher) ordered
that the synod be passed over, for the following reason :

The chair regards the act of the delegates of the Pennsylvania Synod, by
which they severed their practical relations with the General Synod, and
withdrew from the partnership of the synods in the governing functions of
the General Synod, as the act of the Synod of Pennsylvania, and that conse-
quently that synod was out of practical union with the General Synod up to
the adjournment of the last convention, and we cannot know ofificially what
the action of that synod has been since, so she must be considered in that
state of practical withdrawal f^' m the governing functions of the G'eneral
Synod, until the General Synod an receive the report of an act restoring her
practical relations to the General Synod ; and as no such report is offered, the
chair cannot know any paper offered at this stage of the proceedings of the
synod, as a certificate of delegation to this body.

When an appeal was made from this decision, the Gen-
eral Synod sustained the chair. The delegates of the
Ministerium of New York, Pittsburg Synod, and English
Synod of Ohio declined to participate in the election of
officers that followed, because of what they regarded the
irregularity of the organization. The purpose of the ma-
jority was not to exclude the Ministerium of Pennsylva-
nia, but to compel its delegates to apply for readmission,

FORT WAYNE. 465

and then to readmit the ministerlum, with the condition
which the ministerium attached to its admission in 1853
annulled, or the request made that the ministerium should
itself annul it. The right of delegates to withdraw and
report to their synod when an act which seemed to them
unconstitutional was passed, was no longer to be admitted.
This was the point of contention during the days of debate
that followed. The Pennsylvania delegation were firm in
the position that, as they had been elected by their synod
to participate in the organization, they could enter the
General Synod only when their right so to do had been
formally approved by the body. In reply to a paper
transmitted them by the General Synod, making an his-
torical statement concerning the past relations between
the two bodies, and requesting them '' to waive what may
seem to them an irregular organization," a long answer
was prepared and read upon the floor of the General
Synod by Dr. G. F. Krotel, closing with the statement :

Whatever impression our course may have made upon some minds, and
whatever rumors may have been circulated in reference to factious and schis-
matic movements of the Synod of Pennsylvania, we can say with a good con-
science that we have not sought division, but have waited for union and are
ready to cooperate in the General Synod, provided :

That this body shall now declare that the Synod of Pennsylvania had, as it
claimed to have, the constitutional right to be represented before the election
of officers and to take part in it, and might now justly claim the right of
casting its vote.

If the convention will so declare, we are perfectly willing to waive the
right of voting, will acquiesce in the present organization, and will take our
seats in this body, equals among equals.

This paper was signed by Drs. J. A. Seiss, C. P. Krauth,
G. F. Krotel, C. W. Schaeffer, S. K. Brobst, S. Laird, and
Messrs. L. L. Haupt, Henry Lehman, C. F. Norton, and
Chas. A. Heinitsch. Dr. B. M. Schmucker and Mr. C.
Pretz of the delegation had already left Fort Wayne.

The final action of the General Synod, after a long dis-

466 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. xxv.

cussion, was the adoption, by a vote of seventy-six to
thirty-two, of a resolution offered by Dr. Joel Swartz :

That after hearing the response of the delegates of the Pennsylvania Synod,
we cannot conscientiously recede from the action taken by this body, believ-
ing, after full and careful deliberation, said action to have been regular and
constitutional ; but that we reaffirm our readiness to receive the delegates of
said synod, as soon as they present their credentials in due form.

On retiring from the church, after the passage of this
resolution. Dr. Seiss, as chairman of the delegation, stated
that '' the delegates distinctly declare that their act in no
sense or degree affects the relations of the Pennsylvania
Synod to the General Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in the United States " ; and the president, Dr. J.
A. Brown, replied that " this body has not decided at any
time that the Pennsylvania Synod was out of the General
Synod." A few weeks afterward, the Ministerium of
Pennsylvania, at its one hundred and nineteenth conven-
tion, at Lancaster, declared its connection with the Gen-
eral Synod dissolved, adding to the unjust deprival of
rights, as a reason for such dissolution, " the conviction
that the task of uniting the conflicting elements in the
. General Synod has become hopeless."

The process of disintegration continued. The New
York Ministerium, Pittsburg Synod, English Synod of
Ohio, Illinois, Minnesota, and Texas synods followed. The
Texas had been the only Southern synod remaining, its
exclusively German character having separated it from
the other Southern synods. The General Synod had lost
about half of its strength. At its next convention (1868)
its reports show a total of 86,198 communicants and 590
ministers. Instead of comprising two thirds of the Lu-
therans in America, as it did in i860, it numbered in 1868
only one fourth, the great growth of the Missouri and other

SYNODICAL CHANGES. 467

synods, that never were in the General Synod, being a
factor that should not be overlooked.

There was a disintegration of synods as well as of the
General Synod. A number of the pastors and congrega-
tions of the New York Ministerium left that body when
it left the General Synod, and formed the New York
Synod, which was assigned the place on the roll of the
General Synod previously occupied by the ministerium.
A minority of the Illinois formed the Central Illinois
Synod. When, in 1867, the Pittsburg Synod, by a vote
of sixty-three to twenty-one, adopted the ''Fundamental
Principles of Faith" proposed for the General Council, ten
pastors and seven lay delegates withdrew, upon the ground
that by such action the constitution of the synod was vio-
lated, and, with a few additions, afterward claimed the
name and were recognized by the General Synod as the
Pittsburg Synod. Congregations were also changing their
relations. While the events were in progress that culmi-
nated at Fort Wayne, a number of the English Lutheran
congregations in Philadelphia and the neighborhood (St.
Mark's, St. John's, St. Luke's, Trinity) entered the Minis-
terium of Pennsylvania. The church in which the battle
had been fought entered the Pittsburg Synod of the Gen-
eral Council. Other churches passed from the Ministe-
rium of Pennsylvania into the East Pennsylvania Synod,
congregations as a rule following the inclination of pas-
tors. Elsewhere, congregations were divided, and trouble-
some and expensive lawsuits begun by rival claimants for
the property (Pittsburg, Leechburg,* Williamsport, Allen-
town).

The continuance of cooperation in Pennsylvania College,
Gettysburg, Pa., by the Ministerium of Pennsylvania,
ceased in 1867, when Muhlenberg College at Allentown,
Pa., was founded, with Dr. F. A. Muhlenberg as its first

468 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. xxv.

president The Publication Society lost from its board
many who had hitherto been most active in its interests.
The separation was far more complete than during thirty
years before 1853, when the mother-synod was not repre-
sented in the General Synod.

Looking back at the contest at Fort Wayne, after an
interval of nearly a generation, it seems at first sight to
have been one mainly of parliamentary fencing. But
back of this there were certain principles at stake. One
of these was as to the power and sphere of the general
body in its relation to the district synods. Two concep-
tions of church polity characterized the two sides. The
majority at Fort Wayne stood for a centralization of power
in the General Synod. As the ultimate court of appeal,
its decision was to be final, and to this decision the district
synods were to submit. According to the conception of
the Ministerium of Pennsylvania, a general church organi-
zation was only a conference of a mainly advisory charac-
ter, whose decisions required the ratification of the synods
united in the body. The lessons of the war were fresh.
The increased centralization of power in the national gov-
ernment gained in that conflict, and the weakening of the
theory of States' rights, seemed to give encouragement to
an application of the principle within the ecclesiastical
sphere. The Ministerium of Pennsylvania, always jealous
of its rights, would have speedily reversed the concessions
of its delegates, had they in any way yielded on this point.
The life of the old synod could not be merged or lost in
that of any general organization. It was ready harmo-
niously to cooperate with other synods in a general body,
provided that body would not attempt to interfere with
the independent synodical development of the ministerium.
The result, within the General Synod, of the events at
Fort Wayne was the weakening of the synodical and the

TIVO THEORIES OF POLITY. 469

strengthening of the general organization. From that time
the district synods have Httle significance, and the interest
is almost entirely centered in the General Synod. When
compared with the Ministerium of Pennsylvania, the Gen-
eral Synod is one synod, the district synods corresponding
to the conferences of the mother-synod. The difference
of theory as to the relations of the General Synod to its
districts also involves a different conception of the rela-
tions of the synods to the congregations. The doctrinal
differences with respect to the relation to the Augsburg
Confession bore a very important relation to the contro-
versy. But this issue was not separated from that per-
taining to church government, and the mingling of the
two questions seriously affected the result. Many re-
garded the real conflict to be concerning an insubordinate
synod which refused to recognize the higher authority of
the general organization, and which, like the seceded
States, they thought, should be coerced into due respect
for those placed over it. But neither in founding the
General Synod nor in reentering it did the ministerium
have any such conception of the powers of a general or-
ganization.

It has been from a very early period the policy of the
General Synod to increase its power by encouraging the
multiplication of small synods. This it has done by deny-
ing to the larger synods the same ratio of representation as
is allowed the smaller synods. Were the Ministerium of
Pennsylvania with its 1 15,000 communicants to-day united
with the General Synod, it would be allowed only nine
delegates of each rank, while the other synods now in the
body with a communicant mem.bership of only 38,000 more
were represented at the last convention by one hundred and
seven clerical, and were entitled to as many lay, delegates.
This results in numerous small synods, several of them

470 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. xxv.

having fewer communicants than some of the parishes of
the Ministerium of Pennsylvania. When the great hold
which the mother-synod, with its history of nearly a cent-
ury and a quarter back of it, had upon its congregations,
and the relatively little impression which the comparatively
young general body, in the short period of their connec-
tion with it, had made upon them are considered, and when
to this is added that even among the ministers there had
been all along a very large minority averse to the General
Synod, and that those sent as delegates were, as a rule,
the warm friends of the General Synod, contending for it
as earnestly in the ministerium as they had to contend for
the rights of the ministerium on the floor of the General
Synod, it can be seen that, even if the issue at Fort
Wayne had been deferred, this disproportion would not
have been long acquiesced in. It is not at all probable
that the Ministerium of Pennsylvania would have been
content to divide into eight or ten synods, and surrender
its historical advantages, and its own modes of church op-
erations— the outgrowth of an experience three times as
long as that of the general body — for the purpose of gain-
ing proportionate representation. Tlie most that could
have been anticipated would have been a mere tolerance
of the union, with general apathy as to its results. To-
day the Ministerium of Pennsylvania has a much stronger
hold upon its people than the General Council has.
Thirty years ago the General Synod represented to them
still less, because of the widespread but silent dissatisfac-
tion with the union formed by a very small majority in

1853.

CHAPTER XXVI.

THE ERA OF RECONSTRUCTION (1867-77).

No sooner had the separation been effected than a
movement toward a new union was found to have begun.
No one entertained the thought of permanent isolation.
The synods which held to a strict interpretation of the
Augsburg Confession, and which had kept aloof from the
General Synod because of its alleged indeterminate posi-
tion, might, it was thought, if united into an organization,
yet control the future of the entire church in America,
The conflict of the ministerium had been watched with the
deepest interest. Assurances of sympathy came from
many directions. During the sessions of the General
Synod a number of the delegates from Pennsylvania had
received the communion from Dr. Sihler, of the Missouri
Synod. There was doubtless an earnest, but at the same
time a vague, desire for the union of all who were clear in
the confession of the distinctively Lutheran faith.

When the Ministerium of Pennsylvania passed resolu-
tions approving the course of its delegates at Fort Wayne,
it added one providing for a committee to correspond with
other Lutheran synods with reference to the calling of a
convention for the organization of a general ecclesiastical
body, "on a truly Lutheran basis." The invitation was
afterward ordered to be sent '' to all Evangelical Lutheran
synods, ministers, and congregations in the United States
and Canadas which confess the Unaltered Augsburg Con-
fession."

471

472 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. xxvi.

In response to this invitation, a convention assembled in
Trinity Church, Reading, December 12-14, 1866. Thir-
teen synods were represented. Five (Pennsylvania, English
Ohio, New York, Pittsburg, and Minnesota) had been in
the General Synod. The Joint Synod of Ohio, as well as
its English District Synod, the Wisconsin, Michigan, Ger-
man Iowa, Canada, Norwegian, and even the Missouri
Synod, had sent delegates. Drs. Walther and Sihler, of
the Missouri Synod, sent a friendly communication. The
opening sermon was preached by Rev. Dr. Loy, of the
Joint Synod of Ohio. Rev. G. Bassler, of the Pittsburg
Synod, presided. The chief business of the convention
was the discussion and adoption of theses prepared by
Dr. C. P. Krauth, setting forth the fundamental principles
of faith and church polity as the basis of the proposed
organization. These theses were unanimously adopted.
Their adoption by a synod was made an indispensable
requisite for its admission into the proposed body. The
principles thus unanimously approved by the representa-
tives of the majority of Lutherans in this country, and
which are presupposed in a union with the General Coun-
cil, are as follows :

PRINCIPLES OF FAITH AND CHURCH POLITY.

Of Faith.

■ I. There must be and abide through all time one holy Christian Church,
which is the assembly of all believers, among whom the gospel is purely
preached, and the holy sacraments are administered, as the gospel demands.

To the true unity of the church it is sufficient that there be agreement
touching the doctrine of the gospel, that it be preached in one accord, in its
pure sense, and that the sacraments be administered conformably to God's
Word.

II. The true unity of a particular church, in virtue of which men are truly
members of one and the same church, and by which any church abides in real
identity, and is entitled to a continuation of her name, is unity in doctrine and
faith and in the sacraments, to wit : that she continues to teach and to set

PRINCIPLES OF GENERAL COUNCIL. 473

forth, and that her true members embrace from the heart, and use, the arti-
cles of faith and the sacraments as they were held and administered when the
church came into distinctive being and received a distinctive name.

III. The unity of the church is witnessed to, and made manifest in, the
solemn, public, and official confessions which are set forth, to wit : the ge-
neric unity of the Christian Church in the general creeds, and the specific
unity of pure parts of the Christian Church in their specific creeds ; one chief
object of both classes of which creeds is, that Christians who are in the unity
of faith may know each other as such, and may have a visible bond of fellow-
ship.

IV. That confessions may be such a testimony of unity and bond of union,
they must be accepted in every statement of doctrine in their own true, native,
original, and only sense. Those who set them forth and subscribe them must
not only agree to use the same words, but must use and understand those
words in one and the same sense.

V. The unity of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, as a portion of the holy
Christian Church, depends upon her abiding in one and the same faith, in
confessing which she obtained her distinctive being and name, her political
recognition, and her history.

VI. The Unaltered Augsburg Confession is by preeminence the confession
of that faith. The acceptance of its doctrines and the avowal of them with-
out equivocation or mental reservation make, mark, and identify that church,
which alone in the true, original, historical, and honest sense of the term is
the Evangelical Lutheran Church.

VII. The only churches, therefore, of any land, which are properly in the
unity of that communion, and by consequence entitled to its name, Evangeli-
cal Lutheran, are those which sincerely hold and truthfully confess the doc-
trines of the Unaltered Augsburg Confession.

VIII. We accept and acknowledge the doctrines of the Unaltered Augs-
burg Confession in its original sense as throughout in conformity with the
pure truth of which God's Word is the only rule. We accept its statements
of truth as in perfect accordance with the canonical Scriptures ; we reject the
errors it condemns, and believe that all which it commits to the liberty of the
church of right belongs to that liberty.

IX. In thus formally accepting and acknowledging the Unaltered Augs-
burg Confession we declare our conviction that the other confessions of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church, inasmuch as they set forth none other than its
system of doctrine and articles of faith, are of necessity pure and Scriptural.
Preeminent among such accordant, pure, and Scriptural statements of doc-
trine, by their intrinsic excellence, by the great and necessary ends for which
they were prepared, by their historical position, and by the general judgment
of the church, are these: the Apology of the Augsburg Confession, the
Smalcald Articles, the Catechisms of Luther, and the Formula of Concord ;
all of which are, with the Unaltered Augsburg Confession, in the perfect
harmony of one and the same Scriptural faith.

474 ^-^-^ LUTHERANS. [Chap. xxvi.

Of Ecclesiastical Power and Church Governuient.

I. All power in the church belongs primarily, properly, and exclusively to
our Lord Jesus Christ, " true God, begotten of the Father from eternity, and
true man, born of the Virgin Mary," Mediator between God and men, and
Supreme Head of the church. This supreme and direct power is not delegated
to any man or body of men upon earth.

II. All just power exercised by the church has been committed to her for
the furtherance of the gospel, through the Word and sacraments, is condi-
tioned by this end, and is derivative and pertains to her as the servant of
Jesus Christ.

The church, therefore, has no power to bind the conscience, except as she
truly teaches what her Lord teaches, and faithfully commands what he has
charged her to command.

in. The absolute directory of the will of Christ is the Word of God, the
canonical Scriptures, interpreted in accordance with the " mind of the Spirit,"
by which Scriptures the church is to be guided in every decision. She may
set forth no article of faith which is not taught by the very letter of God's
Word, or derived by just and necessary inference from it, and her liberty
concerns those things only which are left free by the letter and spirit of God's
Word.

IV. The primary bodies through which the power is normally exercised,
which Christ commits derivatively and ministerially to his church on earth,
are the congregations. The congregation, in the normal state, is neither the
pastor without the people, nor the people without the pastor.

V. In congregations exists the right of representation. In addition to the
pastor, who by their voluntary election is already ex officio their representa-
tive, the people have the right to choose representatives from their own
number to act for them, under such constitutional limitations as the congrega-
tion approves.

VI. The representatives of congregations thus convened in synod, and
acting in accordance with those conditions of mutual congregational compact
which are called a constitution, are for the ends, and with the limitations de-
fined in it, representatively, the congregations themselves.

A free, Scriptural general council or synod, chosen by the church, is,
within the metes and bounds fixed by the. church which chooses it, represent-
atively that church itself ; and in this case is applicable to the language of
the Appendix to the Smalcald Articles : " The judgments of synods are the
judgments of the church."

VII. The congregations representatively constituting the various district
synods may elect delegates through those synods to represent themselves in
a more general body, all decisions of which, when made in conformity with
the solemn compact of the constitution, bind, so far as the terms of mutual
agreement make them binding, those congregations which consent, and con-
tinue to consent, to be represented in that general body.

PRINCIPLES OF GENERAL COUNCIL. 475

VIII. If the final decision of any general body thus constituted shall seem
to any synod within it in conflict with the faith, involving violation of the
rights of conscience, it is the duty of that synod to take such steps as shall
be needed to prevent a compromise on its part with error. To this end it
may withdraw itself from relations which make it responsible for departure
from the faith of the gospel, or for an equivocal attitude toward it. Such
steps should not be taken on any but well-defined grounds of conscience, not
on mere suspicion, nor until prayerful, earnest, and repeated efforts to correct
the wrong have proved useless, and no remedy remains but withdrawal.

IX. The obligation under which congregations consent to place themselves
to conform to the decisions of synods does not rest on any assumption that
synods are infallible, but on the supposition that the decisions have been so
guarded by wise constitutional provisions as to create a higher moral proba-
bility of their being true and rightful than the decisions in conflict with them
which may be made by single congregations or individuals. All final deci-
sions should be guarded with the utmost care, so that they shall in no case
claim without just grounds to be the judgment of those congregations in
whose name and by whose authority they are made ; in the absence of which
just grounds they are null and void.

X. In the formation of a general body the synods may know and deal with
each other only as synods. In such case the official record is to be accepted
as evidence of the doctrinal position of each synod, and of the principles for
which alone the other synods become responsible by connection with it.

XI. The leading objects for which synods should be organized are :

1. The maintenance and diffusion of 'sound doctrine, as the same is taught
in God's Word and confessed in the authorized standards of the church.

2. When controversies arise in regard to articles of faith, to decide them
in accordance with God's Word and the pure confessions of that Word.

3. That proper regulation of the human externals of worship, that the
same, in character and administration, may be in keeping with the spirit of
the New Testament and with the liberty of the church, and may edify the
body of Christ.

4. The maintenance of pure discipline, to the fostering of holiness and
fidelity in the ministry and people.

5. The devising and executing of wise and Scriptural counsels and plans
for carrying on the work of the church in every department of beneficent
labor for the souls and bodies of men, at home and abroad.

6. All these things are to be done that the saving power of the gospel may
be realized, that good order may be maintained, and that all unsoundness in
faith and life may be averted, that God may be glorified, and that Christ our
King may rule in a pure, peaceful, and active church.

Thirteen synods were represented when, on November
20, 1867, the first convention of the General Council as-

476 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. xxvl.

sembled at Fort Wayne, Ind., in the church where the
General Synod had held its sessions the preceding year.
They were : Pennsylvania, New York, English Ohio, Pitts-
burg, Wisconsin, German Iowa, English District of Ohio,
Michigan, Scandinavian Augustana, Minnesota, Canada,
lUinois, and Joint Synod of Ohio. Two of these synods
stood in a peculiar relation to the new body. The Joint
Synod of Ohio had not adopted the proposed constitution,
while the delegates of the Iowa Synod, before the sessions
were ended, felt themselves constrained to declare that
they did not regard their synod ready to enter into full
connection with the General Council. A provision, how-
ever, was introduced into the constitution by which the
representatives of synods adopting the " Fundamental
Principles of Faith and Church Polity " could have the
privilege of debate. For nearly twenty years the Synod
of Iowa availed itself of this privilege. The difficulties
that interfered with the full union of these synods occa-
sioned the subsequent withdrawal of others, and have con-
tinued to agitate the council throughout its entire history.
They are indicated in the paper presented at the first
convention, by the representatives of the Joint Synod of
Ohio, introducing the noted ''four points." These are
the questions concerning chiliasm, secret societies, pulpit
and altar fellowship. The first point was not urged by
Iowa. On this subject it had had its controversy with
Missouri. The synods that urged the question upon the
General Council did so under the constraint placed upon
them by their relations to Missouri. Dr. J. A. Seiss, of
the Ministerium of Pennsylvania, had written learnedly
and extensively on eschatological subjects, and, with many
eminent theologians of the Lutheran Church, had taught
that the advent of Christ would be pre-millennial ; and it
was well known that there were others who shared in this

THE FOUR POINTS. 477

Opinion. It had been maintained that Art. XVII. of the
Augsburg Confession expressly rejected all such teach-
ing, and it, therefore, could not be admitted. On the
other hand, it was urged that the clear purpose of the
article was to counteract certain extravagances of con-
temporary errorists, and that it was not applicable to
other forms of chiliasm. After the Pittsburg Declara-
tion of 1868 — *' The General Council has neither had,
nor would consent to have, fellowship with any synod
which tolerates the 'Jewish opinions ' or chiliastic opinions
condemned in the seventeenth article of the Augsburg
Confession" — the council has not been disturbed on this
topic.

The second question, concerning ''secret societies," was
much more troublesome. It did not properly belong
to the sphere of faith, but to that of church discipline.
The charge was made that in congregations belong-
ing to synods in the General Council there were mem-
bers of organizations that in their worship denied Christ,
imposed oaths contrary to God's Word, and interfered
with the law of Christian benevolence as established in the
church ; and the demand was made that rigid discipline
be exercised upon such members, absolutely excluding
from communion all w^ho persisted in retaining member-
ship in such societies. This demand was not one peculiar
to some Lutherans. It is enforced with all strictness by
the United Presbyterians, and some other Presbyterian
bodies. In answer to the request that the General
Council give its testimony on this subject, the answer was
made in 1868 :

I. Though mere secrecy in association be not in itself immoral, yet as it
is so easily susceptible of abuse, and in its abuse may work, as it has often
worked, great mischief in family, church, and state, we earnestly beseech all
good men to ponder the question whether the benefits they believe to be

478 THE LUTHERANS, [Chap. xxvi.

connected with secret societies might not be equally reached in modes not
liable to the same abuse.

2. Any and all societies for moral and religious ends which do not rest on
the suj:)reme authority of God's holy Word as contained in the Old and New
Testaments, which do not recognize our Lord Jesus Christ as the true God
and the only Mediator between God and man, which teach doctrines or have
usages or forms of worship condemned in God's Word and in the confessions
of his church, which assume to themselves what God has given to his church
and its ministers, which require undefined obligations to be assumed by
oath, are unchristian, and we solemnly warn our members and ministers
against all fellowship with, or connivance at, associations which have this
character.

3. All connection with infidel and immoral associations we consider as re-
quiring the exercise of prompt and decisive discipline, and, after faithful and
patient monition and teaching from God's Word, the cutting off the persist-
ent and obstinate offender from the communion of the church, until he
abandons them and shows a true repentance.

Especially has the Swedish Aiigustana Synod enforced
church discipline upon this point. But this synod had to
deal with a new population in this country, while the older
synods are embarrassed by the fact that for generations
there was no warning given by the Lutheran Church
against irreligious societies, and the encouragement given
them by pastors as well as members of some other relig-
ious communions readily spread among those in our own
churches who did not fully understand their character.
Even the Missouri Synod, with its emphatic testimony
against them, has found it best to temper its zeal with
discretion.^ Under the testimony the General Council
has given, the interest in these societies and the number
of their members in the churches has greatly decreased.
Absolute renunciation of such connections is a condition
of admission into most, if not all, synods and theological
seminaries. Conflicts within the Joint Synod of Ohio,
prior to the formation of the General Council, because of
the membership of some pastors in these societies, explain

1 " Lutheran Church Review," vol. ix., p. 240.

PULPIT FELLOWSHIP. 479

partially the prominence which this question assumed at
Fort Wayne and Pittsburg,

The practice, hitherto customary in the Eastern synods,
that the clerical members preach in the pulpits of other
churches during the sessions of the synod, was not re-
garded with favor by the representatives of the Western
synods. They held it to be fellowship with error, and to
indicate a lack of earnestness in holding and maintaining
the confessional distinction. It implied, they thought, the
obligation to suppress in preaching all statements of doc-
trine conflicting with the confessions of the congrega-
tions to which the Lutheran pastor preached. It recog-
nized these congregations as Christian churches in a sense
that they were not. The only circumstance, some held,
under w^hich a Lutheran minister could preach consist-
ently in a non-Lutheran pulpit, w^ould be when he would
undertake to expose and attack the errors he beHeved to
be taught in the regular preaching from that pulpit. They
urged that it was dishonorable to accept an invitation to
preach without being willing to return the compliment,
unless a statement to this effect were made at the time.
This position the American-born pastors and the Swedes
and some of the Germans could not absolutely concede.
They acknowledged the truth lying at the basis of the
demands, but could not regard the inferences of fellowship
or indifference to error, etc., as valid. Hence the decla-
ration at Pittsburg was :

'* Lutheran ministers may properly preach wherever
there is an opening in the pulpit of other churches, unless
the circumstances imply, or seem to imply, a fellowship
with error or schism, or a restriction on the unreserved
expression of the whole counsel of God."

What those circumstances are have necessarily to be
left, as they arise, to the conscientious judgment of pastors

48o THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. xxvi.

when called to meet such appointments. The other side
of " Exchange of Pulpits " was met by affirming that ** no
man shall be admitted to our pulpits, whether of the Lu-
theran name or of any other, of whom there is just reason
to doubt whether he will preach the pure truth of God's
Word as taught in the confessions of our Church."

The so-called ** General Invitation " to the holy com-
munion, which had entered some of the English Lutheran
hturgies, beginning with that of the New York Ministe-
rium of 1814, was in many respects not in harmony with
Lutheran principles. It was in direct violation of the
Lutheran practice, which provided that only those should
commune who had been previously at the confessional
service or the preparatory service. It made those desiring
to commune the judge of their own fitness for the com-
munion, or of the evangelical character of the denomina-
tion whence they came. It entirely removed the church's
opportunity and right to judge who should approach her
altars. It undermined church authority and church dis-
cipline. It proclaimed the indifference of the pastor and
congregation to the doctrine concerning the Lord's Sup-
per held by the communicant. In antagonizing the abuses
connected with this practice, the right wing demanded that
only those should be admitted to the Holy Supper who
were members of Lutheran churches. The denial of the
Lord's Supper, they urged, in no way implied the denial
of the Christian character of those not admitted. It only
meant that their relation to the doctrine of the Lord's
Supper was not such as would give the assurance that they
would receive the promised benefit from it. On this topic,
the official action decides that heretics and fundamental
errorists are to be excluded, that it is the duty of the pas-
tor to examine those who apply for the communion, that in
rejecting errors the Lutheran Church does not condemn

THE AKRON DECLARATION. 48 I

those who err from simplicity, but that it teaches that
" among those who are upon the true foundation, there
are many weak ones who have built upon the foundation
perishing stubble."

This statement of principles did not satisfy. Ohio's
quasi-relation ceased after the first meeting. Wisconsin
withdrew after the second, and Minnesota and Illinois
after the fourth meeting. Iowa kept its place on the
floor, and with great ability urged the strictest confes-
sional position, through the brothers Drs. Sigismund
and Gottfried Fritschel, the former being rarely absent
from the sessions. Michigan continued its protest against
any allowance of exceptions to the principle involved,
until it left the General Council in 1887. From the New
York Ministerium there came also a strong pressure for
stricter and more definite regulations. There was no little
irritation, as well as dissatisfaction, on the part of many
Americans, at this persistent agitation, implying, as they
felt, a distrust of the clear affirmations that had already
been made. At Akron, in 1872, in the course of some
remarks upon the subject. Dr. Krauth incidentally de-
clared : '' The rule is : Lutheran pulpits are for Lutheran
ministers only ; Lutheran altars are for Lutheran com-
municants only." As it was declared that the indorse-
ment of this statement by the General Council would be
all that was desired, it was adopted, and is known as the
Akron Declaration, with the following additions, also pro-
posed by Dr. Krauth : '* The exceptions to the rule belong
to the sphere of privilege, not of right. The determi-
nation of the exceptions is to be made in consonance with
these principles by the conscientious judgment of pastors,
as the cases arise." This was not offered as a statement
which the mover regarded necessary, beyond what had
been previously adopted, but only to meet the demands

482 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. xxvi.

of those clamoring for an additional declaration. It at-
tracted comparatively little attention, since it was simply
a series of truisms which every one acknowledged. It is
manifestly the duty of every church, and of that church
alone, to decide upon the qualifications of those who are
to preach in its pulpits and commune at its altars. But
even this, it was urged, was too indefinite.

At Galesburg, 111., in 1875, the Akron Declaration was
reaffirmed with a defining clause : " The rule which accords
with the Word of God and the confessions of our church."
There was no opposition to its adoption. But after the ad-
journment of the council a controversy arose. The secular
and a large portion of the religious press throughout the
country spread far and wide the reports of the great illib-
erality of the General Council in assuming that Lutheran
pulpits are for Lutheran ministers only, etc. On the other
hand, the more strict constructionists triumphed over the
victory which they affirmed had been gained by the inser-
tion of the additional clause at Galesburg, asserting that if
the rule '' accorded with the Word of God," no excep-
tions whatever were admissible. The other side main-
tained that the- General Council did not so mean, that
there was no intention to reconsider and annul the other
sentences of the Akron Declaration, and consequently
that the qualifying clause belonged also to them ; so that
both the rule and the principle of exceptions accorded with
the Word of God. The brief sentence, which at first struck
the ear so forcibly, was found to be involved in ambi-
guities. The word *' rule " was understood, on the one
hand, to assert legislatively what should be done, but was
defined by the author of the statement as meaning '' mor-
ally what ought to be held as true," ** appealing to con-
science, not to disciplinary authority." It was meant to
be ** not governmental, but educational." The word

THE GALESBURG RULE. 483

" Lutheran " was variously understood as implying ** hold-
ing to the Lutheran faith," or "in connection with a
Lutheran congregation," or both. A strict constructionist,
maintaining that the rule excluded all exceptions, would
find the justification of a seeming exception in the fact that
it was in the interest of one who in reality was a Lutheran,
even though his relations might seem to deny it. When the
rule came before the synods for action, there was much
diversity manifested, both in its interpretation and in the
action concerning it which was taken. When this was
reported to the General Council, the result was that the
president (Dr. Krauth) was instructed to prepare theses
for presentation to the convention in Philadelphia, in 1877.
This he did with exhaustive fullness, one hundred and five
theses having been offered, the discussion of the first two
of which occupied the most of the time of the meeting.
The latest dehverance of the council on the subject was
at Pittsburg, in i

Inasmuch as the General Council has never annulled, rescinded, or recon-
sidered the declarations made at Akron, O., in the year 1872, they still re-
main, in all their parts and provisions, the action and rule of the General
Council. All subsequent action of the General Council is to be determined
according to the principles there determined and settled. The true purport
and effect of the action at Galesburg was to add to the declaration at Akron
a statement of the source of the rule, and that, in all other respects, that dec-
laration in all its parts was left unchanged. The present position of the
General Council is to be understood and interpreted in such manner that
neither the amendment and further explanation at Galesburg, nor the origi-
nal action at Akron, be overlooked or ignored; both of which remain in full
force and mutually interpret and supplement one another.

While these discussions were in progress, the General
Council was actively engaged in work looking toward the
thorough reorganization of the churches upon the confes-
sional basis of the Lutheran Church. At the Reading
convention in 1866, before the organization of the coun-
cil, a committee was appointed to cooperate with one of

484 ^^^^ LUTHERANS. [Chap. xxvi.

the Ministerium of Pennsylvania that had been engaged
in the preparation of the English Church Book ; and
another committee was appointed to prepare a German
hymn-book. The ultimate result of their labors was
first the English Church Book of 1868, which effected a
great change in the worship of the church, not only
within, but also outside, the General Council. The hym-
nological part was prepared by Dr. B. M. Schmucker
and Rev. F. M. Bird, and revised by a larger committee.
The liturgical portion had the services chiefly of Dr. B.
M. Schmucker, Rev. A. T. Geissenhainer, Drs. Krauth,
Seiss, C. W. Schaeffer, and Krotel. This was followed in
1877 by the German Church Book (" Kirchenbuch "), a
work whose high literary and scientific rank has obtained
due recognition from the best liturgical critics in Germany.
It had to be constructed by the thorough study of the
sources of hymnology and liturgies, and is a monument to
the learning and taste of Drs. A. Spaeth, B. M. Schmucker,
S. Fritschel, and E. F. Moldenke. One of its peculiar
merits is the complete translation, presented for the first
time, of the ancient church collects. The last edition of
Lohe's '* Agende," edited by Pastor Deinzer, and the
" Allgemeines Gebetbuch " of Leipzig (pubHshed by the
Lutheran General Conference in Germany), have freely
appropriated, with proper acknowledgment, much that is
contained in this book. Nevertheless, the " Kirchen-
buch " had to work its way against much opposition.
Many favorite hymns were ruled out by the high standard
which the committee adopted. It was alleged that the
archaisms of some of the hymns of the sixteenth century
disqualified them for use at the present day. While
among congregations composed largely of northern Ger-
mans its ample liturgical services occasioned no difficulty,
it encountered much opposition among southern Germans,

THE CHURCH BOOK. 485

especially among those from Wurtemberg, where, from
the period of the Reformation, there has been a lack of
liturgical interest. The demand for the necessary musical
material for the proper rendering of the service called
forth the books of Miss Krauth (** The Church Book with
Music ") and Dr. Seiss (" Church Song ") for the English,
and of Hon. J. Endlich for the German service. A begin-
ning was made in the reformation of the worship of the
Sunday-school by the publication of a book in harmony
with the spirit and services of the Church Book, edited by
Dr. Seiss.

A constitution for congregations, which might be uni-
versally adopted or serve as the model throughout the
General Council, was prepared and considered during
various conventions, until its final adoption at Zanesville,
O., in 1879. As a preliminary principle, the question of
the lay eldership was discussed, and decided to be with-
out Scriptural warrant. There has been much dissent in
the synods concerning some of its provisions ; but the
General Council has not seen fit to make any amendments,
as congregations are at liberty, if they see fit, to adapt its
provisions to their circumstances, provided this be done
without violation of their confessional position.

The Pennsylvania, New York, and Pittsburg synods
kept their own home missionary operations separate
throughout the entire period of their connection with the
General Synod. This enabled them to prosecute and
develop the work without interruption when the break
occurred. The home mission work of the General Coun-
cil has been mainly inter-synodical, while that of the
General Synod is entirely in the hands of the general
organization. The general home mission work of the
council has been limited to the planting of congregations
outside of the boundaries of its synods, or where the

486 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. xxvi.

synods have been unable, for financial or other reasons, to
make the necessary provision.

Before their separation from the General Synod, the
New York and Pennsylvania synods had been cooperating
in the support of an immigrant mission at Castle Garden,
New York, for the care of immigrants from Europe as they
arrived, and giving them proper direction and advice in
finding homes or employment in America. This was
ultimately transferred into the hands of the General
Council, and its influence greatly increased by the founding
of an Emigrant House, of which Rev. W. Berkemeier, to
whose exertions its erection is largely due, has been for a
score of years the superintendent. For some time the
Missouri Synod cooperated in the work, but at last re-
garded a separate institution necessary.

The foreign missions of the General Council have as
their founder the founder of the entire foreign mission
work of the Lutheran Church in America. We have
already learned how Rev. C. F. Heyer had returned to
America from India in 1857, thinking that, as old age
was rapidly approaching, his days of efficient service were
past. We have learned also how soon he found that it
was impossible to be inactive. We have traced his course
amidst the severe cold of Minnesota, and have noted that,
in a few years, the Synod of Minnesota came into exist-
ence as the result of his unremitting labors. He was the
delegate of that synod to the General Synod at York and
at Fort Wayne. He represented it in the convention at
Reading, Pa., and again at Fort Wa.yne, where he became
one of the founders of the General Council. Once more
he believed the days of rest had come. Retiring from
active service, he was spending some time in Germany,
when he incidentally learned that a portion of the mission-
field in India was about being transferred by the commit-

HEYER RETURNS TO INDIA. 487

tee of the General Synod to the Church Missionary Society.
It was the Rajahmundry and Samulcotta territory, which
had been given in 1850 to the General Synod, under cer-
tain conditions, by the North German Missionary Society,
and where Valett, Heise, and Groning had faithfully labored.
The same issue was repeated which faced Rhenius when
his heroic stand against the requirements of the Church
of England had awakened Heyer's interest before his first
trip to India. He lost no time, but immediately took
passage for America. He reached this country just in
time for the meeting of the Ministerium of Pennsylvania,
in Trinity Church, Reading, in June, 1869, where the ap-
pearance of the veteran missionary, short in stature, with
white locks reaching almost to his shoulders, and with his
agile movements and rapid speech, at once aroused atten-
tion and enkindled enthusiasm. He had brought with
him Mr. H. C. Schmidt, a candidate for ordination and
the foreign mission-field, ready to go forth just as soon as
the necessary arrangements could be made. He urged
that the ministerium which had sent him out to begin
American Lutheran foreign missions in 1842 intervene
to arrest the transfer, and, if it were not too late, again
assume the responsibiHty of their support He would
plead with the General Synod's board and with the Church
Missionary Society, and, although nearly seventy-seven
years old, would himself go to India and reorganize the
work. The question was asked how soon he would be
prepared to start on the journey of twelve thousand miles.
Raising his vaHse from the floor by his side, he said,
** I am ready to go now." His wish was accomplished.
Everywhere he swept opposition before him. The mission
had been transferred seven months before he reached India,
but the Church Missionary Society could not deny the
claims which he urged, and cheerfully relinquished the

THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. xxvi.

rights they had acquired. He left New York August 31,
1869, and reached Guntur November 24th, having spent a
week on his way in the Pahiaud. The astonishment and
deHght of the older native Christians at the return of the
pioneer missionary repaid him for the fatigue and trials of
the way. The work which he had started in the Palnaud
had increased beyond his expectations. '* It has sometimes
been asserted," he writes, '' that the mission enterprise in
India has proved a failure, but this cannot be said of the
Palnaud. The number of baptized is five hundred. The
work is spreading from village to village. . . . Bonifacius
himself could not have been received more joyfully and
respectfully by his German converts than the native Chris-
tians received their old missionary, who had unexpectedly
come to visit them." "We rejoiced together, and found
abundant cause to exclaim, * What great things has the
Lord done for us ! ' " He found that the mission had received
scarcely any attention from the Church Society during the
seven months of its tenure, and that the prospect of rehef
from that source had not been promising. The statement
published by the Bishop of Madras in October, 1869,
concerning the remarkable progress that had been made
in the Tinnevelly district and at Palamcotta fell into his
hands. He sent it to America for publication, with the
remark that " no mention is made of Rhenius, yet to this
faithful missionary's labors, in a great measure, under God,
the great results related in the address may be ascribed."
Besides establishing the confidence of the English resi-
dents of Rajahmundry in the mission, reorganizing the
mission schools and increasing their number, directing the
work of the native catechists, and preaching, he began the
translation of the Church Book of the General Council into
Telugu. In February, 1870, he was joined by Rev. C. F.
Becker, who died three months later; on August 4, by

SCHMIDT AND PAULSEN IN INDIA. 489

Rev. H. C. Schmidt, who still labors with great efficiency ;
and in January, 187 1, by Rev. I. K. Paulsen.

Before Dr. Heyer had reached India, the General
Council had assumed the responsibility for the mission,
the action of the Ministerium of Pennsylvania having been
only a temporary arrangement until the meeting of the
council. The field it had undertaken to cultivate is thus
described in the report for 1871: *' The Telugu country
contains thirteen millions of inhabitants. In the Godavery
or Rajahmundry district, with six thousand square miles
and a million inhabitants, there are besides ourselves only
two missionaries (Plymouth Brethren) at Nursapur. The
nearest mission is that of the Church Missionary Society
at Ellore, one hundred and twenty miles distant." The
entire resources which the veteran missionary had found
there with which to recommence the work were : at Rajah-
mundry, a catechist, a schoolmaster, and dilapidated build-
ings ; ten miles distant, in Moramunda, a schoolhouse, a
catechist, and teachers ; in Metta, twelve miles from Rajah-
mundry, only a teacher, with a few children. But even with
this destitution, he longed for the transfer to the General
Council of the work in the Palnaud, which he had begun
twenty years before, where the field was most promising,i
and where the General Synod, for the time, was unable to
supply the demand.

When the presence of the two young missionaries,
Schmidt and Paulsen, in their posts, early in 187 1, reHeved
him of his responsibility, he returned to America, having
accomplished the task for which he had been commis-
sioned, and having infused throughout the whole Lutheran

1 " If every missionary in India were privileged to baptize in like propor-
tions, it would not require many years until all India would be Christianized.
But who is to attend to the poor people in the Palnaud? " — Dr. Heyer to
committee, December 31, 1870.

490 THE LUTHERANS. [CHAr. xxvi.

Church In America a new Interest In the work In India. In
1872 he became resident chaplain of the Theological Semi-
nary in Philadelphia, and was actively engaged, almost to
his death, in manifold ministerial labors. He died In the
seminary, November 14, 1873, aged eighty years and nine
months. During the last year of his life he began, in a
clear and firm hand, to write the history of the seminary,
to whose Interests he was devoted. The biography of this
remarkable man remains to be written. During his min-
isterial career the number of Lutheran ministers In this
country grew from one hundred and twenty to over
twenty-two hundred. The Influence of his presence in the
seminary was felt in the foreign missionaries who, within a
few years, entered the field from among its students (Carl-
son, Artman, Dietrich), and In the Father Heyer Mission-
ary Society, which still maintains its existence.

New educational institutions were founded and the pro-
visions of others liberally enlarged during this era. We
have noticed the establishment of Muhlenberg College,
AUentown. A sister college, not a rival, came Into exist-
ence in 1870 upon the territory of the Pittsburg Synod.
A Louis Thiel, a humble and devout layman of Allegheny,
purchased a building at Phillipsburg, Beaver County, Pa.,
the former home of a schism from the Economites under
Count de Leon, and established there, In 1866, under the
advice and superintendency of Rev. Dr. Passavant, an acad-
emy known as Thiel Hall. Its first principal was Rev. E. F.
Giese, who was succeeded in 1868 by the author of this
book. On his resignation, to accept a professorship in
Pennsylvania College, in 1870, Rev. H. W. Roth succeeded
him, and the institution became a college. On the death
of Mr. Thiel a handsome bequest was left, enabling the
college to increase its facilities, on its removal to Green-

THE CONSERVATIVE REEORMATION. 491

vllle, Mercer County, and to become an important feeder
for the Theological Seminary at Philadelphia.

Augustana College and Theological Seminary were re-
moved from Paxton, III, to Rock Island, III, in 1876, and
the seminary of the Iowa Synod with its college to Men-
dota. 111., in 1874. These movements indicated that the
plan, approved by the General Council in 1869, of a gen-
eral theological seminary in Chicago, in which should be
concentrated the theological faculties of the synods within
or affiHated with the General Council in the Mississippi
Valley — German, Swedish, Norwegian, and English — could
not, for the present, be carried out. In 1872 the General
Council had elected a professor, and authorized the estab-
lishment of the seminary before the next convention.

A great advance in literary development accompanied
the events connected with the organization of the council.
The greatest work produced was " The Conservative Ref-
ormation and its Theology," by Charles Porterfield Krauth,
published in 1871, distinguished for its exhaustive research,
profound learning, and entertaining and brilliant style. It
consisted of the choicest products of Dr. Krauth's pen for
over twenty years, concerning the doctrines and history of
the Lutheran Church, much of it having previously ap-
peared in *' The Evangelical Review " and '' The Lutheran
and Missionary." The Lutheran Church at last had in the
English language an adequate and triumphant defense,
not only to answer the doubts of her own people, but to
silence the attacks of adversaries. It labored under the
disadvantage of being a series of isolated essays, rather
than a complete and connected treatment of its theme ;
but even as such, it remains one of the few orimnal theo-
logical treatises of the first rank that our country has pro-
duced. The criticism of the late Dr. J. W. Nevin, of the

49^ THE LUTHERANS. [CiiAr. xxvl.

Reformed Church, is probably of more value than that. of
one whose relations to Dr. Krauth were such as to justly
suggest a bias disqualifying from impartial judgment. He
said :

Dr. Krauth is known as one of the first writers of our country. The
gentleman, the Christian, and the scholar are happily blended in his person.
He is one of the pillars of his own church on this side of the Atlantic, and
one of the ornaments of our American Christianity in general.

Speaking of '' the mighty challenge it presents to our
whole American Christianity, outside of the Lutheran
Church," he continued:

It is not the cry of blustering ignorance nor of fanatical rant. The book
is of the heavy artillery order, large in size (840 pp., 8vo.), ponderous in
bearing, vigorous in style, and energetic in thought. No one who has seen
Dr. Krauth in his own magnificent library (one of the finest in the whole
country), or who has known anything of his laborious studies in past years,
can undervalue or doubt his qualification for the task he has here undertaken.
It may be doubted if any other man in our country could have handled this
particular subject with the same ability or the same amount of historical
learning. . . . The work marks the advance of a highly interesting and
significant restorational movement in the historical life of the American
Lutheran Church itself. We all know that half a century ago Lutheranism
in this country had fallen almost entirely from the distinctive peculiarities of
what Lutheranism was confessionally in the sixteenth century. In becoming
English especially, it was supposed to have gone through a sort of evangeli-
cal regeneration, which consisted largely in forgetting its own shibboleths
altogether, and taking up those of Puritanism and Methodism. It affected
to be in this way ^'American Lutheranism," something quite ahead of all
medieval fooleries, and fit to figure in the nineteenth century. ... In these
circumstances, it is a matter for real congratulation that the Lutheran Church
is in a fair way to become far more of a power in our country than it has
heretofore been ; and there is room to look also for the resurrection of a live
Lutheran theology among us in the spirit of the Augsburg Confession, which
may yet force its claims on the attention of our one-sided (and, therefore,
more or less lopsided) reformed Protestantism, so as to exert upon it in the
end a sanitary modification in which both confessions may have reason to re-
joice.

In 1872 the brochure of Dr. Krauth on '' Infant Salva-
tion in the Calvinistic System " was called forth by a chal-
lenge of Dr. Charles Hodge in his *' Systematic Theology,"

JOSEPH A UGUSTUS SEISS. 493

vol. ill., p. 605. The acknowledgment of Dr. Hodge that
he was in the wrong was as prompt and generous as the
argument of Dr. Krauth was overwhelming and exhaust-
ive in its citation of authorities. Dr. Hodge's graceful
tribute to Dr. Krauth's attainments in Calvinistic theology
was only approached by the glowing commendation of Dr.
Hodge, as a man and theologian, by his reviewer. When
Dr. Charles Hodge celebrated the jubilee of his professor-
ship at Princeton, Dr. Krauth was present as the represent-
ative of the Philadelphia faculty. Dr. A. A. Hodge, in
his biography of his father, states that of all the remarks
of congratulation, none were more grateful than those of
Dr. Krauth, a summary of which is there given. If con-
troversies could only be always conducted in such spirit,
the more we would have of them the better would it be.

A noteworthy publication, somewhat earlier than '' The
Conservative Reformation," was the '' Ecclesia Lutherana "
of Dr. J. A. Seiss, full of condensed information concern-
ing its subject, written in the vigorous style of which the
author is a master, and well adapted for general circulation.
A beginning was also made of a complete set of sermons
upon the gospels and epistles for the church year, the
completion of which in the fifth volume for the minor
festivals, in 1893, was the crowning work of the literary
activity of the most industrious author whom the Lutheran
Church in America has produced. Next to Dr. Schaff, he
probably ranks as the most voluminous theological writer
of the country. His lectures on the Apocalypse, ** Voices
from Babylon," *' Miracle in Stone," etc., appeared during
the years whose history we have been narrating. The
*' Theologische Monatshefte " of Rev. S. K. Brobst was
a scientific theological journal within the council, which
numbered among its contributors Drs. Mann, Spaeth, S.
Fritschel, G. Fritschel, etc.

494 ^^^^^ LUTIIEA'ANS. [Chap. xxvi.

The General Synod also advanced to a more thorough
organization by the struggles which had occasioned its dis-
ruptions. The centralizing process to which we have re-
ferred advanced with great rapidity. The former societies
of home missions, foreign missions, church extension, and
publication became boards of the General Synod. The
controversy with the General Council, vigorously conducted
through the church papers and '* Quarterly Review,"
which in 1872 succeeded the '' Evangehcal Review" at
Gettysburg, constantly made the assertion of conservative
principles stronger. Down to the very year of his death,
in 1873, Dr. S. S. Schmucker exerted all his power to
check the movement. The amendment to the constitu-
tion proposed at York, and finally adopted at Harrisburg,
while variously interpreted by those who subscribed it,
proved to be a powerful educational leaven. From the
institutions of the General Synod at Gettysburg there was
issued, in 1875, a translation of Schmid's ** Dogmatik,"
with the approval and commendation of the most repre-
sentative Lutheran theologians of this country, including
Walther, Loy, and S. Fritschel. A trustworthy handbook
was thus furnished pastors and students in the English
language, enabling them to determine for themselves. what
are the doctrines of the Lutheran Church, and what the
arguments by which they are defended.

The foundation, by Rev. S. A. Holman, D.D., of a
course of annual lectures on the Augsburg Confession, at
the Theological Seminary at Gettysburg, led to the more
thorough study, explanation, and defense of the confes-
sion by the prominent professors and pastors who were
appointed lecturers. The first series, upon the twenty-
one doctrinal articles, was begun in 1866 and published
in 1888.

Various efforts were made to enter into some form of

rilE DIETS OF 1S77 AND ISIS. 495

friendly relation with the General Council and other Lu-
theran bodies of a stricter confessional position, which,
however, were firmly and even bitterly resisted, and
generally with success, by the advocates of the so-called
'* American Lutheranism." The latter insisted on the ex-
change of delegates, as with other denominations, as the sole
form of communication. This could not be entertained by
the other bodies without some more definite understand-
ing of the sense in which the General Synod was ready to
pledge itself to the confessions. The official declaration
proposed at York was not unsatisfactory, but the prevalent
interpretation of the declaration, as allowing those who
openly attacked the distinctive doctrines of the Lutheran
Church equal rights with '' the strictest symbolist," ren-
dered the formal acceptance of the pledge at Harrisburg un-
satisfactory to the other bodies as a confessional test. At the
same time they gratefully recognized the growth of a Lu-
theran consciousness within the General Synod, and would
have been glad of the opportunity of participating in a col-
loquium, in which there could be a free discussion of the
doctrines of the Augsburg Confession. The bringing to-
gether of representative men of all the different bodies in
such informal way, it was felt, would do much toward an
ultimate universal determination and conviction as to what
is the Lutheran faith, and how those united in it could
cooperate. When, therefore, in 1873, the General Synod,
on motion of Rev. Dr. Morris, proposed an interchange of
delegates, the General Council proposed instead a collo-
quium. The proposition of the General Council was ac-
cepted by the General Synod, South, and the Synodical
Conference ; but being declined by the General Synod in
1875, nothing further was done.

Meanwhile the thought of the colloquium was carried
out in the two " Lutheran Diets," which were originated

496 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. xxvi.

and organized by the private efforts of Dr. Morris, of the
General Synod, and Dr. Seiss, of the General Council.
They were both held in Philadelphia, the first in December,
1877, and the second in November, 1878. Thoroughly
prepared papers were read and discussed, and the pro-
ceedings of each diet were afterward published in a volume
containing much information concerning living questions
in the Lutheran Church. Important results, affecting the
future development, can be traced to these conventions.
They ceased to be held, probably from the disappoint-
ment that was felt that an immediate solution of the ec-
clesiastical problem was not reached, which, under the
circumstances, was a manifest impossibility.

The foreign mission work of the General Synod was
in a languishing condition at the close of the Civil War.
The loss of one half of its communicant membership by
the disruption most seriously crippled it. The cessation of
the cooperation of the Ministerium of Pennsylvania was a
heavy blow. When, therefore, the missionaries Groening
and Heise retired from the Rajahmundry district, the
committee sought relief by the proposed transfer to the
Church Missionary Society, which was interrupted by the
return of Dr. Heyer. In 1871 the visit of Dr. Unangst,
of Guntur, to the United States, and the return with him
of Rev. J. H. Harpster, increased the interest. The latter
labored with much success in the Palnaud, where Heyer
had been the pioneer, and in which the heart of the vet-
eran seemed to linger until the very last. Rev. L. L. Uhl
followed shortly afterward, being placed in charge of
the high-school at Guntur, which has since grown into a
flourishing college. In 1874 Rev. A. D. Rowe reached
Guntur, as ** the children's missionary," having been sent
thither by the Sunday-schools of the General Synod, in
the visitation of which he had spent much time before his

DAY'S IVORK IN AFRICA. 497

departure. His eminent ability, supplemented by his
experience as a youthful superintendent of schools of Clin-
ton County, Pa., his cultivated manners, and thorough con-
secration to his work, gave the greatest promise of useful-
ness. His books, ''Every-day Life in India," ''Missionary
Life in India," show decided Hterary ability. The tidings
of his death, September 16, 1882, at the age of thirty-
three, came with crushing weight upon all interested in
missionary work who had learned to know him.

The Muhlenberg Mission in Africa, founded by Rev.
M. Officer in i860, has proved destructive either to the
health or lives of nearly all who have entered its service.
There is no escape from the dreaded African fever. The
missionary who returns to America for rest must pass
through the process of accliniatization once more, as he
approaches or reaches the coast, where the almost vertical
rays of the sun deluge him with a heat charged with
moisture from the earth, and with germs of fever from the
rank and decaying vegetation of the dense jungle. The
ordinary relief at night from the oppressive heat rarely
comes in that climate. Through this crisis the wives of
the missionaries are far less Hable to pass with safety than
their husbands. The record is a most discouraging and
distressing one. Within a period of twenty-three years
(1860-83) sixteen missionaries entered the field, of whom
four died (Rev. S. P. Carnell, Mrs. Kistler, Breuninger, and
Collins), and ten returned with impaired health. The
field might have been abandoned, but for the Rev. D. A.
Day and wife, who reached the mission in June, 1^74, and
have been able, with much efficiency, to endure the cli-
mate and extend the work and influence of the mission, up
to the present time. Dr. Day has the reputation of being
the most successful missionary on the western coast of
Africa. The educational work is depended upon as the

498 THE LUTHERANS, [Chap. xxvi.

chief means of bringing the knowledge of the gospel to
the degraded natives. The Christian schools established
under his superintendence have educated hundreds of
African children. From the coast the influence extends
for hundreds of miles into the interior, where the native
tribes of different languages have learned to communicate
with one another by means of the so-called " pigeon Eng-
lish." The greatest obstacle to missionary success has
been the horrible rum traffic, whereby from Christian
nations the heathen derive the means for their still deeper
degradation.

The largest of all the general bodies of the Lutheran
Church in America was formed in 1872, with the power-
ful Synod of Missouri as its center and head. Its forma-*
tion was a direct result of the centralizing process started
by the movements leading to the formation of the General
Council. The desire for synodical union was universally
felt. A large, homogeneous body has a wonderful power
in attracting to itself feebler organizations. Missouri was
constantly growing by adding to itself new congregations,
many of which were not recent in origin, but had been
either independent or had belonged to other synods. Its
ministerial ranks grew, not simply from the graduates of
its seminaries, but the synod became a rallying-point for
German-speaking pastors from all quarters, receiving its
contributions even from the General Synod, but still more
from the General Council.

The hidden force which drew some of the German
synods from the General Council was the loadstone at St.
Louis. Missouri was thought to be a stronger power than
the council, and as union with the council and with Mis-
souri, or union with Missouri in the council, was impossi-
ble, they were driven to the alternative of union with Mis-
souri outside of the council. The Synodical Conference

THE SYNODIC A L CONFERENCE. 499

is without many features of what is generally regarded
almost essential to a general body. The synods included
in it are so completely isolated in carrying on their various
forms of church work, that the conference is more a bond
of mutual recognition than anything else. There are no
territorial bounds between the synods included within it,
there being not a few places where there are congregations
of two of the synods, and sometimes even three of the
synods being represented. There has been no common
church work for their united efforts, unless it be that of
a not very extensive mission among the negroes. The
sessions have been occupied chiefly with the discussion of
doctrinal questions. The admission of a synod into the
conference requires the assent of all the synods already
represented. It can decide nothing except by reference
to the constituent synods and their final vote.

The synods uniting to form the Synodical Conference
were the Missouri, Ohio, Wisconsin, Norwegian, Minne-
sota, and Illinois. The last two had been in , the General
Synod, and then in the General Council, Illinois was soon
absorbed by Missouri, and ceased to exist as a separate
synod. The small Concordia Synod of Virginia and Eng-
lish Conference of Missouri afterward united with the
Synodical Conference.

Within the synods of the Synodical Conference the
greatest activity continued. The Missouri Synod enlarged
the number of its district synods, covering the whole
country, from Canada to Texas and from the Atlantic to
the Pacific, with a most compact and thorough organiza-
tion, leaving all things to the free determinations of con-
gregations, and yet in such a way that they always seemed
to outsiders to act and speak as one man. The parochial
school system, with the Teachers' Seminary at Addison,
III, was a most prominent feature of its work. The theo-

500 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap. xxvi.

retical and practical courses of the theological seminary
were divided, the former remaining at St. Louis, while the
latter was removed to Springfield, 111. The Norwegian
and Wisconsin synods, for a time, had representatives in
the faculty at St. Louis, it having been a favorite plan in
the Synodical Conference to transfer thither all their theo-
logical instruction of the higher grade. The Publication
House at St. Louis grew to large proportions, and brought
in a large revenue for synodical operations. The minutes
of the various districts were theological treatises, contain-
ing as they did the theses discussed at every meeting, with
an exhaustive report of the discussion, which, of course,
was not extemporaneous, but consisted of ponderous theo-
logical lectures. With untiring zeal the " Lehre unci Wehre "
continued the polemic against the Iowa Synod and General
Council. Everything is still controlled by the magnetic
personality of Dr. Walther, unwavering in his denial of the
existence of any open questions in theology.

The development in Ohio proceeded under the leader-
ship of Professors Lehman and Loy, the two chief profess-
ors at Columbus. There were occasional conflicts between
this synod and its former district, which had entered the
General Council, in which the council itself became inci-
dentally involved, mainly on the subject of secret societies.
Ohio's growth, however, had proceeded so long upon the
historical lines derived from her connection with the church
in the East, that she was soon restive under the aggressive
methods of Missouri in the Synodical Conference.

The institutions of the Wisconsin Synod at Watertown
flourished under the presidency of Professor Ernst, Rev.
A. Hoenecke being the professor of theology, and the
** Gemeindeblatt " the synodical organ.

Luther College of the Norwegian Synod at Decorah, la.,
acquired a large building, and was manned by an able fac-

THE INDEPENDENT SYNODS. 50 1

ulty. A revision of an English translation of the Augsburg
Confession, made by Professor J. C. Jacobsen, of this col-
lege, was the best translation in the language, until the
recent one made in 1891 by representatives of all Lutheran
bodies in America using regularly the English. This synod,
besides its Western work, has been active in the establish-
ment of seamen's missions along the Atlantic coast, so
many Norwegians being sailors, and while in port needing
especial care.

Passing to the independent synods, an important one
among them was the '' Conference " of the Norwegians and
Danes, an offshoot of the Augustana Synod, which sepa-
rated according to nationality in 1870, after which the Nor-
wegians again divided into two bodies. The Conference,
first under Professor Weenass and afterward under Pro-
fessor Sverdrup, established its headquarters in Minneap-
olis, where it built its theological seminary. The Norwe-
gian Augustana Synod was a much smaller body, which
held the same relation as the Iowa Synod to the General
Council. Among its pastors the best known were Paul
Andersen and O. J. Hattelstadt. Their seminary was ulti-
mately fixed at Beloit, la.

A Danish Synod (Danish Evangelical Lutheran Church
in America) was founded in 1872, as the result of a mis-
sionary movement in Denmark. It has congregations both
East and West, and a theological seminary in West Den-
mark, Wis. Its relations with the General Council are
very intimate, as it aids in the support of the Rajahmundry
mission, sends students to the Philadelphia Seminary, and
its Philadelphia mission is supported by the Ministerium
of Pennsylvania.

CHAPTER XXVII.

THE ERA OF REAPPROACH AND EFFORTS FOR UNION
AMONG THE SEPARATED BODIES (l 877-93).

The era from 1877 to the present is marked by a
number of violent controversies within the larger general
bodies, felt throughout the entire church, beneath which,
however, there has been a steady progress in drawing
together around a common center. The controversies only
indicate that as every affirmative implies a negative, so
every union implies disunion. There must be controversy,
and often a rupture, before a readjustment of former rela-
tions is possible.

Three controversies are of especial importance :

I. TJie Predestination Controversy within the Synodical
Conference. This was the direct result of Missouri's de-
nial of the existence of '' open questions " within the Lu-
theran Church, and its attempt to enforce as confessional
the position which Luther originally held, but which in the
latter part of his life, without renouncing, he preferred not
to press. The Formula of Concord itself, in adopting a
compromise on the subject between the positions advanced
by the North Germans under Chemnitz and the Suabians
under Andreae, guaranteed a certain amount of liberty in
regard to what might be held as opinions, but not advanced
as doctrines of the Lutheran Church.

The issue could be foreseen long before the controversy
began. In 1880 Dr. F. A. Schmidt, of the Norwegian
Synod, a coUeagwe of Dr. Walther in the seminary at St.

502

THE PREDESTINATION CONTROVERSY. 503

Louis, criticised the statement presented in various theses
to the district synods for discussion and printed in their
minutes, that God's election is the cause of man's salvation,
and that even man's faith is the result of election. A
theological journal, *' Altes und Neues," was started by
Dr. Schmidt for the sole purpose of antagonizing the Mis-
souri doctrine. With Dr. Schmidt sided the professors of
the Ohio Synod, and their publications gave their testimony
against Dr. Walther. From outside the Synodical Con-
ference, the theologians of the Iowa Synod also came to
the support of Dr. Schmidt. An attempt was made to
reach an understanding by a colloquium at Milwaukee, in
January, 1881, where, after five days' discussion, the pro-
fessors of the Ohio Synod withdrew. At the next meet-
ing of the Ohio Synod it dissolved its connection with the
Synodical Conference. The Norwegian Synod followed,
hoping to preserve its unity by getting beyond the range
of the controversy in the Synodical Conference in respect
to which its pastors were divided. The effort was useless,
for the Norwegian Synod was itself separated by the
conflict, the '' anti-Missourians " founding a seminary at
Northfield, Minn., with Dr. Schmidt as the chief professor.
There was an interchange of ministers, as they passed,
according to their convictions, from one camp to the other,
the most significant having been the gain which Ohio
made by the accession of Professor F. W. Stellhorn, of the
Missouri College at Fort Wayne, to the theological faculty
of the Ohio Synod at Columbus.

The literature produced during the years in which the
controversy raged was of such extent that it would have
occupied a very large portion of a student's time to have
kept pace with the disputants. It is to be regretted that
it led to no thorough treatise of permanent value, and was
confined only to the papers, the theological journals, and

504 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap, xxvii.

separate pamphlets. A great amount of learning was dis-
played, on both sides, in the frequent long attacks and
counter-attacks, which were published. If the disputants
could have condensed and concentrated their arguments
into two solid and exhaustive treatises, and have rested
their cause upon these presentations, far more would have
been gained.

The charge, on the one side, was that the Missourians
were Calvinists ; and, on the other, that their opponents
were synergists. But Missouri differed from Calvinists in
teaching the universality of the atonement, the universality
and seriousness of the call, and the constant presence of
the Holy Spirit with the Word. Missouri always protested
that it never taught that any one is lost because God willed
that he be not saved. The distinction between the three
doctrines may be thus illustrated :

Ohio and Iowa : In view of faith in the merits of Christ,
men are elected unto salvation.

Missouri : In view of the merits of Christ, men are elected
to faith for salvation.

Calvinists : Men are elected to the merits of Christ and
to faith for salvation.

The expression 'Hntiiitit fidei'' thus became the main
point of dispute. The opponents of Missouri triumphantly
cited the numerous defenses of this expression from the
old Lutheran theologians of the seventeenth century ; and
in reply were compHmented for their acquaintance with
the defects of these masters.

The last literary effort of Dr. Krauth's life was to begin
an article reviewing the controversy, which was found
among his papers after his death.

If the disputants in the Synodical Conference agree upon a statement, made
in simple good faith, as to what are the points on which they are one, and
what are the points on which they differ, we may hope for final peace. Till

DOES FAITH CAUSE ELECTION? 505

they do this, the more they discuss the doctrine of election the more they
will muHdle the mind of the church, and the further they will be from a de-
cision. The question, Is our faith a cause of God's election, or an effect of
it? must be carefully defined before men can take sides upon it. Considered
as a relation between man and God, the answer would be made in one way.
Considered as a question covering the case between one man and another,
the answer would Idc reversed. What is the cause of my faith? The generic
action of God's election or choice. He chose to provide redemption for lost
man ; he chose that a divine-human Saviour should consummate it ; he
chose that the Spirit should apply it; he chose the Word and sacraments
as organic instruments of it : and these links of choices form the generic
chain of election. This election is the cause of faith.

Now comes the other question, no longer as between man and God, but
between man and man. Election as generic contemplates all men alike — its
redemption is universal, its Saviour the Saviour of all, its Spirit the gift pur-
chased for all, its means are objective forces, which put all men to whom they
come on a common plane of responsibility and above the simple condition
of natural helplessness. Why do men in completely parallel relations to this
election move in opposite directions? The one believes, the other disbelieves.
Is the election of God, in any sense, the cause of the difference? The answer
of the Calvinist is, Yes. The answer of the Lutheran is, No. The election
of God is indeed the cause of the faith of the one, but it is neither positively
nor negatively, neither by act nor by failure to act, the cause of the unbelief
of the other. 1

Such was the decision upon the merits of the controversy
by one best qualified to be an impartial judge.

2. TJic Liturgical and Confessional Controversy within
the General Synod. The desire expressed by Muhlenberg
near the close of his life that ** all the Evangelical Lutheran
congregations in the North American States " should be
** united with one another," especially in the use of ** the
same order of service,"^ has advanced rapidly toward its
fulfillment. To the churches in the South belongs the
credit for the initiation of the movement which has in-
cluded virtually all English-speaking and a very large
portion of the German-speaking Lutherans. Of Dr. Bach-
man, of Charleston, S. C, it is said: '' In his old age, per-

1 " Lutheran Church Review," vol. iii., pp. 68 sqq.

2 Mann's " Life of Muhlenberg," p. 501.

5o6 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap, xxvii.

haps the strongest desire of his heart was that all English-
speaking Lutherans should have a common service. We
find him suggesting and urging the same, and when pre-
vented by age and feebleness from attending the General
Synod that met at Winchester, Va., in 1870, expressing to
his brethren by letter the burden of his heart's desire." ^

The resolution of the General Synod, South, at Staunton,
Va.,^ in 1876, proposing negotiations with the General
Synod and General Council for the preparation of one
common book for all English-speaking Lutheran churches
in the United States, was simply the carrying out of this
favorite thought of their predecessors in the ministry. To
those intimately acquainted with the two Northern bodies,
the project of uniting their English-speaking churches in
the use of one order of service seemed Utopian. It Is
probable that a large portion of those in both bodies who
voted for the resolution pledging them to cooperation, did
so with Httle expectation of any result. The General
Council, in 1879, resolved to cooperate, ''provided the
rule which shall decide all questions in its preparation shall
be : The common consent of the pure Lutheran liturgies of
the sixteenth century, and, when there is not an entire
agreement among them, the consent of the largest number
of those of greatest weight." The preparation and revision
of a liturgy with which it had been preoccupied for years
prevented the General Synod from taking any decisive
action until 1883, when it resolved

That we hail, as one of the most auspicious outlooks of our church in
America, the prospect of securing a "common service for all English-speaking
Lutherans." And that, believing such a service to be feasible upon the ge-
neric and well-defined basis of the "common consent of the pure Lutheran
liturgies of the sixteenth century," we hereby declare our readiness to labor
to this end.

1 Life, p. 350.

2 Upon motion of Rev. Dr. J. B. Remensnyder.

THE COMMON SERVICE, 507

According to these instructions, the work was faithfully
performed. Each general body had its own liturgical
committee. A sub-committee of one from each body did
the main work, which was then referred for approval to
the separate committees. When these committees differed,
a joint meeting of all three committees was called, where
the understanding was that, in case of a division, the com-
mittees voted as committees, each body being entitled to
one vote.^

At the first meeting of the Joint Committee in Phila-
delphia, May 12-14, 1885, the following preliminary prin-
ciples were agreed upon :

1. It is the understanding of the whole joint committee that the result of
our labors must be referred to the bodies we represent.

2. We dare make no service binding on the congregation, and no part of a
service should be used any longer than it serves to edification.

3. We agree to furnish the full Lutheran service, with all its provisions,
for all who wish to use it.

4. If at any time or place the use of the full service is not desired, it is in
entire conformity with good Lutheran usage that a simple service may be
provided and used, in which only the principal parts of the service in their
order are contained.

Laying aside all personal prejudices, and ignoring all
books and orders of service in use in any of their congre-
gations, the committee rigidly followed the rule set before
them. At the same time, in regard to certain features of
the service not provided for by the consent of the htur-
gies mentioned, but to which almost universal usage in
the churches of this country had given sanction, the com-

1 The Southern General Synod was represented by Drs. E. T. Horn, S. A.
Repass, T. W. Dosh, D. M. Gilbert, W. B. Yonce, and Mr. C. A. Rose;
the General Synod, by Drs. G. U. Wenner, F. W. Conrad, A. C. Wedekind,
M. Valentine, and E. J. Wolf; and the General Council, by Drs. C. W.
Schaefler, B. M. Schmucker, J. A. Seiss, A. Spaeth, S. Laird, J. Kohler,
C. F. Welden, H. E. Jacobs, and Revs. F. Walz, F. F. Buermyer, and J. F.
Ohl. The sub-committee consisted of Drs. B. M. Schmucker, G. U. Wenner,
and E. T. Horn.

5o8 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap, xxvii.

mittee, while so stating, made recommendations to their
general bodies. Of such additions an example is found
in the confession of sin and declaration of grace before
the Introit. All the general bodies already used this or
a similar confession ; it was found in some liturgies of the
sixteenth century ; and its adoption was in their spirit, as
there was a widespread custom to have a purely confes-
sional service on Saturday evening. In the discussions,
there was the greatest unanimity on all subjects except
the unimportant one of the place of the Lord's Prayer in
the communion service.

At Harrisburg, in 1885, the General Synod with great
enthusiasm ratified the work of the committee. Its action
was followed by the General Council and the General
Synod, South. When the ** Common Service " appeared,
in 1888, almost simultaneously in two editions (one pub-
lished at Philadelphia by the General Synod, and the
other at Columbia, S. C, by the United Synod, South), its
almost precise agreement with the " Church Book," used
in the General Council since 1868, was made the occasion
of severe criticism of the committee by some members of
the General Synod. The agreement was explicable, from
the fact that the General Council had constructed its
** Church Book" upon the very same principles which it
had proposed to the other bodies, and they had accepted,
for the preparation of the *' Common Service." The strug-
gle, however, was not soon over. The opponents of the
"Common Service" were industrious and persistent, and
its friends were compelled to defend it in all its parts. The
controversy led to much greater liturgical knowledge than
had hitherto been prevalent, and to a deeper appreciation
of liturgical principles. The contest was almost entirely
confined to the General Synod. The efforts made in the
meetings of the General Synod at Allegheny in 1889,

THE GOTIVALD TRIAL. 509

Lebanon, Pa., in 1891, and Canton, O., in 1893, ^^ over-
throw or modify the action previously taken in its favor,
failed.

The Joint Synod of Ohio and English Synod of Mis-
souri have since adopted the '* Common Service," substi-
tuting only the prevalent distribution formula of the
seventeenth for that of the sixteenth century. Never has
any single Lutheran order of service had such wide accept-
ance. The new edition of the '* Church Book," published
by the General Council in 1891, contains the ''Common
Service," and has carried out the same principles in the
preparation of a full set oY orders for ministerial acts. The
work of the Joint Committee has been extended to the
preparation of a new translation of the Augsburg Confes-
sion and the Small Catechism. At the last meeting in
1892, representatives from General Synod, General Coun-
cil, United Synod of the South, Synodical Conference,
and Joint Synod of Ohio were present.

Within the General Synod the preparation of an ofBcial
explanation of the catechism has been in ^progress for
some years, and has excited considerable controversy, on
the floor of the General Synod and in the church papers,
between the advocates of a stricter and of a more liberal
confessional position.

The liturgical controversy has in reality been only an
episode of the controv^ersy concerning the confessions, the
greatest dread of the opponents of the ** Common Service "
being the concession which its general adoption might
make, as to the correctness of the position hitherto occu-
pied by the General Council. This hostility culminated
in 1893, in the trial of Professor L. A. Gotwald, D.D., of
Wittenberg Theological Seminary, Springfield, O., upon
charges, among others, of holding " to the type of Luther-
anism characteristic of the General Council," " that all the

510 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap, xxvii.

doctrines of the Augsburg Confession are fundamental,"
and *' that the doctrinal position of the General Synod,
when rightly interpreted, is identical with that of the Gen-
eral Council." To the honor of the General Synod and
of Wittenberg Seminary, there was not a single vote to
condemn him on these charges.

The prohibition, in 1892, of the teaching of distinctive
Lutheran doctrines in the religious instruction in Pennsyl-
vania College, and the official declaration that it was not
a denominational college, communicated to the professors
of that institution, several of whom are prominent Lu-
theran ministers, met with the most numerous and decided
protests, and called forth from a number of the synods the
demand for synodical representation in the board of a col-
lege that lived by the patronage and contributions of their
congregations. It was found necessary to modify the
original action, in order to prevent a widespread aliena-
tion among the alumni and best friends of the college.

3. TJie Linginstic Controversy within the General Coun-
cil. This had its origin in the distribution of the admin-
istration of home mission work to different committees,
according to language. The German Home Mission Com-
mittee, composed of young and zealous members, was
embarrassed by the very limited supply of German pas-
tors for the new mission stations which they had in view,
and, after trying other expedients, arranged with Pastor
Paulson, of Kropp, in Schleswig-Holstein, to furnish them
with candidates from a private theological seminary which
he had established for the training of missionaries. Un-
derstanding the General Council to be responsible for the
arrangement, he greatly enlarged his seminary, expect-
ing the material and moral support of the council, and
that the rapidly growing number of students would, as
they graduated, be supplied with places in America. In-

/SS(7£S WITHIN THE GENERAL COUNCIL. 511

stead of confining themselves to remote mission- fields, the
students sent under this arrangement soon pressed into
the German congregations in the East, as they became
vacant. This policy was resisted as unwise and inexpe-
dient. In reply, it was urged that the seminary at Phila-
delphia did not give adequate German instruction, and
that the German congregations must look elsewhere for
their pastors. A monthly journal was established to
further this interest, and issued from Reading, Pa., which,
falHng by an almost unanimous vote beneath the severe
condemnation of the Ministerium of Pennsylvania for the
violence of its attacks, only foreshadowed by its early
death the fate of all attempts to array themselves against
the language and institutions of the country, and to urge
the proposition, which, in Luther's opinion, was almost
heretical, that Lutheranism and Germanism are one and
inseparable. The result of the controversy was a general
deepening of the feeling that nativistic and linguistic prej-
udices must be laid aside. Never was the importance of
the English work of the General Council so reahzed as
when the very best friends and leaders of the German in-
terests of the General Council had to suflfer as martyrs
simply because of the testimony which they gave to the
lessons that their long experience had taught them.

On the floor of the General Council, however, a singu-
lar condition of things has prevailed. The English has
been made the official language, and in it, by the persist-
ent demands of the Swedes, all discussions are conducted.
With the growing strength of the Swedes, the separate
organization of English congregations and of an English
synod have been attended by some indications of dissat-
isfaction. These manifested themselves most forcibly at
the convention at Fort Wayne in 1893, but were settled
to the satisfaction of all. The Swedes have begun the

512 THE LUTHERANS. {Chap, xxvii.

work of establishing English congregations of their own,
and providing for the future anglicizing of their institu-
tions and synod.

But this era has not been mainly one of controversy
and disruption. The centralizing forces have been more
active than those which separate.

In the South they have led to a reorganization of the
general body upon a more definite confessional basis than
had previously obtained. In 1880 the General Synod,
South, had indorsed the other symbolical books, as *' in ac-
cord with, and an unfolding of, the teachings of the Un-
altered Augsburg Confession." Six years afterward, at
Roanoke, Va., " the 18,000 Lutherans who had formerly
been a General Synod, and the 14,000 of the Holston and
Tennessee synods, struck hands and began to work to-
gether to fulfill a common duty."^ The General Synod
relinquished its name and organization, the new body
taking the name of ''The United Synod of the South."
The constitution of *' The United Synod " plants it upon
the symbolical books, " as true and faithful developments
of the doctrines taught in the Augsburg Confession, and
in the perfect harmony of one and the same pure Scriptural
faith."

It embraces: i. Certain synods which formerly belonged to the General
Synod, but were separated from it by the war, and which, at the close of the
war, found the synods they were formerly associated with divided between
the General Council and the General Synod, while they themselves had
begun a development of their own; 2. Certain synods formed since that
separation ; and 3. Synods that had never been in the General Synod, but,
even from the first, had maintained an opposition to it.2

The separate existence of this relatively small body in
the South has been the means of bringing the General

1 Dr. E. T. Horn in "Distinctive Doctrines and Usages of the General
Bodies," p. 183.

2 Ibid., p. 168.

THE UNITED NORWEGIAN SYNOD. 513

Synod and General Council Into active cooperation in at
least one sphere, and in promoting a more friendly rela-
tion, without the compromise of any Lutheran principle.
In 1892 it reestablished its Theological Seminary at New-
berry, S. C, with Rev. A. G. Voigt, a graduate of Phila-
delphia, as professor.

The disruption of the old Norwegian Synod, because of
the predestinarian controversy, was followed by a number
of conferences between the " anti-Missourians," the Nor-
wegian Conference, and the Norwegian Augustana Synod,
resulting, in 1890, in the formation of the " United Nor-
wegian Church," which comprised, in 1892, 280 pastors,
974 congregations, and 96,497 communicants. The three
theological seminaries at Minneapolis and Northfield,
Minn., and Beloit, la., were combined into one at Min-
neapolis, under a scheme providing for a faculty of six
professors. The bond of cohesion has not proved strong
enough to bear the strain which necessarily came with the
attempt to agree upon the standard to be required for
theological education. The ''Conference" in 1893 with-
drew, and the balance of the United Synod has founded
another seminary, together with a college, at Minneapolis.

The withdrawal of the Michigan Synod from the Gen-
eral Council was followed by the union of this synod with
the Synodical Conference. In 1891, with the synods of
Wisconsin and Minnesota, it formed the *' General Synod
of Wisconsin, Michigan, and Minnesota," generally known
as the Synod of the Northwest, which is intended to be a
union within the general body to which all belong. The
Joint Theological Seminary of these three synods, near
Milwaukee, Wis., was consecrated September 17, 1893, the
president of the Missouri Synod, and Professor Pieper, of
the seminary at St. Louis, Mo., participating.

Colloquiums have been held (the last one during the

514 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap, xxvii.

summer of 1893) between representatives of the Ohio and
German Iowa synods, bodies that have had a common
conflict with Missouri, and whose congregations are in
many places side by side. There seems to be no reason
why they should not come to an understanding. Both
synods have in late years shown much progress both in
their educational and missionary operations. The Joint
Synod of Ohio has a number of congregations and a Prac-
tical Seminary in North Carolina, and has extended its
advance into the Northwest until it has reached Puget's
Sound. Both the college and seminary at Columbus have
strengthened their faculties in the number of professors,
and the ability they represent. The Iowa Synod has
found more commodious quarters for its seminary at its
old home at Dubuque.

There have been conferences also between representa-
tives of the Buffalo Synod and of the Ministerium of New
York. The General Synod at Canton, O., in 1893, made
propositions to the other general bodies for cooperation
in practical work. The General Council responded at
Fort Wayne, Ind., in October, 1893, by appointing a com-
mittee to meet that of the General Synod, and of any
other bodies that might accept the invitation.

Unofflcially there have been a number of movements in-
fluencing Lutherans in common, and without regard to their
synodical relations. In 1 883 the celebration of the four hun-
dredth anniversary of Luther's birth revealed, in a surpris-
ing degree, the great hold which the Reformer has upon the
Protestant Christianity of this country. It led to a general
review of Luther's life and doctrine, and a higher apprecia-
tion of the distinctive features of Luther's work. Not
only were the largest buildings of our great cities inade-
quate to contain the large numbers of those assembling
for a common celebration, and a tribute laid upon the

THE LUTHER JUBILEE. 515

highest gifts of oratory and the best musical skill, but the
literature demanded and inspired by the occasion was
large. Many so-called Lutherans awoke for the first time
to a true sense of what was contained in their heritage.
What had been heretofore a matter of timid and awkward
apology, or even of censure echoed from other sources,
was found to be a matter of respect and approval by the
best men of other communions. Interest in Luther also
led others to an interest in Lutherans. From this Luther
Jubilee the Martin Luther Society of New York City
originated. It was an association of laymen of standing,
without regard to their synodical relations, which held an
annual celebration with an oration on November 10, and
a banquet, with invited guests, generally in February. It
was especially active in the erection of a monument to
Luther in Washington.

The benefits of the social reunions thus secured sug-
gested their extension to a wider sphere. Young People's
Lutheran Associations were formed in a number of the
churches of the General Council, General Synod, and even
of the Missouri Synod, which together united in the Young
People's Lutheran Association (Central Association) of
New York City. It publishes a sprightly monthly paper,
"The Lutheran Review," and has extended itself gradu-
ally throughout the State of New York. A convention
was held in Utica, N. Y., in June, 1893. The name has
been changed to that of '' The Lutheran League," and the
purpose is to extend the system over the country. It has
been stimulated greatly in some places by the pressure
brought to bear upon Lutheran pastors and congregations
to unite in the *' Christian Endeavor" movement, for
which this has been offered as a substitute.

A very eloquent popular history of the Lutlieran Church
in America, by Dr. E. J. Wolf, of the Theological Seminary

5l6 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap, xxvii.

at Gettysburg, published in 1889, was circulated by the
tens of thousands, both in English and as translated into
German with additions by Dr. J. Nicum, of the General
Council. Its effect was soon traceable in the wider out-
look and the deeper acquaintance concerning the church
diffused among the people. Previously the tendency in
many quarters was to conceive of the general body to
which one belonged as, properly speaking, the Lutheran
Church of America, with some outside synods numerically
not very strong, or, if strong, of not very great import-
ance in learning or influence, or devotion to the cause of
Christ. Especially was this the case where such bias was
fostered by the perhaps single church paper that entered
the home. Before this. Dr. Mann's " Life and Times of
Muhlenberg" had informed the clergy and the more in-
telligent and interested laity concerning details in the early
history of the church in this country, the apprehension
of which had previously been vague and incorrect. It
had demonstrated beyond dispute the confessional posi-
tion of the fathers from Halle, and their thoroughgoing
Lutheran practice. Ten thousand copies of Gerberding's
** Way of Salvation in the Lutheran Church" were soon
disposed among English-speaking Lutherans without dis-
tinction of synod. An effort made by another writer to
show the great indebtedness of the Church of England to
Lutheran influences, and to trace the relations between
the Lutheran and Episcopal orders of service, met with
the kindest reception in all parts of the Lutheran Church.
The appearance of a volume in 1893, in which representa-
tives of the Joint Synod of Ohio, General Synod, German
Iowa Synod, General Council, Synodical Conference, and
United Synod in the South state and explain their chief
characteristics, show that the discussions have passed be-
yond the stage where there is a willingness to hear only

BISHOP VON SCHEELE, 5 I 7

one side. These writers, treating of their themes sepa-
rately, and without knowledge of what others wrote, agree
in declaring that the sincere acceptance of all the doctrines
of the Unaltered Augsburg Confession is determinative
of the Lutheran character of a minister or church. The
ampler confessions received by five out of six of the
writers are regarded as adding nothing to the Augsburg
Confession, but as necessary only to guard its real mean-
ing against perversions and misinterpretations.

'' The Lutheran Manual " of Dr. J. B. Remensnyder,
which was published in the autumn of 1893, is a valuable
presentation of the doctrines, worship, and government of
the Lutheran Church which will doubtless be widely cir-
culated without distinction of inter-ecclesiastical lines.
Lenker's *' Lutherans in all Lands " and its predecessor,
Roth's " Handbook of Lutheranism," are interesting ex-
hibits of statistics.

The celebration of the tercentenary publication of the
Decree of Upsala of 1593, by which the Church of Sweden
was placed upon a secure Lutheran basis, brought to this
country, in May, 1893, as the representative of the King
of Sweden, Rt. Rev. K. H. G. von Scheele, D.D., Bishop
of Visby, one of the most prominent living theologians
of the Lutheran Church. His stay of three months was
distinguished by ovations in all parts of the country, from
New York to San Francisco, Lutherans of widely diverg-
ing synods uniting in celebrations of welcome and congrat-
ulation. Of the several memorable popular outpourings
among the Swedes, the most important was at Rock
Island, 111., where the representatives of the Ministerium
of Pennsylvania, German Synod of Iowa, and Norwegian
Synod stood side by side with the Swedish bishop before
the thousands of Swedish Lutherans who surrounded
them. The interest reached its climax as Bishop von

5l8 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap, xxvii.

Scheele and Dr. Fritschel vied with each other in their
tributes to what the Germans and the Swedes had done
in the particular field which each cultivated. German
Lutherans could not but be impressed with the contrast
between the one thoroughly united church of Sweden and
the divided churches of Germany, and between the single
strong Swedish body, the Augustana Synod, comprising
the Swedish Church in America, and the many divisions
of the German and German-American synods.

Among those representing the descendants of the
Lutherans of Muhlenberg's time, the chief progress in
educational work during this era has been in the establish-
ment of a theological seminary in Chicago, and the
removal of the seminary in Philadelphia to one of the
most desirable suburbs. Mount Airy, where it has ampler
accommodations for students and libraries. The General
Synod has added Midland College, Atchison, Kan., to
Carthage, III, in the West. Gustavus Adolphus College,
St. Peter, Minn., with nearly three hundred students and
fifteen professors, while founded in 1862, has made its
chief advance in recent years. Bethany College, Linds-
borg, Kan., founded by the Swedish Augustana Synod in
1 88 1, by a vigorous effort Hfted a debt of $75,000 from its
shoulders, which had threatened its existence, and enrolled
in 1893 twenty- five professors and instructors, and four
hundred and twenty students.

The attractions of a city led to the agitation of the
removal of the seminary of the General Synod from Get-
tysburg, Pa., to Baltimore or Washington. But with the
question decided adversely, preparations are in progress for
more ample accommodations for its increasing students.

The foreign mission work of both General Synod and
General Council has been constantly enlarging. In the

FOREIGN MISSIONS.

519

India mission of the former, with Guntur as the center,
the estabHshment of the Watts Memorial College, with
Rev. L. B. Wolf as principal, has been of special impor-
tance. It numbered, last year, thirty-four teachers and
five hundred and twenty-five students. The zenana work
has been in charge of six lady missionaries (Misses Dryden,
Kugler, Sadtler, and Kistler, Mrs. Wolf and Mrs. Aberly).
The number of communicants reported is 6178, and bap-
tized members, old and young, 14,31 1. The six ordained
American pastors in the field (Unangst, Uhl, Wolf, Yeiser,
Albrecht, and Aberly) have recently been joined by Rev.
Dr. Harpster,, the former missionary in the Palnaud, who
has returned to the field after an absence of seventeen
years. The African mission has two ordained mission-
aries (Day, Goll), two native pastors, and one hundred
and eighty communicants.

The foreign mission work of the General Council in
India has lost by death several most valuable missionaries
(Carlson, Artman, Dietrich, Groening, Jr.). But the church
has responded to the call for others to fill their places.
The veteran Dr. Schmidt, inducted into his office by Dr.
Heyer, still remains. As Groening died. Rev. E. Pohl, of
the Breklum Society, arrived at Rajahmundry on a visit.
After temporarily taking charge of the schools, by per-
mission of his own society, he has become, in 1893, after
eleven years' experience, permanently identified with the
mission of the General Council. Besides Mr. Pohl, Revs.
Bahnisch, Arps, and Isaacson were added in 1893 to the
force (Schmidt, McCready, Edman, Kuder). The zenana
work has also been commenced, under Misses Sadtler and
Schade. The statistics of the General Council Missions
for 1893 exhibit a communicant membership of 144 1, and
the total number of Christians as 3757. The gospel is

520 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap, xxvii.

preached in 146 villages, and Christian schools conducted
in 95 villages. A call is made for the establishment of
schools in 75 more villages.

The General Synod, South, sent out Rev. W. P. Swartz
as their missionary to India in 1885, to cooperate with the
mission at Guntur ; but as he withdrew after a very brief
service, they determined to find a missionary field inde-
pendent of the two other bodies. The United Synod
has accordingly established a mission in Japan.

Rev. J. A. B. Scherer, the first missionary, sailed Feb-
ruary, 1892. He spent about a year in Tokyo, in study
of the language. Having been joined early in 1893 by
Rev. R. B. Peery, in February of that year he removed
to Saga, in the island of Kyushyu. There they have
definitely begun their work, in which they are served by
a native Christian helper, Yamanonchi San. So far, they
have baptized but two converts. They maintain regular
services. Mr. Scherer teaches in a Japanese school, whose
teachers and pupils frequent his Bible-classes, and Mr.
Peery and Yamanonchi conduct a night-school. With
the aid of competent scholars they have secured a transla-
tion of Luther's Small Catechism into Japanese, and this
has been published in Japan.

A new impulse has been given to the deaconess work
within the past ten years. The institute established at
Pittsburg in 1849 by Rev. Dr. Passavant accompHshed a
great work in proportion to the number of deaconesses it
was able to secure. But the attention of the church was
so occupied with other subjects, that, with the prejudices
the institution encountered, no strong hold was gained
upon the interest of the people. They admired and com-
mended the institutions of mercy that arose from this
impulse, but there was no readiness to devote their daugh-
ters to the life of self-denial that was demanded.

DEACONESSES. 52 1

The German Hospital in Philadelphia, which had been
administered in the interests of an irreligious humanita-
rianism, early in the eighties came, through the efforts of
its president, John D. Lankenau, under very decided
church influence. The result was that it passed from a
period of general indifference into one of unexampled
prosperity, with three of the most prominent German
Lutheran clergymen of the city upon its board. A larger
number of nurses being needed, as well as of a better
class, it was decided to apply to Germany for Lutheran
deaconesses. Seven arrived, June 19, 1884. But it was
soon found, that if the institution was to be a permanent
one in America, a training-school was needed and a
** Home," to which the deaconesses could retire when dis-
abled by disease or old age. The almost unparalleled
munificence of Mr. Lankenau promptly met this need.
At a cost of half a million of dollars, he erected directly
opposite Girard College by far the most magnificent of
deaconesses' institutes in existence. It is most complete
in all its appointments. The annual expenses of the vast
establishment are with equal liberality borne by the
founder. The rector of the Home must always be a Lu-
theran clergyman.

There has been disappointment that, with these advan-
tages, the number of sisters has not been more largely in-
creased. The last reports give their present force as forty-
one ; of these twenty-five are engaged in the German
Hospital. A similar institution has been begun in Omaha
by the Swedes, the first sisters having been trained in Phil-
adelphia. A new development of the oldest branch in
America under Dr. Passavant is about starting at Mil-
waukee, Wis. The General Synod has, for several years,
been agitating the matter, and has several sisters in train-
ing. The work has also been begun in the Ohio Synod.

522 THE LUTHERANS. [Chap, xxvii.

Several small synods have originated during this period,
from the increase of immigration of certain nationalities.
A strong current of Icelanders is flowing toward the
Northwest, where in North Dakota and Manitoba over
seven thousand members are now organized into a synod.
At Winnipeg, they have one congregation with over a
thousand members. One fourth the population of Ice-
land, if not more, has within the last twenty years entered
this region. Their candidates for the ministry are being
trained in the institutions of the General Council. The
only Icelandic church paper in existence is the one pub-
lished by this synod. The Suomai Synod is composed
of a small body of Finns. The Danish Lutheran Associ-
ation is an offshoot from the Norwegian-Danish Confer-
ence, whose center is at Minneapolis. At the meeting of
the General Council in 1893, a delegation appeared from
the German Augsburg Synod to ascertain the conditions
of union.

The statement which has been already made in some
quarters that there are in America seventeen kinds of
Lutherans, as distinctly separated as different denomina-
tions, is explained only when unity of organization is
made the standard of denominational unity. Such prin-
ciple, if strictly applied, would make of the Lutherans of
Sweden a different denomination from the Swedish Lu-
therans of America, and the Presbyterians of New York
a different denomination from those of Canada. With the
Lutheran Church, the organization is a matter of conven-
ience and expediency, and it is entirely possible for those
who are one in faith, because of local or linguistic reasons
to maintain separate organizations. When in a body pre-
dominantly Norwegian enough Danes accumulate to form
a by nod of their own, this does not change the character of
their Lutheranism, or make of them a separate denomina-

THE NEED OF THE HOUR. 523

tion. The real lines of division among Christians are those
of faith, not those of organization.

Whatever may be the divisions of the Lutheran Church
exhibited by the statistical tables, they may be classified
according to the types described in the preceding pages
of Zinzendorf, Berkenmeyer, and Muhlenberg. The gen-
eral bodies comprise exclusively descendants of Germans,
except that the Swedes are found in the General Council.
The independent synods do not attempt to justify their
permanent isolation, but are distracted in their choice of
one or -other of the bodies. The general bodies them-
selves have a nearer relation toward each other than for-
merly, and in the common service have proved their ability
to co5perate upon a clearly defined confessional basis.
They act and react upon each other through currents of
influence that flow beneath the barriers that separate them.

The great need of the hour is for the establishment of
strong institutions thoroughly equipped for the cultivation
of theological science, so as to communicate to the relig-
ious world of America the rich treasures of Lutheran
theology, and in the English language and the molds of
thought of the nineteenth century to proclaim clearly and
fearlessly the very same precious truths of the gospel,
which gave her a name and made her a power in the
days of the Reformation. As she is faithful to these
truths she will become more and more thoroughly united,
and will continue with ever-increasing efficiency to develop
those fields in her practical life, where, notwithstanding the
obstacles she has encountered, her efforts in this country,
although made in all humility, and characterized by the
frailty that attaches to everything earthly, have not been
without marked evidences of the divine blessing.

INDEX

Aberly, J. (India), 519.

Absolution, public, 40, 202, 232 ;

private (see Confession).
Acrelius, Israel, Provost, 58, 81, 86,

92, 94, 100, 103-9, 189, 218, 225,

239, 253-5.
Addison, 111., 400, 499.
Africa, mission in. See Muhlenberg

Mission.
Akron Declaration, 481 sqq.
Albany, N. Y., 47, 51, 53, 57, 59, 61,

94, 118, 122 sq., 127, 130, 310,319,

333-
Albrecht (India), 519.
Alexander, Dr. A., 365.
Alexander, Dr. J. W., 324.
Allegheny, 508.
Allegheny Synod, 437.
Allen, William, 189, 202.
AUentown, Pa., 435, 467.
Altar fellowship, 480 sqq.
Altdorf, University of, 121.
American Board of Com. for For.

Miss., 375 sq.
American Home Miss. Soc, 413.
American Lutheranism, 369, 386, 492,

495-
American Tract Society, 366, 410.
Amsterdam, Holland, 22-58, 121

sqq. ; Church Order, 125 sq., 146,

183, 252, 266.
Anabaptism and Anabaptists, 25, 28,

66, 71.
Andersen, Paul, 412.
Andover, Mass., 417.
Andreae, Jacob, 32 ; Lawrence, 64-

70; Gothus, 70.
Andros, Edmund, Gov. (New York),

60 sq.
Ann Arbor, Mich., 410.
Anne, Queen, 112, 142 sq., 149 sq.
Anspach, Dr. F. R., 392, 441.
Anspach, Margraviate of, 85.

Antigua, 112.

Antinomians, ;^^.

Anton, Leopold, Archbp. (Upsala),
152; Paul (Halle), 140.

Antwerp, 25-31, 38, 47, 80.

Apostolical succession, 78 sq.

" Appeal to the Germans," 330.

Arensius, Bernard (New Amsterdam),
59 sqq.

Arents, John (Amsterdam), 28.

Arminius and Arminianism, 36, 45.

Arnd Gottfried (North Carolina), 296,
320.

Arndt, John, 143, 232, 399.
' Artman, H. G. B. (India), 490, 519.
i Asbury, Bishop, 335.

Augsburg, 144, 157, 180.

Augsburg Confession, 26-8, ;^^ sq.,
41, 45, 52, 71, 73 sq., 86, 182, 234,
238, 241, 264, 279, 312 sq., 340 sq.,
343, 358, 367 sq., 385, 420 sqq.,
424 sq., 427 sqq., 429, 450, 454,
456 sqq., 460, 471, 473, 477, 509
sq., 512, 517; Synod, 522.

Augustana College, 450, 491 ; vSynod,
413, 447, 450, 476, 478, 501, 518.

Augusti, C. J. W., 42.

Augustinians, 23 sqq.

Auren, Jonas, 90, 95, 100.

Bachman, John, 333, 390, 439, 455,

505-

Eager, John George, 292, 300.

Bahnisch, Paul, 519.

Baker, John C, 377 sqq., 389.

Baldwin's Commentaries, 122.

Baltimore, Md., 291 sq., 358, 392,
418.

Bancroft, George, 157 sq.

Baptism, administration of (Amster-
dam), 38, 40 (Sweden), 68 (Swedes
in Pennsylvania), 108 (Ebenezer,
Ga. ), 166; demands of Reformed,
49; doctrine, 6, 316, 424.

525

526

INDEX.

Baptists, 204, 336, 345.

Barmen, Missionary Seminary at, 410.

Barnes, Robert (England), 23, 25.

Barneveldt, John of, 36.

Barren Hill, Montgomery County,
Pa., 256, 289, 295.

Barton, Thomas, 280.

Basle, 410.

Bassler, G., 386 sq., 472.

Baugher, Henry L., Sr., 293, 373,
416, 434.

Baunigarten, Sigismund J. (Halle),
141.

Beates, William, 389.

Bechtel (GermantOM'n), 203 sqq.

Becker, C. F., 488.

Beekman (New York), 121, 126, 129.

Bekker, John (Pistorius), 25.

Belgic Confession, 27.

Beneficiary education, 374.

Bengel, J. A., 199, 310.

Bengston, Andrew (Swedish-Ameri-
can), 87.

Bennett law, 447.

Benthem, H. L., 39, 50, 183.

Benzelius, Archbp. (Upsala), 93, 253.

Bergman, J. E. (Georgia), 300; C.
F. (Georgia), 335.

Berkeley, William, Gov. (Virginia),
150.

Berkemeier, William, 486.

Berkenmeyer, W. C, 117, 12 1-9,
177, 250, 310, 523.

Berks County, Pa., 291, 295.

Berlin, Prussia, 405.

Berne, Articles of, 204.

Bernheim, G. D., 132, 150, 319 sq.

Berthelsdorf, 197.

Bethany College, Kansas, 518.

Bible, family, 234 ; history, 233 ; In-
stitute, 139; societies, 139.

Bird, F. M., 484.

Bishops, Lutheran, 13, 279; suffra-
gan, 97 ; in Sweden, 67, 76 sq. See
also Episcopacy.

Bittle, D. F., 392, 434; D. H., 392,

434-
Bjork, Eric, 90-8, 105, 109, 122.
Bodenteich (Germany), 127.
Boerner, C. F., 212.
Bogardus, Everardus, 48.
Bogatsky, 399.

Bohme, A. W., 143 sq. ; J. P., 201,

203.
Boltzius, 139, 146, 158, 160 sqq., 174,

215, 221, 297.
Book of Common Prayer. See Com-
mon Prayer.
Book of Concord. See Concord.
Borell, Andrew, 255, 259.
Born, P., 435.
Bos, Jacob, 128.
Boston, Mass., 387.
Botetourt County, Va., 334.
Bouck, W. C, Gov. (New York), 352.
Brandenburg-Magdeburg Order, 267;

Nuremberg Order, 30.
Brandt, Gerard (Arminian historian),

26, 28, zz sq.
Braun, A. T., 311, 332 sq.
Bray, Nicholas, 146.
Breithaupt, J. J. (Halle), 140.
Breklum, 519.
Bremen, 26.
Breslau, 405.
Brevoort, L., 117.
Brobst, S. K., 442, 461, 465, 493.
Brochholls, Lieut. -Gov., 60.
Brochman, Caspar, 90, 122.
Brodhead, J. R., 54.
Brohm, 400.
Bromel, Dr. A., 403 sq.
Brooklyn, N. Y., 446.
Brown, J. A., 392, 427, 436, 462,

466.
Brunnholtz, Peter, 146, 220 sq., 233,-

239-46, 263, 267, 291, 325, 343.
Brussels, martyrs of, 24.
Brycelius, 281, 285, 302.
Bucks County, Pa., 291.
Buddeus, J. F., 200.
Buermyer, F. P\, 507.
Buffalo, N. Y., 382, 396, 446 ; Synod,

396, 405, 407, 514.
Biinger, 400.

Burgman (London pastor), 284.
Burk, J. F., 199.
Burkhardt (London pastor), 146.
Butler, J. G., 334.
Cabarras County, N. C, 296.
Calenberg liturgy, 267.
Caliconhook (Darby), 257.
Callenberg, Dr. J. H., 139, 212, 224.
Calovius, Dr. A., 172.

INDEX.

527

Calvinism and Calvinists, 26-9, 36,
49 sq., 50 sq., 71, 115, 203, 492 sq.,

504-

Camp, N. Y., 123.

Camp-meetings, 314.

Campanius, 17, 82 sqq., 90, 119.

Canada, 301, 335, 373, 387, 472, 476,
499.

Candles, 71.

Canisius, catechism of, 70.

Canstein, Baron C. H. (Bible Insti-
tute), 139.

Canterbury, Archbishop of, 104, 143,
147, 149, 280.

Canton, O., 391, 509, 514-

Carlisle, Pa., 332.

Carlson, A. B., 490, 519; E., 412 sq.

Carnell, S. P., 497-

Carolinas, the, 150.

Carroll, H. K., 437.

Catechism, use of, 42, 89, 107, 135,
147, 165, 233, 328. See Luther.

Catechists, 312.

Central Illinois Synod, 467.

Charles IX. (Sweden), 71 sq.

Charles XL (Sweden), 88, 95.

Charleston, S. C, 150, 159, 214-18,
294, 297, ZZZ^ 335. 390, 420, 423,

455-

Chemnitz, Dr. Martm, 32, 502.

Cherokees, 167.

Chester County, Pa., 292 sq.

Chester, Pa., 85, 87, 98, 124, 231 sq.,
236.

Chestnut Hill, Phila., 295.

Chicago, 111., 387, 406, 412, 446, 491.

Chiliasm, 408, 476 sq.

Chrischona, missionary seminary, 411.

Christ Church (Phila.), 98.

Christ's Church (Lutheran, New
York), 319.

Christian II. (Denmark), 24.

Christian life, 9, 15, 318.

Christina, Queen (Sweden), 72 ; Fort
(see Wilmington).

Christology, Lutheran, 6.

Church book, 339 sq., 484 sqq., 488,
508 sq. ; constitutions, 181, 256,
262, 299, 485 ; council, 74, 106 sq.,
124, 127 sq., 241, 244, 265; ex-
tension, 438 ; marks of, 133 ; mem-
bership, 340; organization, 11, 181 ;

papers, 440 sqq. ; schools, 11, 407;

true, 198, 402; wardens, 107; year,

II.
Church Missionary Society, 487 sq.
Church of England, 59, 99, 128,

147 sq., 171, 238, 248, 256 sq.,

275, 278 sqq., 282, 287, 292, 297,

299. 301, Z^'^, 375' 516.
Churching of women, 108.
Claussen, C. L., 411 sq.
Claverack, N. Y., 120, 123.
Cleveland, O., 406, 446.
Cleves, III.

Cobles'kill, N. Y., 115, 130,
Cock, Capt. Lasse, 89.
Coetus, 280.
Coligni, Admiral, 26.
Collections in Europe, 176, 185,

192 sq.
Collects, 238, 271.
Colleges, 435 sqq.
Collin, Dr. Nicholas, 303 sq.
Columbia College, New York, 295,

332, 353, 391.
Columbus, O., 383, 389, 391.
Comenius, 148.
Comforter of the sick, 44, 48.
Common Prayer, Book of, 123, 143,

147, 214, 251, 275, 297, 341.
Common service, 337, 505 sqq.
Concord, Book of, 32, 73, 91, 149,

394, 473 (see Symbolical Books) ;

Formula of, 31 sqq., 41, 116, 212,

222, 432, 473, 502.
Concord, N. C, 452.
Conewago. See Hanover, York

County, Pa.
Conference, Norwegian-Danish, 500.
Conferences, 200, 255, 335, 357, 428.
Confession, private, 228, 232, 277,

424 sqq. ; public, 166, 201, 232,

270, 273.
Confessional obligations, 41, 71, 73,

180, 212, 221 sq., 226, 240 sq.,

261, 264, 291, 296, 302, 312, 319

sq., 367 sq., 400, 406, 409 sq., 421

sq., 427 sq., 430, 432, 456 sqq.,

460, 471 sqq., 512.
Confessions of faith. See Confes-
sional Obligations, Symbolical

Books.
Confirmation, 12, 79> 228.

528

INDEX.

Congregational government, 74, 181,

256, 407, 474.
Conrad, F. W., 392, 507; V. L., 441,
Consecration of churches, 91 sq., 240.
Consistorium, congregational, 43 ; of

Amsterdam, 45, 51, 57 sqq., 87.

See Amsterdam.
Constitution, congregational (see

Church Constitutions) ; synodical

(see Synodical Constitution).
Controversies, 9.
Conventicles, 52.
Corpus evangelicum, 320.
Coxsackie, N. Y., 123.
Cramer, August, 419.
Cranmer's catechism, 30.
Creed, singing of, 99, 108.
Cresheim Creek, no.
Criticism, destructive, 309, 318.
Crucifix, 108.
Cruse, C. F., 361.
Cumberland, Md., 391.
Cumberland Valley, 295.
Curagoa, 49, 311, 315.
Cutter, W. I., 380.
Dacke Nils, 70.

Danes, 411, 414; conference of, 501.
Danish Church in America, 501.
Daser, Rev., 297.
Day, D. A., 497, 519.
Deaconesses, 387, 520.
Deacons, 37 sq., 43 sq., 182, 265 sq.
Dedekenn's " Consilia," 122.
"Definite Platform," 367, 424 sqq.,

436.
Deindorfer, J., 409.
Delaware, 57, 209.
Delegates, interchange of, 358, 362,

495-
Delitzsch, 408.
Demme, Charles F., 337, 377, 388,

391, 420, 461.
Denmark, 63, 193.
Descensus, the, 425.
Detroit, Mich., 446.
Deventer, Council of, 25.
Deyling, S., 212.
Dickinson College, 332, 353, 373.
Diehl, G., 392, 441.
Dieren, Von, 123, 177.
Dietrich, F. S., 490.
Dietrichson, J. W., 44.

Diets of 1877 and 1878, 495 sq.
Dioceses, Swedish, organization of,

77-
Discipline, 43, 71, 233.
Doctrinal questions, 43.
Doctrine, Lutheran, 12.
Dongan, Gov., 60.
Dort, Synod of, 36, 49 sq., 54.
Dosh, T. W., 507.
Drachenfels, 112.
Dresden, 396, 405, 408.
Driessler, J. U., 184.
Drisius, 50-55.
Dryden, Miss., 519.
Dubuque, la., 409 sq., 514.
Duchee, Jacob, 288.
Dunkards, 187, 297.
Dutch and German, 127 sqq. ; in

South Carolina, 132.
Dutchess County, N. Y., 132.
Dylander, John, 97, loi sqq., 107,

189, 217, 225, 237.
Earltown. See New Holland, Lan-
caster County, Pa.
Early, J. W., 358.
East Camp, N. Y., 153.
East India Co., 47.
East Pennsylvania Synod, 386, 458,

467.
Easton, Pa., 294.
Ebenezer, Ga., 159, 161 sq., 177 sq.,

215, 220 sq., 245 sqq., 336.
Ecclcsia piantanda, 210.
Eckstein, 140.
Edman, Dr. (India), 519.
Education for the ministry, 334, 353.
Edzardi, E., 89.
Egede, Hans, 17.
Eichelberger, L., 369, 390, 434.
Eilsen, Filing, 412 sq.
Limbeck, 210, 243, 267.
Elders, 37, 42 sq., 107, 148, 182,

243 sq., 259, 263, 265 sq.
Eliot, John, 83.
Elizabeth, N. J., 382.
Elk River, Md., 95.
Ellison, Thomas, 319.
Elsass, 187.
Embden, no.

Emigration. See Immigration.
Endiich, J., 485.
Endress, C. F., 314, 334, 359.

INDEX.

529

Eneberg, John, loi, 104, 189.

England, King of, 124, 144, 279;
Reformation in, 62.

English Ohio Synod, 458, 464, 466,
472, 476.

English preaching and services, 94,
98, 100 sq., 103, 107, 109, 127,
238, 251, 282, 285, 302, 327 sqq.

Episcopacy, 283, 375.

Episcopal theory, 74.

Episcopalians and Protestant Episco-
pal Church, 21, 94, 98, 212, 237,
247, 278 sqq., 282 sqq., 288, 294,
298, 304 sq., 318 sqq., 330, 341,
356, 358, 362, 397» 414, 516.

Episcopate, the Lutheran, 13. See
Bishops.

Erasmus, 23, 25.

Erfurt, 136 sq., 396.

Erlangen, 121, 408.

Ernesti, 148, 317.

Ernst, F. W., 500; J. F.^ t^t^t^, 341.

Esbjorn, L. P., 413, 433 sq., 449.

Esch, John, 24.

Esopus, N. Y., 115.

Evangelical Alliance, 366, 432.

" Evangelical Lutheran," 441.

" Evangelical Magazine," 321, 330,

344.
" Evangelical Review," 370, 389, 441,

494.
Exorcism, 40, 68, 426.
Extreme unction, 68.
Fabricius, Jacob, 58.
Fabritius, Jacob, 57 sqq., 86 sq., 106

sq., 188, 267.
Fahlun, Sweden, 94.
Falck, Gabriel, 41.
Falckner, Daniel, 96 sq., ill, 121,

187 sq. ; Justus, 92, 96-8, iii, 118

sq., 123, 125, 135, 143, 170, 187.
Falckner's Swamp, iii, 187, 190,

204. See New Hanover.
Family life, 15; worship, 326.
Fassberg (Sweden), 81.
Fecht, 70.

Festivals, church, 264.
Finland, 445.
Finley, Pres., 288.
Finnish, 88.

Flacius, 27, 29 sq., 32, 38.
Fliedner, Theodore, 40, 387.

Foreign missions. See India, Africa,

Japan.
Formula of Concord, 31-3, 41, 116,

212, 222.
Fort Trinity, 85 sq.
Fort Wayne, Ind., 400, 406, 461,

464 sqq., 468, 471, 476 sqq., 51 1,

514.
Four points, 476 sqq.
Fox, A. J., 392.
Franciscan, 296.
Francke, A. H., 96, 136, 196, 223,

287, 399; G. A., 141 sq., 160, 179,

182, 184, 191, 193, 195 sq., 200,

212 sq., 221.
Franckean Synod, 384, 433, 455 sqq. ;

declaration of, 384, 457 sq.
Frank, Pastor, 296.
Frankenberg, Hesse, 184.
Frankfort (Main), 30, 61, no, 1 12,

158 (Phila.), 94; company, iiosq.,

181.
Franklin, Benjamin, 202, 287, 321.
Franklin County, Pa., 292; college,

321 sqq., 2)ZZi 420; professorship,

322.
Frederica, Ga., 183.
Frederichs, J. G., 297 sq.
Frederick L (Prussia), 148.
Frederick IL and IIL (Palatinate),

115-

Frederick, Md., 225, 227, 292, 334,

359, 390, 392, 438 sq.
Frederick William I. (Prussia), 140,

153, 155, 158-
Frederick William IIL (Prussia),

394.
Frederus, 285.
Freethinking, 74.
Frelinghuysen (Reformed pastor),

131-
Fresenius, John Philip, 185, 187, 191,

199, 222, 224, 399.
Freylinghausen, G. A., 141, 302; J.

A., 141.
Friesland, West, 34.
Fritschel, G., 410, 481, 493; S., 409

sqq., 481, 493, 517.
Fundamental principles of General

Council, 467, 472 sqq., 476.
Fundamentals, 368, 424, 429 sqq.
Fiirbringer, 400.

530

INDEX.

Galesburg rule, 482 sq.
Galle, Peter (Sweden), 66.
Gansfort (Holland), 23.
Geissenhainer, A. T., 391, 484; F.

W., Sr., 327, 334, 364.
" Gemeinschaftliches Gesangbuch,"

323, 336, 423, 427.
General Gouncil, 471, 2,\\i\ passiiii.
General Synod, 358 sqq., diXi<\ passim.
General Synod, South, 452 sqq., 506,

512.
George I. ('England). 279.
George II. (England), 166, 213.
George of Denmark, 142 sq.
Georgia, 139, 150, 157, 200, 209, 227,

287, 298, 335.
Gerberding, G. H., 516.
Gerdes (London pastor), 145.
Gerhard, John, 102.
Gerhardt, Paul, 336, 339.
German Reformed, 102, 124, 147,

200, 203, 280, 289, 320 sqq., 330,

356 sq., 360 sqq., 368, 375, 394,

417.
German Society, 374; Valley, N. J-,

112.
Germanism Pennsylvania, 352.
Germantown, 102, iii, 189, 200, 204,

220 sq^q., 239, 242, 245, 248, 256,

291 sqq., 328.
Germany, and Lutheranism, 3 ; Ref-
ormation in, 62.
Gerock, J. S., 258-60, 291, 300,

302.
Gersdorf, von. Baroness, 211.
Gettysburg, 322, 365 sq., 369 sq., 373,

386, 389 sqq., 391 sqq., 397, 424

sqq., 442, 454, 467, 494, 516.
Giese, E. F;, 490.
G lessen, 188.
Gilbert, D. M., 507.
Glaserus, Pastor (Holland), 34.
Gloria Dei Church, Phila., 57, 86,

91-6, 102, 108, 189, 217, 238 sqq.,

263, 303, 305. See also Wicaco.
Gloria in Excelsis, 155.
Gock, Carl, 360.
GoU (Africa), 519.
Goransson (Swedish pastor), 303.
Goring, Pastor (York), 267, 334,
^ 344 sq.
Goschenhoppen, Old, 190.

Goteborg, Sweden, 80 sq.

Gothe, 157.

Gottingen, 211, 217, 267, 296, 364,

405 sq.
Gotwald, L. A., 509 sq.
Gotvvasser, 52 sqq.
I Gown, 297.
[ Graaf, William, 293.
; Grabau, J. A. A., 396 sq., 405.
Grabner, A. L., 83 sq., 91,. 99, 102,

106 sq.. Ill, 116, 118, 124, 126,

243. 259, 303 sq.
GrafTenried, de, 150.
Greek Church, 65, 227.
Greenland, 17.
Greensburg, Pa., 435.
Greenwald, E., 382, 441.
Greenwich, Salzburgers at, 1 13.
Groete (Holland), 23.
Gronau, Pastor (Georgia), 139, 158,

160 sqq., 215.
Groning, C. W., Sr., t^%o, 487, 496;

W., 519.
Grosshennersdorf, 211 sqq., 268.
Grossman, G., 409.
Grotius, 31, 36.
Gruner (Halle), 141.
Guericke, H. E. F., 137, 408, 416.
; Gunn, Walter, 379.
Giinther, M., 402.
! Guntur, India, 379, 488, 496, 518.
Gustavus Adolphus, 58, 72 ; College,

518; Vasa, 63, 65 sq., 69 sq.
Hackensack, N. J., 119, 123, 126,

251. 293, 339.
Hagenbach, C. R., 395.
Hager, J. F., 116.
Hagerstown, Md., 359.
Plahnbaum (S. C), 297.
Halberstadt, 112.
Halifax, N. S., 301.
Halle, 130, 133, 177 sq., 189, 191,

193, 198, 205, 211 sq., 216 sq.,

222, 225, 229, 240, 243 sqq., 278,

310, 315, 318, zzz^ 369. 376, 396,

406, 408, 2CCiA passim.
Halle hymn-book, 143, 336.
Halle " Reports," 127, 145, 192, 228,

246.
Hamburg, 35, 89, 121, 130, 133, 142,

185, 188, 224, 396.
Hamilton, James, 202.

INDEX.

531

Handschuh, J. F., 146, 223 sqq., 239

sqq., 246, 248, 259, 267, 287,

291 sq.
Hanover, Germany, 210, 213, 244,

246; House of, 139, 142, 278 sq. ;

York County, Pa., 190, 225.
Haraldson, Bp. Magnus, 74.
Harkey, S. W., 392, 434, 441.
Harless, 408, 416.
Harms, Claus, 355.
Harpster, J. H., 496, 519.
Harrisburg, Pa., 334, 367, 495, 508.
Hartwick Seminary, 224, t^t^t^, 368,

381 sq., 434; Synod, 363, 384.
Hartwig, J. C, 132, 224, 239, 240

sqq., 250, 280, 301, 310, 332 sq.
Harvard University, 315.
Hasselquist, T. N., 413, 433.
Hassencamp, 149.
Hauge, H. N., 412.
Hausihl (Hausil, H-auseal), B. M.,

259, 285, 291, 298, 300.
Hay, C. A., 267, 392, 416.
Hazelius, E. L., 368 sq., 371.
Hebrew language, 330 sq.
Hecht, J. P., m.
Hedstrand, 225.
Heidelberg, Germany, 112 sq. ; Pa.,

204; Catechism, 27, 115, 204.
Heintzelmann, J- D- M., 248, 292.
Heise (India), 380, 487, 496.
Helmstadt, 146, 149, 318, 378.
Helmuth, J. C. H., 292, 306, 321,

324, 328, 332, 336, 344 sqq., 365-
Henkel, Count, 211; G., 184, 187

sqq., 192, 296; Paul, 334, 343,

393 sq. ; S. G., 394.
Henkels, 392.
Herbst, John, 361.
Hermits, iii.
Herrnhut, 211.
Hesse Darmstadt, 187.
Hesselius, Andrew, 94, 99 sq., 105;

Samuel, 100 sq., 187.
Heurtein, S., 117.
Heyer, C. F., 335, 374, 377 sqq.,

381 sqq., 437, 486 sqq., 496.
High mass, loi, 107.
Historical Society, 423.
Hjort, Peter, 85.
Hockheimer (S. C), 298.
Hodge, A. A., 493; Charles, 365,

417, 492 sq.

Hoenecke, A., 500.

Hoffman, J. N., 426.

Hofguth (N. Y.), 128.

Hofling, J. W. F., 408.

Ilofmann, J. C. K. (Erlangen), 408.

Holgh, Israel (Sweden), 84.

Holland, Lutheran Church in, 21-

106.
Holman, S. A., 494.
Holstein, 124.

Holston Synod, 334, 384, 512.
Home missions, 334 sq., 374, 381

sqq-, 437, 485 sqq.
Hoofman, Martin, 59.
Horn, E. T., 507, 512.
Host, elevation of, 71.
Hudson, Henry, 47.
Humboldt, von, Alex., 294.
Hunnius, Nicolaus, 416.
Hurst, Bp. J. F., 176.
Hutter, E. W., 392.
Hymn boards, 108; books, 324,327,

336 sq., 399.
Hymns, 96, 154, 159, 172, 230, 234,

251, 324-

Iceland and Icelanders, 445, 522.

Illing, 285.

Illinois, 351, 374, 411, 446 sq. ;
State University, 392, 413, 434,
449; Synod, 458, 466 sq., 476,
481, 499.

Illuminism, 395.

Immigrant mission, 486.

Immigration, German, no sq., 115,
127, 188, 191, 234, 246, 296, 351
sqq., 382, 396, 445 sqq. ; Scandina-
vian, 411, 445 sqq.

India, missions to, 139, 143 sq., 147,
165, 211, 228, 375 sqq., 486 sqq.,

, 518 sq.

Indiana, 335, 351, 374, 446.

Indianfield, 196.

Indians, North American, 47, 80 sqq.,
99, 114, 130, 150, 167 sqq., 224,
301, 332, 381, 410, 419.

Intermarriages, 352, 356.

'' Intuitu fide i,''' 504.

Iowa, 411, 419, 435; English Synod
of, 458; German Synod of, 408
sq., 472, 476, 481, 503, 514, 51^

Isabella of Denmark, 24.

Jablonski (Berlin), 148.
i Jacksonville, 111., 387.

532

INDEX.

Jacobs, David, 373 ; Michael, 373.

Jacobsen, J. C, 500.

James Island, S. C, 132; River, Va.,

150.
Japan, mission to, 520.
Jefiferson College, 353, 373.
Jena, 39, 211.
Jerusalem, J. F. W., 317.
Jesuits, 47, 70.

Jews, missions to, 89, 139, 224.
Jogues, 47, 50.

John Casimir (Palatinate), 116.
Kahnis, K. F. A., 408.
Kaiserswerth, 387.
Kalm, P. (Stockholm), loi, 109.
Keffer, Adam, 387.
Keller, Benjamin, 361, 389, 439, 461 ;
^ Ezra, 374, 385.
Kelpius, III.
Kensington, 57, 87.
Kentucky, 335, 351. 374-
Keyl, E. G. W., 397.
Kieft, Gov., 47 sq.
Kiel, 28.

Kinderlehre, 233, 260.
King, Melchior, 66.
Kingsessing (Phila.), 237, 257,

281.
Kingston, N. Y., 115.
" Kirchenbote," 442.
" Kirchenfreund " (Schaff's), 417.
Kistler, Miss (India), 519.
Klove, A. A., 433.
King, G. S., 165 sq., 295.
Knapp, Albert, 324; G. C., 141 ; J. G.,

140.
Kneeling at communion, 42.
Knipperdolling, 66.
Knoll, M. C., 124, 126 sqq.
Knos (Upsala), 73 sq., 78 sq. ,

Knut, Archbp., 65.
Koch's " Kirchenlied," 155.
Kocherthal, Joshua, 112-30, 230.
Kock, Peter, 102, 104, 216, 238 sqq.,

253. 343-
Kohler, J., 507.
Konig, 30.
Koppe, J. B., 317.
Koren, U. V., 412.
Koster, 1 11.
Kraft, Valentine, 205.
Krause, L., 411.

Krauter (London pastor), 145.

Krauth, Charles Philip, 190, 370, 373,
394, 416, 420, 423; Charles Porter-
field, 287, 392, 416 sqq., 424, 427
sqq., 440 sq., 462 sq., 465, 472,
483 sq., 491 sqq., 504; Harriet
Reynolds, 485.

Kriegsheim, no.

Kropp, 510.

Krotel, G. F., 392, 440, 461, 463,
465, 484.

Krug, J. A., 286, 292.

Kuder, C. F,, 519.

Kugler, Miss, 519.

Kuhn, Daniel, 294, 303 sq.

Kunze, J. C, 285, 292 sqq., 301, 306,
310 sq., 315, 318 sq., 324, 327 sq.,

33 1 » UZ^ZZ^, 339 sq., 344-
Kurtz, Benjamin, 369, 397, 424, 432

sqq., 435, 44° sq. ; J. Daniel, 388;

J. Nicholas, 222, 231, 240 sq., 291

sq., 321, 332, 369, 388; William,

292 sq.
Laird, Samuel, 465, 507.
Laity, 364.
Lancaster, Pa., 102 sq., 189, 221,

225, 239, 242, 245, 248, 260, 291,

294, 321, 328, 331, 361, 392, 420,

451,466.
Lancaster Conference, Pa., 334, 357;

County, Pa., 188, 295.
Landau, 112.

Lange, Gottfried, 212; Joachim, 143.
Lange's Commentaries, 389.
Langenreindsdorf, Saxony, 96.
Langerfeldt, J. A., 185.
Language questions, 87, loi, 107,

109, 127 sq., 129, 226, 229, 238,

251, 256, 282, 285, 320, 327 sqq.,

ZZ^^ 357, 360, 364, 370, 384, 406,

510 sqq.
Lankenau, J. D., 521.
Lapps, missions to, 17.
Larson, P. L., 412.
La Salle County, III, 412.
Laws against Lutherans, 51.
Lay delegates, 241 sqq., 259, 261,

320.
Lebanon County, Pa., 191, 292 sqq.,

361.
Lebanon, Pa., 392.
Lederer, John, 150.

INDEX.

533

Lee, Maj.-Gen. Henry, 346.

Leechburg, Pa., 467.

Legacies, European, 325.

Legal trials, 329, 467.

Lehigh County, Pa., 292 sq., 361.

Lehman, W. F., 391, 394, 500.

" Lehre und Wehre," 408, 500.

Leibnitz, 148.

Leipzig, 70, 136 sq., 204, 212, 300,

398, 408.
Leister, Jacob, 61.
Lemke, H. H., 179, 298.
Lenker, J. N., 517.
Lent, 42.

Lexington, S. C, 369, 390, 434.
Leyden, ^t,, 40.

Library, Congregational, 122, 264.
Licentiate system and licentiates, 261,

312, 357 sq.
Lidenius, Abraham, 94, lOO, 255.
Lidkoping, Bishop of, 67.
Lidman, Jonas, 100, 105, 124.
Ligarius, John, 40.
Limerick, Ireland, 113.
Lincoln, Pres., 452.
Lindner, Prof,, 398.
Linkoping, Bishop of, 65.
Litany, 297, 336.
Lithuania, 157.
Liturgy, 71, 116, 147, 214, 239 sqq.,

242 sqq., 262, 267 sqq., 296, 338

sq., 340 sqq., 506 sqq.
Livingstone, Robert, 113 sq., 187.
Lochman, A. H., 291; J. G., 314,

334, 343, 345, 359, 361, 388.
Lock, Lars, 84 sqq.
Lohe, W., 484.
London, Bishop of, 281 sqq., 284;

Lutheran churches in, 22, 122, 142

sqq., 182, 191, 214, 224.
Long, A., 381.

Loonenburg, N. Y., 123, 126.
Lord's Day, 427.
Lord's Supper, 6, 11, 28, 34, 38, 42,

68, 98, 201, 215, 226, 232, 241,

260, 272 sqq., 277, 289, 316, 338,

341 sq., 394, 427, 431, 480.
Loscher, V. L., 25.
Louis XIV., 112.
Louvain, doctors of, 23.
Loy, M., 392, 472, 500.
Liibeck, 63, no, 136.

Liineburg, 121, 136; order, 267.

Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, 301.

Lusatia, 211.

Lute or Lunt, Charles, 304.

Luther, 24, 64, 68 sq., 115, 316, 331,

ZZ^, 339-

Luther's catechisms, 30, 40 sq., 83,
197, 203, 233, 315, 317, 327, 343,
363, 509, 520.

Luther College, 500; Jubilee, 524
sqq. ; League, 515.

"Lutheran and Missionary," 462;
"Evangelist," 369; "Intelli-
gencer," 389 sq. ; " Magazine,"
390; "Observer," 369, 379, 384,
390, 392, 424, 441; "Standard,"
441.

" Lutheraner," 405.

Liitzen, battle of, 72.

Lyons, N. Y., 382.

Lyser, Polycarp, 31.

Madison County, Va., 184, 295.

Magens, J. S., 343.

Magnus, John, Archbp., 65, 67.

Magnusson, Peter, Bp., 78 sq.

Maine, Lutherans in, 301.

Malander, William, 97.

Manatawny, Pottstown, Pa., 97.

Manathanim, 100.

Manfuss (Sweden), 63.

Manhattan Island, 47 sq.

Manitoba, 522.

Mann, W. J., 109, 146, 213, 220,
262 sq., 275, 277, 287, 289, 306,
337, 39i» 417, 420, 422, 426, 461
sqq., 493, 505, 516.

Manning, J., 382.

Marburg hymn-book, 296, 336 sqq.

Margaret of Parma, 23.

Martin, J. N., 297 sq.

Martin Luther College, 396 ; Society,

515-
Martz, G. J., 380.
Maryland, 95, 235, 247, 295, 331,

432 ; Synod, 263, 359, 363, 365,

390, 432, 458 ; and Virginia Synod,

263.
Mass, the, 424 sq., 431.
Matin service, loi, 107.
Maurice of Orange, 36.
Mayer, F. W., m\ P. F., 317, IZZ,

341, 344, 392.

534

INDEX,

McMaster, J. B., 162, 234, 236.
Mechling, J., 382.
Megapolensis, 50, 53, 55, 86.
Melanchthon, -^i, 68, 70, 115, 117;

Synod, 432 sqq., 448 sq., 456.
Melsheimer, F. V., 321 sq.
Mendota, 111., 410.
Mennonites, in, 187.
Mentzer, B., 212.
Mercersburg, Pa., 417.
Methodists, 313, 319, 336, 345.
Michaelis, 317.
Michaelius, 48.
Michigan, Synod of, 410, 472, 476,

481, 513.
Middleburg, N. Y., 115.
Middletown, Pa., 294.
Midland College, Kansas, 518.
Miller, G. B., 368, 389 sq., 434;

Jacob, 388; R. J., 319 sq. ; S.,

365-
Milwaukee, Wis., 387, 410 sq., 446,

.5i> 521.
Ministerial robe, 107.
Ministry, 7 ; native, 293.
Minneapolis, Minn., 446, 513.
Minnesota, 335, 437, 446, 481;

Synod, 466, 472, 499, 513.
Minuit, Peter, 48, 80.
" Missionary, The," 386, 424, 428,

441.
Mississippi Valley, 374, 413, 438.
Missouri, Norwegians in, 411.
Missouri Synod, 396 sqq., 412, 428,

450, 467, 478, 486, 498 sq., 502

sqq., 516; English, 509.
Mohammedans, missions to, 139.
Moldenke, E. F., 484.
Moller, H., 310.
Moller's " Postils," 87.
Moltke, Von, 405.
Monocacy, Md., 225.
Montgomery County, Pa., lOO, 188,

190, 291 sqq., 295; Va., 334.
Moravians, 139 sq., 161, 168, 171,

175, 190, 197, 204, 225 sqq., 237,

250, 314, 319.
Morris, J. G., 389 sq., 394, 416, 440,

495 sq.
Moser, J, R., 394.
Mount Airy, no, 518.
Mount Vernon, 387.

Muhlenberg, H. M., 102 sq., in,
115, 127, 129 sq., 139, 141, 144,
146, 148, 161, 187, 192, 204, 209-
309, 320, 324 sqq., 327, 331, 336
sq., 362, 389, 398, 431, 461, 463,
505, 523; F. A. (Rev. and Hon.),
286, 294, 300 sq., 310; F. A.
(Prof. Dr.), 293, 343, 374, 420,
467; H. A., 286, 314, 328, 331,
ZZl, 388; H. E., 286, 294, 314,
321 sqq., 327, 331 sqq., 336, 343;
Peter, 269, 283 sqq., 292, 294 sq.,
328 sq. ; W. A., 294, 356, 387.

Muhlenberg College, 467, 490; Mis-
sion, 497.

Miihlhauser, J., 410.

Muskeego settlement, 411.

Naesman, Gabriel, 103, 107, 237
sqq., 253.

Nantes, Edict of, 116.

Nashkow, P. S., 343.

Negroes, 119, 167 sq., 231.

Nertunius, Matthias, 85.

Neshaminy, 100.

Nevin, J. W., 418, 491 sq.

New Amsterdam, 49-58, 86. See
New York.

New Berne, N. C, 113.

New Ebenezer, Ga., 164, 174.

New Hanover, 187, 190, 192, 216
sqq., 221, 223, 230 sq., 242, 245,
292, 294.

New Haven, Conn., 160.

New Holland, 188, 190, 242, 292.

New Jersey, in, 125, 223, 247, 291
sq., 294. See German Valley,
Hackensack, etc.

New Market, Va., 296, 334, 365.

New measures, 384, 418.

New Paltz, N. Y., 115.

New York, 46-61, 94, 98, 106 sq.,
112, 117 sq., 121-8, 209, 216, 227,
247, 250, 252 sqq., 260, 288, 292,
300 sq., 310, 327, ZZZ^ and pas-
sim; Ministerium of, 294, 301, 310,
313 sqq., 317 sqq., 324, 335, 341,
354, 357 sqq., Z^Z^ 382, 384 sq.,
428, 437, 464, 466 sq., 476, 481,
514; Synod of, 467.

Newark, N. J., 382.

Newberry, S. C, 434, 455, 513.

Newburg, N. Y., 113, 116, 132.

INDEX.

535

Newlanders, 235, 247.

Newton, N. Y., 123.

Nicuni, J., 50, 52, 58, 257, 318, 516.

Niemeyer, 141.

Niewenhuysen, Van, 60.

Noailles, de, Cardinal, 196.

Norberg, 81, 106, 304.

Norborg, loi.

Nordkiel, 242.

Norelius, E., 413, 450.

Nermann, George, 69.

North Carolina, 184, 247, 296, 318
sqq-, 334. 394, SH! College, 392,
434; Synod, 335, 357 sqq., 393.

North Dakota, 446, 522.

North German. Missionary Society,
381, 487.

North Illinois Synod, 412 sq., 421,
448 sq., 458.

Norton, Charles F., 464.

Norwegian Church in America, Nor-
wegian Synod, 412, 472, 499 sq.,

503, 513-

Norwegians, 411 sqq., 448.

Nosselt, 141.

Nuremberg, 154.

Nussman, Adolph, 296.

O'Callaghan, 51, 55.

Officer, M., 497.

Oglethorpe, 157, 159, 170, 173, 184.

Ohio, 334 sq., 351, 357, 374, 446',
Synod of, 358 sqq., 382, 385 sq.,
389, 391 sq., 428, 458, 472, 476,
478, 481, 499 sq., 503, 509, 514,

516.

Ohl, J. F., 507.

Old Lutherans, 395.

Oley, Pa., 204.

" Olive Branch," 441 ; synod, 458,
476, 481, 499 sq., 503, 509, 514,
516, 521.

Omaha, Neb., 521.

Orange (now Madison) County, Va.,
191.

Orangeburg, S. C, 184.

Ordination, 43, 262, 283 sq., 285,
292, 302, 319; First Lutheran, 92;
of Kurtz, 242 ; Lutheran vs. Epis-
copal, 375; pledge, 73; Swedish,
77, 97, 106.

Organization, plans of, 124, 181, 209,
237.

Orphanages, Ebenezer, 168, 176;
Germantown, 295 ; Gottingen, 211 ;
Grosshennersdorf, 211 ; Halle, 138,
143, 158, 176, 211; Pittsburg,
Zelienople, and Rochester, 386;
Whitefield's, 176.

Osiander, 32 sq.

Osnaburg, Bishop of, 279.

Otsego County, N. Y., i^tZ-

Otto, Henry (Palatinate), 115.

Oversight, 244, 260 sq.

Palamcotta, India, 375, 488.

Palatinate and Palatinates, 46, II2-
19, 144, 150, 184, 187, 292.

Palatine Bridge, 115, 130.

Palnaud, India, 380, 489, 496, 519.

Papegoija, Gov., 85.

Paradise Point, -80.

Parent, Education Society, 374.

Parish assemblies (Swedish), 74.

Park, Edwards, 417.

Parlin, Olaf, 253.

Parochial schools, 244, 447 sq.

Pasche (London pastor), 284.

Passavant, W. A., Sr., 386 sq., 424,
441, 461, 490, 520 sq.

Passion history, 42, 332.

Pastoral conferences, 37.

Pastorius, no, 112.

Pastors, election of, 74, 76.

Paulsen, I. K., 489.

Paxton, 111., 413, 450.

Peery, R. B., 520.

Pemberton, Ebenezer, 288.

Penn, William, 88, 97, 100.

Pennsneck, N. J., 100, 102.

Pennsylvania College, 322, 373, 390,
420, 454, 467 sq., 510; Ministerium
of, 126, 224, 241, 243, 253, 260 sq.,
293, 302, 310 sqq., 322, 338, 343
sq., 356 sqq., 361, 363, 368, 372,
376, 380-6, 388, 391 sq., 418, 420
sqq., 428, 433 sqq., 450, 458 sqq.,
484, 496; University of, 281, 295,

332, 365-
Perkiomen, Pa., 282.
Perry, Bp. W. S., 191, 281.
Perry County, Mo., 397, 400, 405.
Peters, Richard, 148, 282, 288.
Petri, Lars, 64-8, 78 ; Olaf, 64-9.
Pfeifler, G. H., 313.
Philadelphia, 94, in, 189 sqq., 200

536

INDEX.

sq., 216 sq., 221, 237, 239, 242,

245, 248, 256, 260, 263, 292, 330
sq., 345 sqq., 361, 365 sq., 376,

389, 392, 439, 461 sqq., 496, 507
sq., 520 sq.

Philippi, F. A., 405.

Phillips, Rev., 98.

Pieper, F., 513.

Pietism, 113, 133 sqq., 141, 212, 243,

246, 267, 366, 396, 398.
Pittsburg, 294, 296, 433, 467, 479,

520; Synod of, 386 sq., 421, 435,
437, 458, 460, 464^ 466 sq., 472,
476 ; declaration, 477.

Platt-Deutsch, ill.

Plutscliau, 139.

Pohl, E., 519.

Pohlman, H. N., 390.

Polity, theories of, 13 sqq., 468 sq.,
474 sq.

Ponierania, 58.

Pottstown, Pa., 100.

Prayer, book, 336, 371 ; extempora-
neous, 343, 371; general, 338, 342
sq. ; meetings, 42.

Predestination controversy, 394, 502
sqq.

Preparatory service, 40 sq., 68, 127,
129, 201, 228, 232, 480.

Presbyterian Church and Presbyte-
rians, 21, 288, 356; government,

74-
President of Synod, 244, 260 sq., 311,

407.
Preuse, A. C. and H. E., 412.
Princeton, N. J., 288, 353, 365 sq.,

390, 407.

Printz, Andrew, 82, 88.
Private confession, 228, 232, 422 sqq.
Prohibitory legislation, 446 sq.
Providence, Pa. See Trappe.
Provosts, Swedish, 77, 105, 241, 243,

353-
Prussian Union, 355, 394, 400, 416.
" Psalmodia Germanica," 339 sq.
Publication Society, 439, 468.
Pulpit and pulpit fellowship, 37, 98,

100, 265, 277, 289, 479 sq.
Purrysburg, S. C, 150, 164.
Quakers, 46, 55, no, 117, 147, 187,

204, 231, 392.
" Quarterly Review," 494.

Quitman, F. IT., 315, 318, 324, 341,

344, 385; J. A., ^zz-
Rabenhorst, Christian, 180, 299.
Racoon, N. J., 95, 102, 255, 304.
Rajahmundry, India, 380, 487, 489

sq., 496, 519.
Raritan, N. J., 123, 223 sq., 252.
Rationalism, 40-5, 74, 309, 313 sq.,

317 sq., 324, 398 sq.
Rauss, Lucas, 291.
Reading, Pa., 241, 291 sq., 331, 361,

388, 392, 426, 472, 483, 487.
Real presence, 6, 424.
Reck, von. Baron, 160 sq., 170 sq.,

189, 191 ; Henry, 386.
Redemptioners, 235 sq.
Reformation, tercentenary of, 335,

351. 356.
Reformed, 27-49, 54, 116, 147, 189,

203, 231, 252; Dutch, 52-5, 124,

130. See German Reformed.
Reichstag, the Swedish, 76.
Remensnyder, J. B., 506, 517.
Repass, S. A., 507.
Reynolds, W. M., 255, 314, 370, 374,

386, 391, 414.
Rhenius, C. L. E., 375 sq., 487 sq.
Rhinebeck, N. Y., 115, 123, 131, 224,

239, 319-
Richards, J. W., 269, 388.
Ries, J. F., 129, 250.

Rising, Gov., 85.

Roanoke College, Va., 392, 434, 455.
Rochester, N. Y., 382, 410 sq.
Rock Island, 111., 413, 450.
Rockbridge County, Va., 334.
Roman Catholic Church, Romanism,
etc., 21, 60, 67, 70, 74, 147, 149,

157, 175, 311.
Ross, George, 98, 103. .
Roth, D. L., 278, 280, 295, 302;

H. W., 490; J. D., 517.
Rotterdam, 34, 158.
Rowan County, N. C, 296.
Rowe, A. D., 496 sq.
Rudman, Andrew, 81, 90-8, 102, 105,

107.
Rudolph, Carl, 227.
Ruperti (London pastor), 144.
Rural parishes, 313, 320, 325 sq.,

360 sq.
Saccum, 242.

INDEX.

537

Sadtler, Missss (India), 519.
Salzburg and Salzburgers, 144-52,

214, 216, 225, 287.
Samulcotta, India, 487.
Sandel, Andrew, 93, 97 sq., 105, 107.
Sanden, Von, 189.

Sandford, L. H., Vice-chancellor, 385.
Sandin, John, 89, 103, 105, 253.
Saur, Chr., 336.
Savannah, Ga., 159, 168, 178 sq., 184,

300, 336.
Savoy Church (London), 142, 146,

183, 224, 267 sq.
Schaeffer, C. F., 293, 389 sq., 394,

420, 422 sq., 427, 440, 461 sqq. ;

C. W., 269, 375, 391, 440, 463,

489, 507; D. F., 334, 359, 390;

F. C, 317; F. D., 317, 327, 345,

378, 388 sqq.
Schaff, P., 115, 324, 326, 417 sq., 493.
Schaitberger, Joseph, 152, 154, 157,

163.
Scharbach, 296.
Schaum, J. H., 222, 291.
Scheele, von, K, H. G,, Bp,, 517.
Scherer, D., 359, 521.
Schlatter, M., 288 sqq., 302, 320.
Schleiermacher, 355, 395.
Schleydom, Henry, 216, 238, 289.
Schliisselberg, Conrad, 31.
Schmeisser, J. G., 302, 343.
Schmid, F. (Michigan), 410.
Schmidt, F. A., 502 sq. ; H. C, 487,

489, 519; H. I., 391, 416; J. F.,

286, 292, 327, T,zi.
Schmucker, B. M., 30, 54, 106, 204

sq., 263, 266 sqq., 317 sq., 338 sq.,

343 sq., 392, 465, 484, S07; J- G-,

314, 323, 345, 359, 365, 388; S. S.,

334, 2>^2, sqq., 426 sq., 440, 462,

494.
Schober, G., 319, 358 sq.
Schoharie, N. Y., 114 sq., 123, 130,

144, 190, 310, 335, 352.
Schoner, J, D., 192.
Schools, parish, 75 ; Swedish, 104.
Schreuder, Pastor, 412.
Schrock, 53, 67 sq.
Schultz, F., 292, 302, 338.
Schultze, C. E., 286, 292, 321, 332;

J. A. (Gov.), 292, 352; J. C, 188,

191, 193; L., 141.

Schwartz, C. F., 139, 376.

Schwerdfeger, 310.

Secret s(jcieties, 477 sqq.

Sects, 88, 191 sq., 230, 247.

Seidensticker, O., 236.

Seiss, J. A., 391, 439 sq., 465 sq.,

476, 484 sq., 493, 496, 507.
Selins grove. Pa ,435.
Selskoorn, 86.
Semler, 140 sq., 309, 317.
Separatists, 395.
Services, week-day, 264.
Shenandoah Valley, Va., 295, 455.
Silesia, 58.

Skara, Bishop of, 68, 78, loi, 104.
Slavery, loi, 129, 167.
Smith, H. B., 417.
Snyder, W. E. (India), 380 sq.
Sommar, Bp. Magnus, 78.
Sommer, Peter N., 130, 310.
South Carolina, 292, 296, 320, 373,

394; Synod, 360, 376.
Spaeth, A., 484, 493, 507.
Spangenberg, Bp., 139, 195, 197, 200,

204, 218.
Spener, 39, iii, 133 sqq., 139, 144,

164, 196, 211, 369, 399.
Spielman, C, 382, 391.
Sponsors, 38, 108.
Spottsylvania County, Va., 184.
Spottwood, Gov., 184.
Sprecher, S., 369, 385, 404.
Springer, C. C, 87 sq. ; F., 434.
Springfield, 111., 400, 413, 434, 441,

448.
Springfield, O., 434, 441, 509.
Sprogle, J. H., 187.
St. James, London, 143.
St. Louis, Mo., 146, 400 sqq., 498,

500.
St. Sebald, la., 410.
St. Thomas, 118, 170.
Stauch, John, 334, 382.
Steck, J. M. and M. J., 382.
Steiner, 289.

Stephan, Martin, 396 sqq., 405.
Stevens, Bp., 156, 179.
Stirewalts, 392; J., 394.
Stockholm, massacre of, 63 sq.
Stoever, J. C, Sr., 185, 193, 295 ; J.

C, Jr., 188-91, 204, 224, 275, 295 ;

M. L., 293, 374, 440.

538

INDEX.

Stone Arabia, N. Y., 130.

Storch, C, A. G., 320.

Stork, C. A., 434; T., 392, 434, 440.

Strassburg, 39, 221.

Strebeck, G., 313, 319, 327, 340 sq.

Streit, C, 294, 297, 304.

Strengnas, Diet of, 64, 68, 78.

Strobel, P. A., 162.

Stuyvesant, Peter, 48 sqq.

Sumanwader, Bp.^ 65.

Summits episcopiis, 69, 73, 76.

Sunday-school Union, Lutheran, 374.

Suomai Synod, 522.

Superintendency, 245, 279.

Svedberg, Jaspar, Bp., ^2)1 ^9 sq-j 93>

98-104, 109, 124, 253.
Sverdrup, G., 501.
Swartz, Joel, 466.
Swedes, 46, 412 sqq., 448 sqq., 511,

517, 521.

Swiss, 150.

Symbolical books, 91, 93, 106, 126,
134, 180, 182, 212, 221 sq., 226,
241, 261, 291, 296, 302, 312 sq.,
320, 406, 409 sq., 418, 422, 429,
473> 512.

Symbololatry, 430.

Synodical Conference, 513, 516; con-
stitutions, 241, 243, 261, 298, 406;
organization, 259.

Tawasentha, treaty of, 47.

Te Deum, 24.

Tefferegenthal, 151.

Telugus, 379 sq., 489.

Temme, C. F., 344.

Tennents, 288.

Tennessee, 334, 351, 394; Synod,
392 sqq., 455, 512.

Texas, 373, 499.

Theerbusch, N. Y., 123, 131.

Thelin, John, 88.

Theological education, 104, 294, 366,
370.

Theological seminaries : Chicago,
491, 518; Columbus, 391, 514;
Gettysburg, 364 sqq., 373, 518;
Minneapolis, 513; Newberry, 513
(see Lexington, S. C); Phila-
delphia, 461 sqq., 515; St. Louis,
407, 500. See Augustana, Witten-
berg, etc.

Thiel College, 490.

Thirty-nine Articles, 279 sq., 284,
297.

Thirty Years' War, iii, 116, 153.

Tholuck, A., 140 sq.

Thomasius, G., 408, 412.
I Thiirnstein, von, Count, 203.
I Tinacum (Tinicum), 83-7, 257.
! Tohicon, 292.
i "Tokens," 42.
I Tollstadius, 93.
i Torkillus Reorus, 81.

Tranberg, Peter, 97, 102 sq., 217,
240.

Tranhook, 86, 91.

Transubstantiation, 431.

Trappe, Pa., 188 sq., 192, 217, 219,
221, 223, 242, 245, 255, 263, 299,
305 sq., 523.

Triebner, C. F., 298 sq.

Trinity, Fort, 467.

Tuckerman, Bayard, 55, 60.

Twiller, Von, W., 48.

Uhl, L. L., 519.

Unander, Eric, 255.

Unangst, E., 381, 519.

Uniformity, 21, 242.

Union churches, 289, 361.

United congregations, 239, 244 sq.,
264 ; pastors, 247 ; Protestant min-
istry, 282 ; Synod of the South,
512, 516, 520.

United Presbyterians, 477.

Unonius, G., 414.

Upland, 85.

Upper Merion, 281 ; Milford, 242.

Upsala, 65, 93, loi, 255; Archbishop
of, 63, 65, 76, 78, 90, 93, 98, 103,
303; Council of, 71 sq., 450, 517.

Urlsperger, Samuel, 144, 157, 160,
168, 177, 179 sq., 182, 184.

Ursinus, 115, 149.

Usages, church, 66, 69.

Usselinx, William, 80.

Utica, N. Y., 382.

Utrecht, 25; Union of, 31.

Uyetenbogart, 34.

Valentine, M., 507.

Valett (India), 487.

Vaughn, Canada, 387.

Velthusen, J. C, 145, 296, 318.

Vesey, William, 120, 123.

Vigera, J. F,, 221.

INDEX.

539

Virginia, 247, 285, 295 sq., 334, 351, I

357, 359-
Visby, 64, 517.

Visitations, 37, 67, 77, 407. [

Wachsel (London pastor), 284. I

Wackerhagen, A,, 342.
Wade, John, 282, 286, 304.
Wafers, 297.
Wagenhals, J., 382.
Wagner, Andrew, 212; Tobias, 127,

220, 275, 285.
Waldboro', Me., 301.
Walther, C. F. W., 397 sqq., 428,

472, 500, 502 sq. ; O. H., 397.
War, Civil, 434, 454.
Washington, Pres., ^t^t^, 346 sq., 360;

County, Md., 292.
Watertown, Wis., 500.
Watts, Isaac, 340, 344.
Weddell, A. J., 346.
Wedekind, A. C, 507.
Weenas, A., 501.
Weiser, John Conrad, Sr., 114, 144,

230; John Conrad, Jr., 1 14 sq.,

205, 223, 250; Reuben, 434.
Weissiger, Daniel, 192 sq., 200, 263.
Welden, C. F., 391, 434, $07.
Wenner, G. U., 507.
Wernigerode, 167, 222.
Wesley, Charles, 170, 183; John,

148, 169 sqq., 184.
West Camp, N. Y., 113, 117, 123,

131-

West India Company, 47 sq., 55, 80.
West Pennsylvania Synod, 263, 363,

386.
West Point, N. Y., 113.
West, Synod of the, 406.
West Virginia, 374.
Westen, von, Thomas, 17.
Westeras, 65 sqq., 75, 255.
Westphalia, Peace of, 72, 151.
Wetzel, H., 394.

Weygand, J. A., 252, 259, 293, 343.
White, William, Bp., 284, 286, 356.
Whitefield, George, 175, 177, 266 sqq.
Wicaco, 57, 86, 91 sq., 94, 100 sq.,

107, 124, 188, 253, 257, 281.
Widows and orphans, 43.
Wildbahn, C. F., 292.
William III. (England), 61.
William of Orange, 26-9, 37 sq.
Williamsport, Pa., 467.

Williston, Ralph, 313, 319, 341.
Wilmington, Del. (Christina), 81, 86,

91, 98, 217, 240, 253, 255, 303 sq.
Winnipeg, 522.
Wisconsin, 411 sq., 446; Synod of,

410, 472, 476, 481, 499.
Wissahickon, hermits of the, ill.
Wittenberg, Germany, 25, 36, 64;

College and Theological Seminary

(Ohio), 122, 369, 385, 434.
Woerden, Holland, 27, 33-5.
Wolf, E. J. (Gettysburg), 507, 515;

George (Gov.), 352; J. A. (New

Jersey), 126.
WoUey, Charles, 60.
Woodstock, Va., 295.
Wordman, H. S. B., 297.
Worley, D., 391.
Worship, principles of, 1 1.
Wrangel, von, Charles M., 92, 105,

109, 248, 255 sqq., 259, 262, 264,

278, 281 sq., 286, 294, 302 sqq.,

332, 343-
Wiirtemberg, 187, 246, 291.
Wyneken, F., 405 sqq., 418 sq.
Yeiser (India), 519.
Yellow fever, 345.
Yonce, W. B., 507.
York, Bishop of, 280; Duke of, 56,

60; Pa., 227, 239, 242, 268, 291,

331, 361, 433, 457 sqq., 495 J

County, Pa., 292, 295 sq.
Zanesville, 0., 485.
Zealand, 27.
Zeisberger, David, 170.
" Zeitschrift," 442.
Zelienople, Pa., 435, 460.
Zenana work, 519.
Zetskoorn, 86.

Ziegenbalg, 17, 138, 278, 376.
Ziegenhagen, 144, 167, 181 sq., 191-

96, 200, 212, 216 sq., 268, 284, 287.
Ziegler, H., 435.
Zieken-tivoster, 44.
Zinzendorf, Nicholas, 139, 141, 190,

196 sqq., 211, 217 sq., 220, 227,

237, 246, 263, 268, 278 sq., 364,

523-
Zollikofer, 148.
Ziibli, Joachim, 184.
Ziitphen, Von, 23.
Zwickau, Saxony, 96.
Zwingli and Zwinglianism, t^t,, 71.

BW4010.A512c.2v.4*_

The American church history series

Princeton Theological Seminary-Speer Library

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