the most striking feature about the British Moravians is the fact that they have steadily become more British in all their ways, and more practical and enthusiastic in their work in this country. We can see it in every department of their work.
They began with the training of their ministers. As soon as the British Moravians became independent, they opened their own Theological Training Institution; and then step by step they allowed their students to come more and more under English influences. At first the home of the Training College was Fulneck; and, as long as the students lived in that placid abode, they saw but little of the outside world. But in 1874 the College was removed to Fairfield; then the junior students began to attend lectures at the Owens College; then (1886) they began to study for a degree in the Victoria University; then (1890) the theological students were allowed to study at Edinburgh or Glasgow; and the final result of this broadening process is that the average modern Moravian minister is as typical an Englishman as any one would care to meet. He has English blood in his veins; he bears an English name; he has been trained at an English University; he has learned his theology from English or Scotch Professors; he has English practical ideas of Christianity; and even when he has spent a few years in Germany—as still happens in exceptional cases—he has no more foreign flavour about him than the Lord Mayor of London.
Again, the influence of English ideas has affected their public worship. At the Provincial Synods of 1878 and 1883, the Brethren appointed Committees to revise their Hymn-book; and the result was that when the next edition of the Hymn-book appeared (1886), it was found to contain a large number of hymns by popular English writers. And this, of course, involved another change. As these popular English hymns were wedded to popular English tunes, those tunes had perforce to be admitted into the next edition of the Tune-book (1887); and thus the Moravians, like other Englishmen, began now to sing hymns by Toplady, Charles Wesley, George Rawson and Henry Francis Lyte to such well-known melodies as Sir Arthur Sullivan's "Coena Domini," Sebastian Wesley's "Aurelia," and Hopkins's "Ellers." But the change in this respect was only partial. In music the Moravians have always maintained a high standard. With them the popular type of tune was the chorale; and here they refused to give way to popular clamour. At this period the objection was raised by some that the old chorales were too difficult for Englishmen to sing; but to this objection Peter La Trobe had given a crushing answer.[160] At St. Thomas, he said, Zinzendorf had heard the negroes sing Luther's fine "Gelobet seiest"; at Gnadenthal, in South Africa, Ignatius La Trobe had heard the Hottentots sing Grummer's "Jesu, der du meine Seele"; in Antigua the negroes could sing Hassler's "O Head so full of bruises"; and therefore, he said, he naturally concluded that chorales which were not above the level of Negroes and Hottentots could easily be sung, if they only tried, by Englishmen, Scotchmen and Irishmen of the nineteenth century. And yet, despite this official attitude, certain standard chorales fell into disuse, and were replaced by flimsier English airs.
Another proof of the influence of English ideas is found in the decline of peculiar Moravian customs. At present the British congregations may be roughly divided into two classes. In some, such as Fulneck, Fairfield, Ockbrook, Bristol, and other older congregations, the old customs are retained; in others they are quite unknown. In some we still find such things as Love-feasts, the division into choirs, the regular choir festivals, the observance of Moravian Memorial Days; in others, especially in those only recently established, these things are absent; and the consequence is that in the new congregations the visitor of to-day will find but little of a specific Moravian stamp. At the morning service he will hear the Moravian Litany; in the Hymn-book he will find some hymns not found in other collections; but in other respects he would see nothing specially distinctive.
Meanwhile, the Brethren have adopted new institutions. As the old methods of church-work fell into disuse, new methods gradually took their place; and here the Brethren followed the example of their Anglican and Nonconformist friends. Instead of the special meetings for Single Brethren and Single Sisters, we now find the Christian Endeavour, and Men's and Women's Guilds; instead of the Boys' Economy, the Boys' Brigade; instead of the Brethren's House, the Men's Institute; instead of the Diacony, the weekly offering, the sale of work, and the bazaar; and instead of the old Memorial Days, the Harvest Festival and the Church and Sunday-school Anniversary.
But the most important change of all is the altered conception of the Church's mission. At the Provincial Synod held in Bedford the Brethren devoted much of their time to the Home Mission problem {1863.}; and John England, who had been commissioned to write a paper on "Our Aim and Calling," defined the Church's mission in the words: "Such, then, I take to be our peculiar calling. As a Church to preach Christ and Him crucified, every minister and every member. As a Church to evangelize, every minister and every member." From that moment those words were accepted as a kind of motto; and soon a great change was seen in the character of the Home Mission Work. In the first half of the nineteenth century nearly all the new causes begun were in quiet country villages; in the second half, with two exceptions, they were all in growing towns and populous districts. In 1859 new work was commenced at Baltonsborough, in Somerset, and Crook, in Durham; in 1862 at Priors Marston, Northamptonshire; in 1867 at Horton, Bradford; in 1869 at Westwood, in Oldham; in 1871 at University Road, Belfast; in 1874 at Heckmondwike, Yorkshire; in 1888 at Wellfield, near Shipley; in 1890 at Perth Street, Belfast; in 1896 at Queen's Park, Bedford; in 1899 at Openshaw, near Manchester, and at Swindon, the home of the Great Western Railway Works; in 1907 at Twerton, a growing suburb of Bath; and in 1908 in Hornsey, London. Of the places in this list, all except Baltonsborough and Priors Marston are in thickly populated districts; and thus during the last fifty years the Moravians have been brought more into touch with the British working man.
Meanwhile there has been a growing freedom of speech. The new movement began in the College at Fairfield. For the first time in the history of the British Province a number of radical Moravians combined to express their opinions in print; and, led and inspired by Maurice O'Connor, they now (1890) issued a breezy pamphlet, entitled Defects of Modern Moravianism. In this pamphlet they were both critical and constructive. Among other reforms, they suggested: (a) That the Theological Students should be allowed to study at some other Theological College; (b) that a Moravian Educational Profession be created; (c) that all British Moravian Boarding Schools be systematically inspected; (d) that the monthly magazine, The Messenger, be improved, enlarged, and changed into a weekly paper; (e) that in the future the energies of the Church be concentrated on work in large towns and cities; (f) and that all defects in the work of the Church be openly stated and discussed.
The success of the pamphlet was both immediate and lasting. Of all the Provincial Synods held in England the most important in many ways was that which met at Ockbrook a few months after the publication of this pamphlet. It marks the beginning of a new and brighter era in the history of the Moravian Church in England. For thirty years the Brethren had been content to hold Provincial Synods every four or five years {1890.}; but now, in accordance with a fine suggestion brought forward at Bedford two years before, and ardently supported by John Taylor, the Advocatus Fratrum in Angliâ, they began the practice of holding Annual Synods. In the second place, the Brethren altered the character of their official church magazine. For twenty-seven years it had been a monthly of very modest dimensions. It was known as The Messenger; it was founded at the Bedford Synod (1863); and for some years it was well edited by Bishop Sutcliffe. But now this magazine became a fortnightly, known as The Moravian Messenger. As soon as the magazine changed its form it increased both in influence and in circulation. It was less official, and more democratic, in tone; it became the recognised vehicle for the expression of public opinion; and its columns have often been filled with articles of the most outspoken nature. And thirdly, the Brethren now resolved that henceforth their Theological Students should be allowed to study at some other Theological College.
But the influence of the pamphlet did not end here. At the Horton Synod (1904) arrangements were made for the establishment of a teaching profession, and at Baildon (1906) for the inspection of the Boarding Schools; and thus nearly all the suggestions of the pamphlet have now been carried out.
Finally, the various changes mentioned have all contributed, more or less, to alter the tone of the Moravian pulpit. As long as the work was mostly in country villages the preaching was naturally of the Pietistic type. But the Moravian preachers of the present day are more in touch with the problems of city life. They belong to a democratic Church; they are brought into constant contact with the working classes; they are interested in modern social problems; they believe that at bottom all social problems are religious; and, therefore, they not only foster such institutions as touch the daily life of the masses, but also in their sermons speak out more freely on the great questions of the day. In other words, the Moravian Church in Great Britain is now as British as Britain herself.
a similar kind. As soon as the American Brethren had gained Home Rule, they organized their forces in a masterly manner; arranged that their Provincial Synod should meet once in three years; set apart £5,000 for their Theological College at Bethlehem; and, casting aside the Diaspora ideas of Zinzendorf, devoted their powers to the systematic extension of their Home Mission work. It is well to note the exact nature of their policy. With them Home Mission work meant systematic Church extension. At each new Home Mission station they generally placed a fully ordained minister; that minister was granted the same privileges as the minister of any other congregation; the new cause was encouraged to strive for self support; and, as soon as possible, it was allowed to send a deputy to the Synod. At Synod after Synod Church extension was the main topic of discussion; and the discussion nearly always ended in some practical proposal. For example, at the Synod of 1876 the Brethren formed a Church Extension Board; and that Board was entrusted with the task of raising £10,000 in the next three years. Again, in 1885, they resolved to build a new Theological College, elected a Building Committee to collect the money, and raised the sum required so rapidly that in 1892 they were able to open Comenius Hall at Bethlehem, free of debt. Meanwhile the number of new congregations was increasing with some rapidity. At the end of fifty years of Home Rule the Moravians in North America had one hundred and two congregations; and of these no fewer than sixty-four were established since the separation of the Provinces. The moral is obvious. As soon as the Americans obtained Home Rule they more than doubled their speed; and in fifty years they founded more congregations than they had founded during the previous century. In 1857 they began new work at Fry's Valley, in Ohio; in 1859 at Egg Harbour City; in 1862 at South Bethlehem; in 1863 at Palmyra; in 1865 at Riverside; in 1866 at Elizabeth, Freedom, Gracehill, and Bethany; in 1867 at Hebron and Kernersville; in 1869 at Northfield, Philadelphia and Harmony; in 1870 at Mamre and Unionville; in 1871 at Philadelphia; in 1872 at Sturgeon Bay; in 1873 at Zoar and Gerah; in 1874 at Berea; in 1877 at Philadelphia and East Salem; in 1880 at Providence; in 1881 at Canaan and Goshen; in 1882 at Port Washington, Oakland, and Elim; in 1886 at Hector and Windsor; in 1887 at Macedonia, Centre Ville, and Oakgrove; in 1888 at Grand Rapids and London; in 1889 at Stapleton and Calvary; in 1890 at Spring Grove and Clemmons; in 1891 at Bethel, Eden and Bethesda; in 1893 at Fulp and Wachovia Harbour; in 1894 at Moravia and Alpha; in 1895 at Bruederfeld and Bruederheim; in 1896 at Heimthal, Mayodon and Christ Church; in 1898 at Willow Hill; in 1901 at New York; in 1902 at York; in 1904 at New Sarepta; and in 1905 at Strathcona. For Moravians this was an exhilarating speed; and the list, though forbidding in appearance, is highly instructive. In Germany Church extension is almost unknown; in England it is still in its infancy; in America it is practically an annual event; and thus there are now more Moravians in America than in England and Germany combined. In Germany the number of Moravians is about 8,000; in Great Britain about 6,000; in North America about 20,000.
From this fact a curious conclusion has been drawn. As the American Moravians have spread so rapidly, the suspicion has arisen in certain quarters that they are not so loyal as the Germans and British to the best ideals of the Moravian Church; and one German Moravian writer has asserted, in a standard work, that the American congregations are lacking in cohesion, in brotherly character, and in sympathy with true Moravian principles.[161] But to this criticism several answers may be given. In the first place, it is well to note what we mean by Moravian ideals. If Moravian ideals are Zinzendorf's ideals, the criticism is true. In Germany, the Brethren still pursue Zinzendorf's policy; in England and America that policy has been rejected. In Germany the Moravians still act as a "Church within the Church"; in England and America such work has been found impossible. But Zinzendorf's "Church within the Church" idea is no Moravian "essential." It was never one of the ideals of the Bohemian Brethren; it sprang, not from the Moravian Church, but from German Pietism; and, therefore, if the American Brethren reject it they cannot justly be accused of disloyalty to original Moravian principles.
For those principles they are as zealous as any other Moravians. They have a deep reverence for the past. At their Theological Seminary in Bethlehem systematic instruction in Moravian history is given; and the American Brethren have their own Historical Society. For twenty years Bishop Edmund de Schweinitz lectured to the students on Moravian history; and, finally, in his "History of the Unitas Fratrum," he gave to the public the fullest account of the Bohemian Brethren in the English language; and in recent years Dr. Hamilton, his succesor, has narrated in detail the history of the Renewed Church of the Brethren. Second, the Americans, when put to the test, showed practical sympathy with German Brethren in distress. As soon as the German refugees arrived from Volhynia, the American Moravians took up their cause with enthusiasm, provided them with ministers, helped them with money, and thus founded the new Moravian congregations in Alberta. And third, the Americans have their share of Missionary zeal. They have their own "Society for Propagating the Gospel"; they have their own Missionary magazines; and during the last quarter of a century they have borne nearly the whole burden, both in money and in men, of the new mission in Alaska. And thus the three branches of the Moravian Church, though differing from each other in methods, are all united in their loyalty to the great essentials.
of union. At present Moravians all over the world are united in three great tasks.
First, they are united in their noble work among the lepers at Jerusalem. It is one of the scandals of modern Christianity that leprosy is still the curse of Palestine; and the only Christians who are trying to remove that curse are the Moravians. At the request of a kind-hearted German lady, Baroness von Keffenbrink-Ascheraden, the first Moravian Missionary went out to Palestine forty years ago (1867). There, outside the walls of Jerusalem, the first hospital for lepers, named Jesus Hilfe, was built; there, for some years, Mr. and Mrs. Tappe laboured almost alone; and then, when the old hospital became too small, the new hospital, which is standing still, was built, at a cost of £4,000, on the Jaffa Road. In this work, the Moravians have a twofold object. First, they desire to exterminate leprosy in Palestine; second, as opportunity offers, they speak of Christ to the patients. But the hospital, of course, is managed on the broadest lines. It is open to men of all creeds; there is no religious test of any kind; and if the patient objects to the Gospel it is not forced upon him. At present the hospital has accommodation for about fifty patients; the annual expense is about £4,000; the Managing Committee has its headquarters in Berthelsdorf; each Province of the Moravian Church has a Secretary and Treasurer; the staff consists of a Moravian Missionary, his wife, and five assistant nurses; and all true Moravians are expected to support this holy cause. At this hospital, of course, the Missionary and his assistants come into the closest personal contact with the lepers. They dress their sores; they wash their clothes; they run every risk of infection; and yet not one of the attendants has ever contracted the disease. When Father Damien took the leprosy all England thrilled at the news; and yet if England rose to her duty the black plague of leprosy might soon be a thing of the past.
Again, the Moravian Church is united in her work in Bohemia and Moravia. At the General Synod of 1869 a strange coincidence occurred; and that strange coincidence was that both from Great Britain and from North America memorials were handed in suggesting that an attempt be made to revive the Moravian Church in her ancient home. In England the leader of the movement was Bishop Seifferth. In North America the enthusiasm was universal, and the petition was signed by every one of the ministers. And thus, once more, the Americans were the leaders in a forward movement. The Brethren agreed to the proposal. At Pottenstein (1870), not far from Reichenau, the first new congregation in Bohemia was founded. For ten years the Brethren in Bohemia were treated by the Austrian Government as heretics; but in 1880, by an Imperial edict, they were officially recognized as the "Brethren's Church in Austria." Thus is the prayer of Comenius being answered at last; thus has the Hidden Seed begun to grow; thus are the Brethren preaching once more within the walls of Prague; and now, in the land where in days of old their fathers were slain by the sword, they have a dozen growing congregations, a monthly Moravian magazine ("Bratrske Litsz"), and a thousand adherents of the Church of the Brethren. Again, as in the case of the Leper Home, the Managing Committee meets at Herrnhut; each Province has its corresponding members; and all Moravians are expected to share in the burden.
Above all, the Moravian Church is united in the work of Foreign Missions. For their missions to the heathen the Moravians have long been famous; and, in proportion to their resources, they are ten times as active as any other Protestant Church. But in this book the story of Moravian foreign missions has not been told. It is a story of romance and thrilling adventure, of dauntless heroism and marvellous patience; it is a theme worthy of a Froude or a Macaulay; and some day a master of English prose may arise to do it justice. If that master historian ever appears, he will have an inspiring task. He will tell of some of the finest heroes that the Christian Church has ever produced. He will tell of Matthew Stach, the Greenland pioneer, of Friedrich Martin, the "Apostle to the Negroes," of David Zeisberger, the "Apostle to the Indians," of Erasmus Schmidt, in Surinam, of Jaeschke, the famous Tibetan linguist, of Leitner and the lepers on Robben Island, of Henry Schmidt in South Africa, of James Ward in North Queensland, of Meyer and Richard in German East Africa, and of many another grand herald of the Cross whose name is emblazoned in letters of gold upon the Moravian roll of honour. In no part of their work have the Brethren made grander progress. In 1760 they had eight fields of labour, 1,000 communicants, and 7,000 heathen under their care; in 1834, thirteen fields of labour, 15,000 communicants, and 46,000 under their care; in 1901, twenty fields of labour, 32,000 communicants, and 96,000 under their care. As the historian traces the history of the Moravian Church, he often finds much to criticize and sometimes much to blame; but here, on the foreign mission field, the voice of the critic is dumb. Here the Moravians have ever been at their best; here they have done their finest redemptive work; here they have shown the noblest self-sacrifice; and here, as the sternest critic must admit, they have always raised from degradation to glory the social, moral, and spiritual condition of the people. In these days the remark is sometimes made by superior critics that foreign missionaries in the olden days had a narrow view of the Gospel, that their only object was to save the heathen from hell, and that they never made any attempt to establish the Kingdom of God on earth. If that statement refers to other missionaries, it may or may not be true; but if it refers to Moravians it is false. At all their stations the Moravian Missionaries looked after the social welfare of the people. They built schools, founded settlements, encouraged industry, fought the drink traffic, healed the sick, and cast out the devils of robbery, adultery and murder; and the same principles and methods are still in force to-day.
At the last General Synod held in Herrnhut the foreign mission work was placed under the management of a General Mission Board; the Board was elected by the Synod; and thus every voting member of the Church has his share in the control of the work. In each Province there are several societies for raising funds. In the German Province are the North-Scheswig Mission Association, the Zeist Mission Society, and the Fünf-pfennig Verein or Halfpenny Union. In the British Province are the Society for the Furtherance of the Gospel, which owns that famous missionary ship, the "Harmony"; the Juvenile Missionary Association, chiefly supported by pupils of the boarding schools; the Mite Association; and that powerful non-Moravian Society, the London Association in aid of Moravian Missions. In North America is the Society for Propagating the Gospel among the Heathen. In each Province, too, we find periodical missionary literature: in Germany two monthlies, the Missions-Blatt and Aus Nord und Süd; in Holland the Berichten uit de Heidenwereld; in Denmark the Evangelisk Missionstidende; in England the quarterly Periodical Accounts and the monthly Moravian Missions; and in North America two monthlies, Der Missions Freund and the Little Missionary. In Germany the missionary training College is situated at Niesky; in England at Bristol. In England there is also a special fund for the training of medical missionaries. Of the communicant members of the Moravian Church one in every sixty goes out as a missionary; and from this fact the conclusion has often been drawn that if the members of other churches went out in the same proportion the heathen world might be won for Christ in ten years. At present the Mission field contains about 100,000 members; the number of missionaries employed is about 300; the annual expenses of the work are about £90,000; and of that sum two-thirds is raised by the native converts.
There are now fourteen Provinces in the Mission field, and attractive is the scene that lies before us. We sail on the "Harmony" to Labrador, and see the neatly built settlements, the fur-clad Missionary in his dog-drawn sledge, the hardy Eskimos, the squat little children at the village schools, the fathers and mothers at worship in the pointed church, the patients waiting their turn in the surgery in the hospital at Okak. We pass on to Alaska, and steam with the Brethren up the Kuskokwim River. We visit the islands of the West Indies, where Froude, the historian, admired the Moravian Schools, and where his only complaint about these schools was that there were not enough of them. We pass on to California, where the Brethren have a modern Mission among the Red Indians; to the Moskito Coast, once the scene of a wonderful revival; to Paramaribo in Surinam, the city where the proportion of Christians is probably greater than in any other city in the world; to South Africa, where it is commonly reported that a Hottentot or Kaffir Moravian convert can always be trusted to be honest; to German East Africa, where the Brethren took over the work at Urambo at the request of the London Missionary Society; to North Queensland, where the natives were once so degraded that Anthony Trollope declared that the "game was not worth the candle," where Moravians now supply the men and Presbyterians the money, and where the visitor gazes in amazement at the "Miracle of Mapoon"; and last to British India, near Tibet, where, perched among the Himalaya Mountains, the Brethren in the city of Leh have the highest Missionary station in the world.
As the Moravians, therefore, review the wonderful past, they see the guiding hand of God at every stage of the story. They believe that their Church was born of God in Bohemia, that God restored her to the light of day when only the stars were shining, that God has opened the door in the past to many a field of labour, and that God has preserved her to the present day for some great purpose of his own. Among her ranks are men of many races and many shades of opinion; and yet, from Tibet to San Francisco, they are still one united body. As long as Christendom is still divided, they stand for the great essentials as the bond of union. As long as lepers in Palestine cry "unclean," they have still their mission in the land where the Master taught. As long as Bohemia sighs for their Gospel, and the heathen know not the Son of Man, they feel that they must obey the Missionary mandate; and, convinced that in following these ideals they are not disobedient to the heavenly vision, they emblazon still upon their banner the motto encircling their old episcopal seal:—
I.—THE BOHEMIAN BRETHREN.
A. H. Wratislaw: John Hus (S.P.C.K. 1882).
H. B. Workman: The Letters of Hus (Hodder and Stoughton).
Johann Loserth: Wyclif and Hus.
Anton Gindely: Geschichte der Böhmischen Brüder. For the external fortunes of the Brethren, Gindely's narrative is excellent; but his account of their inner life is poor and inaccurate.
Anton Gindely: Quellen zur Geschichte der Böhmischen Brüder. A collection of documents, dealing chiefly with the Brethren's relations with Luther.
Anton Gindely: Geschichte des dreiszig-jährigen Krieges. (Vol. IV.)
Jaroslav Goll: Quellen und Untersuchung zur Geschichte der Böhmischen Brüder (1882). Specially useful for Peter of Chelcic.
Bishop Edmund de Schweinitz: History of the Unitas Fratrum (Bethlehem, Pa. 1885). This is the standard English work on the Bohemian Brethren. It must, however, be used with caution. The author occasionally betrays a tendency to make out the Brethren more evangelical than they really were. Further, since Gindely and de Schweinitz wrote, many new discoveries have been made; their conclusions must be tested by the recent researches of J. T. Müller, the Brethren's Archivar at Herrnhut.
J. T. Müller: Die deutschen Katechismen der Böhmischen Brüder (Berlin: A. Hofmann and Comp., 1887). Absolutely indispensable. No book ever written gives so full a description of the Brethren's principles and methods, or so true an estimate of the great part they played in the Reformation.
J. T. Müller: Die Gefangenschaft des Johann Augusta (Leipzig, Friedrich Jansa. 1895). A translation, with introduction and notes, of Jacob Bilek's narrative. It throws quite a new light on Augusta's policy and character.
J. T. Müller: Das Bischoftum der Brüder-Unität (Herrnhut. 1889).
J. T. Müller: "Gemeindeverfassung der Böhmischen Brüder," in Monatshefte der Comenius-Gesellschaft, 1896.
L. G. Hassé and E. Walder: "Report of the Committee appointed by the Synod of the Moravian Church in Great Britain for the purpose of inquiring into the possibility of more friendly relations on the part of this Church with the Anglican Church" (Moravian Publication Office, 32, Fetter Lane, E.C.). Complete statement of the evidence on the Brethren's Episcopal Orders.
Eugen Borgius: Aus Posens und Polens kirchlicher Vergangenheit (Berlin, 1898. Wiegandt und Grieben). Contains a discussion (pp. 46-51) of Müller's Das Bischoftum.
Lützow, Count: History of Bohemian Literature (William Heinemann; new edition, 1907). Contains useful information on the Brethren's literary activities.
Benjamin Seifferth (Moravian Bishop): Church Constitution of the Bohemian and Moravian Brethren (W. Mallalieu and Co., 97, Hatton Garden. 1866). Translation of the Ratio Disciplinae, with original text and notes.
Walther E. Schmidt: Das religiöse Leben in den ersten Zeiten der Brüderunität, in the Zeitschrift für Brüder-Geschichte (Herrnhut, NO. 1, 1907.)
J. T. Müller: Ueber eine Inquisition gegen die Waldenser in der Gegend von Altenburg und Zwichau, in the Zeitschrift für Brüd. Gesch. (Herrnhut. 1908).
Zeitschrift für Brüder-Geschichte. An historical half-yearly magazine, edited by J. T. Müller and Gerhard Reichel. Scientific and scholarly; complete guide to the most recent works on Brethren's History.
II.—JOHN AMOS COMENIUS.
S. S. Laurie: John Amos Comenius, his Life and Educational Works (Cambridge, Pitt Press Series. 1895).
M. W. Keatinge: The Great Didactic (Edinburgh, A. and C. Black). The introduction contains a good life of Comenius, perhaps the fullest in the English language.
Daniel Benham: The School of Infancy.
Count Lützow: The Labyrinth of the World and the Paradise of the Heart (Dent's Temple Classics. 1907). Translation, with brief memoir.
Monatshefle der Comenius-Gesellschaft (Berlin, R. Gaertner's Verlagsbuchandlung). Founded 1892. See especially Vol. VII. (1898), Nos. 3 and 4, for articles on the Gymnasium at Lissa and on "Comenius und die Volksschule."
III.—MORAVIANS IN GERMANY.
Albrecht Ritschl: Geschichte des Pietismus (Vol. III. 1889). By English historians Ritschl's great work is generally regarded as a classic. But his account of Zinzendorf and the Brethren is one of the most inaccurate narratives ever written. It is bigoted in tone, careless in details, and based on second-hand evidence; and absolutely misleading in the general impression that it gives. It is not serious history; it is rather a theological romance. (For examples, see notes passim.)
J. T. Müller: Zinzendorf als Erneuerer der alten Brüder-Kirche (Leipzig, Friedrich Jansa. 1900). The only complete exposition of Zinzendorf's policy. His exposure of Ritschl's fictions is admirable.
Bernhard Becker: Zinzendorf und sein Christentum im Verhältnis zum kirchlichen und religiösen Leben seiner Zeit (Leipzig, Friedrich Jansa, 1886; second edition, 1900). A profound treatise; shows Zinzendorf's greatness and originality as a theologian.
Theodor G. Schmidt: Zinzendorfs soziale Stellung (Basel, Adolf Geering. 1900). Deals with Zinzendorf's social policy.
Guido Burkhardt: Zinzendorf und die Brüdergemeine (Leipzig, Friedrich Jansa. 1865 and 1901).
Guido Burkhardt: Die Brüdergemeine, Erster Theil (Gnadau, Unitäts-Buchhandlung, 1889).
Gneomar Ernst von Natzmer: Die Jugend Zinzendorfs (Eisenach, M. Wilckens. 1894).
Hermann Römer: Nicolaus Ludwig, Graf von Zinzendorf (Gnadau, Unitäts-Buchhandlung. 1900).
E. W. Croeger: Geschichte der erneuerten Brüder-Kirche (Gnadau, Unitäts-Buchhandlung. 1852-1854).
David Cranz: Ancient and Modern History of the Brethren (translated by Benjamin La Trobe. 1780). By no means out of date for Zinzendorf's times.
John Beck Holmes: History of the Protestant Church of the United Brethren (Vol. II. 1830).
J. Taylor Hamilton: History of the Moravian Church during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries (Bethlehem, Pa. Times Publishing Co. 1900).
Augustus Gottlieb Spangenberg: Life of Zinzendorf (English translation by Samuel Jackson. 1836).
Gerhard Reichel: August Gottlieb Spangenberg, Bischof der Brüderkirche (Tübingen, J. C. B. Mohr, 1906. Of exceptional value and delightfully candid.)
Original Sources: For lack of space these cannot be enumerated here, but the student may find them all referred to in the foregoing works by Becker, Müller, Schmidt, Cranz, and Reichel.
IV.—MORAVIANS IN ENGLAND.
Gerhard Wauer: Beginnings of the Brethren's Church in England. Translated by John Elliott. (32, Fetter Lane, E.C. 1901.)
Bishop A. C. Hassé: The United Brethren in England (32, Fetter Lane, E.C.).
Daniel Benham: Memoirs of James Hutton (Hamilton, Adams and Co. 1856).
J. P. Lockwood: Life of Peter Boehler (Wesleyan Conference Office. 1868).
Daniel Benham: Life of Rev. John Gambold (Mallalieu and Co., 97, Hatton Garden. 1865).
John Wesley's Journal.
Charles Wesley's Journal.
Of the sources in the Moravian Archives at Fetter Lane, those that I have found most useful are the following: (1) A miscellaneous collection, entitled "Pamphlets"; (2) MS. and Note-books, containing congregation diaries, copied out by the late Bishop A. C. Hassé; (3) Minutes of British Provincial Synods.
For other sources see: (1) The above work by Gerhard Wauer, (2) My own article, "The Moravian Contribution to the Evangelical Revival in England," in the Owens College "Historical Essays" (Manchester University Press. 1907). (3) My own John Cennick; a sketch (32, Fetter Lane, E.C. 1906). (4) Catalogue of the Moravian Archives at 32, Fetter Lane, E.C. (5) L. Tyerman: Life and Times of John Wesley. (6) L. Tyerman: The Oxford Methodists.
V.—MORAVIANS IN AMERICA.
W. C. Reichel: Memorials of the Moravian Church (Philadelphia, Lippincott and Co. 1870).
L. T. Reichel: Moravians in North Carolina (Salem, N. C. O. A. Keehln. 1857).
L. T. Reichel: Early History of United Brethren in North America (Nazareth, Pa. 1888).
Abraham Ritter: Moravian Church in Philadelphia (Philadelphia, C. Sherman. 1857).
Transactions of the Moravian Historical Society (Nazareth, Pa. 1859 to 1907).
VI.—THE FOREIGN MISSIONS.
J. T. Hamilton: History of the Missions of the Moravian Church during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries (Moravian Publishing Office, 32, Fetter Lane, E.C. 1900).
Adolf Schulze: Abrisz einer Geschichte der Brüder-Mission (Herrnhut, Missionsbuchhandlung. 1901). This is the standard work on the subject. It contains an elaborate bibliography.
1 (return)
[ De Ecclesiâ.]
2 (return)
[ Calixtine = Cup-ite, from
the Latin, calix, a cup. Utraquist = in both kinds, from the Latin,
utraque.]
3 (return)
[ Pronounced: Kelchits. The
ch is a guttural like the Hebrew kaph, or like ch in the word loch.]
4 (return)
[ A common saying in Peter's
day.]
5 (return)
[ Pronounced Rockitsanna.]
6 (return)
[ This outbreak made a great
sensation, and was frequently quoted by the Brethren in their writings.]
7 (return)
[ Rockycana's character is
rather hard to judge. Some of his sermons have been preserved, and they
have the ring of sincerity. Perhaps, like Erasmus in later years, he
wished to avoid a schism, and thought that the Church could be reformed
from within.]
8 (return)
[ These settled, not at
Kunwald, but close by.]
9 (return)
[ For many years there has
been a tradition that the Moravian Church was founded on March 1st, 1457;
but this date is only a pious imagination. We are not quite sure of the
year, not to speak of the day of the month. If the Moravian Church must
have a birthday, March 1st, 1457, will do as well as any other; but the
truth is that on this point precise evidence has not yet been discovered.]
10 (return)
[ This division into three
classes is first found in a letter to Rockycana, written in 1464.]
11 (return)
[ De Schweinitz (p. 107)
says that the Brethren now took the title of "Fratres Legis Christi,"
i.e., Brethren of the Law of Christ. This is a mistake. This title is not
found till towards the close of the sixteenth century, and was never in
general use; see Müller's "Böhmische-Brueder" in Hauck's
Real-Encyclopædie.]
12 (return)
[ The best way to
understand the Brethren's attitude is to string together their favourite
passages of Scripture. I note, in particular, the following: Matthew
xviii. 19, 20; Jeremiah iii. 15; John xx. 23; Revelation xviii. 4, 5; Luke
vi. 12-16; Acts iv. 32.]
13 (return)
[ And this raises an
interesting question: If the lot had decided against the Brethren, what
would they have done? They have given us the answer themselves. If the
inscribed slips had remained in the vase, the Brethren would have waited a
year and then tried again. The final issue, in fact, did not depend on the
use of the lot at all. They used it, not to find out God's will, but
simply to confirm that faith in their cause which had already been gained
in prayer.]
14 (return)
[ It is here stated by De
Schweinitz (p. 137), on Gindely's authority, that the members of the Synod
were now re-baptized. The statement is not correct. It is based on a
letter written by Rockycana; but it is unsupported by any other evidence,
and must, therefore be rejected. As the Brethren have often been
confounded with Anabaptists (especially by Ritschl, in his Geschichte des
Pietismus), I will here give the plain facts of the case. For a number of
years the Brethren held that all who joined their ranks from the Church of
Rome should be re-baptized; and the reason why they did so was that in
their judgment the Romanist baptism had been administered by men of bad
moral character, and was, therefore, invalid. But in 1534 they abandoned
this position, recognised the Catholic Baptism as valid, and henceforth
showed not a trace of Anabaptist views either in theory or in practice.]
15 (return)
[ 1. The "Six Commandments"
are as follows:—