A History of the Moravian ChurchHutton, J. E. (Joseph Edmund)
Religion
A History of the Moravian Church
Hutton, J. E. (Joseph Edmund)
Moravian Church -- History
Away in the forest, how fair to the sight
Was the clear, placid lake as it sparkled in light,
And kissed with low murmur the green shady shore,
Whence a tribe had departed, whose traces it bore.
Where the lone Indian hastened, and wondering hushed
His awe as he trod o'er the mouldering dust!
How bright were the waters--how cheerful the song,
Which the wood-bird was chirping all the day long,
And how welcome the refuge those solitudes gave
To the pilgrims who toiled over mountain and wave;
Here they rested--here gushed forth, salvation to bring,
The fount of the Cross, by the "Beautiful Spring."
And yet the name of this wonderful man is almost unknown in England. We
are just coming to the reason. At the very time when his influence was
at its height the American War of Independence broke out, and Zeisberger
and his converts, as an Indian orator put it, were between two exceeding
mighty and wrathful gods, who stood opposed with extended jaws. Each
party wished the Indians to take up arms on its side. But Zeisberger
urged them to be neutral. When the English sent the hatchet of war to
the Delawares, the Delawares politely sent it back. When a letter came
to Zeisberger, requesting him to arouse his converts, to put himself
at their head, and to bring the scalps of all the rebels he could
slaughter, he threw the sheet into the flames. For this policy he was
suspected by both sides. At one time he was accused before an English
court of being in league with the Americans. At another time he was
accused by the Americans of being in league with the English. At length
the thunderbolt fell. As the Christian Indians of Gnadenhütten were
engaged one day in tilling the soil, the American troops of Colonel
Williamson appeared upon the scene, asked for quarters, were
comfortably, lodged, and then, disarming the innocent victims, accused
them of having sided with the British. For that accusation the only
ground was that the Indians had shown hospitality to all who demanded
it; but this defence was not accepted, and Colonel Williamson decided
to put the whole congregation to death {March 28th, 1782.}. The log huts
were turned into shambles; the settlers were allowed a few minutes for
prayer; then, in couples, they were summoned to their doom; and in cold
blood the soldiers, with tomahawks, mallets, clubs, spears and scalping
knives, began the work of butchery. At the end of the performance ninety
corpses lay dabbled with blood on the ground. Among the victims were
six National Assistants, a lady who could speak English and German,
twenty-four other women, eleven boys and eleven girls. The Blood-Bath of
Gnadenhütten was a hideous crime. It shattered the Indian Mission. The
grand plans of Zeisberger collapsed in ruin. As the war raged on, and
white men encroached more and more on Indian soil, he found himself and
his converts driven by brute force from one settlement after another.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account