The Moravians in Georgia [66]
from the continent that had witnessed the shattering of so many fond hopes and ambitions.
Forty-seven years later Brierly Allen settled in Savannah, the first minister there to represent the great denomination which grew from Wesley's later work in England, and the first Methodist Society in that city of his humiliation was organized in 1806.
During the preceding summer Zinzendorf had written to the Trustees, asking once more for (1) entire exemption from military service for the Georgia Moravians, for (2) permission for them to leave Georgia if this could not be granted, and (3) that at least four might remain among the Indians as missionaries.
In answer the Trustees (1) repeated their former decision regarding freehold representation, (2) gave consent for the Moravians to leave if they would not comply with this, and (3) refused to let them stay as missionaries. "The privilege of going among the Indians was given to your people out of consideration for Your Excellency, and also on account of their good conduct, they being citizens of this colony; but if they cease to reside there, this privilege will not be continued to any of them. To employ them as missionaries to instruct the Indians would be a reflection on our country, as if it could not furnish a sufficient number of pious men to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Therefore your people may continue among the Indians, only so long as they are citizens of the colony."
This was the death-blow to the Moravian settlement in Georgia. Had the Trustees exemplified their much-vaunted religious toleration by respecting the conscientious scruples of the Moravians, there were enough members of the Savannah Congregation who wanted to stay in Georgia to form the nucleus of the larger colony which would surely have followed them, for while they were willing to give up everything except religious liberty, they were human enough to regret having to abandon the improvements which they had made at the cost of so much labor and self-denial. The Church at large shared this feeling, and for many years watched and waited for an opportunity to re-open the work in Savannah, but without result. If the Trustees had even permitted the Moravians to stay as missionaries it might have saved the settlement to Georgia, for within a decade the English Parliament passed an Act granting the Moravians the very exemption for which they now asked in vain, and had there been a promising work begun among the Indians during the intervening years it would inevitably have drawn more laborers, as it did in Pennsylvania. But the Trustees shut the door in their faces, other promising and more hospitable fields opened, and the Moravian efforts were thereafter given to the upbuilding of other commonwealths.
In the latter part of January, 1738, eight more of the Moravian colonists left Savannah, -- Gotthard Demuth and his wife, George Waschke, his wife and mother, Augustin Neisser, Gottlieb Demuth, and David Jag, those who remained giving them money and provisions for their journey to Pennsylvania. Gotthard Demuth and wife settled in Germantown, later moving to Bethlehem and joining in the organization of that Congregation. In 1743 they were again living at Germantown, where Gotthard died the following year. Regina subsequently married David Tanneberger and moved once more to Bethlehem. Gottlieb Demuth lived at several places, but finally married, and settled in the Moravian Congregation at Schoeneck. Jag, who located at Goshenhopper, and the Waschkes and Augustin Neisser who went to Germantown, never rejoined the Church.
On the 28th of January, the Moravians in Savannah received an unlooked-for addition to their number. Toeltschig wrote to Spangenberg, "Yesterday two boys, who belong to Herrnhut, came unexpectedly to our house. They ran away from the Brethren in Ysselstein and went to Mr. Oglethorpe in London, begging him to send them to the Brethren in Georgia. He did so, but we will have to pay their transportation. One is Zeisberger's son David, about 17 years old, and the other John
Forty-seven years later Brierly Allen settled in Savannah, the first minister there to represent the great denomination which grew from Wesley's later work in England, and the first Methodist Society in that city of his humiliation was organized in 1806.
During the preceding summer Zinzendorf had written to the Trustees, asking once more for (1) entire exemption from military service for the Georgia Moravians, for (2) permission for them to leave Georgia if this could not be granted, and (3) that at least four might remain among the Indians as missionaries.
In answer the Trustees (1) repeated their former decision regarding freehold representation, (2) gave consent for the Moravians to leave if they would not comply with this, and (3) refused to let them stay as missionaries. "The privilege of going among the Indians was given to your people out of consideration for Your Excellency, and also on account of their good conduct, they being citizens of this colony; but if they cease to reside there, this privilege will not be continued to any of them. To employ them as missionaries to instruct the Indians would be a reflection on our country, as if it could not furnish a sufficient number of pious men to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Therefore your people may continue among the Indians, only so long as they are citizens of the colony."
This was the death-blow to the Moravian settlement in Georgia. Had the Trustees exemplified their much-vaunted religious toleration by respecting the conscientious scruples of the Moravians, there were enough members of the Savannah Congregation who wanted to stay in Georgia to form the nucleus of the larger colony which would surely have followed them, for while they were willing to give up everything except religious liberty, they were human enough to regret having to abandon the improvements which they had made at the cost of so much labor and self-denial. The Church at large shared this feeling, and for many years watched and waited for an opportunity to re-open the work in Savannah, but without result. If the Trustees had even permitted the Moravians to stay as missionaries it might have saved the settlement to Georgia, for within a decade the English Parliament passed an Act granting the Moravians the very exemption for which they now asked in vain, and had there been a promising work begun among the Indians during the intervening years it would inevitably have drawn more laborers, as it did in Pennsylvania. But the Trustees shut the door in their faces, other promising and more hospitable fields opened, and the Moravian efforts were thereafter given to the upbuilding of other commonwealths.
In the latter part of January, 1738, eight more of the Moravian colonists left Savannah, -- Gotthard Demuth and his wife, George Waschke, his wife and mother, Augustin Neisser, Gottlieb Demuth, and David Jag, those who remained giving them money and provisions for their journey to Pennsylvania. Gotthard Demuth and wife settled in Germantown, later moving to Bethlehem and joining in the organization of that Congregation. In 1743 they were again living at Germantown, where Gotthard died the following year. Regina subsequently married David Tanneberger and moved once more to Bethlehem. Gottlieb Demuth lived at several places, but finally married, and settled in the Moravian Congregation at Schoeneck. Jag, who located at Goshenhopper, and the Waschkes and Augustin Neisser who went to Germantown, never rejoined the Church.
On the 28th of January, the Moravians in Savannah received an unlooked-for addition to their number. Toeltschig wrote to Spangenberg, "Yesterday two boys, who belong to Herrnhut, came unexpectedly to our house. They ran away from the Brethren in Ysselstein and went to Mr. Oglethorpe in London, begging him to send them to the Brethren in Georgia. He did so, but we will have to pay their transportation. One is Zeisberger's son David, about 17 years old, and the other John