PREFACE.

THE following eight Narratives, and their Appendixes, contain historical accounts of those events which have given rise to the memorial days of the renewed Church of the Brethren. They are in close connexion with the Narratives published in 1821, comprizing the account of those two memorial days which have a reference to the history of the ancient Church of the Brethren; and this connection is necessarily the closer since none other but the descendants and survivors of that oppressed Church, (which had been completely destroyed in those regions where it existed originally) commenced in the year 1722 the building of Herrnhut, the firstling of all our Congregation places. Having found in that

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place an asylum from the reiterated persecutions of their enemies, they resorted thither from time to time, in considerable numbers, and brought with them the Statutes, the Spirit, the Blessing and the Promises of their ancient Church. The commencement of the Building of Herrnhut, June the 17th, 1722; the laying of the foundation stone of the first Meeting Hall and Academy, May 12, 1724; the agreement to the first Orders and Statutes of the Congregation, May 12, 1727; the celebration of the Holy Communion by the Congregation at Herrnhut in the Church at Berthelsdorf, 13th. of August, the same year, which, as it were, imprinted the Lord's seal upon that Congregaiton, and from which may be derived, as immediate consequences, the awakening of the Children, and the introduction of the hourly intercession-these were the memorable events, which fully proved, that the Lord would again mercifully look upon his deserted, despised, rejected people of the Brethren; and graciously answer the believing Prayer of his faithful Servant, the aged Bishop Amos Comenius. O bring us, Lord, again to thyself, that we may return to our homes! Renew our days as of old!—and that he would according to the hope and confidence of this his Servant, breathe with the breath of his mouth upon the dead and dry bones, scattered over the field of this world, and

cause them to live. Every one, who reviews the course and connection of these events, with even only a small degree of attention, will have to acknowledge, in these beginnings of the Brethren's Congregation, the finger of God, and the moving of his Spirit; and whoever with due care contemplates the evident leading and interposition of the Most High, in this new phenonemon of his kingdom, will be constrained to confess: This is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes! As soon as the newly established Congregation of the Brethren began to feel the vigor of the life which had been imparted by the Lord, the most earnest wish to participate in the furtherance of the kingdom of God in general, filled the minds of all. The impulse of their hearts to carry the message of Salvation procured for us by Christ to the remotest heathen tribes, inspired the first heathen-messengers with that irresistable courage of faith, which enabled them to break through all opposing impediments, and to commence in the years 1732 and 1733, the first Missions of the Brethren in St Thomas and in Greenland; the beginning of which Missions is commemorated on the 21st. of August, and 19th of January. All these memorable events were sealed and confirmed by the blessed experience made in the Unity of the Brethren, both on the 16th. of September and 13th. of

PART FIRST.

BEGINNING OF THE

BUILDING OF HERRNHUT,

BY SOME

Moravian Exiles.

For JUNE the 17th.

God calleth those things which be not, as though they were. Rom. 4. 17.

"Gon, who is wonderful in all his works and ways, is pleased to effect great and excellent purposes by means of things, in themselves weak, yea despicable in the eyes of the world; with a view that his name may thereby be glorified, and his omnipotence, wis

dom and grace made manifest. In the execution of these his purposes, he gradually unfolds and brings into completion the hidden counsel of his will, unravels his thoughts from time to time more fully: till the whole of his design being accomplished, the minds of all may be directed to consider the excellency of it, and thus become acquainted with his name and will, and be brought under the influence of genuine faith in him. Such has been the commencement and gradual progress of that work of our God and Lord, which in these our days he has been pleased to begin and to continue among us and by us, who are poor and mean, and consequently despised by the world :—a work which affords a striking evidence that He is in Christ our gracious God and Father, whose intention it is, that we should be his obedient children, and a people devoted unto Him, in as much as he hath raised us from a state of death, and brought us to the glorious light and liberty of the Gospel; so that now, rejoicing in his aiding grace, we can declare with a cheerful voice, and with holy exultation: "The Lord hath done great things for us, whereof we are glad!" With these words, that servant of the Lord Christian David, who deserves pre-eminently to be noticed among the founders of the congregation at Herrnhut, begins his account of that congregation in a letter written by him at Montmirail, October 2d., 1731, and addressed to the believing Brethren at Bern, Sehaffhausen and Lausanne. He was born December 31, 1690, at Senftleben, a village in Moravia, not far distant from the town of Neu Titschein, and educated in the Roman Catholic religion, in the devotional exercises of which he showed great zeal; though in so doing, he found no rest for his soul, as his heart