[XIII.] [No date.]

DEAREST CHARLOTTE,

You are right, I expected nothing less than to receive a letter from you from Anhalt; and yesterday, when I got it, I could hardly restrain a cry of joy, and the exclamation—“Oh, were I but also there!” But, Charlotte, I believe if this were the case, I would rejoice much more than you seem to do, according to the impression I have received from your letter, and more especially as I see by the address that our father was at home when you wrote. You are sorry to have been disturbed in your blissful tranquillity, and to a certain extent I can agree with you; but, dear sister, duty is duty, and we ought ever to do it cheerfully. I think, that though you bustle about in the house and garden from five o’clock in the morning until ten in the evening, you may be equally safe, and feel yourself equally near to the Saviour, as in the tranquil state of inactivity (if you will allow me the expression) which you enjoyed in Gnadenfrei. If this were not so, how should I do, or any of those who study, constantly obliged, as we are, to turn our thoughts to other matters? But the heart may, nevertheless, feel the peace and the love of Jesus, as I can assert from my own experience, thanks be to His mercy.

That you were deprived of the satisfaction of celebrating Passion week and Easter in the congregation I regret with you; but I trust that the Saviour has vouchsafed to you some consolation and compensation. The office at ——— is not, indeed, performed in so solemn and edifying a manner as among us; the thoughts are more easily drawn off, holy feelings of love and reverence are not excited to the same extent; the whole relation of our hearts to the Saviour does not appear so distinctly as in the verses which the Liturgus⁸ gives out; but, Charlotte, the essential matter is, nevertheless, the same. The body of Christ, which was given as a ransom for us, is partaken of, and so likewise the blood which was shed in forgiveness of our sins, and the effects must be the same provided we present ourselves at the table in a reverential and loving spirit, and with hearts humbled with thoughts of the mercy of the Saviour and of their own shortcomings, yet comforted and joyful, because allowed to strengthen themselves with His strength. This you have, no doubt, experienced.

Regarding your stay at home I would further address a few requests to you, provided they do not come too late. First of all, try to rejoice at being once more called upon to occupy yourself with household duties; it is absolutely necessary that a young woman should have some knowledge of these matters; for you cannot know whither the Saviour may lead you, or whether it be your destiny to sit for ever in the choir-house before an embroidery frame. Secondly, be not over anxious as to whether you are doing the thing properly or not; such anxiety is good for nothing. My principle is: boldly begun is half won. Of course it is understood that the “boldly begun” is not to exclude the necessary prudence and consideration. Thirdly, remember that you will be watched on all sides, and that from your conduct conclusions will be drawn relative to the community. Be not, therefore, dull and dejected, that people may not thereby be confirmed in their notion that Herrnhuters are all discontented dissemblers. Fourthly, speak properly; and do not make use of any expressions which you have only learnt in the sister-house; for they are good for nothing and no one will understand them.

[XIV.] Niesky, 22nd December, 1783.

DEARLY BELOVED SISTER!

Brother Z——— has given me the distressing intelligence of the departure of our dear mother for her long home, which he had learnt from my father’s letter to brother Sh———. He sent for me and Carl one Wednesday forenoon. I saw at once that he had nothing good to announce to us, and my heart began to beat directly I entered the room. He read the greater part of the letter to us; and the first day it was to me like a dream which I could not believe. The description of her last hours has had a very good effect on me; and the event, in regard to which the Saviour has doubtless his wise intentions, makes me feel more than ever the blessing of being in this community. I often think of what she said in Gnadenfrei: “Now that all the children are going to the Brethren, I shall be of little more use here, so I may as well lay me down and go to sleep.” And when I took leave of her here, I felt as if I should never see her again. Our father is the one whom I most pity; I fancy his state must be dreadful. Oh! how I wish that to him also might be granted the happiness of being in a congregation of the Brethren; but I do not think that this will be his lot. He is now doubly an object of thought and of prayerful intercession to me. Since August I have not had a single line from him, and I dare say his first letter to me will be as great a trial to him as my first letter to him was to me. And now I will conclude, recommending myself to your love and to your intercessions; and assuring you of my hearty sympathy in case you stand as much in need of such as I do, and of my sincere joy in case you are better off. Farewell, and continue to love,

Your devotedly attached Brother.

The Father to the Children.

[XV.] Anhalt, 31st January, 1784.

MY DEARLY BELOVED CHILDREN!

You are now motherless orphans, and the dear Saviour has reconciled you to her departure, by granting you the grace to have faith in Himself, by which faith you know that she also, because she believed in Him, will be with Him for evermore. Therefore, never forget her, but let her memory be to you an incitement to praise your Creator and Saviour, who gave you a mother that loved your souls and was anxious for your eternal welfare, and who became, through His mercy, a blessed instrument in His hand, to keep you dear children from the temptations of the wicked world, and to bring you into His communion as into a secure haven. Thank the dear Saviour for this with all your hearts, but pray also to Him without ceasing to make you entirely His own, to grant that your hearts be exclusively devoted to Him, so that you may desire to live for Him alone. Oh! my dear children, whom I now embrace with more undivided fatherly love than ever, whom I often in thought press to my bosom, and whom I daily recommend in prayer to the most faithful heart of my beloved Saviour—Oh! I implore you, be not indifferent in regard to the surpassing mercy that the Saviour has vouchsafed to you and to me in bringing you unto His people.

Schleiermacher to his Sister.

[XVI.] [No date].

DEARLY BELOVED SISTER!

The community here celebrate the office eight days later than the Gnadenfrei and other congregations; consequently yesterday, I was for the second time, by the grace of the Saviour, permitted to be a looker on. In the afternoon, before the love-feast, I received your letter. I am assured that you will rejoice with me—that with me you will thank our good and merciful Saviour, and also pray to Him to bestow upon me His grace, more especially during the fortnight between this and Maundy-Thursday, when I am to partake of His flesh and blood in the Holy Communion, so that it may day by day show forth more gloriously in me. “I will bring them all unto myself,” was the text of yesterday; and as regards me also He will graciously fulfil this promise. He has risen from the dead to help all miserable sinners on earth, and therefore I also have a part in Him, He alone is my stay, the God who died for me upon the cross.

On occasion of your approaching birthday, the first that you will celebrate in the congregation, I wish you the special peace of the Saviour, and many blessings; I will think of you on that day. Ah! did but the love of Christ fill our hearts day and night! Were we but always pleasant in His sight, were we but in constant, uninterrupted communion with Him, did we but cling to Him so that not even for one moment could we be drawn away from Him! With these wishes for us both I conclude. Remember me, and love your brother, who loves you in Jesus… . .

[XVII.] [No date.]

… . On the 21st, the unmarried brethren here celebrated an anniversary, on which occasion twelve youths from our house, who left for Barby two days later, were admitted into the Brother choir. Already at the time of my confirmation I looked forward with joy to the choir communion,⁹ which is partaken of on this occasion, and you may conceive my grief when I found that we would not be allowed to share in it. I quite agree with what you say about the recent beautiful festivals, and to me also they have brought a blessing. It is true that all days that God gives, ought, in the community, to be days sacred to the memory of His martyrdom; but on occasion of such holidays and memorial festivals, we feel nevertheless a greater and more lasting blessing. And now continue to love me, as you may be assured, I continue to love you, and think often of,

Your affectionate Brother.

[XVIII.] [No date.]

… . After all, the removal to another choir, which awaits me in four weeks, is no insignificant step, and when I look back upon the past, my mind is strangely moved. I have been an apprentice in the community somewhat more than two years; that is not a very long time, yet in this short period how much have I not experienced, that is to say, much evil as regards myself, and much mercy as regards the Saviour; I have merited wrath, say I on my side; I have atoned for you, cries the Lamb from the cross. When I reflect upon what is required of a brother, I feel that I should despair, were I to venture upon the step, relying upon myself and upon my own strength; therefore, dear Charlotte, think often of me in your communings with the Saviour, and pray to Him to grant me His grace in my new calling… . . Farewell, dear Charlotte, and let not the thirty additional miles, that will in future separate us, lessen, but rather increase, your love for me… . .

The Father to the Son.

[XIX.] Gnadenfrei, 6th October, 1784.

My DEAR Son,

I am heartily rejoiced at and grateful for the mercy which the Saviour has vouchsafed to you, when I see from your letters that through His spirit He has kept alive in you the desire and the endeavour to live to please him alone. Thank Him from the bottom of your heart for this inexpressible mercy, and also because He makes you feel that you do not even now love Him as you ought. But this must not discourage you, nor even awaken in you the desire that this bitterness may soon be taken from you. Most earnestly do I pray that this, as well as everything that you may further experience, may lead you to fix your eyes steadfastly and with unswerving faith on his wounds, which have the power to conquer all discontent; and by gazing at which, we may even here below enjoy heavenly bliss. The contemplation of His wounds and of the tears which He has shed for you, will make time seem short to you during the days of expectancy.

The best and only advice I can give you, my dear son, in the present state of your heart, is to call without ceasing upon the Saviour to let you evermore experience the power of His blood, and then you will be able to sing with entire truth—“Thy dear blood, the sap of life, gives me ever new strength to live.” … .

Continue to write often to your dear sister, whose company I have been enjoying for some days, and love each other, and encourage each other in faith and devotion, and pray also for me… . .

Stubenrauch to Schleiermacher.

[XX.] Halle, 19th November, 1785.

My VERY DEAR AND VALUED NEPHEW,

… . It has pleased me very much to be able to trace in your letters the whole course and arrangement of your studies. I have always known the seminary in which you are studying to be a very useful institution, and well adapted to its purpose; and I rejoice that you have there excellent opportunities for acquiring a thorough knowledge of philosophy and theology, without being obliged to visit our academy, where so many a respectable youth has forfeited his entire peace of mind, has been burdened with doubts and empty speculations or useless criticism, and has lost what was dearest to him, without acquiring any adequate compensation. You are most fortunate—and you cannot sufficiently thank your faithful Lord and Saviour for it — in having escaped exposure to all such temptations to err from the truth that leads to salvation. Nevertheless, I would most earnestly entreat you not to look upon all dissenters in the same light, and to habituate yourself to be tolerant. I know full well that toleration is a word much in fashion at the present moment, and that it is frequently abused; but I always think that, if we would judge justly those who are misled, we must take into consideration the more or less favourable position which they have occupied, their education, and the first lessons and impressions which they have derived from it; and besides this, we must allow that there are differences of grades and classes among the so-called innovators. I do not doubt that the Brethren, who are so just in all their thoughts, likewise point this out to you when an opportunity occurs during the exegetical lectures which you are now attending, and that they recommend a wise toleration to their young auditors—and you will thus have learned to recognise the great amount of evil that has resulted through many centuries from the early established principle, Extra ecclesiam nulla salus. … . That you are so specially interested in exegesis redounds to your honour, and gives me great pleasure; for the right understanding of the Scriptures is after all the fundamental matter on which depends not only our own tranquillity and peace of mind, but also the blessing that will attend us in our vocation.

[XXI.] Halle, 10th December, 1785.

… . This time, I begin by answering the last part of your letter. In alluding to nulla salus extra ecclesiam, I was far from intending to impute blame to the excellent Brotherhood, but merely meant to recommend to you a true, active, wide, and well-understood toleration, because it seems to me that, although much has been said and written about toleration in the last decennium, little real toleration is exercised.

That you read the Allgemeine Literatur Zeitung gives me true pleasure; for, in my opinion, this is one of the best periodicals, and renders many others superfluous. Your judgment of Barth is quite correct. Who is the author of the Moral Lessons for all Ranks, I do not like to say, as I am not quite sure. Tell me in your next, whether you still like mathematics as much as formerly. In Barby you cannot fail, I think, to obtain further instruction herein.

The Father to the Son.

[XXII.] Anhalt, 27th January, 1786.

I thank you, my dear son, for your sincere wishes on occasion of the new year; yet more, however, I wish that you and I may both be enabled gratefully to enjoy all the benefits that the Saviour has conferred upon us in so unmerited a manner. The future is in His hand, and cannot, therefore, have anything but good in store for us; but to enjoy the present and the past, and to have ever a due appreciation of His loving kindness, this is bliss, and this I desire for you.

I trust that I shall be able to let you have the twenty dollars which you ask for, although my income is very accurately apportioned; but you must have patience, and give time… . .

The Son to the Father.

[XXIII.] Barby, March, 1786.

DEAREST FATHER,

Last Saturday I received the enclosed, and might consequently have written one post day earlier, had not a bad finger prevented me. However, I sit down as soon as possible to thank you with all my heart for your last letter, and for all your fatherly love.

At the very commencement you impress upon me the great rule, to enjoy the present and to be grateful for the past, but as regards the future to rely upon the Lord in whose hand it is. I fully acknowledge, dear father, that this rule is necessary, particularly to one situated as I am, if he would lead a happy and contented life; but I must confess my weakness on this point also. It is true that when I look back upon my life of seventeen years, I recognise so many remarkable proofs of the kind and merciful guidance of the Lord, and of His watchfulness over all circumstances relating even to the meanest of his rational creatures, that I feel constrained to prostrate myself in the dust, and to say: With what mercy, and patience, and love hast Thou led me, O Lord. My thoughts are confounded thereat, yet the unbounded confidence which this ought to inspire fails me; and when I look into the future, I am much troubled, not by the question how great, for that is rather indifferent to me, but by the question when and where.

It is great comfort to me that you will be so kind as to help me out with the twenty dollars. The best thanks that I can give you for all your goodness, is to conduct myself so as to be a joy to the Saviour, to you, and to the community to which I belong by grace; and may the Lord so grant it! Towards this consummation all my endeavours are directed.

Stubenrauch to Schleiermacher.

[XXIV.] Halle, 14th March, 1786.

… . The fact that my two last letters principally contained recommendations to wise toleration, you must by no means interpret as being meant to convey an accusation of intolerance against the Brotherhood; these recommendations were rather the consequence of conversations and books, which at that time occupied my mind… … Under such circumstances I could not sufficiently impress the duty of true tolerance on a youth so dear to me. However, I see distinctly from your last letter that we are quite agreed on this point. I further agree with you herein, that whereas our forefathers perhaps went too far in their representations of the avenging justice of God, and thus almost entirely lost sight of His boundless love and mercy towards fallen man, so in our day, on the contrary, many persons praise exclusively the fatherly love of God; and if formerly people were perhaps too much terrified at the inflexible justice of God, now, on the contrary, by having God’s goodness constantly recalled to their minds, they are as it were lulled to sleep and rendered indolent… … Here we perceive most distinctly what great mischief results when, instead of holding in mind the intimate connection and the mutual relation between the great truths of our religion, we give ourselves up to a onesided contemplation of certain injurious results that may follow from an exaggerated representation of isolated truths; for from such a contemplation arise the imprudent (to use a very mild term) expressions relative to the doctrine of the atonement in the Berlin Monthly Journal and elsewhere.

I am very much pleased to hear that you still continue a friend of the mathematical sciences, and I rejoice that you are to receive further instruction herein in the course of the next half year. This may be of great service to you through life, as, indeed, I think I already perceive the advantage which you have derived from this science, in the greater clearness and correctness of your perceptions.

You have no doubt heard of Mendelsohn’s death; perhaps also you may have seen in the papers the following distich:—

There is a God, so Moses taught; But Mendelsohn the proof has brought.

Upon which the subjoined parody has been made here:—

The wise believe ‘cause Moses taught it; From Mendelsohn but fools have caught it.

I should like to know your opinion of this parody.

[XXV.] Halle, 25th April, 1786.

… . Your judgment of Moses Mendelsohn pleases me very much, and so likewise your feeling of the impropriety of that distich. It seems to me, however, that you are not quite just to Mendelsohn when you say that “we have had among us men who, regarded as philosophers, may well be placed on a level with him and whose death has, nevertheless, created far less sensation.” For Mendelsohn was more than a philosopher; in fact, our literature, our language, and also sound criticism, are greatly indebted to him.

The Son to the Father.

[XXVI.] Barby, 1786.

Thanks to moderate exercise and to a wholesome diet, which is also very wholesome for my purse, I am now, praise be to God, healthy and cheerful. With one thing only I am not content. I wish very much to study theology, and that thoroughly; but I shall not be able to boast of having done anything of the kind when I leave this, for in my opinion we are kept within too narrow limits in point of reading. Except what we see in the scientific periodicals, we learn nothing about the objections, arguments, and discussions raised in the present day in regard to exegesis and dogmatics. Even in the lectures delivered to us sufficient mention is not made of these matters, and yet knowledge of them is absolutely necessary for a future theologian. The fact that they fear to lay them before us, awakens in many minds a suspicion that the objections of the innovators must approve themselves to the intellect and be difficult to refute. I do not, however, share this opinion; and upon the whole, the small amount of discontent I feel in regard to this subject does not as yet disturb my tranquillity, and you are the only person to whom I have mentioned it.

I recommend myself to yours and mamma’s¹⁰ tender affection, and am with entire filial love and reverence.

Your most dutiful son.

The Father to the Son.

[XXVII.] Anhalt, 42nd August, 1786.

My DEAR Son,

I wish you and your comrade joy at having got Count Reuss for your warden; that you, more especially, are highly pleased at it, and that you are relieved from the necessity of writing to ask for money and an increase of allowance, I see by your letter. It is certainly very good when a man can be free from pecuniary cares while he is studying. I was not so fortunate; but my narrow circumstances proved very beneficial to me, and thus I hope that the dear Saviour will graciously turn to your true good, that which may at first seem a hardship to you—such as, for instance, your delicate health. His invisible hand ever leads us along the safest path, if we do but give ourselves up to His guidance like little children. Do this as regards your studies also, dear son, and be assured that you will lose nothing by it, should even the objections and criticisms of the innovators remain unknown to you. Keep out of the way of this tree of knowledge, and of that dangerous love of profundity which would lure you towards it. I have read almost all the refutations of infidelity, but they have not convinced me; but I have, on the contrary, learned from experience that faith is the regalia of the Deity, and can only be the work of His mercy. Besides, you do not intend to be a vain theologian, but are preparing to render yourself capable of bringing souls to the Saviour, and for this purpose, you need not all that knowledge; and you cannot sufficiently thank your Saviour for having brought you into the community of the Brethren, where you can so well do without it. Believe, moreover, that the Bible is an inexhaustible spring at which you may abundantly quench your thirst for knowledge. Make yourself, more especially, thoroughly acquainted with the Hebrew; for that many a treasure is still buried in this language, you may in a measure learn from the commentaries of brother R——. Should you wish, in addition to this, to read something pleasant, and at the same time edifying and likely to confirm you in your faith, you will find this in the writings of Martinot, Sander, Bonnet, and Harvey (principally of the latter), men who have endeavoured to trace in material nature also the love, the wisdom, and the power of God, who died upon the cross for us godless ones. It is, undoubtedly, very elevating; yet, when we remember and believe in the martyrdom of God, it makes us at the same time bow low in the dust, and inspires us with the deepest compunction, when in such books we learn to know not only the unfathomable depth of God’s love, which has condescended to us miserable and lost sinners, but also its height, length, and breadth. Here you will find a wide field for the exercise of your love of knowledge, in which you will be secure against pride and vanity, and will, ultimately, be led back again to blessed simplicity.

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Footnotes

1. The members of a Moravian congregation are divided according to age and position in life into sections or choirs. Thus there are choirs of the married brethren and sisters, the widows and the widowers, the single sisters and brethren, youths, maidens (the two latter from the twelfth or thirteenth to the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth year, according to circumstances), and, lastly, the choir of children of both sexes up to the twelfth or thirteenth year. Each choir has its own special meetings for exhortation and edification. On the Continent there are still houses for the single sisters, widows, and single brethren. The entrance and departure are per- fectly optional. Each brother and sister pays for board and lodging, and seeks to gain a livelihood by labour and occupation of some kind or other, unless when in the enjoyment of an independent competency. In some of the brethren’s houses flourishing trades are carried on, each trade being superintended by a master, who is responsible to the person who has the chief control of all the temporal concerns of the house, and who is called the Warden.—TRANS. ↩

2. The Pflegemutter, literally, nursing mother, was a female who superintended little children—often the wife of the person who had the care of an educational establishment. Pfleger and Pflegerinn, called in the English and American congregations of the Moravian Church labourer and labouress, are the individuals who have the spiritual charge of the inmates of the choir-houses.—TRANS. ↩

3. The Gemeinde Tag, literally the Congregation Day, was one of several days in the year, set apart for particular religious services, in which the whole congregation participated. At first, in the renewed Moravian Church at Herrnhut, they were held monthly, and letters from distant missionaries, or interesting intelligence regarding “the kingdom of God,” were communicated. The days thus specially observed are no longer maintained, as regards each congregation as a whole, but in the continental settlements there are still four Kinder Gemeintage, or congregation days, for the children during the course of the year.—TRANS. ↩

4. At first these were meetings in Herrnhut for the aged, and infirm, and sick, who could not attend the public service on Sundays and festival days. Some competent person repeated the sermon of the morning, and in course of time, as many strangers attended, it got the name of Fremden Stunde, or Strangers’-hour, or Strangers’-meeting. The term diaspora means Dispersion, with reference to James i. 1, 1 Peter i. 1, and John vii. 35. At a very early period of the “renewed” Moravian Church, invitations were sent from various quarters of Europe for godly men to labour in the national churches. These men did not dispense the sacraments, but visited, prayed, read the Bible, and kept meetings for those who, without leaving the national churches, sought “to be built up in communion” with right-minded, pious persons. There is a large number of persons on the Continent in this kind of connection with the United Brethren’s church, and such was probably the case with Schleiermacher’s parents. Each band or group is called a Diaspora Society; and one, or more, has its own “labourer,” or minister. Round most of the continental settlements there is such a society, and they have three or four days in the year when they come together in the settlement and have their own meetings.—TRANS. ↩

5. The Liturgie is a singing meeting, in which printed books are used. These contain verses in different metres, and adapted to different chorales, so as to afford variety, but giving a consecutive statement of some portion of Christian doctrine, with suitable application to the heart.—TRANS. ↩

6. The Gemeinstunde was originally in Herrnhut a discourse or address delivered to the members of the congregation on Sunday evening. It was intended to be a “vehicle” for conveying admonition and encouragement, according to the peculiar wants of the congregation. The term afterwards came to signify any exposition of Scripture or address as directed to the members of the Church as distinguished from the public preaching of the gospel.—TRANS. ↩

7. The singing meeting is distinguished from the Liturgie in as much as in these the officiating clergyman chooses verses from the printed hymn-book just as it pleases him, yet with reference to the peculiar circumstances of the day or church festival, &c. On the Continent the members know so many of these hymns by heart, that they do not take their books with them, nor does the leader make any use of his, simply commencing the verse, when the practised organist falls in with the chorale. These liturgies and singing-meetings are greatly relished by the musical Germans.—TRANS. ↩

8. The officiating minister. ↩

9. This is the Holy Communion partaken of by the officiating clergymen and some one choir of the congregation.—TRANS. ↩

10. The father had by this time married again. ↩