Detailed reports on the Salzburger emigrants who settled in America ... Volume 9, 1742 / edited by Samuel Urlsperger ; translated by Don Savelle ; edited by George Fenwick Jones ; with a new foreword by Ben Marsh

Detailed Reports on the Salzburger Emigrants Who Settled in America . . . Edited by Samuel Urlsperger - Volume Nine, 1742
Detailed Reports on theSalzburger EmigrantsWho Settled in America ...Edited by Samuel Urlsperger


EBENEZERS INDIAN NEIGHBORSFROM VON RECKS PICTURE BOOK, COURTESY OF THE ROYAL DANISH LIBRARY

Detailed Reports on the Salzburger Emigrants Who Settled in America ... Edited by Samuel Urlsperger

VOLUME NINE, 1742

Translated byDON SAVELLE

Edited byGEORGE FENWICK JONES


THE UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA PRESSATHENS AND LONDON

1988 by the University of Georgia PressAthens, Georgia 30602All rights reserved

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

(Revised for vol. 9)

Urlsperger, Samuel, 16851772.

Detailed reports on the Salzburger emigrants who settled in America.

(Wormsloe Foundation. Publications, no. 9 )

Vol. 6 translated and edited by George Fenwick Jones and Renate Wilson.

Vols. 7, 9 translated and edited by George Fenwick Jones and Don Savelle.

Vol. 8 translated by Maria Magdalena Hoffmann-Loerzer, Renate Wilson, and George Fenwick Jones.

Vols. 15 issued in series: Publications (Wormsloe Foundation)

Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

Contents: v. 1. 17331734v. 2. 17341735[etc.] v. 9. 1742.

1. SalzburgersGeorgiaHistorySources. 2. German AmericansGeorgiaHistorySources. 3. LutheransGeorgiaHistorySources. 4. Ebenezer (Ga.)HistorySources. 5. GeorgiaHistoryColonial period. ca. 16001775Sources. 6. Stockbridge IndiansMissionsHistorySources. 7. Indians of North AmericaGeorgiaMissionsHistorySources. I. Jones, George Fenwick, 1916II. Wilson, Renate, 1930III. Savelle, Don. IV. Title. V. Series: VI. Series: Publications (Wormsloe Foundation); v. 9, etc.

F295.S1U813975.8′0043667-27137

ISBN 0-8203-0982-6 (alk. paper)

Volumes 15 were published as part of the Wormsloe FoundationPublications series. The preparation of this volume was supported in part by a grant from the Program for Translations of the National Endowment for the Humanities, an independent federal agency.

Reissue published in 2021

Most University Press titles are available from popular ebook vendors.

Printed digitally

ISBN 9780820361352 (Hardcover)ISBN 9780820361345 (Paperback)ISBN 9780820361338 (Ebook)

Contents


Foreword to the Reissue

ix


Introductionby George Fenwick Jones

xiii


Acknowledgments

xvii


Daily Reports of the Two Ministers, Boltzius and Gronau

1


Hymns Sung by the Salzburgers in the Year 1742

265


Notes

269


Index

277

Foreword to the Reissue

The Detailed Reports on the Salzburger Emigrants Who Settled in America offer an extraordinary window into the day-to-day lives of colonists establishing new settlements in North America. A unique mix of Protestant propaganda, social history, community study, spiritual biography, and environmental and economic reportage, the reports were originally edited by Lutheran theologian Samuel Urlsperger (16851772) in the imperial city of Augsburg, Bavaria, in the eighteenth century and published in Halle under the title Ausfhrliche Nachricht von den saltzburgischen Emigranten, die sich in America niedergelassen haben (173551). His reports were carefully crafted from a patchwork of rich colonial sources, by far the most important of which were the intimate observations of the German religious pastors who assumed responsibility for the communitys evolution. It was in Rotterdam, Holland, in 1733 that Rev. Johann Martin Boltzius and Rev. Israel Christian Gronau first encountered numerous families of Protestant exiles from Salzburg, Austria. Thanks to the financial and political support of German Protestant networks (especially the Francke Foundation at Halle), the Georgia Trustees, and the English Society for the Propagation of Christian Knowledge, the exiles became transatlantic settlers, relocating to a new township that they established upstream from Georgias new capital, Savannah.

In the space of twenty years, Urlsperger amassed the reports from the pastors travel diaries, letters, lists, grievances, and requests, while further information was parsed from settlers, colonial authorities, and correspondents. Gronau died in 1745, but he was succeeded by Hermann Lemke as an assistant pastor to Boltzius, the latter offering real continuity within the Ebenezer settlement until his death in 1765, well beyond the lifespan of the Detailed Reports. The end products were by no means neutral publications, for comparison with surviving original documents in Halle indicate that multiple filters were in place to ensure the published messages were in step with what the editors wished to convey. The selection of events and the voices expressed by the pastors were with one eye on eventual publication, while Urlsperger happily omitted elements he thought best unsaidmeaning that readers of the Detailed Reports have to penetrate their overarching intent to demonstrate a story akin to wider tropes in the American creed: Cities on a Hill and Manifest Destiny.1 News of these Pietists successfully overcoming the trials and tribulations of Atlantic colonialism was intended to shore up German Protestantism, to support Anglo-German diplomatic networks, and to bring patronage for the future support of European religious refugees.

In spite of these editorial dangers and the relentless sermonizing, the sheer volume of material and the extraordinary depth of insight into the personal lives of a host of Georgia settlers present real opportunity for historical reconstruction through the eyes of participants in colonial encounters, conflicts, and community building. Indeed, one of the ironies of a curated archive intended to show a singular power at work is that the Detailed Reports clearly reveal the multiplicity of peoples, interests, languages, and ambitions at play in the eighteenth-century Low Country. Pioneer settlersthemselves a heterodox bunch not just from Salzburg but from the Rhineland, England, Scotland, Ireland, French-Swiss cantons, the Piedmont, South Carolina, and the Caribbeanwere sandwiched between European imperial powers, in the shadow of powerful Indigenous peoples and the growing presence of racial slavery and people of African origin in neighboring British colonies. Though at first resistant, by the early 1750s the leaders of the Ebenezer settlement had publicly reconciled themselves to what they described in the Detailed Reports as the need and the opportunity to invest in the purchase of enslaved Africans to labor on their estates.2 As in other areas, this was a reflection of how several of the settlements idiosyncrasies faded as the townships economy and society became integrated into wider regional patterns and markets.

There is no question that since the Detailed Reports translation and publication, scholars of German-speaking peoples in the Atlantic world haveto use a Salzburg occupationmined extensively and innovatively among these sources for fresh insights into processes of diaspora, worship, exchange, and cultural creolization. At first, the Detailed Reports provided texture for groundbreaking works in the late twentieth century that traced Georgias early social and cultural history, including George Fenwick Joness own syntheses and Harold E. Daviss rich exploration of colonial life.3 Later generations drilled into particular facets of the Salzburgers experiences and their relationship to wider trends in the German Atlantic, including Renate Wilsons exploration of charitable and medical networks, A. G. Roebers assessment of ideas of liberty and property among German Lutherans in British America, and other works comparing the development of Moravian immigrant streams, with whom relations were sometimes strained in Georgia.4 More recently, scholars have used the volumes in pursuit of microhistories, genealogical and biographic snapshots, and contingent works that address how questions of gender, agriculture, slavery, and migration intersected in the disjointed world of the mid-eighteenth-century Low Country.5 Far from the simple story of conquering the wilderness that they originally purported to chart, the Detailed Reports retain huge potential. Renewed attention to the commentary they offer will complicate and nuance ongoing research into how Georgias earliest Europeans misunderstood, adapted, competed, influenced, and transformed not only their immediate locale but also the larger Atlantic world.

BEN MARSH

Notes

1. George Fenwick Jones, ed., Detailed Reports on the Salzburger Emigrants Who Settled in America ... Edited by Samuel Urlsperger (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1968), 1:xii

2. Jones, Detailed Reports, 16:99.

3. George Fenwick Jones, The Salzburger Saga: Religious Exiles and Other Germans Along the Savannah (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1984); George Fenwick Jones, The Georgia Dutch: From the Rhine and Danube to the Savannah, 17331783 (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1992); Harold E. Davis, The Fledgling Province: Social and Cultural Life in Colonial Georgia, 17331776 (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1976).

4. Renate Wilson, Pious Traders in Medicine: A German Pharmaceutical Network in Eighteenth-Century North America (University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2000); A. G. Roeber, Palatines, Liberty, and Property: German Lutherans in Colonial British America (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1993); Hartmut Lehmann, Hermann Wellenreuther, and Renate Wilson, eds., In Search of Peace and Prosperity: New German Settlements in Eighteenth-Century Europe and America (University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2000).

5. Aaron Spencer Fogleman, Two Troubled Souls: An Eighteenth-Century Couples Spiritual Journey in the Atlantic World (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2013); Paul M. Pressly, On the Rim of the Caribbean: Colonial Georgia and the British Atlantic World (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 2013); Susanne Lachenicht, ed., Europeans Engaging the Atlantic: Knowledge and Trade, 15001800 (Frankfurt: Campus Verlag, 2014); James Van Horn Melton, Religion, Community, and Slavery on the Colonial Southern Frontier (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2015); Ben Marsh, Unravelled Dreams: Silk and the Atlantic World 15001830 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2020).

Introduction

Readers familiar with previous volumes of this series will know the causes and nature of the events described in this one. Any one else is advised to read the foreword to one of the earlier volumes or to that of Henry Newmans Salzburger Letterbooks.1 Otherwise, let it suffice to say that, when the Lutherans were expelled from Salzburg in 1731, not all the exiles went to East Prussia and other Protestant lands in Europe: a small number, some two hundred, were taken to the colony of Georgia, then in its second year. Georgia, the last of Britains thirteen North American colonies, was founded according to the grandiose schemes of a group of benevolent gentlemen in London, called the Trustees, who wished to provide homes for impoverished Englishmen and persecuted foreign Protestants, to protect the more northerly colonies from the Spaniards in Florida, and to provide raw materials for English industry.

The first Salzburger transport, or traveling party, consisted of recent exiles who had been recruited in and around Augsburg, a Swabian city just north of Salzburg. This group arrived in Georgia in 1734 and settled some twenty-five miles northwest of Savannah, where they founded a settlement which they named Ebenezer. By the time the second transport arrived a year later, it had been discovered that the land that had been chosen was sterile and that the stream on which it was built, Ebenezer Creek, was unnavigable. When a third transport arrived in 1736, composed mostly of Upper Austrian exiles, the survivors at Ebenezer joined them on the Red Bluff on the Savannah River, bringing the name of the earlier settlement with them. The original site, which became the Trustees cowpen or cattle ranch, was henceforth called Old Ebenezer.

A fourth and last transport, consisting of Salzburger exiles who had been sojourning in Augsburg and other Swabian cities, arrived in 1741. The Salzburgers were joined by Swiss and Palatine settlers from Purysburg, a Swiss settlement a short way down the Savannah River on the Carolina side, and also by some Palatine servants donated by the Trustees. Not finding enough fertile land on the Red Bluff, many Salzburgers moved their plantations to an area along Abercorn Creek where the lowland was flooded and enriched each winter by the Savannah River. This explains the terms the town and the plantations. After some gristmills and sawmills were built on Abercorn Creek, it was usually called the Mill River (Mhl-Fluss).

Despite appalling sickness and mortality and the hardships incident to settlement in a wilderness, the Salzburgers were the most successful community in Georgia. This relative success was largely due to the skill, devotion, and diligence of their spiritual leader, Johann Martin Boltzius, the author of most of these reports. This young divine had been trained at the University of Halle in eastern Germany and had taught in that city at the Francke Foundation, a charitable institution that was to have great influence on the development of Ebenezer. Although Boltzius was at heart a minister, his secular responsibilities in Georgia moulded him into a skilful administrator, economist, and diplomat. A few of the reports were written by Boltzius admiring younger colleague, Israel Christian Gronau, who officiated whenever Boltzius was away in Savannah or elsewhere.

Boltzius journals were edited contemporaneously by Samuel Urlsperger, the Senior of the Lutheran clergy in Augsburg. Comparison of the original manuscripts surviving in Halle with Urlspergers published edition shows that he took considerable liberty in deleting unpleasant reports and suppressing proper names, which he replaces with N. or N.N. The original documents for 1742 no longer exist, so there is no way to know how much Urlsperger changed or deleted; but there is reason to believe that Boltzius made an entry for every day, as he had been instructed to, and that Urlsperger made major deletions both for diplomatic and for economic reasons. In some cases he simply consolidated the material for two or more days into one. Urlspergers deletions are very illogical: he often deletes a name in one passage even though it appears in another and can be easily recognized. For example, he deletes the name of a sinful town immediately after discussing Purysburg; and, when the Schwartzwlder child dies, the blame is put on N., who can be none other than its father.

The first important event of the year 1742 was the distribution of gifts sent from Augsburg and Wurttemberg, the area in which members of the fourth transport had resided after their expulsion from Salzburg. To account for the charities, Boltzius submitted careful lists of the recipients and the gifts they received; and this is very fortunate, since no ship manifest survives for the fourth transport. Later in the year the Salzburgers received another great benefaction, a large chest full of clothes, tools, and other useful gifts from Halle. In addition to the list of recipients, this volume also contains a valuable list of crops grown by all the householders.

Among the important events of 1742 were the construction of a 300 foot bridge and the beginning of a church on the plantations. This year also saw the beginnings of viticulture, which was a failure, and of sericulture, which became for a while the Salzburgers greatest claim to fame. Cattle raising remained the number one industry, even though the Salzburgers, so often praised for herding their cattle, now found it more practical to let them run free as the other colonists did.

While the earlier settlers who had survived the unhealthy climate were at last beginning to prosper, the fourth transport did not share in their prosperity. Although they had enjoyed a relatively healthy voyage and were welcomed and aided by the seasoned settlers, they succumbed to disease, of which a great many perished. Even Boltzius had to admit their pitiable condition, which was proof that it is Gods manner first to humble and then to raise up.

Of importance for Georgia was the founding of Vernonburg, a Swiss and German settlement on the Vernon River just south of Savannah. The most significant historical event of the year 1742, the War of Jenkins Ear between England and Spain, received very little mention in this volume until prices rose and refugees began pouring into Ebenezer from Savannah and Frederica and crowding the inhabitants simple quarters. Oglethorpes brilliant victory at Bloody Marsh was praised as a victory of the Lord, to whom thanks were duly given by the Ebenezer ministers as well as by Oglethorpe himself. Despite Boltzius admiration for Oglethorpe, the champion of the Indians, he was beginning to express a disdain for the noble savage, especially after the brutal murder of a German woman and her infant at a nearby fortress.

The mostly trivial and humdrum occurrences of these reports have value as social history, for we get glimpses into the past not afforded by standard histories. So far the Ebenezer records had made no mention of geese, a fowl dear to the European peasants; but we can infer their presence when a woman confesses to having stolen a goose egg. We also learn that, because of a shortage of cash money, the people of Ebenezer used scrip prepared and vouched for by their ministers and leaders. We see how even godly people can accept superstition: whereas sensible cures had previously been used against snakebite, Ruprecht Steiner was buried naked in the ground to draw out the poison, a cure suggested by someone from Purysburg.

We also learn a bit more about the Salzburgers: some of the exiles, such as Anna Maria Flerl, had not embraced Protestantism until the expulsion had begun; and Elisabetha Klocker did not do so until reaching Ebenezer. Some readers may find the index excessive; except for Boltzius and Gronau, nearly everyone is listed each time he is mentioned, no matter how trivial the occasion. Even when the reference has little significance, it does show that the person in question was at the place in question at the time in question, facts which may help identify him and differentiate him from other people with similar names. Because the nature of the reference is given in the index, the reader is spared looking up a reference only to learn that the person is a recipient or is growing in Christianity.

New readers are advised, and old readers are reminded, that we must watch out for a bit of Pietist jargon, for Boltzius was a Pietist, and Pietists gave certain common terms specific spiritual meanings. For example, a man may be indolent (trge) because he spends too much time in chopping and hoeing and not enough in praying. A man is honest (ehrlich) if he accepts the Pietists views. Rich people in Charleston live in great misery (Elend) because they indulge in worldly pleasures (The word Elend originally meant exile, and in this case it means exile or alienation from God). Bourgeois respectability (brgerliche Ehrsamkeit) is a vice rather than a virtue because it gives people a false sense of security (Sicherheit).

Acknowledgments

As in the case of previous volumes in this series, the research for this one was supported by grants from the American Philosophical Society, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Research Grant Board of the University of Maryland; and this volume is also indebted to the R. J. Taylor Foundation, which contributed to my latest visit to Herrnhut, Marburg, and London.

During and after the Renaissance, European art and scholarship were supported mainly by the princes, both secular and clerical; and it is to royal and noble houses that we owe the great works of Chaucer, Leonardo, Bach, and Mozart, as well as many great literary works. Such princely patronage continued, being augmented in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries by successful men of business, who took subscriptions for the works of their artists and authors. Such patronage was slight in the United States until the Great Depression, the main support of the arts and humanities having fallen upon the universities and their limited resources. To enable impoverished artists and intellectuals to continue their work, the New Deal underwrote their productions; and since that time the Federal Government, like the royal governments of Europe, has been the greatest patron of the arts. Now that the Federal Government is reducing its commitment and leaving the responsibility to private foundations, there is less support for the growing number of artists and writers, who have to fill out longer and longer applications for the diminishing number of awards.

Fortunately, at least in the case of this series, history is reversing itself; and we are returning to the era when the cost is being assumed by benevolent persons to whom God has given the means. This and subsequent volumes are to be funded by private individuals urged on by Richard C. Kessler, a Salzburger descendant, who is funding this volume. He writes:

I am delighted to have the opportunity of dedicating this important historic work of the history of our forefathers to my father, Callie Whitfield Kessler. It is a most appropriate dedication because he is truly a Salzburgera hard worker, dedicated father, determined perfectionist, and a Christian committed to ideals and principles. We have shared the dream of continuing to promote and build upon what our ancestors so well began, a place where families can live, learn, and support each other in their Christian beliefs. At the site settled by the Georgia Salzburgers we are building the New Ebenezer Family Retreat and Conference Center. Callie Whitfield Kessler has shown exemplary commitment in this work, particularly in constructing the New Ebenezer Family Retreat and Conference Center, which I believe Boltzius would applaud. His commitment, dedication, and fervor for quality are certainly models for other Salzburger descendants to respect and follow.

All Salzburger descendants who know Callie Whitfield Kessler will surely endorse this loving tribute.

George Fenwick JonesUniversity of Maryland

Diary of the Year 1742

JANUARY

Friday, the 1st of January. Last night there was heavy thunder, lightning, and rain, which made the way to church somewhat difficult for the people from the plantations. But I believe our dear, living God has richly rewarded the pains they took for the sake of His word. For He granted power and joy to preach the sweet gospel of Jesus Christ three times, through which our hearts were quite strengthened anew and were aroused to His praise.

Last year in our congregation twenty-four little children were baptized, six people (to wit, two men and four small children) died, and six couples were married. It is very comforting to us that both men, as well as the children, went to their rest in the wounds of Christ, our faithful Immanuel, and thus passed away in peace. Oh, may He bless His gospel for all to the end that no one remain amidst his sins, rather that all may convert to Him in truth and become His little well cleansed sheep and thereby complete the course of their lives with joy. We often think: May thy loyalty fulfill what Thou Thyself hast promised, that no one shall be lost on this wide world but will live forever if only he is full of faith. Lord Jesus, grant us this.

I was gladdened to learn this New Years Day that the illness of a frail and often sick young girl had served her through Gods grace, as occasion and remedy, to escape as a poor sinner to Christ and become spiritually whole and sound through His wounds. For six months she has been having heavy fevers and with them epilepsy.1 In her fever she constantly says very edifying things, converses in prayer and song with Jesus, and desires to receive a blessing and good consolation from others too. Nothing disorderly or unruly is mixed with this, so we see clearly that she has garnered a good treasure in her heart.

Saturday, the 2nd of January. Towards evening I received a letter from a captain from Palachocolas, in which he asked me to marry a couple; otherwise the captain would not allow them on his plantation. These two people had already been at our place on Wednesday at Ortmanns house. Before they came to Ebenezer they capsized in their boat and would have lost their lives if, by divine dispensation, a trading boat had not come to their aid and picked them up. I had the schoolmaster tell him that I do not marry Englishmen unless there is no English preacher in the country and, in addition, I had sufficient assurance from the authorities that the marriage would take place in accordance with divine and human law.2

Sunday, the 3rd of January. It became rather cold today; nonetheless, it did not hinder our divine services. We are still lacking the upper floor and windows in the church; and, after the holiday, preparations will be made for completing the same. There are so many different kinds of work to do in the congregation, especially because the 4th transport is not yet fully settled in, that the members of the congregation must do only the most necessary things at first; for they have no servants and have to be present everywhere at once. Only a few will be able to build their houses this winter, and they will still have to make do in their huts and kitchens.

The man in the 4th transport who recently took to excessive drink in Savannah (and had carried on the same thing quite often in Germany) is coming to a recognition of his and also this damnable sin. He thanks God for snatching him away from such opportunities and bringing him to this solitude where he can hear the word of God and take it to heart in the quiet. He has resolved to change and thus use his time well in Ebenezer. For the sake of our new parishioners I hope God will not let us come to grief in the hope we have placed in His unfathomable mercy to be able to lead them all to the Lord Christ! Oh, may He stand by us in our ministry!

Monday, the 4th of January. I was occupied with Mr. Vigera for several hours paying the people of the 4th transport their food allowance for three months. Thereby I was reminded what advantages they enjoy in this over the first colonists. The latters yearly provision amounted to approximately 7 sterling. They still had much toil and hardship in bringing the provisions, good and bad, the long way up the swift Savannah River; for the present mill river was not yet known or usable.3 In place of provisions (besides tools) the men receive over 6 sterling for six months, but the women somewhat less. God be praised for these and other benefactions which He has rendered so richly to this transport in Europe and here in this country and is continuing to render.

In todays evening prayer meeting I repeated with the children in the presence of the congregation a few of the introductory verses which had been impressed upon us during this church year beginning with the first Sunday of Advent. I and others were pleased that they could quote them, say them by heart, and point out their main content. The verses were chiefly: My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work, etc., and also Turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, etc.

Tuesday, the 5th of January. It has been arranged that tomorrow following the divine services, when as many members as can come down from the plantations are gathered, the charitable gifts from Augsburg and Wurttemberg will be distributed. Hence today they were put in perfect order and so divided that we are hoping for general delight and satisfaction among the members of all four transports. There will be instruction for them concerning a few things, and through this we hope to obviate all mistrust and ill judgments. On account of the high waters the journey hither has been difficult for the people, and besides that there have been all kinds of delays in housekeeping on account of the 4th transport. This moved us to select the holy day tomorrow for the distribution.

Through Gods singular direction our dear benefactors are doing the same thing for us and our dear members that Christian parents do for their children at ths Christmastide: they like to cause them innocent joy by means of material presents; and they use such gifts as bonds of love through which they can lead them more and more to the gracious Giver of all good and perfect gifts, who granted even His son to the children of men, and to awaken them to a heartfelt mutual love.

God be praised for these quite great benefactions which He has caused to flow to us from Wurttemberg and Augsburg; and may our poor intercession bring much blessing, in lieu of a reward, to all givers for the sake of Christ! We intend to thank them in heaven (whither we and they are striving) before the throne of God for refreshing us so often in this life and for giving us so many occasions for joy at the loving kindness of God and for the praise of His name through their loving gifts and heartfelt correspondence. At our humble prayer He will grant us power, grace, and wisdom to apply all the gifts we have received to the purpose for which they are in fact dedicated.

Wednesday, the 6th of January was the Feast of the Epiphany. This day has been for us a day of great joy and grace in the Lord, for God has given us power and joy to preach the sweet gospel of Jesus Christ, the Savior of poor sinners. By means of it our own and our members minds have been prepared for the joyful, humble, and grateful reception of the material benefactions which have flowed to us from joyous and mild hearts, to His sincere praise, and also prepared for a unanimous prayer of intercession for the spiritual and material welfare of our friends, known and unknown, in Europe.

The entire congregation had gathered before noon, and in the afternoon, to listen to the divine word in our place of worship, where, amongst other rousing hymns, we struck up in two choirs: Singt dem Herrn nah und fern, etc., and finally, O grosse Freude, dass auf der Weyde die Hirten hren, etc.4 In the exordium we learned from the mouth of our loving Immanuel the magnificent commandment of God, so comforting to all sinners: Compel them to come in, that my house may be filled, Luke 14. From this holy days gospel we recognized Gods heartfelt readiness to accept poor sinners to grace, for the sake of Christ, for us sinners a most highly comforting thing.

In the application lesson we showed it to be quite undeniable that God wanted to have us all with His Son and His dear grace, for He was giving us the same means of grace He had given to others, according to the direction in the gospel, and He was creating very salutary emotions in our congregation, as He did through the Wise Men from the Orient, by means of blessed missives and generous, munificent gifts of our worthy benefactors. No one should keep resting on his couch of sin, self-assurance,5 and love of the world, as Herod and both high and humble did in Jerusalem; rather each and every one should, according to Gods purpose and that of our cordially minded benefactors, let himself be brought to Jesus Christ and into His kingdom, so that it may be said: Every man presseth into it, as poor people do at the distribution of material gifts in the benefactors house, or people who have their enemy at their backs throng into a fortress.

Along with this we both recounted what splendid and magnificent gifts of money and other necessities had been collected during the troublesome times in Germany and also read aloud and recounted how the distribution of such gifts was partly made by the benefactors themselves and partly left to our own discretion. And, since the congregation can be assured that we love them all and treat them impartially, they have been admonished to the contentment, praise of God, and heartfelt gratitude. Each should accept his gift with just such a loving heart as it was dedicated and sent to our Ebenezer. I promised soon to read aloud to them the preface to the 6th Continuation,6 as I had done recently with the 5th, from which they would recognize the friendly and heartfelt intentions of our faithful benefactors, their heartfelt good wishes and the good purpose of their gifts.

After the afternoon catechism lesson was over, we admonished the congregation to bend their hearts and bodies knees with us before the Lord there in the church (where there is more space and opportunity than in my house, the place of distribution) and then praised our dear Lord from the bottom of our hearts for His spiritual and physical benefactions which He had shown us, beyond so many other people, here in this corner of the earth. We prayed for our benefactors and all of Europe, calling out to Him for wisdom and blessings in the coming distribution. We also implored forgiveness if by chance those benefactions were not used by all to their intended purpose.

We conducted the distribution in my house with the assistance of Mr. Vigera. Each person for whom a portion had been laid out came up, one after the other, in a quite fine Christian manner and without the least clamor or any unpleasant problems. First the old inhabitants of Ebenezer received their portions, according to the order of their dwellings in the town; and subsequently the people of the 4th transport received theirs. Because the latter, with very few exceptions, were provided with enough clothing from Europe, we provided more linen, shoes, and woolen goods for the first three transports than we did for the latter group. Nonetheless, the poor amongst them also received their modest share, but the remainder got for the most part the iron tools and supplies found in the crates from Wurttemberg.

The names of the people of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd transports, and their shares, are as follows:


1.


Ruprecht Kalcher7 Margaret Kalcher 3 children Martin Herzog, servant Margaret Schweighoffer 7 orphan children An old widow, Catharina Kustobader The cowherd & his wife Catharina Holzer The widow Knlin A maid named Kreder


20 ells of linen from Frau von Hsslin, 46- ells yellow as well as 25- ells designated expressly for the orphanage 2 pr. white cotton stockings, sack, harness, pillow ticking. 3- yd. linen from Senior Riesch, 1 doz. bottles of Schauers balm, 1 sterl., a multi-colored cloth for caps, hackknife, trowel, hoe for planting wine. 2 pr. stockings, book of prayers, twine. A small packet of linen, and money from the city curators coachman.


2.


Maria Gruber, widow, child


Cotton stockings, black cloth material and cotton night caps


3.


Martin Lackner Margaretha, his wife, 3 quite small children


Shirts, and 6 English 4- boy or rough flannel


4.


Simon Reiter Magdalena, his wife, and small child


Woolen stockings, a woolen bedcover, and 10 Sh. Sterl.


5.


Carl Flerl


2- yd. brown cloth and 10 Sh. Sterl.


6.


Maria Rheinlnder, widow, 3 children


Blue stockings; for eldest son a shirt, and 1 childs shirt


7.


Johann Pletter Elizabetha, his wife 2 small children


A woolen bedcover, 6 yd. boy & 10 Sh. Sterl., a few tools


8.


Matthias Brandner, Maria, his wife 2 children


2- yd. brown cloth, linen from Senior Riesch (7 yds.) For her a shirt, 10 shilligs sterl.


9.


Peter Arnsdorff


Shirts and a few tools


10.


Matthias Zetler, Elizabetha, his wife


Shirts, a few cobblers tools, yarn, spun white cotton, bolsters and blanket


11.


Johann Kornberger Gertraud, his wife, 2 little children


2- yd. brown cloth, planing iron, 6 yd. boy, 10 Sh. Sterl.


12.


Hans Flerl Anna Maria, his wife, one child


2- yd. brown cloth and a new broad axe


13.


Leonard Krause Barbara, his wife, one child, serving girl


8 yd. linen recd 8 Sh. Sterl. for the surgeon in Purysburg.


14.


Georg Sanftleben Magdalena, his wife, one little child


Shirt, present from Stuttgart, 1 . 3 Sh. Sterl., 6 yd. boy and cotton night cap


15.


Ruprecht Steiner Maria, his wife 2 little children


3- yd. black cloth, 1 doz. black buttons, 4 yd. linen, blue stockings, 3- yd. linen from Senior Riesch, a cloth, 10 Sh. Sterl.


16.


Thomas Pichler8 Margaret, his wife, 2 little children


mattress w. pillow, shirts and cotton nightcaps, twine for the children, 2 mill hammers and cloth for a bag


17.


Michael Rieser Maria, his wife, one child


4 yd. linen & woolen stockings, a shirt


18.


Veit Landfelder Ursula, his wife, one child


Cloth strips, black cloth, sack cloth, a shirt


19.


Andreas Grimmiger Anna Maria, his wife


One woolen blanket 6 yds. boy


20.


Gottfried Christ


woolen blanket, 8 Sh. Sterl.


21.


Thomas Gschwandel Sybilla, his wife, one daughter


Shirts girls shirts


22.


Christian Riedelsperger Maria, his wife


Shirt, hack knife, 3- yd. linen from Senior Riesch, blue stockings, gloves, yarn, 5 Sh. Sterl.


23.


Bartholomus Rieser Maria, his wife 3 sons


Mattress, 6 yd. boy, blue stockings, 10 Sh. Sterl., cotton night caps


24.


Christian Hssler


Cloth for coat with inlining and everything pertaining, also 8 Sh. Sterl.


25.


Christoph Ortmann Julianna, his wife


Shoes, 10 Sh. Sterl. and stockings


26.


Ruprecht Eischberger Maria, his wife


One woolen bedcover, 7 yds. linen from Senior Riesch


27.


Georg Brckner Margaretha, his wife one child


mattress, stockings, & 10 Sh. Sterl.


28.


Johann Schmidt Maria, his wife one child


Brown cloth for a pair of trousers, mattresses, shirt for the child, yarn, & 10 Sh. Sterl.


29.


Dorothea Helfenstein, widow, 4 children


11 yd. linen, iron tools, yarn, cotton night caps, 10 Sh. Sterl.


30.


Christian Lemberger Margaretha, his wife Grimmigers girl


3- yd. black cloth, 1 dozen black buttons, shirt, colored cloth, & 10 Sh. Sterl.


31.


Jacob Schartner Maria, his wife, one child


Woolen stockings, 8 Sh. Sterl. Shirt


32.


Carl Ott Catharina, his wife


Shoes, 10 Sh. Sterl. yarn, white kerchief


33.


Heinrich Bischoff Friederica, his wife


Woolen stockings, 10 Sh. Sterl. Shirt


34.


Georg Schweiger Eva Regina, his wife small child, her sister


Shoes, small bag, cotton nightcap, twine, one shirt


35.


Peter Reiter Gertraud, his wife one child


Woolen blanket, 10 Sh. Sterl. woolen stockings


36.


Barbara Mauer


3 yds. linen


37.


Ruprecht Zittrauer Maria, his wife, 2 children


Shoes, shoe nails, tools, 10 Sh. Sterl. woolen stockings, shirt for child


38.


Ruprecht Burgsteiner Agatha, his wife one child


mattress, 7 yd. linen from Senior Riesch, stockings, twine, 10 Sh. Sterl.


39.


Friedrich Mller Anna Christina, his wife 2 children


Shirts, blue stockings, yarn, shirts


40.


Paul Mller Anna Maria, his wife


Shoes, cloth, white cloth, 10 Sh. Sterl. and hand tools


41.


Georg Kogler Barbara, his wife, 2 small children


Brown cloth for compl. dress, buttons, broadaxe, hammer, 3- yd. linen from Senior Riesch, 1 Sterl., shirts


42.


Christoph Rottenberger Catharina, his wife, 2 small children


Cotton stockings, 6 yds. by, twine, 7 yds. linen from Senior Riesch, 5 Sh. Sterl.


43.


Bartholomus Zant


Shoes, a strip of cloth, linen


44.


Paul Zittrauer Margaretha, his wife, 2 small children


tools, 4 yds. boy, shirts, twine, cotton night caps


45.


Gabriel Maurer Elisabetha, his wife, a little child


Left-handed broad axe which Kogler returned, cotton stockings, 3- yd. linen from Senior Riesch, leather sack


46.


Hans Maurer Elisabetha, his wife, 2 little children


6 yds. boy, 10 Sh. Sterl.


47.


Thomas Bacher Maria, his wife, 2 children


Mattress, 6- yd. linen shirts


48.


Veit Lemmenhoffer Maria, his wife


gloves, 2 lg. pcs. spun cotton, 10 Sh. Sterl., shirts


49.


Ruprecht Zimmerebner Margaretha, his wife


Mattress, shoe nails, cotton nightcap, twine, 10 Sh. Sterl.


50.


Salomo Ade his wife, 2 children


Cobblers equipment, 10 Sh. Sterl. for her, also for the boys a shirt


51.


Friedrich Nett Magdalena, his wife


Shirts


52.


Hanss Krsey one child


6 yds. boy, buttons, woolen stockings


53.


Joseph Leitner Dorothea, his wife 3 little girls


6 yds. boy, some dozen red buttons, woolen blanket, 10 Sh. Sterl.


54.


Johann Georg Dressler Catharina, his wife one small child


6 yds. boy, new hoe for planting vines


55.


Georg Held


6 yds. boy, tools


56.


Johann Martin Ksemeyer Catharina, his wife, 3 little children


Shirt for him, shirt for the oldest boy


57.


Anna Maria Ernst, widow, 2 children


Shirts, twine, cotton night caps, one more shirt for the child, 3 Sh. Sterl.


58.


Ambrosius Zbli


Woolen blanket, twine, 6 Sh. Sterl.


59.


Mr. Thilo Friederica, his wife


Black cloth for dress, 6 yds. and one piece brown Cursay along with medicines

Some Observations

1) 3 10 sh. were designated for those who have deserved well of the congregation, and therefore Kogler, Kalcher, Steiner, Leimberger, Christian Riedelsperger, and Rottenberger received some of it.

2) 18 sterl. were dedicated to the poor of all four transports, which, according to the nature of their circumstances, was allotted to them at 10, 8, or 6 shillings. From this sum the surgeon, Mr. Meyer, was paid 2 . 4 Sh. for the medicines and bloodletting he extended to the 4th transport during the entire trip. The remainder for the fresh provisions given them in Savannah when they guarded the baggage and fetched it, came from the 7 5 Sh. dedicated to the 4th transport alone; it amounted to 2 1 Sh.

3) Senior Riesch in Lindau again thought lovingly of those Salzburgers who were in his good pasture and spiritual care and sent them a piece of linen from which each person got 3- yds., and therefore more than one shirt. The green linen, which fell to us also from his loving hands, was dedicated to the church windows as curtains.

4) The tools of every sort were found in the Wurttemberg boxes and were distributed for the most part to the 4th transport, but a small number did go to some others. We were able to record them only in general. Each family also received 5 curved and 5 straight cobblers awls.

5) Some people did receive more than others, in which we looked upon their decorum, extreme need, and merit amongst the congregation.

6) Several large and small children could not partake of the presents this time (because there were not enough of them, as the congregation had increased). If they are obedient, they shall be provided for with gifts from the box from Halle, for which we are now waiting.

7) May our dear God enter into His book of commemoration what He caused to flow to us two, our helpmeets, and children, from the right heartfelt goodwill of our worthy benefactors and benefactresses from Wurttemberg and Augsburg in the way of books, black cloth, night gowns, and other things, also in cash money. In like manner may He remember what we have received in money for the orphans and widows house and for the church and other necessary expenditures in the congregation, which have indeed occurred in manifold ways, being so abundantly transmitted from the places mentioned and from our dear Halle. For the sake of Christs speaking blood may all sincerely good works be written in His book for the physical, spiritual, and eternal blessing and blessed refreshment of our worthy benefactors. May He hear our poor prayers of intercession, brought privately and publicly before His throne of grace, according to the richness of His mercy. Amen! Hallelujah! To the blessing contained in the box from Halle which stayed behind in London out of necessity we cry out in faith, What our God hath created, He can also save.9

8) The large mattresses with bolsters were lent to the 4th transport in London and were distributed at the direction of Court Chaplain Ziegenhagen amongst the needy of the first three transports.

9) The 6 leather cowls and 2 fur cowls, likewise leather thongs and leather garters, are listed in the catalog of things in the box n.I.E. but were not found. Also 5 white camisoles were missing, which Mr. Meyer still saw in London in a small box.

Names and Shares of the People of the 4th Transport


1.


Andreas Pilz Sybilla, his wife


Tools, 16 sh. Sterl.


2.


Caspar Graniwetter Anna Catharina, his wife


Tools, 4 Sh. Sterl.


3.


Martin Lackner Catharina Barbara


Hatchet and spoons, 4 Sh. Sterl.


4.


Georg Eigel Ursula, his wife, 5 children


striped material, also brown material for childrens clothes, tools, twine, 2 . 14 Sh. Sterl.


5.


Balthasar Bacher Christina, his wife


Shirts, twine, large plane, spoons, 1 . 18 Sh. Sterl.


6.


Michael Haberer Anna Barbara one little child


Blue stockings, blue material for the child, iron items, 3 5 Sh. Sterl.


7.


Bernhard Glocker, Elisabeth, his wife, three little girls


Tools, shirts for the little girls, 17 Sh. Sterl.


8.


Walburga Crell, stepdaughter


bonnet, 16 Sh. Sterl.


9.


Simon Riser Magdalena, his wife


spoons, 14 Sh. Sterl.


10.


Maria Knlin, widow one small child


Bonnet, 3 Sh. Sterl.


11.


Mr. Johann Ludwig Mayer Elizabetha, his wife


Tools, 4 Sh. Sterl.


12.


Johann Georg Mayer


Tools, 9 Sh. Sterl.


13.


Matthus Bacher Christina, his wife one daughter, widow


6 Sh. Sterl.


14.


Peter Kohleisen Maria, his wife


Cobblers material, 3 small pcs. sole leather, woolen stockings, spun cotton, 3 4 Sh. Sterl.


15.


Georg Glaner Gertraud, his wife


Saw blade, spoons, 4 Sh. Sterl.


16.


Hans Maurer Maria, his wife


Tools, 6 Sh. Sterl.


17.


David Eischberger Anna Maria, his wife


Tools, 4 Sh. Sterl.


18.


Johann Scheraus Maria Helena, his wife, one child


Tools, woolen stockings, 3 . 3 Sh. Sterl.


19.


Johann Georg Kocher Apollonia, his wife, one child


New axe, shirt for the child, 17 Sh. Sterl.


20.


Veit Lechner Magdalena, his wife, one girl Ruprecht Schrempf, stepson


Musket and cement trowel for father and son, shirts for the girl, 7 Sh. Sterl.


21.


Johann Scheffler Catharina, his wife


Axe, 16 Sh. Sterl.


22.


Magdalena Roner


2 cloth strips for bonnets, 4 Sh. Sterl.


23.


Barbara Brickl


Blue stockings, 1 5 Sh. Sterl.


24.


Barbara Steinbacher


Bonnet, 1 . 5 Sh. Sterl.


25.


Christina Hussler


Bonnet, 1 . 5 Sh. Sterl.


26.


Apollonia Kreder


Bonnet, 2 Sh. Sterl.

Some Observations

1) Every head of family of the 4th transport received 2 Sh. Sterl., and a child under 12 received 1 Sh. as a present. Besides that, the poor amongst them received a special present of 7, 12, or 14 Sh. Sterl. as their circumstances necessitated. These were distinct from those money gifts promised them in Canstadt and paid them here as well.

2) Every family received a few books which were found in the boxes, also each and every housefather got 5 curved and 5 straight shoe awls. Sewing needles shall be given them shortly.

3) A few, but very few, asked me to return the money most of the people on the 4th transport had deposited for exchange. They said they would rather know it was kept safely with me until they might buy cows in the spring or use it in some other necessary manner.

4) There are still peas, pearled barley, and dried fruit left from what was given them when they departed Canstadt. All that and what otherwise pertains to the 4th transport in the way of kitchen and other types of utensils will be distributed shortly or arranged for the congregations use.

Thursday, the 7th of January. Five men from the 4th transport had their land surveyed on Ebenezer Creek. I would have been glad to see them settle the matter without casting lots amongst themselves, as others have done, and get together in a neighborhood with people who mix well and like working together. The locksmith Lechner and his stepson /Ruprecht Schrempff/ the only ones who did not at all like casting lots. On account of his trade he would have liked to have the plantation nearest the town, but the others also had their eyes on it, as it was a good one and close by. We finally agreed that the matter would be settled by casting lots. I assured them that, since we had previously appealed to God in a heartfelt manner regarding it, He would so ordain things with the plantations that each one could be satisfied while denying his own self-will. Dictum factum,10 the casting of lots turned out to everyones satisfaction; and, after each had inspected his land, two of them came back to me and attested that they had received just such plantations as were laid out for each ones purpose. God be praised for this sign of His kindness too! May He continue to rule over us and keep our eyes open properly to regard His works and to have nothing but pleasure in them.

Friday, the 8th of January. A German widow from Savannah came to our place and wished to spend her time here in quiet near Gods word, if she could find a living. Mr. Vigera had promised to take her into his service as soon as he got his household in order, but that will not take place very soon. If she wishes to adapt herself to our circumstances and be satisfied with little she will find a place of abode amongst us, but I do not know whether she will like these suggestions. She said that in Savannah she can earn one shilling Sterling a day besides good food and drink, but no one here can give her that. Another honest widow is coming with her daughter to our place this week, for sincere reasons.11

Yesterday evening here in the city and this morning on the plantations we began going through the edifying contents of the foreword to the 6th Continuation. I felt Gods support and blessing tangibly and felt that thereby something good was accomplished for eternity in the souls of the listeners. May God reward our worthy Mr. N. for the many tasks he has willingly and joyfully undertaken for our spiritual and physical well-being. We, and thousands with us (praise God!) know from experience that his work in the Lord is not in vain and will have its reward in His time.

After the devotional hour Mr. Vigera was busy at the mill, where the 4th transports baggage, provisions, and other things had been off-loaded. He distributed the victuals brought from Germanypeas, pearled barley, dried apples and pears, and also prunesamongst the new colonists, with great labor but also great pleasure, for he attested to me that he had never found the people so joyful, friendly, and thankful as this time. I take that as a blessed effect of the word preached just prior thereto, and I glorify God for it, for we have remonstrated a great deal with the 4th transport in the most heartfelt, loving manner concerning their former and present modes of life. We also indicated to them the sources from the gospel by which they can cleanse themselves from sin in divine order and gain strength for a new spiritual life and mode of behavior. I was occupied with the tools sent to me for distribution among all the families of the 4th transport. They consisted of axes, hatchets, wide and narrow hoes, drawknives, large and small planes, large, mid-sized and small bits, large and small saws, also crosscut saws, as well as files, hammers, and a large amount of all sorts of nails, etc. There were also a few copper pots with handles and many other things with them, by which the Trustees showed themselves especially generous.

God helped everything to come out according to plan and to everyones satisfaction, since various things had to go by the casting of lots. My faith and trust in divine providence, which is so wonderful, received new strength. In Savannah I recently bought pork and beef fat for the 4th transport. A 500-lb. barrel of rice was also brought hither from Savannah; Pichler was busy distributing it. Towards evening we were finished with everything; and, although I was quite tired, I still had to attend a funeral at sundown, for which the dear people had been waiting some hours in Ruprecht Steiners house not far from the cemetery. It was Paul Zittrauers newborn child named Samuel, the first this year to die in the Lord, who was buried this day, which was right blessed for me and others. On New Years Day, on the occasion of the introductory words to John XI, Behold, how he loved him, I had wished that I could hold a parentation and funeral oration according to the contents of these words for those who would die this year according to Gods will and that it would engender joy in heaven and edification on earth and be the most blessed thing for those who passed away thus.

Now the burial of this little Samuel (upon whom the above words can be applied with the greatest certainty) proved for the parents and myself to be a right great comfort and awakening, for in this connection it is also written, Suffer little chidren, and forbid them not, to come unto me, etc., and in reference to us adults: Except ye be converted, and become as little children, etc. I told these two young people that this could be a weighty incentive for them to prepare themselves earnestly for blessed eternity, since now their little Samuel had preceded them, etc.

Saturday, the 9th of January. Yesterday afternoon the surveyor12 was ordered to go with me to the plantations below the mill, after the distribution had taken place, to where some new colonists were to take their land; but I was hindered as mentioned above. Hence this morning, I went out there in order to scrupulously inspect, with him and a few new and old colonists, the entire area where they should and would take their plantations. Six of them are each taking here 48 acres (for that much land, besides a garden, belongs to each plantation), and they intend to begin their work here very soon. The whole area has very good soil for cultivation and cattle grazing, also as much good timber in the vicinity as hardly any others find at their plantations. I hope that they will be able to support themselves here in their calling with satisfaction and thanksgiving towards God and men. There is still more good land in this district, which will be kept for others who need land in the future. I was happy to be able to observe everything myself and conduct the division of the plantations.

Since the death of her husband the N. woman seems to be more concerned about her salvation than previously, and is quite content in her great poverty. She told me her dying husband had called out the words: Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in Him; and He shall bring it to pass. She said that, however, whenever distress befalls her, she prays in her simple way to God as well as she can, and she hopes God will grant her prayer for Christs sake.

Monday, the 11th of January. Our dear Mr. Vigera brought along a fine physical blessing in money for our orphanage and thereby awakened us to a new praise of God. With it he gave me some very edifying letters from Christian friends, the right evangelical contents of which heartily refreshed me and inspired me to a heartfelt mutual love and esteem for them. Praise God that the Lord still has His people everywhere, even in dark and very perverse places, who shine as lights amongst the perverse people of our age, yet have their own suffering. May He be mindful of their benefit once more in all sorts of internal and external circumstances.

A coachman in Augsburg who loves Ebenezer benefited not only a young girl but also some of his countrymen with a fine physical gift, for which they will wish him many thousands of blessings in their prayers. They are all poor but they strive first and foremost for the kingdom of God, and God lets other things come to them too. This time God granted our orphanage such a blessing as we might not have expected in these troublesome times. He can do more than we ask and understand! May He give us the wisdom to proceed properly with it and to apply it to the purpose for which it was granted.13

Today two large wine barrels full of dried apples, pears, and plums or prunes were brought from the mill to the town. They were dedicated by our worthy benefactors in Wurttemberg partly for the orphanage and partly for the whole congregation. Oh, what a blessing that is! The barrels were stuffed quite full, and the gifts pressed so tightly together that we had to dig them out with effort and pleasant sweat. Now here we say: Good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For the same measure ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again. He which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. May our merciful God cause that to be richly fulfilled in all our dear patrons and benefactors, here and there! God preserved this noble gift (through which the sound and the sick, and also the tender little children will be refreshed) so well that there was no sign of a single worm or of the least damage. We say once more: What our God hath created He can also preserve, over it He will rule with mercy both late and early, etc. Give glory unto God.

In recent days a Christian man from the Purysburg region sent me as a New Years present the verse Deuteronomy 11:12: A land which the Lord thy God careth for: the eyes of the Lord thy God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year.14 What a delightful testimony to the gracious providence of God for a land with obedient inhabitants; it was very impressive to me in view of the current circumstances in which we are living at the beginning of this year. Oh, that everyone in Ebenezer might fear, love, and honor Him! How good we would have it! We are hoping it will be a special year of grace for us and our members.

A widow who was at my house because of her intended marriage told me she had once heard that marriage and dying are the most important matters for which one needs grace. She considered a child who died in baptismal grace to be most blessed, and she would gladly give her own child in her arms to the Lord Jesus if He would take it to Himself forever by means of temporal death.

The weather has been as pleasant yesterday and today as it is otherwise wont to be in spring. Many fine seeds came to our place from Germany with the 4th transport, and we will try to see whether everything will sprout and propagate itself here.

Tuesday, the 12th of January. We sent our large boat with four men to Savannah this morning to fetch some barrels of rice and pork for the orphanage and the 4th transport. The dear people who have till now had a great deal of trouble in traveling back and forth will be paid for this labor by the orphanage. One thing after another has been happening, and now we will get some respite.

Kalcher is supervisor both for the congregation and the 4th transport; and it eases our burden considerably for him to distribute all sorts of foodstuffs and things which the 4th transport needs. His wife is keeping an account of it, and our dear God has already richly rewarded him through the blessing which the orphanage is receiving at this time. They both consider themselves quite unworthy of these benefactions they have now received, and their unworthiness becomes all the more apparent to them the more abundantly the Lord shows them His paternal care.

The N.N. woman believes she deserves punishment because of her youthful sins; and since, in spite of that, God has inundated her with so many benefactions, He wishes to convince her thereby that He has forgiven her everything for Christs sake. He wishes to awaken her thereby, but mostly through the comforting gospel of His Son our Savior, the very best gift, for whose sake it pleases Him to grant poor persons everything else to cause a sweet trust and childlike love in return. But she is all too much hindered in this evangelical joy by the recognition of her total unworthiness and abundant misdeeds. My exhortation for today, which she had to forego for some time because of my travel and errands, was very dear to her and awakened her to the praise of God.

Prior to the devotional hour on the plantations I and two knowledgeable men sought a commodious and level spot on which to place the soon to be built church and cemetery. We found such a place in the center of the plantations and homesteads. It is very suitable for this purpose, and I hope that the work on it will commence shortly. The first thing will be for the men of all four transports to set about jointly building a bridge over the little river between the city and the plantations. This is indispensable to us and will serve to advance our office greatly in diligently visiting the members of our congregation. The proper construction was fully discussed in the congregation; and tomorrow, God willing and if the rainy weather permits, a few men are going out to inspect the area carefully to see where the bridge can be built advantageously. God has granted them something sweet in this bitter labor through the benefaction mentioned yesterday; it is an easy thing for Him to add still more for the refreshment of both great and humble. Before I left here this morning I had some neighbors who were living in discord come to me. I showed them the dried fruit standing in some open barrels and asked them whether, in the sight of this gift from God, they still wished to keep their hearts bitter toward each other. We reached the point of their becoming reconciled with one another, and they went home in peace.

Our dear Peter Reiter has been under treatment for a long time and is now being tended by Mr. Mayer. We do not know what he will have to pay to his surgeon because he has not had time to make up his bill.15 Doubtless it will amount to a great deal. Nonetheless, since God has attained His purpose with him through this bodily travail and has converted him in a righteous manner to His Son, the comfort of fallen men, He will also care for him like a father reconciled through Christ and will fulfill what is cited with the greatest assurance in the Book of Job regarding the relationship of God to His children. For his bandaging and cure this dear man not only needs the mercy that he has experienced in his soul but also needs God to grant him the medical fees for bandaging and treatment.

The dear and loving friend of our congregation, Mr. Durninger, has sent twenty-five florins to Senior Urlsperger with the request that this money be given to the poorest God-fearing person in the congregation to buy a cow. On account of his treatment this man Reiter had to sell a cow and an ox; and, because he will not be able to work for a year and a day but can therefore pray all the more diligently, we recognize with joy Gods kindness toward him. For Mr. Vigera agrees with us that this benefaction of the twenty-five florins should be applied to this dear man so he can once again acquire a cow. Doubtless by this means his faith will be strengthened in the same manner as our own.

We are also giving the Maurer woman some assistance from the blessing God put at our disposal for the benefit of the congregation and the orphanage.16 In this we will take care that these dear and righteous people do not suffer any more than the others in their subsistence, for they would rather give away all their little money and other things that bring debt upon themselves. Thus the Lord knows our need but also knows means and ways out of it for that He is strong in power; not one faileth. Should that not strengthen us in our faith? We wish the good of the 41st Psalm, especially vv. 24, to all our worthy benefactors. They are certainly unaware of these and other circumstances of the congregation, yet they let their hearts and hands be steered towards dispensing of charity.

Wednesday, the 13th of January. This morning we distributed the dried fruit amongst the first, second, and third transports, for the fourth had already received its good portion partly on the journey and partly in Ebenezer a short time ago. For this reason, the people came in from the plantations, although it was raining. To be sure this physical gift was well worth their taking such trouble; nonetheless, I considered it needful and useful to impart to them the spiritual along with the physical so that they might turn homewards refreshed thus in body and soul. To this end the distribution was combined with singing, praying, and devout preaching of the divine word.

In his last letter our dear Senior Urlsperger mentioned the following little verse, which we read aloud yesterday on the plantation, with much blessing: With God thy faith is well disposed. Thy love will help thy neighbor if thou art born of God.17 I recently put these select and beautiful words to good use for myself and the gathered listeners before the distribution. Praise be to God for the spiritual blessing He has sent me and the others from this; and may He let our worthy benefactors, who have shown their faith and their birth from God so splendidly through their charity in regards to our congregation, enjoy in time and eternity the good they have done for us. I mentioned herewith Acts 11:28 ff.

Thursday, the 14th of January. Amongst the last transport, Bacher received his brother, with wife and one daughter.18 Because he [the brother] is old and too weak for felling trees and running a plantation, Sanftleben has sold him his plantation with all the buildings on it for 24 . It is, to be sure, a lot of money; but it did take much labor before everything could be arranged in such an orderly manner. The plantation is extremely well situated and has very good land for corn and rice, is never in danger of flooding, lies just at the junction of the Savannah River and the mill river, offers good opportunities for raising cattle, and is also very near the town. Sanftleben is now taking for himself a plantation on Ebenezer Creek with nothing but trees and bushes. He will be a neighbor of the schoolmaster and some other people from the 4th transport, and we hope this too will turn out profitably. This region, fruitful and well-suited for everything, has lain wild and uncultivated till now, because everyone preferred settling and building first on the mill river.

Saturday, the 16th of January. N.N.s pious wife recounted to me with much joy and praise of God that, through the grace of God, her husband, who was previously given to drink, was becoming quite a different man. He wishes, she said, to write to Germany in truth and to the glory of God that he had wandered many places but had been unable to find any place so remote and pleasurable for living as God had presented him in this wilderness, etc. He said he could serve God and men in his profession in quiet, he had enough work, and was living with Christian people on the plantations. Praise God also for this blessing!

Sunday, the 17th of January. We predicted to the people of the 4th transport today from Gods word according to the instruction of the gospel for the second Sunday of Epiphany that they, as neophytes, must hold themselves in readiness for all sorts of spiritual and physical trials, but that these would not redound to their harm, rather to their salvation. For what is hiding in their hearts will be revealed; people do not generally believe from Gods word that they are so evil. But should external and internal suffering be added, then indeed there arise lack of faith or weak faith, impatience, love of the world and its aids, for which the Lord gladly wants to forgive us and heal our wounds, if only we ask for it in the recognition of our misery.19 Then the Lord makes plain His glory.

Monday, the 18th of January. During the absence of my dear colleague I held school with the children in the church for the first time. The mild weather was quite suitable for it. I began singing the very impressive hymn Ich bin ja Herr in Deiner Macht, etc., with them, because I desired it to be known in the congregation because of its weighty content and moving melody. After the prayer I reminded the children of the many good things our miraculous and benevolent God was doing for them here and from other places. I told them He would do more if they were grateful from their hearts and would yield up their hearts sincerely to the Lord Jesus. Ingratitude, however, would move God to take back His benefactions and actually to punish, a clear example of which they could see in the people of Bethlehem. Because they did not respect the best gift of all, Jesus, Who was born in Bethlehem, He was taken from them, and the parents had to live the sorrow of their hearts in their children, slaughtered at the command of Herod. At this point I read them the short and sincerely humble letter from the dear little son of a pious mother to our congregation, enclosing a gift of two florins for the poor. It is printed in the foreword to the 6th Continuation.20

I have long wished to praise God in the orphanage, with both adults and children, for the recently arrived spiritual and physical gifts of money and all sorts of things pertaining to clothing; and today I found the best time for it. We sang the hymn Lobe den Herrn, o meine Seele, etc., which even the smallest children know by heart. I then reminded them of what had taken place amongst us at the recent Feast of the Epiphany. From the gospel of Matthew 2:1 ff., we had learned that the heavenly Father had aroused the wise men in a foreign distant land to bring to His Son and His Sons poor parents a present, which they needed quite sorely on their pilgrimage to Egypt. I said it was, therefore, a great honor to our congregation and orphanage for our gracious God in this circumstance to wish to liken us to His dear Son and to the pious Joseph and dear Mary and to arouse wise and pious people in Germany who have been right eager to send us many physical and spiritual gifts, which were distributed according to Gods gracious dispensation without forethought or purpose for our part on the notable day already mentioned. Finally we knelt down before the Lords countenance, praised God for every good thing rendered to the orphanage and to our congregation, and implored him in Christs name to reward richly, in this life and in the next, everything we have experienced.

Tuesday, the 19th of January. So far, this winter has been quite bearable and not nearly so cold as in previous years; hence, there are all sorts of green things growing in the garden. Yesterday all the men in the entire congregation began building a 300 foot long bridge, tall and durable, across a broad and deep little river and over the swampy tract around it. With it we will be able to go continually back and forth from the town and plantations. Today I visited it and found, to my pleasure, just what Mr. Vigera had told me yesterday, to wit, that the people were working with great success and in fine harmony, each working crew at its own directed place. The bridge from the town to the plantations is being built so broadly, stoutly, and competently that we can walk or go by horseback or conveyance on it throughout the entire year. Till now, at high water, we have had to ride the long path around to the plantations on horseback for a good hour. But in this way we will be able to go on this short road in a half hour to the plantations furthest down the Savannah River. This will not only turn out very convenient for the peoples going to church and doing other business in town but will also make us more useful to the people in carrying out our duties.

The largest pilings are driven in, then so-called cross-beams eight feet long are laid athwart them. On these cross-beams or joists rest the wide and long boards which are placed together as closely as boards in a floor of a room. Balustrades are being placed on both sides so that neither horse nor man can wander over the sides and fall off. The water in the stream and the adjacent bog is almost at its highest now; and, even if it should go a few feet higher, it will not rise over the bridge since we thought of this at the beginning because of our previous experience.

Although it rained very heavily last night, the entire region from the town to the bridge and across the bridge to the plantations where our broad path is being cut is so dry that we cannot tell that it has rained. The broad path to the town goes through Landfelders plantation. He has had to give up some good land, and he complained about it to me yesterday. But I directed him to some men who would talk with him knowledgeably about the matter, by whom he was also mollified. For that I am willing to show him some favor. Likewise I wish to reward Rottenberger for so willingly giving up from his plantation all the wood we need for this important construction. Now the piles are being driven in by communal labor. As soon as the water is down and the swamps or boggy spots on the one side of the bridge are dried out, they will fasten the pilings to other timbers appropriate to stout bridges. At that point I will have to apply some of the money God grants the congregation or orphanage from time to time.

With the others I thank God for causing this long-desired bridge to progress so far and causing us to find such a suitable place for it that no other could be wished for. I think the present time is just the right time for this important construction: not only can the men best get away from their regular business but they have also been strengthened considerably by the 4th transport so that everything is proceeding all the more cheerfully and rapidly. These last people are quite industrious and untiring and steady at this labor, and thus they cause me and others much pleasure.

Thursday, the 21st of January. Pletter announced that his eldest little girl Elisabeth had died last night of epilepsy.21 He and his wife consoled themselves considerably in that in this child was so completely fulfilled what is present in the hymn: Wie wohl ist mir, o Freund der Seelen, wenn ich in deiner Liebe ruhe, etc. For this reason this hymn was very profitable to me and others at the burial. This makes the third little child to have died and been buried this year.22 May God teach us all to consider that we must die, so that we may become prudent.

Friday, the 22nd of January. A captain and judge from Purysburg /Linder/ had received some of our medicine from Halle at his request. Now in reply he wrote me: I will remain beholden to you forever, for the medicines we received. I can say with truth that Gods blessing is in everything they have sent me. Everything has taken effect immediately. I thank Your Reverence heartily for all such kindnesses, etc.23

Besides the blessed medicines from Halle by which, from the very beginning, the Lord has rendered us much good in our homes and in the congregation, we have had, since the arrival of the 4th transport, the infallible Berlin fever powder, which was sent to us in some quantity from Stuttgart. A man and a woman with quartan fever have already used it with good effect. It seems likely that the fever is thoroughly cured [as the description and directions for use of this powder say], and therefore not merely checked. Our people use such medicines that are sent to us thus all the more confidently, since they know that they reach us from the hands of our Fathers and patrons, who would not send them to us if they did not have sufficient proof of their goodness and caution.

Saturday, the 23rd of January. Today our surveyor was observing the labor going on at the bridge and judged that a similar durable construction could not be finished in Charleston for less than 1000 . of Carolina money, i.e., 142 . 17 Sh. Sterl., and it will cost our treasury not more than 9 . Sterl. Praise God for this right great benefaction! The said surveyor also sees that by and by our congregation will increase with inhabitants from new transports, and he therefore suggests we extend the terrain contiguous to the city as far as possible without harming other colonists in the country. In that way strange and possibly harmful people will not settle in our vicinity and take away the pasture land and other advantages. Once our town is occupied, then small villages and colonies can be set up in our district from the town, all dependent upon our town, as it is in and around Savannah. The suggestion pleases me and others highly, and I am thinking of proposing it very soon to the authorities.

Sunday, the 24th of January. Yesterday towards evening N.N. came to me and acknowledged his trespass and insolent conduct towards me and asked heartily and movingly for pardon. I would not have expected it from him, since his arrogant and self-righteous attitude is well known to me; hence I was all the happier when he came to me in these circumstances. He knows better now than previously that I have his interests in mind, and in physical matters too he has many proofs of my good intentions for him, which God has laid on his head like fiery coals and thus conquered his evil with good. Since our harvest and thanksgiving season God has begun to guide his mind, and from that time on he has begun to abandon his hate towards me and to come back to my sermons and prayer meetings. Since then God has very often placed materials concerning the intended texts in my heart and mouth in such a way that I believed at the time that his conscience would be touched by it, his inner character would be clearly portrayed, and he would be convinced that external things will not help him be saved unless inwardness, i.e., the new creature, were there. For he always sits directly before me, and therefore the miserable and perilous state of his soul has often given me the opportunity to prepare the application accordingly, without others being able to think that he alone is meant.

I knelt down with him, and prayed to God about him. Giving him my hand, I assured him I heartily forgave him everything he had done which caused me sorrow. I admonished him to ask God in the name of Christ for pardon and to talk with me in the future according to his circumstances. He wishes to withdraw into complete tranquility. He thanks God for bringing him here and considers it a benefaction whenever I come to him and tell him his errors. His wife tearfully acknowledged her rudeness already some weeks ago and told me at the time that her husband was beginning to change, which I now hope will continue with divine mercy.

Monday, the 25th of January. Today some people of the 4th transport were at my house talking with me about the condition of their souls. By their righteous acknowledgement and new good resolutions they gave me very good hope that they will surrender themselves sincerely to the Lord Jesus.

Tuesday, the 26th of January. Carl Flerl was married today to the widow Gruber. We hope that through this marriage God will bestow on the man not only an easing of his difficult household tasks but also much progress in his Christianity, for he is getting in her a true helpmeet. The tailor Christ has also long desired a change in his condition and has become engaged to the daughter of a tailor /Metzger/ from Purysburg. She has stayed at our place for quite some time in a quiet and Christian manner as a widow. This widow was weary of life in Purysburg and at her parents house; and because of that and in order to keep her three children in school here she asked permission to live amongst us, and now for that reason she will even marry here. The eldest little girl, very cheerful and clever, is frail and goes on her knees.24 Both the tailor Christ and the mother have appealed to me to take her into the orphanage, which will also be done.

Wednesday, the 27th of January. This has been, to be sure, a very tiring but also very pleasing day: God caused me to learn from the humble and heartfelt acknowledgement of a few new and old members that His word is resounding in their souls and that they are drawing near the Kingdom of God. He will carry out the good work He has begun so that they will become true participants in the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ. Those who are awakened but who have not made atonement for their dead works allow themselves to be shown how to postpone the use of Holy Communion rather than go to it to their harm, as happened aforetimes.

Our dear Mr. N. may well have worries and concern for some colonists of the 4th transport, about whom he has only recently heard. However, perhaps he and others whom the Lord has used as instruments in this will receive much refreshment in return when they learn what a blessed change God is creating in such previously unconverted persons. Those are the real Magnalia Dei25 which God is performing in our days and to which we rightfully should pay more attention than to other adventures and external events in the world in times of war and peace. He is a lover of life and suffers even the most wicked with great patience so that He takes pity on them. Psalms 11:27. I am happy that the new people like being in Ebenezer so much, although there are many amongst them who would have it easier in other places in worldly matters.

Thursday, the 28th of January. A woman has brought a very bad name to us on account of her wicked behavior in another place. When she tearfully and vehemently accused herself at my house today and acknowledged herself to be the worst sinner who, in her sins, had lost practically all hope of salvation, I thought that by such acknowledgement she was referring to her vexatious behavior and base trespasses. But when I inquired, she attested by everything holy that she did not know herself to be guilty of such sins as people had attributed to her either in the place where she had stayed or on her journey; and with that she recounted to me all the things she had done in that connection, and whence the suspicion originated. I penetrated very deeply into her with Gods word; and, since she talked with me very honestly and intimately, and was very fearful of death and the seat of judgment of Christ, where all secret unforgiven sins will be punished, I abandoned my suspicions and will set straight others who have everything only on hearsay.

However, she still seeks no justification because she knows nothing of the base things imputed to her; rather, God disclosed to her the horror of the other sins lying in her heart. Assuming she is sincere, I hope she will soon come to a belief in Christ. Necessity brings her to her knees, and now she is learning better to understand Gods word. Among other things she said, I applied the verse In the multitude of my thoughts, etc., to myself whenever the people said all kinds of things about me and I came into great trouble and woe. But now I feel another affliction, it comes from the awareness of sin, etc.

Friday, the 29th of January. The Klocker woman brought me a letter from her husband to be forwarded to Germany. She and her family cannot find words enough to extol the benefactions the Lord is showing them in Ebenezer. She would like to have a letter written to Senior Riesch, who was previously favorably disposed to her and her husband, thanking him for the fatherly love and faith he showed them. And she wanted simply to wish him blessings from God in recompense, and to inform him that everything was coming true that he had foretold them about Ebenezer. Since no time remains for writing him anything, we will do it in a few words here: God bless him and Master Felss and other friends of Ebenezer many thousandfold for all their affection and intercessions. She also told how much it had cost to get her oldest daughter away from the people in the Empire, and now she glorifies God who has ordained it so well. For He blesses the solitude and His word in her right noticeably so that she is becoming a virgin and bride of Christ. She said so many good things in great simplicity and honesty that we hestitate to report them.

Peter Reiter has given his plantation over to Klocker, since he himself will be unable to work for at least a year because of his severe accident. The two of them made a very Christian contract, and after some time Klocker is getting half of the entire plantation, which is very fruitful, well situated, and nicely laid out. The children are going to Steiners school.

A girl refreshed me today by means of the little verse: O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself; but in me is thine help. There are now right many remarkable and edifying things to enter into the diary. The Lord has certainly begun His work splendidly among the 4th transport, and what He already began in Germany through the labor of His servants is proceeding with blessing. Hallelujah!

Saturday, the 30th of January. Our bridge is now completely built, and it causes great joy in the entire congregation because it is a major benefaction which the Lord has shown to our Ebenezer. It cost only 5 . and 13 Sh. Sterl. besides what the side rails will cost, which eight men hope to finish in six days. These rails are indispensably necessary; for the bridge is 300 feet long and only wide enough for one large wagon to cross it or for one horse to turn around, and without such rails someone at night, especially children, or even in daytime horse, rider, and wagon could come to grief. Yesterday for the last time I took the long way to the plantations; and my horse, as always till now, had to swim through the water, while I had to go over a tree lying partly in the water. After I was through I thanked God for helping us conquer all difficulties and dangers till now and for granting us this great benefaction of the new bridge, upon which we have not much more than a half-hour on foot to the next plantation on the Savannah River and mill river. Even the people living at the utmost ends of the plantations are now a lot nearer the town than before, even if, because of the high water, they were obliged to take the middle way and not the long way. We have had to get along with difficulty long enough, and we now justly glorify the Lord who put it in the heads of the men in the congregation to devote one week of communal work to this needed construction. Our cash box will bear the remaining cost, which, we hope, will be refunded by the authorities.

N.N. has now finished his six months service at N. and cannot find words to describe the mortal danger he was in, and how graciously the Lord looked upon his wretchedness, and his and others prayers for the sake of Christ, and how He finally indeed rescued him and brought him here again. Now Ebenezer is right dear to him, after experiencing many things in N. and N., whence he had to travel with his master. If the people believe his stories (there is not the slightest reason to doubt them), it is to be hoped that they will be given new cause to glorify God for the very special kindness He shows us here and to be well content with all that He lays upon us. Among other things he [N.] told Mr. Vigera that if he could earn 100 . Sterl. every day in N. and only 1 pence in Ebenezer, he would rather be in Ebenezer than there, etc.

Sunday, the 31st of January. Today after the sermon I sought to rouse the entire congregation to the praise of God, while we sang: Lobet den Herrn, den mchtiqen Knig der Ehren, etc. Today eighty-two of us were at the Lords table. I believe with certainty that God has brought about much salvation through His word, which had been preached previously, and through this treasured sacrament of the body and blood of Christ Himself. Hallelujah!

FEBRUARY

Monday, the 1st of February 1742. Just as the Lord blessed the first month of this year according to His great mercy, He has already begun this day to bless the second month too. To the person who is the greatest sinner in his own eyes He displays the greatest mercy, hence He holds Himself bound to love that one most, for the one who is forgiven much also loves much. May the Lord cause us to savor the power of the Gospel ever more intensely! The Lord be praised for all He has done for us till now, we are surely not worthy of it! We are experiencing thoroughly what Jesus says in Chapter 5, The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. With this may the Holy Spirit help each of us in faith to draw this conclusion: if the prayer of a righteous person can achieve so much, what may not the prayer of the great High Priest, Jesus the Son of God, achieve, upon whose intercession and merit every prayer is based and hence is heard? Yea, verily, it is so! The faithful experience it well, and therefore say: If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?

In the evening a man from the congregation was at my house. At my question he recounted how the Lord, our loving Jesus, had accepted his soul the previous day and had not let him spend the day without blessing. To be sure, it had seemed to him, he said, as if he would not have any blessing, but in the evening it had come. The song Du bist ja Jesu meine Freude, warum ist denn mein Herz betrbt came to his mind and refreshed him, so that he hoped it would be sung during the prayer hour. When this happened, it impressed him all the more so that he gained more trust and love in his Savior. It had been like that also at Christmastime, he said. He had taken no comfort from my sermon, but finally, when he prayed, he thought: If I should see no comfort, I will refresh myself that I belong to Jesus.

Tuesday, the 2nd of February. Today on the plantations I read aloud the very fine letter of the pious Salzburger from Ulm [Ruprecht Winter]. Our dear God again granted me great edification from it. I heard the same from a Salzburger after the prayer hour, and I believe others were edified by it also. For what comes from the heart goes to the heart. We can see how much the man is full of grace, and hence everything causes a deep impression. We see there how grace opens the heart and the mouth of a man. As long as a man is without grace, his mouth is closed; but if grace comes into his heart, then the mouth is opened.

When I had come home again, I married the tailor Christ with the widow from Purysburg. First I sang: Jesu, deine heilige Wunden, etc., and with the help of the Holy Spirit I placed in their hearts: For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in our body, and in your spirit, which are Gods. 1 Corinthians 6:20. May the Lord bless it!

Wednesday, the 3rd of February. For Ernsts medical treatment I was paid 9 . Sterl. in Savannah on orders of General Oglethorpe. I was also promised that no one would establish a stock farm or plantation in our area, but that we could look on all land toward Abercorn and Old Ebenezer and back to Ogeechee as our own and as appertaining to our city. This assurance of the entire Council is as good to me as if the surveyor had already parceled out the land for us; and I am happy that it cannot be surveyed now because the people do not have time to assist the surveyor in his work. They are allowing us the 500 acres in the vicinity of the old sawmill with the stipulation that the proprietor or his heirs not return;1 meanwhile the Lord Trustees will make a decision. Other than they, we are the first in line, and they should not be awarded to anyone else. I requested a grant of 10 Sterling for our bridge, but they can do nothing until orders come from the Lord Trustees. A few years ago they began to build a bridge near Savannah which is said to have cost over 500 . Sterling, and the road is now worse than it was before. I had a conversation with the preacher in Savannah in order to prevent a disorder which threatens to spread amongst the Germans.

Thursday, the 4th of February. This year we desired to begin planting wine grapes. But good vines are so rare in this country that neither in Savannah nor in Purysburg can we get cuttings without roots, unless a good friend gives us some. In the Lord Trustees large garden the grape vines are so skimpy and poor that they themselves can hardly believe it when it is written out for them, the more so when they know what the costs have been.

To be sure, a Jew who has moved to New York has a good supply of vines in two places, to wit, on his plantation and in the city; but no one has the authority to dispose of them, and it is guessed that he will return in awhile.2 In the meantime everything is being minded by a servant of the Lord Trustees at his expense. Since we can get no grape vines or even cuttings from the public garden now, some English acquaintances in Savannah have presented me with a few such cuttings as grew last summer, and we desire to have them planted here. Some time ago General Oglethorpe gave orders to his vintner on his barony at Palachocolas to deliver fifty such cuttings or cut branches to me, each a little more than a foot long, which will be cut next week. I have also brought a small olive tree along with a few cut branches from the Lord Trustees garden, and we will attempt to grow them here. Almost all tree twigs take root and proceed to grow if they are placed in the earth at the right time in spring.

Of the thirty persons fetched to Charlestown to be taken to Saxe-Gotha, no more than two are said to be left, the others all having died either on the way or in Charlestown, although they had good physical care.3

Friday, the 5th of February. The wheat sown at our place last autumn is standing so beautifully that we cannot look upon it here and there in the gardens without pleasure and praise of God. The people are highly encouraged to plant more European crops by and by, since the labor is not very great but the profit is greater than they could hope for with the local crops. I have been approached about taking the trouble to get spelt seeds [a very well-known and useful crop in a few corners of Germany]. We do not hear of anything similar in New York or Pennsylvania. Hence we will probably have to await these seeds from Germany, which we wish kindly to request herewith. Because we have a mill, we would be able to prepare the seeds quite easily for consumption by ourselves and others. For the past few years we have been going to some lengths to get hemp seeds, so far without success. Doubtless it would grow on the rich and moist lowland near the mill stream.

The surgeon, Mr. Mayer, still has no proper dwelling. As we had to do for a few years at the beginning, he manages with a well-secured hut, which is quite cold in winter, however, because one cannot place an oven in it. The people wish to have him in their vicinity on the plantations. For that reason Steiner is giving him a portion of his plantation, and very soon a stout and durable little house will be built in the section where the church is to be built. This plot lies practically in the center of the plantations and will be very convenient for him in all sorts of ways. The people have great love for and trust in him and will happily contribute according to their means whatever can serve his pleasure. If he takes his office seriously, as he has done so far, and is useful to the congregation and satisfied with little, I do not doubt that God by and by will cause something to devolve upon him for his subsistence.

Sunday, the 7th of February. Steiner is showing great industry and loyalty in the school on the plantations. He asked me, however, if he should continue it at the time when the field work is starting. He guessed that the parents would have to give some school money, for he is getting very little for his labors; since he would have to neglect part of his field work he would provide much too little for the maintenance of his family. However, in faith and trust in divine providence, I gave him the certain hope that we would pay him quarterly for his labors from the blessing which God in His time will grant. Perhaps God will show the worthy Court Chaplain Ziegenhagen a good opportunity to commend this loyal schoolmaster and his loyal work in the school on the plantations to the Lord Trustees or the most praiseworthy Society. 8 . Sterling would fully support him.

We also lack a clear-sounding bell on the plantations for giving the signal to church and school, for which reason the children and adults sometimes come too early or too late. They cannot hear the horn at a distance; and, even if we wished to give the sound from a small cannon, as happened for awhile, a half pound of powder is required each time. Reckoned at 9 pence each, it comes to a very high sum. It is an easy thing for our dear God to grant a good bell to the plantations for this important purpose, as He has done in the town already.4 We deem it justly as a benefaction.

Monday, the 8th of February. Yesterday we dealt with the Gospel for the Fifth Sunday after Epiphany concerning the hidden powers and works of Satan and read the introductory words of Luke 22:46 (cf. 31). Today God let me learn that He had blessed this utterance in a married couple so that they are recognizing more and more what Satan has in mind, and how they should properly meet his sly attacks in a manner consistent with the gospels. The more earnestly a person carries on his Christianity the more earnestly Satan strives to counteract it with his hidden powers and works. Mouth-Christians and seeming Christians know nothing of this, but true Christians are often laid low by it and believe they have fallen from Gods grace if they must feel internally and externally the power of evil as a vile weed.

We also admonished the audience about being sold tares in place of wheat by the Enemy.5 Quite many such deceived people will be found in eternity. How few learn to distinguish between nature and grace and hold many things for virtues which are only deceitful sins. Their lack of faith or dead faith, which consists only of empty knowledge, human approbation, and worldly, self-made trust is called true salutary faith, their accommodation to the world compromise, their silence in the face of everything evil intelligence, a few physical good works Christian love, and their worldly anger a good zeal, etc. God protect us and our parishioners from this and other kinds of self-deception!

The wind now pierces into the rooms so much that almost no heating helps. It seems to me that it has never been so cold by day or night as it is beginning to be at the start of this month of February. The best thing about it is that the fierce cold in this country lasts barely a few days and then changes into pleasant spring weather again.

Tuesday, the 9th of February. The tailor Metzger, whose daughter married the tailor Christ last week, asked me to take his 14-year-old son into the orphanage. He will give clothes to him, but he will have to earn his board by working in the orphanage. He is now accepted and is going to school; and if he learns to read well, he will go to preparation for Holy Communion. During the remaining time he can take off from school he assists the orphanage manager. Metzgers abovementioned daughter has brought three unreared children by her previous husband to the tailor Christ. The oldest girl is 7, and frail, but otherwise very sprightly and capable; and, at her request and also to lighten her housework, she has been taken into the orphanage. Since we have so many proofs of divine providence at the orphanage, we do not refuse to come to the aid of poverty. We believe confidently that God will be able to multiply the little that is left in the cash box for the support of widows and orphans, just like the oil in the cruse and the meal in the barrel, so that we may see His splendor and glorify His name, 1 Kings 17:14, 2 Kings 4:17.

Wednesday, the 10th of February. A woman who had stolen a goose egg from her next-door neighbor more than a year ago and now bears a great deal on her conscience wishes everyone to believe that this sin, as a trespass of the divine commandment, is the most terrible matter, even if, through blindness caused by Satan and deception caused by her own heart, it had seemed to be a minor one. She brought four eggs in return, and would happily have acknowledged her duplicity towards the person whom it concerned and would have shamed herself before everyone if I had not dissuaded her for very good cause. This person is an enemy of the pious and also of this sorrow-bearing woman, and this confession would cause more evil than good; hence I took this matter into my own hands and will touch that other persons conscience at this opportunity.

This woman is also burdened by something else: she finds herself full of sin and the abominations of youth and would happily cry out to God day and night in her spiritual torment. But, she says, she has a sick child and has to take care of it till the middle of the night to get it to sleep; and thus it happens that she is hindered in her prayers. Since she herself is frail, she says, she falls asleep with the child, and afterwards this causes her anguish, especially since she read in the 119th Psalm that David arose in the night and praised God. I told her by way of instruction that we have no specific commandment in Holy Scripture to pray to God on our knees in the morning or in the evening lest we suffer harm in our salvation.

The love she was showing her child in faith and obedience was, I said, an actual service to God, and the Lord heard her desire also to praise and worship on her knees the dear Father in the name of Jesus Christ. I told her that her heart could be certain that His ear was aware of it. I directed her to the prayer of Christ at the right hand of the Father and to the communion of saints and at the same time admonished her not to worry herself and agonize onesidedly about this or that thing, even if it were a sinful weakness, but to come through Christ to the reconciled Father and to pray and seek from Him in spiritual hunger and thirst those things she needed. She must rest not in her customary practices but only in the wounds and merits of Christ.

I visited a man from the fourth transport named Cugel6 on his new plantation and found him and his wife very industrious at their work. He has received very good land upon which he has already built a hut and some out-buildings and has made a fine spot suitable for planting. They are both very content, and wish to report to their benefactors and friends as soon as they can about what God has done for them.

Thursday, the 11th of February. Yesterday the Landfelder woman brought a little daughter into the world, who was baptized today. The woman was very weak soon after the birth and desired my encouragement and prayer, which she was also provided. May God not begrudge her an even longer time of grace in which to put her house in proper order and to become certain of the grace of God in Christ so that she may die a blessed death. From her bed she offered me her hand several times, and it seemed as if many things were stirring in her conscience.

Michael Rieser, her one-time neighbor, moved at the end of last week to his plantation below the mill. I visited him yesterday, and I feel that his attitude towards us is better formed now than formerly. I am still hoping he will convert righteously to the Lord.7

A young man with business at my house told me that a piece of wood fell and struck Ott while he was at work building, leaving him all confused and with blood running out of his ears. Yesterday I had been at his plantation but had no opportunity to speak with him alone as I had intended, because he was helping his neighbor Bischoff [Henry Bishop] build a kitchen.

The above-mentioned man told me that with Otts accident the verse came to mind: God is a righteous judge, and a God who daily threatens; if one will not convert, then he ..., etc. He said he had spoken with him some time ago on the way home from church and asked him how he felt about his fall from grace, a question he answered with tears but no further words. The other man showed him in holy scripture that if he would righteously convert, he would not be harmed for having been godless. But first he must disconnect himself from bad and frivolous company and seek the company of pious people, which he also wanted. But we have well seen that he has not been really serious about converting; and therefore God is earnestly following him. In church discipline we have proceeded with him in such a way that he has had no cause to complain about harshness and severity. Everything was so arranged that he and the others have had to recognize that we are seeking only the true salvation of his soul and that, in hope that we can set him right, we are using only as much gravity and severity as has been necessary to avert annoyance.

Friday, the 12th of February. In a years time we hope to have enough grape vines to help many people establish vineyards. Our boat was supposed to bring me some more domestic vines from Savannah, but they remained behind through the fault of a man who was supposed to have them ready. The orphanage has had a large piece of field near the kitchen garden protected by a very stout fence, within which the manager will apply himself to all kinds of German crops. We will also see whether we can set up a vineyard here. We are only lacking people who can assist Kalcher. To build something with day laborers is too costly, and could not be supported for long.

The surveyor /Avery/ has now concluded his work with the 4th transport and otherwise in the congregation; and after he receives his certificate from me today, he is looking for an opportunity to go to Purysburg. Amongst us he has been a quite orderly person and has done us good service, and for this reason I will mention him in a most complimentary manner in my letter to the authorities and General Oglethorpe. He has shown me a sketch consisting of all the estates on the Savannah River in Georgia and Carolina, similarly on other rivers in Carolina and around Frederica. I should like to have it, as it may be of service to our friends and benefactors in Europe. But, because he is justifiably asking a good reward for his trouble and we cannot give him anything like it, I will ask General Oglethorpe to help us in the matter. He knows the mans work and knows that it is accurate and dependable.8

Saturday, the 13th of February. Ruprecht Zittrauer has been dangerously ill; but God has helped him up again, and he recognizes this to be a great act of grace of the Lord and to belong to the realm of His kindness, patience, and forebearance. For he said that, if he had died this time, he would have gone badly, because he had been contemptuous of the grace God had offered so far. His intentions now are very good, and we will see whether he will follow the admonitions given him privately and publicly.

An unmarried woman was at my house because of her souls circumstances. She lamented bitterly about the sins of her youth, and her only wish was that she might soon be able to say: I obtained mercy, since she must now say that she is the greatest amongst sinners. She complained that unprofitable gossip had done her much harm and had displaced the good she had heard, hence she longed for tranquility. She also asked me to allow her on Sundays, when she came in from the plantation for services, to remain in my house quietly and to join others in prayer.

Sunday, the 14th of February. Today the parishioners were instructed how they are serving through Christ even in the most lowly appearing occupation. I said for every labor scorned by the world, if done from the heart to Gods glory and for the love of their neighbor, they would receive from the Lords hand a reward in grace; todays gospel on the laborers in the vineyard gave us a fine opportunity to speak of it. We had as an exordium Colossians 3:23, 24 and discussed the gospel of the Christians as servants of Christ, and looked upon 1) their service, and 2) their reward of grace.

Monday, the 15th of February. A boy from Old Ebenezer told me how great damage occurred around noontime when the people were at their meal, when a great part of the fence within which the Lord Trustees cattle are being kept rapidly burned down. Now is the time when the dry grass is ignited along with other easily flammable items, and at that point harm may easily occur if care is not taken. A few days ago a large portion offence here too caught on fire unexpectedly, near the gardens not too far from the town, and very little was left to put out. There was no water nearby, and we put the fire out only with earth or by tearing out the fence adjacent to it, so that the fire could reach no further. The orphanage plans to have a long-lasting fence built around a large field which was cleared of trees and bushes at my own expense some years before so that this year we could plant some corn, beans, and other things for the support of the widows and orphans and also try one or another German crop. We can hardly sow the German crops thin enough to keep them from becoming too thick, especially where the soil is rich. A single kernel turns into a big bush with green stem and leaves.

A smith from Purysburg was reported to me, and came to me personally to present to me his physical poverty with the request that he be allowed to beg some corn from the congregation for himself and his wife and children. He has lost all his cattle and one horse to sickness, and the wolves got his pigs. Because of lack of rain he has gotten no crops in the field, and he will have to starve if no one will come to his aid. He recounted that much heavy rain had fallen on his neighbors land in the summer, but on his own plot the sun had burned everything up. He said the rain which had brought crops to others had stopped right at his fence. He recognized that his knowledge of Scripture and other worldly comforts would not have helped him to salvation in the presence of an unconverted heart. His manner of speaking and his confession please me a good deal, and I believe they come from his heart. He attended the evening prayer hour Saturday and the divine services Sunday, and I see well that he longs for Ebenezer, although in previous times it was disparaged by other people to him and his wife. They had prided themselves very much on imagined merits consisting only of worldly freedom and insolence. He described the bulk of the people in N. in such a way that I was horrified. I supplied this impoverished man with three bushels of corn which, along with the perceived Word of God, made a good impression on him.

Tuesday, the 16th of February. Just as we were refreshed in so many ways last month, our miraculous God who makes everything good is leading us this month into many tribulations. One important test is the seemingly dangerous illness of my dear colleague. He has been lying for some days in a great fever and is at times delirious, and various aspects of this illness appear to me right alarming, although Mr. Thilo still has good hope at this time for his recovery because the dear patient is following his prescribed diet and taking his medicines. May the dear Lord hear our prayer for him and send him back to us sound. After it has been withstood, this illness will, through Gods grace, turn to much good for him and me and especially serve to bind our hearts closer in love so that mutually we may seek to carry on the work of the Lord more and more fervently. We only recognize what a true colleague God has sent us when He seems to be taking him away from us. Here also we say: Commit thy way unto the Lord; ... and He shall bring it to pass. Oh, yes, may He do in this matter according to His wisdom, mercy, and omnipotence what will enable us to glorify Him!

The schoolmaster too has been unable to hold school for two weeks because of great loss of strength. I have offered to have Kocher take his place for that period, and to compensate him somewhat for it. But because the schoolmaster would not look upon it kindly, I have let it go in order not to bring him vexation and unnecessary worry in his weak condition. This evening he sent word to me that he wishes to begin school again tomorrow in his house.

Christian Riedelsperger and Schmidt, two very honest men, have also become violently ill, and we do not see how things will turn out with their illness. Here too we say: May the Lords will be done.

Scheraus, a fine man from the 4th transport, cut a dangerous wound in his foot. The surgeon, Mr. Mayer, went to Savannah yesterday; and, because Mr. Thilo had traveled along with me this morning to Schmidts plantation and came home only around one oclock, the man had to lie unbandaged for that period of time. A few days ago I visited this Scheraus and his neighbor Scheffler on their plantations on the Ebenezer River. The two were occupied cutting down trees in great cheerfulness and pleasure. They asked me where I was now, and as the question appeared strange to me, they said: In the Valley of Joy, for they both had, they said, great joy in this country and labored with joy. I let them keep the name, but thought to myself it might better be called Valley of Misery, into which things have all too soon changed, as it goes in this wretched, miserable world. May God hold further His hand over us and let us experience His kindness forever, and for Christs sake not deal with us according to our sins, and not recompense us according to our misdeeds!

Wednesday, the 17th of February. Yesterday evening I received from General Oglethorpe a very friendly letter in which he very kindly invited Mr. Vigera, whom I had mentioned in my last letter, to Frederica in order to become acquainted with him. He also sent me a bill of exchange for 40 . Sterling to buy horses for several men. These men are to reconnoiter our district and expel undesirable rabble, or else in case of need to carry out some tasks useful to our country, for which they will receive a small monthly payment. General Oglethorpe also reported that a certain captain and Indian trader above Palachocolas had promised him to put one of his children by an Indian woman in our school; and, because this child has a very good grasp of the Uchee Indian language, it may be the generals purpose for someone to learn something of this language from the child, so that by and by other Indian children may be enticed into the school. It chanced that just today this captain came to my house at noon. I asked him about the matter and found out that his sending his child here was not in the offing, and in the end probably nothing would come of it. The man stands very high in General Oglethorpes estimation because he is looked up to by the Indians and can bring profit or harm through them.9

Thursday, the 18th of February. Yesterday evening Mr. Vigera came back again from Savannah with his traveling companions. Because the oarsmen were weak, the boat could come no further than the mill; and it will be fetched thence today. He now sees from his own experience how hard it is for us and how expensive it is when we must travel back and forth so often because of the needs of the congregation. How good it would be if the Lord Trustees would put out a sum of money and employ conscientious people to complete a main road from Savannah to Old Ebenezer so that people could travel back and forth rapidly and at little cost and difficulty. Perhaps when I report to General Oglethorpe the quality and uncommon usefulness of our bridge, something of the necessity and usefulness of other bridges to be built will be described and suggested. In Carolina all planters are bound to report six days each year to repair roads, and white people and Negroes must labor under certain assigned officers. But it is done, especially in the Purysburg region, so very badly and factiously that little is accomplished.

I visited families on the plantations and had occasion to talk about various things for the edification of the adults and children, and after that there was also some prayer. We see the people working earnestly on their plantations, and more would be done if only the water were not always so high and did not inundate the land, which is called the Savannah Swamps.10

Friday, the 19th of February. Before the edification hour on the plantations I called on the frail Peter Reiter. This time my visit was especially well suited for him since he had been longing for me for several days to share a word of comfort and instruction with him. It is going with him as it goes with others who are serious about their Christianity and salvation. His entire Christianity is displeasing to him, and much appears to him to be hypocrisy; and he believes that he will therefore progress no further and God will not accept him. Old sins are still always occurring to him, which disheartens him. Also, someone told him that he was talking and acting better than in previous times only to please people. But whoever has a spiritual countenance and pays heed to the whole tenorem vitae praesentis11 and compares the present with the past will soon find that God has worked a true change of attitude in him and that he has been born again through the Holy Spirit. He detests inwardly and rues with pain the old paths of sin, and he struggles against all evil desires, crucifies the flesh with its occupations, and seeks refuge in the blood and wounds of Christ. As he previously judged the Christianity and customs of others, now others judge him similarly; and he knows well they can do no differently because of the blindness of their hearts. I edified him and myself from the wonderful hymn: Prange Welt mit deinem Wissen, etc.

After the edification hour N.N. had me called to him, and I found him on his sickbed in a violent fever. He lamented very fearfully that he had spent his previous time of grace so badly and had offended us his ministers with his bad attitude and hypocrisy. He now wishes honestly to convert to Christ through the grace of God and to become a new man, if God will prolong his life. I held up to him his oft-made promise to convert and also his unfaithfulness; and I told him something of the little verse: Behold, that is the lamb of God, which beareth the sins of the world, etc. and prayed with him and his new wife.

At his request, Mr. Mayer brought him some medications, and in general, as surgeon and physician, he takes care right loyally and with good effect of the patients who request his assistance. The fact that this dear man came to us with the 4th transport belongs amongst the benefactions which the Lord has shown our congregation. He has provided himself with various selected medicines for all sorts of contingencies, and what he did not bring along, he proposes to prepare himself from the herbs and roots which the gracious Creator causes to grow here, which is something we have long desired, and have said so. He is skilled, and does not seek to hide his talent in a handkerchief, rather to apply it to the honor of God and to the service of his neighbor. We are taking pains to be of assistance in getting him a dwelling in which he will be able to work at his chemistry and other things useful to his purposes.

Saturday, the 20th of February. The Burgsteiners recently born and baptized little daughter died of epilepsy. The parents are glorifying the Lord who brought her out of unrest and misery to rest and complete bliss.

Sunday, the 21st of February. Since yesterday things have improved noticeably with my dear colleague. After the fever diminished (which till now was great), he felt quite spent; and for that reason he had to lie in bed today, too. I also noticed yesterday a few inklings of fever in myself, and this morning before the divine services I felt somewhat exhausted. Nonetheless, the Lord, who knows our circumstances intimately, knew how to strengthen me during the fore- and afternoon recitation of His word, so that I was amazed at His paternal care and had to glorify Him fairly for it.

The tailor Metzger from Purysburg sought to have me let his eldest son marry here and establish a domicile. He cited a few disorders in Purysburg and Carolina as the cause which moved him not to remain there but rather to seek to reside in Ebenezer. The otherwise celebrated Carolina freedoms are already becoming a burden to many unconverted people; and we can see without difficulty that they redound to the peoples harm in body and soul. I told the father that I wished his son to become a true Christian before considering marriage, for to be the wifes guide and therefore a leader, caring for both his own and other souls at once, has more to it than artless people recognize and believe. He will send him to me so that I may talk with him.

Monday, the 22nd of February. Old Kieffer from Purysburg, who had come to us on Saturday, rode home again this morning. He took a long letter for me to the already often mentioned honest Englishman Mr. Bryan.12 In it I inquire whether we can obtain good horses and cows from him or through his management. We do not like buying them in this colony or above Palachocolas because we have to be careful that horses and cattle do not run back to their old pastures as soon as they can, if we buy them in the vicinity. Many Englishmen who earn their livelihood in trade with the Indians buy horses from them for a trifle.

The Indians rustle them near Frederica or in Carolina, and if someone buys that kind of horses, either the Indians themselves or the owners fetch them back; and harm and inconvenience is generated on all sides. Moreover, we do not like involving ourselves in complaints and lawsuits before the authorities. One would not get far because most of them have no qualms about lying and deceiving, nor even about swearing oaths, for the sake of profit and selfish gain. Because at this time we can contribute nothing to winning over the Indians, we hold it as an example of Gods love that so few Indians come to us. We are also spared from other loose folk, and we live in such quiet and solitude that Ebenezer might be the only place in this colony. Praise God for all His kindnesses!

N.N. took his daughter to the plantation three weeks ago.13 Married to N., she had been ill here with homesickness. N.N. promised me today, however, to send her back to her husband in a few days. This marriage took place in a very perverted manner, with too much excessive urging from the parents and all kinds of sin on both sides. It is therefore no wonder that in their marriage till now there have occurred many perversions which have upset and saddened others, Jeremiah 12:13. The father recounted to me that his daughter had been so perilously ill that she was also fearful that she would die and perish in her sins. Several times I have given N. salutary advice from Gods word and lectured her in the presence and absence of her husband; but there is great inconstancy there, and the two are falling deeper and deeper into it.

I now have another couple in mind with whom I have many sorts of things to accomplish, who made their betrothal and marriage vows not with God, but rather from desires of the flesh and sinful emotional conditions, of which no one but the all-seeing eye of God knew anything. In the meantime God has levied many judgments, especially on the husband, who had the most grace and recognition of God, and now the two are wound up so deeply in it that I do not see how it will turn out, but I fear even greater judgments. These people never would have thought that their mischief could come to my attention, but I see now to my utter astonishment how holy, just, and wise a God God is, and that He does not let the prayer of His servants and children go unheard.

Till now the woman could not be persuaded of her godless demeanor, hypocrisy, and incompetence to take Holy Communion. Now it has come to the point that she cannot request this Holy Communion until there are enough tokens of true penance in her. In intercourse with ourselves and others she has done (though only to her harm) as is found in Joshua 5:20, 21; and, unfortunately, I must apply to her what we read, yesterday from Deuteronomy 9:24: Ye have been rebellious against the Lord from the day that I knew you.

Hsler, from Salzburg,14 is gladdened greatly that our dear Lord inspired an unknown benefactor in Wurttemberg to send a few ells of cloth and lining and everything else necessary for complete clothing to a poor person in the congregation. This great benefaction came to him, who had long hoped that our dear God would grant him an overcoat at such time as He recognized to be best. He wished the worthy donor Gods blessing in compensation, and bade me express thanks lovingly and heartily in his name.

Tuesday, the 23rd of February. Ruprecht Zittrauer has got some relief from his sickness; and he assured me today many times by word and deed that he wished, by the grace of Jesus Christ, to convert to God and become an honest Christian. I directed him to Gods word and prayer, in which, I said, he would have to renew earnestly his good intention often, otherwise it would come to nothing sooner than he got up from his sick bed. I told him he should not put off his good intention until after he was healthy again, rather now, now that God was working powerfully on him to have his heart drawn to Jesus and to have him offer himself up to Him, body and soul. The Kraus woman was with him, earnestly and powerfully exhorting him in her simplicity. I also learned that Eischberger and Peter Reiter were assiduously consoling him, although the latter has to limp to him some distance on crutches. I recommended to him that after prayer he have the story of the passion read to him item by item, so that he might be able to recognize the loathsomeness of sin and the great love of the Lord towards the loathsome sinners and miscreants (and therefore towards him).

The shoemaker Ade is thinking of becoming a neighbor of this Zittrauer and, for this reason, of buying a third of the plantation. He believes he will get on better with his household if he has a piece of field already fenced in at home and can plant it with his wifes help. Whatever difficult work he himself cannot do he will have done by those who would prefer to pay him for their shoes with labor rather than with money. Zittrauer has become quite poor, for which he can thank partly his and his wifes disorderly household; and he will find an improvement in it if, by means of the divine word, he causes a good basis for penance to be placed within him. In this poverty it would be quite good for him to receive a little money for the third part of his plantation, which the shoemaker is ready to pay. This man Ade some time ago went through such a change that he is no longer the man he was, and God has also in fact accomplished the important effect of conversion in him. Because he keeps diligently to Gods word and therein prays earnestly, I am quite hopeful that he will come further and further in his Christianity and that, by means of Christian exhortation, recitation, and good example, he will be profitable to the above-mentioned Zittrauer, whose neighbor he will become.

Wednesday, the 24th of February. Today we married Johann Georg Held to the widow Knlin. Heretofore the man was a servant in the orphanage and allowed himself to be persuaded to go off to St. Augustine as a soldier. After he had learned humility, obedience, and contentment, and had come from there hardly half alive, he desired once more to be accepted into our place, for which I had no strong inclination. Nonetheless, some heads of families on the plantations took him on as a cowherd, after his many requests and good promises. Because he honestly improved himself, and displayed loyalty in his physically tiring occupation, he gained his freedom and simultaneously a good plantation on the mill creek, on which he has already done some labor with pleasure and joy.

Now it has chanced that he has received the Knlin woman, an honest and industrious worker, as helpmeet; and I do not doubt that, if the two of them carry on their occupation in the fear of God, all the good wishes showered on them at the nuptials and afterwards at the wedding feast will be powerful and fruitful ones. Mr. Vigera, who along with Mr. /Ludwig/ Mayer was invited to the wedding, rejoiced heartily at the simple, edifying manner in which we hold our weddings (they are arranged only according to Gods word and aim at mutual edification). Everything amongst us pleases him very much, and he glorifies the Lord for his good guidance. We are very glad the Lord has led him to us and has effected in the hearts of the parishioners an honest love for him and Mr. Mayer, which also serves and will serve to facilitate our external affairs. He sees everything that has happened and is happening amongst us with a Christian eye. He recognizes Gods work amongst us very well, to his joy, and will attest thereto in writing, to the praise of our kindly God and to the pleasure of our friends and benefactors. He was with me today in the company of Mr. Mayer, Kalcher, and Kogler in Old Ebenezer, to look for himself at the spot of our previous pilgrimage and sojourn. The great field which the Salzburgers had cleared of trees and bushes with great pains through communal labor and had preserved with a good fence, is being used to best advantage by the present Englishman and the German family /Schwarzwlder/. Nonetheless, the soil is so poor that they could grow no crops on it if they could not improve it with [the manure from] the Lord Trustees cattle.

Our current Ebenezer becomes dear to us anew whenever we come from Old Ebenezer, as it were from the darkness into the light, and we cannot marvel enough at what the Lord has done, since our removal from there to here, to the town and to the plantations. Our memorial and thanksgiving celebration is now drawing near, and it is utterly dear and salutary to me that our previous and current circumstances are coming once more fresh into our minds: the works of the Lord are great, sought out of all them that have pleasure therein. Our childrens task was to learn the 103rd Psalm by heart, which will be recited at the above-mentioned ceremony in remembrance of the many spiritual and physical benefits God has rendered this year to young and old.

Thursday, the 25th of February. It seemed as if our miraculous, all-redressing God, after our joy of the previous month, has sent us this month a cup of woe, but it only seemed thus because He has placed much matter for His praise and for joy among us into our hearts and mouths. My dear colleague is improving daily, and so are Riedelsperger, Hans Schmidt, and Scheraus. A few men, after using some medications, have completely lost their quartan fever and are able to labor unhindered.

It appeared as if we would get no church on the plantations this spring because the chief carpenter, Kogler, had gotten himself involved in a different project. However, because with our increased parishioners we cannot hold divine services in Ruprecht Steiners house without disrupting our health and the edification of the parishioners, we brought the matter to the attention of the Lord. I spoke the day before yesterday with the congregation after our edification hour, and this morning with Kogler, about the necessity of building the church, which we are convinced must take place now and must take precedence over all other construction. Since Kogler persisted in his view, and I could depart from my own views still less than he, I feared harm would come of it. But just yesterday afternoon, God showed that He can turn ill to good, and can steer hearts. For Kogler, who is indispensably necessary to us for such an important construction project, put aside all the other work he had begun and made up his mind to be at the church site this morning with me and the laborers and to begin the work with prayer.

When I came this morning with Mr. Vigera to the area where the church is to be built, the laborers gathered gradually, and we strolled about the woods with them, seeking an area with the best building wood and at the same time a good path to carry the cut timber and lumber to the construction site without undue inconvenience and expense. Finally we returned to the church and walked in prayer before the countenance of the Lord, to praise Him in the name of Jesus Christ for all the spiritual and physical benefactions we have enjoyed till now. We fervently wished the benefactors every spiritual, physical, and eternal blessing and humbly begged for every kind of grace and wisdom in the matter of the intended important construction, and also a further flow of His physical blessings.

God strengthened me and the dear laborers noticeably during the prayer, and it appeared to me that their hearts were powerfully touched by the details we cited in the prayer of the Lords miraculous providence which we have experienced till now and that they were made joyful and mettlesome for the attack on this important and most highly profitable labor. Two pairs of woodcutters have already cut such a supply of boards that the floor and the pews could be finished from them. Some men got together to make roofing shingles from cypress logs. A couple of others are cutting down the trees and are burning out the twigs and bushes which could be harmful to the church.

God also provided for horses with which we will be able easily to carry the boards and lumber upon a very smooth path to the construction site. Around the church a fine-looking fence was erected, with the church in the middle, so that people might not be so easily bothered by dogs and cattle. The large space around the church up to the fence is intended for a cemetery or graveyard in which to bury the dead properly and in a Christian manner. The pickets, thin, six-foot long boards for this fence, are already finished, and in this necessary and important matter of construction every obstacle and delay, as many as is humanly possible, are avoided.

On the plantations we can obtain workers even sooner than in town; hence we can make better and more rapid arrangements for everything here and there. There are only two men from town on hand. The others live outside of it and are not far from home. We still have some money left from the church in the town, which is a fine beginning, through Gods blessing, for arranging the new construction, trusting in further divine help and support. Besides, we hope that, in His time, more blessings will flow upon us from the inexhaustible fountain of divine providence. A church on the plantations is indispensably necessary for us because women, children, and frail people, who nonetheless wish to be edified for eternal life from Gods word, and who have left their gloomy fatherland only for the sake of it, would find it practically impossible to come to church every Sunday in town. Every two weeks anyway those adults and children come who are in good health and who can be spared from their housework.

Because the people on the plantations cannot attend the proper prayer hours in the town, from the beginning and at their request, we have held a sermon or edification hour twice a week, to wit, towards noontime on Tuesdays and Fridays. At that time I likewise expound on the stories of the Old Testament, as in town at the evening prayer hour; and in my absence my dear colleague does the New Testament for collective edification amidst much blessing of the Lord. If these weekly sermons are to continue, as is most highly necessary and as all desire, a spacious, well-secured house is urgently needed. It will be the same size as the church in town and will be built in just the same manner and thus convenient to the ministers and parishioners. On account of the carpenters many other tasks the town church can be finished out no further, as has already been reported recently: it lacks an attic, glass windows, window shutters, and doors, which in the meantime have been made from long, thin boards.

We still have to put up a good fence around the church so that dogs, pigs, and other obstructive things will be kept away from the church. The dead will be buried outside the town in the proper, well-secured cemetery; and therefore the cemetery by the church in town will be used as a botanical garden. We hope thereby to have a pleasant reminder of the resurrection of our fallen bodies and many other good profitable things. I was impressed by the fact that, in the current cemetery of the plantations, none but children lie buried, for so far no adults have died there.

Friday, the 26th of February. The carpenters and their helpers are very zealous in performing their daily work and preparing the lumber for the church. At their labor they are fairly deep in the forest; and, because the time for work is very precious and short and they do not relish spending one moment in vain, Kogler suggested, in the name of the others, that on Tuesdays and Fridays a special edification hour be held for them at their present work site, so that they will not have to go to Ruprecht Steiners house, as the others do. While they are laboring they cannot hear the blowing of the horn well and would come either too early or too late, both of which would cause harm. I have therefore resolved separately to deliver my meditation to the carpenters and their co-workers one hour before the public meeting and to express myself briefly in the recitation and prayer. I hope that our dear Lord will grant me doubled and manifold powers for this doubled labor.

The two Maurers, as carpenters, are coming just next week to this labor.15 At the moment they are busy cutting boards for a stout and wellbuilt hut, in which Mr. Mayer has resolved to undertake the salivation with Hans Maurers wife because, till now, with her cancer-like sores becoming progressively worse, no other cure will take effect. She was present at the edification hour and was instructed and comforted by the story of how dear David used the means suggested for his own and his peoples preservation; yet in all his misery he had recourse and childlike trust in the living God and was not lacking therein. Psalms 42.

I met Hans Schmidt again at the hard work of cutting boards. He wishes heartily to be of help in it to further the building of the church, if only his powers and frail physical condition will permit it. I am advising him rather to leave off this labor and to choose an easier one, rather than to harm his health and life. So many boards have already been cut that the construction will suffer no delay because of him.

Christian Riedelsperger was in the orphanage during his illness; and, since things had improved with him, he proceeded to his own dwelling. It may have been too early, however, as he had a perilous relapse and today was very weak and full of pain; but by faith and resignation he was quite at rest in God and Christ. His room has no stove; hence it is quite cold at night; and, because he cannot endure many covers on account of his weakness, he has again requested permission to set up his sickbed in the orphanage. I will gladly give it up, because till now this Riedelsperger has become most deserving through his many loving services for the orphanage. He let himself be used as a servant there for almost a year without taking any wage. For this reason I am likewise all the more in his debt. May God grant him the orphanage for his spiritual and bodily refreshment!

David Eischberger, a man from the 4th transport, today bade me allow his wife a small room in the orphanage so that she may give birth there. Till now she has enjoyed much there and has earned a little money from sewing. We are ready to have her lying-in, because they have no dwelling of their own and we would gladly advance their spiritual welfare with physical benefits. May God cause all to recognize what a benefaction the Lord manifests to the congregation by means of the orphanage!

Saturday, the 27th of February. The widow Ursula Meyer, who moved here from Savannah two months ago with her little girl /Magdalena/, has been praising the grace which she says the Lord has rendered to her soul by means of His word; and she considers herself (as do other honest people in the congregation) highly blessed to have come here into this solitude. She finds no opportunity here, to be sure, to earn money, as in Savannah, but nonetheless she does not look to that, but rather is content and satisfied with the little that God bestows on her through her handiwork.

Because the shoemaker Ade is moving to a plantation he purchased, she has bought his little house for 4 . sterling, for which I had to lend her 2 from the orphanage for cleaning the children and washing. Her little girl is getting sewing work in the congregation; and, besides going to school, she must watch a small three-year-old, given to her mother in Savannah for nursing and care. Good people manage well amongst us and experience what is found in the 1st Psalm: ... whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.

I visited N. and learned that now he and his wife are leading a peaceful marriage. He wished that it might always go on so. I showed him from Gods word that first a good basis must be laid in their hearts; then they will receive the Holy Spirit into their hearts and come to understand and experience their marriage vows: For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. I told them they must not only hear Gods word, preached bountifully and clearly to them, but also gather it into their minds and hearts, consult it, and ponder it, and undertake a profitable conversation between themselves about it.

Also, if a fervent prayer should come to mind, it would sink like a good seed deep into their hearts, and good fruit would follow. I said they were not hesitant to discuss temporal things simply and trustingly between themselves as married people, why then would they be hesitant to talk of spiritual and edifying things and to advance their own good? I reminded them also of the verse at James 3:16, which, unfortunately, had been true of them and people like them till now. If they should continue in sin, I said, they would not escape judgment and punishment.

Sunday, the 28th of February. A matter has arisen concerning a particular person which will bring much misfortune upon her head if she does not do true penance, since, in that case, she will escape chastisements just as little as David did. Presenting her with her sins, I recited the verse: Dreadful it is to fall into the hands of the living God. And recently, with the unfortunate end of the worldly-wise but godless Ahitophel, she heard the words from the eighth Psalm: God judgeth the righteous, and is angry with the wicked every day. But many people in Christendom, unfortunately, do like Absalom and others of his ilk, with every experience of Gods judgment upon themselves and others: they hasten along upon their path of sin to the chasm of perdition, although they see that one of their number, Ahitophel, met a fearful end. What David as prophet had previously announced in Psalms 8:12, 18 and in Psalms 55:10, 16, 24 was fulfilled in him in timely manner.

In his Theologia Viatorum, the late Prior Porst wrote of such people in Christianity in the following way: To be sure, at times they are fearful and indeed somewhat dismayed if a sudden death occurs nearby or some other misfortune befalls them, but such dismay passes away as soon and easily as a wispy cloud. They are and act like swine: if one or another amongst them is slaughtered, the remainder run together and grunt. However, once it has died, they act as if satisfied once more and run once more to the slop and muck of their lasciviousness and comfort themselves thereby for the sadness they feel and are still to feel.

Although, to be sure, the health of my dear colleague is restored by means of Gods paternal kindness and solicitude and he is getting stronger daily and becoming more vigorous in physical and mental powers, we nonetheless advised him to stay indoors and rest, today and this entire week, since the weather is changeable and is cool towards evening. Hence, today I preached the word of the Lord alone several times, morning and afternoon, for which our dear Lord granted me as much strength as necessary on each occasion. We discussed the regular gospel for Domenica Esto mihi Sunday: On the salutary use of the incalculable benefaction of our surety, Jesus Christ. 1) On the incalculable benefaction of our Surety himself, and what we should understand thereby. 2) On the salutary use thereof. We were given impetus for this presentation by the verse Sirach 29:2021: Forget not the benefaction of thy surety, for He hath taken thy place. May God bless all to a living recognition of our most worthy surety and Intercessor, and His incalculable ransom!

After the sermon we announced that a week from tomorrow we will celebrate our thanksgiving and memorial feast and that we intend to hold Holy Communion the same day. Our minds were enlivened morning and afternoon, gratefully thinking of the many benefactions which the Lord has made and continues to make for young and old. The reading of the Bible chapters Deuteronomy 10 and 11 gave us a fine and close instruction in this. This year we have special cause to glorify the Lord publicly and privately, for He has done great things amongst us, and also especially amongst the 4th transport.

MARCH

Tuesday, the 2nd of March. The laborers at the mill dam had so much work, which could not be put off on account of the rising water, that I could hold the edification hour at Pichlers place with only a few men, women, and children. The carpenters with their work are somewhat far distant from the mill, where the edification hour was held; hence, I and they edified ourselves from the Bible story beforehand beneath the open sky. God strengthened me so much that I felt no loss of strength. What we discussed in both places about the story in 2 Samuel 17 concerning the remarkable support of the Holy Spirit, consisted mainly of the following: 1) although David was more prominent, wise, and experienced than his friend Husai, he nonetheless sought and followed good counsel, v. 21 & 22, for The wisdom that is from above ... is easy to be intreated. On the other hand, we looked at Ahitophel and how he could not bear contradiction or have Husais counsel placed before his. From this we could recognize not his wisdom but rather his foolishness, arrogance, and perilous condition. Shortly before this discourse I learned from a woman that her husband does not allow anyone at all to contradict him; rather, she must, she says, remain silent whenever he undertakes something unsuitable and harmful to the household, which is confusion and every evil work, James 3:16.

2) David used the means for his own and his peoples preservation and protection, but he did not place his trust in the means, rather in everything he held through prayer and beseeching the invisible yet present God of the covenant, as we can clearly recognize from the 42nd, 43rd, and 55th Psalms, among others. We had to emphasize this point carefully to the parishioners, because presumptuousness is quite a common sin, as is tempting God, as if He were to care for and support His people without means. Idolatry and trust in means alike are common sins, we said, as if our almighty and kindly God could not help and rescue them if the means were lacking and miscarried.

3) The phraseology of v. 22 shows both that none deserted and ran away, even though Davids circumstances were becoming more and more woeful, and also that no one was injured, lost, or harmed upon the difficult and hasty journey on the water. In that there is great admonition, warning, and comfort for the disciples of Christ. John 6:66, 67; 17:12. What a shame it would be if we had deserted Ebenezer because of the trials we have had, since God has helped us across the sea without harm and has manifested His help in so many trials.

4) That Ahitophel came to a horrifying end was the fault of his sins. Nothing but a terrifying judgment could have followed from them, and we compared this with Romans 1:28 ff. Oh, what judgment whenever a person who thrusts away the grace and light offered him is given over to a perverted temper! Till his unholy end he had a clear wit, but it did not make him blessed. And thus blind people do not know properly what they are saying when they wish for and implore God to let them have a clear wit until they die. It is, to be sure, a great benefaction if God gives it, but it helps no one in itself to blessedness if a true conversion is lacking. If a clear wit and human intelligence made one blessed, Ahitophel would have to be sitting above in blessedness. In like manner Absalom and his dependents did not turn to these judgments of God, nor turn aside from their evil paths because of them. Thus, even now, most people in Christendom turn not to divine judgments, so that we may say: Who knoweth the power of thine anger? Even according to thy fear, etc. Psalms 90:11.

Wednesday, the 3rd of March. A married woman had a certain secret concern which she disclosed to me today, her husband being away. I helped her correctly in the matter from Gods word. Harm might have resulted to her and her husbands body and soul if she had been too shy to seek good counsel and instruction, with scruples concerning the state of her marriage. Much disunity had arisen between them on the journey here and in this country. In Holy Scripture we have the complete word of the Lord, wherein is imparted to us adequate instruction for every case and circumstance. It is also a benefaction worthy of thanks that the Holy Scripture speaks so clearly of marriage matters, so that he who follows this light will not remain in darkness nor take offense if any crude expressions appear on its account. Our congregation has received much edification from the report of the righteous Christianity of some Salzburgers in Prussia, written down and sent to us by the archpriest Schumann.1 We are pleased that they are reading this edifying report together in the evening. By this means not only are unprofitable conversations hindered, but many good things are advanced.

A great gift could not have pleased me as much as seeing the mill in operation again this afternoon, as it was my intention to voice a hallelujah to our dear Lord for the clattering of the mill. The water is rising to the point that the young /Jacob/ Kieffer fears his plantation will be inundated again, yet God is so clearly standing by the laborers that they are plugging one hole after the other, directing the stream to the correct course, and leading the superfluous water over the dam and a sufficient quantity of it to the mill. Dresler understands water works very well. Kogler is very fond of him and regards him highly, which is a great joy to me. If there were envy and rancor there, as is often the case amongst manual workers and construction people, it would produce confusion and every evil work. It is not by chance that our dear Lord presents us once more with the mill during this week in which we are preparing for the memorial and thanksgiving holiday. We want to glorify Him from the bottom of our hearts for this and other gifts, and we hope also for the granting of His blessing to this construction.

Thursday, the 4th of March. I visited the Eischberger woman /Maria/ from the 2nd transport and found that she had grown for some time in the recognition of her sinfulness and in her Christianity. She is now leading a more content marriage with her husband than formerly, which is also bringing them blessings in their household. For some years now the husband has had large abcesses around his neck, back, and arms, which he takes to be a just chastisement for his previous evil life. For some time our dear Lord, against the expectation of the physician, has strengthened him so much that almost all the abcesses are healed up and his atrophying arm has been cured by a minor remedy. He has again become so strong physically that he can work quite energetically. God also grants him much grace towards his Christianity.

From the N. woman I learned that her neighbor N., in his illness, had been very desirous of converting righteously to God; but after rising from his sickbed, she said, he had become frivolous once more. This moved me to go to him and in the presence of his wife and two other women to appeal to his heart and warn him of unfaithfulness, for in the long run, I said, God does not let Himself be mocked. However, he assured me that he had no desire to draw away from the grace God had presented him for his penitence, but rather to persevere firmly and achieve salvation with fear and trepidation. He only regretted, he said, that his wife was so indolent and did not want to wend the narrow way to heaven with him. I reminded her of her duty, but I told him that his indolence and impenitence till now were to blame for her lack of earnestness in her Christianity. The N. and N. women, who were present, could corroborate from their own experience (as indeed they did), I said, that the husbands example could be very impressive to the wife and produce much profit if he accepted grace for his penance and earnest Christianity. We knelt beneath the open sky and prayed concerning our conversation.

In the evening prayer hour we learned from the end of Chapter 17 from 2 Samuel that no man can prevent it if God wishes to render people a benefit, especially to his children. The dear, distressed David richly experienced what he counseled others in Psalms 55: Cast thy burden upon the Lord, He will sustain thee: He shall never suffer the righteous, etc. What appears in vv. 27-29 stands as a clear specimen and test, where, to wit, the dear and omnipotent God awakened some prominent and doubtless also humble people at the troubled time, to come with their temporal means to the aid of David, in his dearth, although they were not called upon, rather only surmised that he and his little band would have need of support and aid in temporal goods.

We justly remembered the Lords miraculous kindness over us. He has awakened both prominent and humble people not only for the last eight years, but also at a distressing time in Germany, to gather together all sorts of gift parcels for the benefit of the 4th transport and our entire congregation. God also kept this blessing upon the sea and did not let it fall into the hands of the Spaniards or other enemies. For that we rightly rejoice, praise the highest Grantor, and pray for the benefactors.

Friday, the 5th of March. Because the wind was very cold and strong today and the rain appeared imminent, the carpenters and their co-workers did not continue their labor. Thus I had the men and women once more all together at the edification hour. First we sang the edifying hymn: In alien meinen Thaten, etc., which was very impressive to me on account of Davids circumstances which are being presented to us from the story now occupying us. Everything comes to life whenever the verbal expressions are illustrated with Biblical examples. Gods love for His servant David, which was described in 2 Samuel 17:28, 29, gave me another fine occasion to prepare myself and my parishioners for the upcoming memorial and thanksgiving celebration.

It showed that our wise, miraculous, kindly, and omnipotent God had manifested such footprints of His paternal care for the 4th transport and at the same time to all the inhabitants in Ebenezer as He did to the dear David, but also that we, indeed, should recognize some advantages in this kindness of the Lord. For the gifts recounted here were brought by subjects to their king, who deserved well of them and richly returned all gifts again and who was able to repay their love handsomely. Similar and even more spiritual benefactions from people of both high and humble station have descended on the members of our congregation, poor, humble, and scorned by the world; and the benefactors cannot expect the least requital from them. Whoever amongst us is a thankful, righteous Christian cries out to God for requital of such gifts of love, as David indeed also praised God for everything good, and prayed for his benefactors. These gifts were granted to dear David for a short journey on land, but for us the Lord provided them for a long journey not only on land but also on the sea, and caused them to come to our need and refreshment without harm.

David was a man after Gods heart, cast all his burdens upon the heavenly Father in faith and hope, and stood the test in all trials; and for this reason the Lords kindness and aid could not remain absent. What good would God not do for Ebenezer, according to every desire of His heart, if all righteous people feared and loved Him and were content with His paths, since He has manifested so much good near and far till now even though there are unthankful and malicious people in the congregation. Whoso offereth praise, glorifieth me, etc., Psalms 50. David enjoyed these gifts with his people at a time when he was much distressed and endangered by war.

We enjoy Gods benefactions in such external peace that there might as well be no war being waged. We would have deserved well what was threatened in the morning text, on account of our ungratefulness, unfaithfulness, and many evil things made public about so many people: And if ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land. But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. Oh, what humble thanks are due Him for the wealth of His kindness, patience, and forebearance! God held the gifts brought to David by beneficent people to be worthy of being made known to posterity in His word. This likewise should stimulate and drive us not to conceal the good which flows to us from within and without Germany but to attest to it with our tongues and pens. If it seems meager and useless to some, there will be others who will recognize it to be not without profit: the benefactors and their gifts of love are worthy of being remembered by our descendants.

Saturday, the 6th of March. In the last four years the well at the orphanage has been most useful, but now the boards and timber with which it was secured and of which it consisted from top to bottom have rotted. Large pieces have fallen down with the severe rain we have had, so that we must, as quickly as possible, put in new boards and timber to support the boards on the four sides or walls. We cannot obtain bricks except at great cost, until perhaps, with divine blessing, some will be fired in this place, where there is sufficient clay and wood. Those made in Purysburg and Savannah some time ago are full of sand, and not much better than bricks dried in the sun, because they are fired in the open air without an oven. If God should allow some means to flow to the orphanage from His inexhaustible fountain, we have in mind setting up this highly necessary and sound well with 4 or 5-inch thick pieces of lumber, beneath the water with cypress and above with spruce or pine, which we hope will serve for a long time instead of stone walls.

Yesterday evening our boat arrived at the mill from Savannah and brought the news that General Oglethorpe has been fortunate against the Spaniards. He overtook one of their sloops in the vicinity of St. Augustine with 80,000 sterling and many costly fabrics and much material. On this occasion an Italian woman /Mary Camuse/ from Savannah sent me a great number of silkworm seeds. Since we ourselves have a fine quantity of them in the orphanage, I will be able to distribute all of them to those in the congregation who desire them.

The surgeon, Mr. /Ludwig/ Mayer, has brought a brother /Georg/, a maker of fine purses, here to Ebenezer. In the beginning our solitude appeared somewhat strange and unbearable for a young artisan lad. But after he had been here for awhile and applied himself to tailoring, he liked everything better and is now fully resolved to remain in Ebenezer. He intends to marry the Roner woman, a quiet and hard-working Salzburger from the 4th transport. Both of them were at my house this afternoon, so that I reminded them of their duty from Gods word, and might call on the God of Blessing for His blessing on their important undertaking. After they had assured me that before God and in their own consciences they were aware of no obstacles to their intended marriage, I cited for them the pious married couple in Luke I, to wit, Zacharias and Elizabeth, who give testimony that they were both pious, not before the world but before God, and thereby put their upright piety before men, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless, which godliness is profitable in all things, and has the promise of this and of the future life, as is to be seen in their example.

Sunday, the 7th of March. To edify the congregation my dear colleague is setting aside the regular Sunday epistles this Easter season and is taking in their place the story of the Passion. This year the story of Christs suffering comes from the evangelist John. Because he is holding divine services on the plantations today, he preached yesterday evening in the prayer hour to the parishioners. We glorify the Lord for helping him completely through his perilous illness so that he can once more perform the duties of his office. To be sure, the people on the plantations are cheered that divine services can be held there on alternate Sundays, yet I learned also at the beginning of this week that they would prefer coming to church in the town rather than let my dear colleague perform his duties too early and thereby suffer harm.

During the morning divine services fire broke out in the clockmaker Mllers kitchen. However, because a woman at home with her sick child saw it and sounded the alarm, the people who ran there from the church extinguished it quite quickly and were soon back at the sermon. Even this is a benefaction from the Lord, for which today we have cause to glorify Him at our memorial and thanksgiving celebration. During the intended preparation for the celebration our dear Lord brought to mind the important written foreword to the 7th Continuation which had been sent to us, so full of clear footprints of Gods paternal care for the 4th transport and all Ebenezer.2 I believe we would commit a sin if we did not humbly remember anew this quite special guidance and reign of the Lord, praise the all-powerful Ruler inwardly for it, and pray for all benefactorsas in all places but especially in the worthy land of Wurttemberg.

We learned from 2 Samuel 17:2729 in several prayer hours the quite edifying, and for our purposes useful, circumstances of the provisioning of the harassed and suffering David. These circumstances can hardly have been as moving and inspiring as actually occurred to the benefit of the 4th transport, our orphanage, the church, and entire congregations in Stuttgart, Canstadt, Calw and other places in the Duchy of Wurttemberg. This evening before the prayer hour I began to share a few items from this beautiful foreword, and I have in mind to continue with it both in the morning in the repetition hour and also in subsequent days. May the Lord Jesus, who sits at the right hand of God the Father and intercedes for us, remember now and evermore this great work of faith and the labor in the love which dear people of all stations, kinds, and ages have had for our sake! May He refresh them for all of us by means of the gifts and their edifying and refreshing report, richly in days sick and sound, indeed finally before His countenance in blessed eternity!

Monday, the 8th of March. Today the Lord gave us grace to observe our annual memorial and thanksgiving celebration together in great stillness and with much joy in our souls and visible blessing of the Lord in our hearts. Since yesterday evening I have felt somewhat weak; but the Lord showed in me and my still feeble colleague that He can do boundlessly more beyond all that we ask for or understand. The gathering was extraordinarily well attended; and probably all adults and children who could do so made their way here from the plantations to observe the joyful memorial and thanksgiving celebration. Mr. Vigera was astounded that mothers with delicate nursing children were going to church on a rather long and, for them difficult, road. Recently we heard that David, Psalm 40:5, longed like a hart for fresh water to go with the multitude and travel with them to the house of God, with rejoicing and thanksgiving amongst the multitude celebrating there. We felt in our souls how the Lord through His word and holy communion was powerfully present and in great grace amongst us. Now praise God, that our parishioners were so attentive. By means of His word, which is like a fire and crag-smashing hammer, God will fetch many more souls and bring them to rest in Christ. I was afraid that many would remain at home as a precaution on account of yesterdays fire and wish to do without more sermons, but my worry was taken from me by their heavy attendance.

I showed in yesterdays prayer hour that the profit that unconverted people draw from fire damage to their neighbors is commonly that they both sin from judgment and condemnation, and also make up their mind and enjoin their families to be more careful of fire henceforth and therefore to guard against fire both on weekdays and on Sundays in every way. Yet God sounds the bell of penitence through such misfortunes, according to Amos 3:6, and wishes to inspire us to use the means of salvation right earnestly and zealously for our salvation. Watchfulness is good, but it is much too short to avert all harm if the Lord does not do it, according to Psalms 127:1.

Prior to the morning sermon the children recited the 103rd Psalm, between the first and second hymns. Its first four verses were my celebration text, from which we got a living encouragement to the praise of God for the benefactions received thus far. Thereupon we looked, on the one hand, upon the benefactions themselves which the Lord has manifested to us and is willing from His heart to manifest even further and, on the other hand, upon the goal and purpose of such benefactions: to wit, they should raise up spiritually in us what the rain and snow from heaven raise up from the earth. For it blooms, brings forth profitable plants, refreshing flowers, and fruitful herbs, Hebrews 6:7. For an introduction we had the beautiful lesson of the old Tobit to his son, Chapter 4, verse 20. Bless the Lord on every occasion, ask Him that your way may be made straight and that all your paths and plans may prosper. My dear colleague had as text Malachai 3:2: But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings, etc. From this he presented the constantly blessed state of all those who fear the name of the Lord. The introductory words were from Jeremiah 17:7, Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is.

Just as we have remembered till now, humbly and thankfully and as particularly and minutely as possible, the benefactions of the Lord which we have enjoyed, so too our hearts are encouraged mutually to beseech God richly to share with all the instruments of His providence that rules over us, our dear benefactors in Europe, the blessings and the great good He has proclaimed in the cited texts, to rescue their lives from destruction and to crown them with grace and mercy. We also held communion at this joyous celebration with sixty-one persons.

Today was the first time that we both administered the Lords supper. I blessed the bread and my dear colleague blessed the chalice. Previously, this was not possible, for lack of a spacious enough church, and it was not necessary on account of the small congregation. Now that there is a fair number of communicants, it is necessary, because one person would tire too much, and also the morning divine services would finish too late, to the harm of the afternoon services. For we like to arrange divine services on Sundays and holidays in the town so that the people can be there at the right time and not be home too late on their plantations.

Tuesday, the 9th of March. Today young /Jacob/ Kieffer went to Port Royal in his boat, and he will help to see to General Oglethorpes order for us to obtain the seven riding horses and a number of cows and calves for the 4th transport. They are keeping their provision money together as best they can so that in time they may be able to buy one or another head of cattle, which will considerably lighten the task of nourishing them.

The two young Kieffers with their plantation across from us in Carolina are in a very bad way, for it stands once more under water; and the fine wheat, oats, and other things in their field which were looking excellent like those here, will likely be spoiled. They are now becoming almost completely disgusted with this plantation, and it is the same with them as with others in the vicinity of Purysburg, where their parents and remaining brothers and sisters live. To be sure, they have good land and pasturage there, but also a long way to the river; hence they have to drag their things back and forth either on their backs or on horses, which in this country is a very burdensome matter on account of the poor roads and lack of bridges. They now again mightily long to be inhabitants of Ebenezer, for the difference in the blessing of the Lord, which shows amongst us in all trials, shines better and better in their eyes.

Whenever we remember the details of the divine kindness and care we have experienced (particularly yesterday with the words of the text, Bless the Lord, oh my soul, and forget not all His benefits), and we aid one another once more in retelling it, we have to exclaim, Lord, my God, many are thy wonderful works which thou hast done, and thy thoughts which are to us-ward, they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee: if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered. I am not worthy of the least of all thy mercies, and of all the truth, which thou hast showed unto thy servant and to the whole congregation. When we consider the miraculous paths which God has traveled with the 4th transport and which we are now publicizing from the most remarkable foreword to the 7th Continuation, we almost lose ourselves in our thoughts, and almost do not know where to begin to glorify the Lord and to bring Him our humble hallelujah.

Our parishioners were warned today, by the example of the ancient Israelites with whom God also traveled miraculous paths, of heedlessness and forgetfulness of the divine benefactions. They forgot the benefactions all too rapidly and became ungrateful, although God appealed to them time and again, Israel, forget it not, etc. We also reminded them to ponder over the kindness of God whenever trials appear (which did not remain absent with the People of God, who had Jehovah Himself as leader), and by means of them to preserve themselves from all mistrust and despondence or indeed, discontent. For it is plain that they have come here according to Gods will and further, if they become and remain faithful, they will enjoy richly the gracious care of the Allhighest. They must always keep in mind the purpose for which they were sent herenot merely physical maintenance, but also this: Our congregation shall be a city in this strange, dark land, a city on a mountain whose inhabitants shall be a light to the world and salt to the earth, etc. The line, Unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required, Luke 12, was faithfully impressed upon them.

Wednesday, the 10th of March. In the absence of my dear colleague I took up the three main articles of Christian faith with the children in school. They were given to our parishioners at the memorial and thanksgiving celebration, especially for their private devotions, to remember the many benefactions of the Lord. It was very impressive to me that pious mothers are seeking to teach their little children the main verses in the sermons. Whenever we visit them, they have to recite them for us. We reminded them at our celebration that the first fiery Christians, inflamed with the love of Christ, taught their children when they could barely babble how to pronounce hallelujah. We said the people, with the work of their hands, had brought to their God their sacrifices in praise of Him in every locality. May this sense of piety be felt more and more in our congregation!

A child had dropped a sheet of paper torn from his book, on which he had written the following verses from the exordium: In the name of Jesus: My meat is to do the will of Him who sent me, and to finish His work. 2) Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them. 3) Unless thy law had been my delights, I should then have perished in mine affliction. 4) In the multitude of my thoughts within me thy comforts delight my soul. 5) See how he hath loved him. 6) Whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men: Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.

As ignorant and malicious as the N. boy from N. has been, he is cheering me now just as greatly in the orphanage. He is learning his lessons in the school industriously and is especially zealous in learning Biblical verses. I am now allowing him into the preparation hours for Holy Communion and am finding that he is seeking quite assiduously to take note of the basic truths of the Christian doctrine. We have lectured to the children on it from the late Pastor Freylinghausens Compendium Theologicum, and by means of Gods aid they will understand in succum et sanguinem.3 His eldest brother was also doing very well amongst us since he had been prepared for holy communion; but, since he has once more fallen in with bad companions, he has lost all goodness and has even forgotten his reading and catechism and has become downright bad.

Thursday, the 11th of March. Some time ago our inhabitants lost many swine to ravening wolves and bears; hence we have been able to supply the 4th transport with all kinds of field crops but not sufficient cooking fat and meat. Mr. Vigera took pains some time ago to request something in Savannah, but they were lacking there also. Since the peoples dearth seemed with their harsh work to become right great, God saw fit yesterday to bring to our place from the Augusta area some Englishmen with a large boat carrying seventeen very large, middling, and a few small swine for sale. I had to pay them 20 sh. apiece regardless of size, i.e., 17 sterling total, which is expensive, yet not as expensive as the meat would have been in Savannah. And therefore this is a new example of the paternal care of God, who could bring about a remedy at the time of dearth. With Him are both rede and deed.

This morning Georg Brckners house was consecrated with song, prayer, and Gods word. We sought our edification in the precious words from I John 4:19, We love Him, because first He loved us. Indeed the present time is a veritable time of love. For God discloses to us His love and kindness not only by the arrival of spring, in the realm of nature, but even more it rises for us like a great and bright sun from observance of the story of the passion of our dear Savior. Oh, might yet all our hearts be right inflamed thereby, enlivened and inspired to ardent mutual love! Wishing for this is insufficient; everything must be prayed for and struggled for.

Most of the neighbors, including Brckners in-laws, the clockmaker Mller and his wife, were at this blessed activity. The sweet gospel touched their hearts such that we could see in their tears how their hearts were moved. Shortly before this consecration I visited Peter Reiter, for whom the great cold had caused a few new physical weaknesses, but whose soul is becoming more and more desirous, like a hart, for Christ and His salvation. He longs greatly for Holy Communion, and it has been an especial cross for him to bear, that he could not publicly observe the memorial and thanksgiving celebration with us. His wife and pious family, to wit Klocker and his family, shared with him as much as they were able what the Lord had bestowed upon them from His words in the sermons. I found him with Luthers catechism and directed him to the three main articles of Christian faith, to remind him therefrom both of the benefactions of the Lord, and also of his debt.

Sunday, the 14th of March. Some people from Purysburg were present today at our divine services. The Lord will doubtless have blessed them, since He has conferred joy upon them at the preaching of His word.

Monday, the 15th of March. The Lord Trustees herdsman in Old Ebenezer, along with some of our people, brought several head of cattle to our place. They ran away several years ago from our herds. The man has been in Frederica with General Oglethorpe for several weeks and corroborated the story that Genera! Oglethorpes soldiers captured a richly laden sloop before St. Augustine. It has already been emptied. In the current war the Spaniards captured it from the English and sold it to a French captain in Havana.

As wild as the young N., till now a locksmith apprentice, has been, I have such good hopes that he will be won over by the word of the Lord, which he listens to diligently. He and his mother were with me today, and I was able to converse with him in a quite reasonable and Christian manner. He holds it to be a divine ordinance that he came into this solitude, and he knows he must thank his patrons highly for it. He is sorry for his sins, which he committed against his mother from heedlessness and spite, and thereby vexed others; and his mother happily forgives him everything from the bottom of her heart.4

Tuesday, the 16th of March. In yesterday evenings prayer hour, I read aloud the letter of gratitude composed for our most esteemed privy counselor Georgii; and today I did so on the plantations after the edification hour before the prayer.5 I can hardly express with words the willingness with which the people of the 4th transport recognized the letter for their own and gave their names over to be signed. Even the children wished to have their names placed beneath the letter as testimony of their childlike gratitude. They named those benefactors of whom they had enjoyed all sorts of good things on their journey here, and especially in the beneficent city of Canstadt. They would like to have had a good verse or something else edifying written in gratitude, if that had been feasible. They may believe that their benefactions are well placed with them, and they will always have a sweet odor in the congregation of Ebenezer as well as with the people yet to be born. When they hear how God so splendidly and clearly granted the prayers and wishes with which they blessed the 4th transport on its journey and across the sea, how much will this strengthen them in their faith? They have recounted to me such edifying details of their spiritual and physical treatment in Stuttgart and Canstadt that I cannot marvel enough at the kindness of the Lord which He so clearly disclosed therewith.

I publicly reminded the parents to consider that our dear Lord had emphatically commanded the Israelites at various times to recount diligently to their children what the Lord had done for them in Egypt and on their miraculous journey. Stories make a good impression, are wont to stick in the minds of children, and are very profitable. The story of the emigrants is indeed a right remarkable story and worthy of being noted and propagated for posterity. On account of our heedlessness God must often cry out to our hearts: Bless the Lord, o my soul, and forget not all His benefits.

Wednesday, the 17th of March. The recent heavy frost along with the very cold wind has spoiled many tender new growths (amongst them also the young leaves on the mulberry trees) in such a way that they hang on the trees as if boiled. They have already dropped their seeds, which are now completely frozen, and therefore it will be difficult this year to grow young mulberry trees. We have so many of them at our place that others can also be served with them. They are just so young that we must leave their leaves on them this year and also next, if we do not want to spoil them. The young leaves freezing will cause no more harm than that the silk worms will not get their nourishment as early as might have happened. As soon as it becomes warm the leaves will burst out copiously once more.

Christian Riedelsperger moved into the orphanage a short time ago with his young wife, the daughter of the widow Schweighoffer. He sees well the great amount of labor on our dear Kalchers back; and, since he has always been a faithful friend of the orphanage, he is giving himself over for a years service. He is still not fully healthy. This Riedelsperger has a fine evangelical base in his heart, and I found his conversation shortly before the prayer hour very edifying. Christ with His merit is everything to him, and therein he seeks his salvation as a poor sinner hungry for grace. He comes here for rest and for certainty of the forgiveness of his sins. In previous times all he got from his legalistic helter skelter was, as it were, nothing but tired bones.6

Thursday, the 18th of March. The young /Theobald/ Kieffer, still single, has become engaged to /Maria/ the daughter of Matthus Bacher, according to the recognized will of God. Her husband /Meyer/ lost his life on the journey here across the waters.7 I was called to this engagement to aid by requesting the Lords blessing on it. Young Kieffers marriage is taking place amidst such pleasing circumstances that we can most clearly discern divine providence. The young man is a mature Christian and has a very beautiful gift for telling the truth to his fellow man without bitterness and for prevailing over and disconcerting his enemies and recalcitrant persons with great tenderness and penetrating exhortation. Hence I hope that God will use him for a blessed instrument. He is moving to his parents plantation, and with them will labor together and carry on the household.

With young N. I spoke of necessary things for the advancement of a more earnest Christianity. I admonished his wife especially to walk in the footsteps of the faithful heathen woman from last Sundays gospel. For, while she did not have the opportunity to bring about her salvation as the Lord has caused us to enjoy, yet in faith and in the practice thereof she did bring things quite far. As our prayers are, thus is our Christianity. Our dear Lord has produced in spiritual things a remarkable change in this woman for some time. If only her husband were more serious, she too would doubtless come further.

Friday, the 19th of March. Today we paid the carpenters who cut the wood for the church on the plantations. All the lumber, excepting the boards and roof shingles, costs 10 18 sh. 9 p. sterling. The people have labored very faithfully on it and have sensed the support and blessing of the Lord. Two men received small cuts, otherwise (praise God!) everything has once more been concluded without injury. After planting they hope to have the time and strength to set up the needed church building, which we are very anxious to see. I have mentioned this new church in the letter to the most worthy Society, and have begged for a small contribution for it. In this new church we also need a fine tablecloth, likewise a decanter and bowl, or deep vessel, for water during baptism. We have been presented by the most worthy Society with a great pewter decanter for that purpose, and by dear Mr. Vigera a pewter bowl, but they are being used in the church in the town, just as is the altar- or tablecloth. May God steer the heart of someone in Europe to make such a gift and buy such a great linen cloth for this holy purpose. It will be easier to obtain it there than here.

Saturday, the 20th of March. This morning my dear colleague, Mr. Boltzius, went to Savannah to preach Jesus Christ the Crucified to the German people there. May the Lord support him there, and myself, poor person, here, so that everything may be abundantly blessed. At this time I can indeed clearly see that the Lord once more has strengthened my weak powers. My illness was indeed harsh, but very salutary to me.8 Thereby our dear Savior accomplished much in my soul, and especially by means of one or another word of exhortation. Once a man came from the plantations and brought me the 103rd Psalm, which he read aloud to me. This Psalm was very much suited to my circumstances and brought me right special refreshment, hence I can see nothing else in it than the Lord bade him do it. As I also remember, he said he had prayed to God to give him something for me. I would have had several exhortations from others if speaking had not been so difficult for me.

An honest man, a true Christian, also came here with his wife, and the man said to my helpmeet that they wished to present their compliments and to assure her that they were praying for me. Ah, I, unworthy servant! May the Lord reward them for it! Now I have also resolved anew to spend my short lifetime in such a way that I may better prepare myself along with my parishioners for blessed eternity. I have already told them several times subsequent to my illness that from now on our concern should be nothing but Jesus Christ the Crucified, to die from ourselves and from the world, and to be discovered only in Him. May He strengthen us to this end through His spirit!

Sunday, the 21st of March. The observations of Johann Arndt concerning the Passion are indeed downright dear to us! In compensation for it may the Lord Jesus grant the noble benefactress all the good that is contained in it. It is being indicated to the parishioners that they must not leave things simply at reading such observations and listening to sermons on the Passion, but rather diligently pray for enlightenment from the Holy Spirit, otherwise they will remain blind despite all reading and listening.9

Monday, the 22nd of March. Through Gods grace I already finished my affairs with Colonel Stephens and elsewhere in Savannah by Saturday afternoon, and was therefore able to depart thence at three oclock this morning. At nine oclock we arrived in Abercorn; and, since Kalcher had sent horses for Mr. Vigera and myself, we rode home quite comfortably in three hours. The path to the orphanages cowpen, an hour from Abercorn and towards our plantations, is so well trodden down up to the plantations by men and cows that we could not stray, although we had never ridden this path alone.

Our dear Mr. Vigera has been very busy reporting his feelings about Ebenezer to his friends in Strassburg and also to Mr. Vernon and Mr. Verelst. He considers it a place wherein he is able to live content in body and soul and can serve God and his fellow men without bustle and distraction.

Tuesday, the 23rd of March. Before holding the edification hour on the plantations I visited the mill, for someone had told me it was in full operation, after the water had dropped a little since the previous weeks. The longer we have had to dispense with this great benefaction, the more pleasant it is to see the beautiful, clear meal being made day and night, and we are fairly inspired to praise God for it. I know that since Saturday, when the all too powerful water subsided, many hundreds of words of praise and thanksgiving have been brought to our dear Lord.

The miller asked me whether he should mill on Sunday and wanted to be quite certain in this matter. I told him that till now my allowing milling on Sunday on the apparent grounds of necessity had often occupied my mind, and soon thereafter I learned that God could make us take time off on workdays if we did not desire to take time off for the furtherance of the holy Sabbath. For at that time the dam got such a hole, and the water was so high the entire time, that nothing could be built or repaired. Hence, I said, my advice was to apply Sunday as the Lords day as it was given us to do, and also to have the mill take a day of rest. If, with the enlarged congregation, the one mill run is not enough, the other large pair of millstones can be set up, which in any case I would like to see brought about, the sooner the better. This advice brought the miller great pleasure; and he confirmed that, although the water drove the millwheel and the stones made the meal, he still had enough to do with it and thus could not celebrate and spend Sunday as did others in the congregation.

Moreover, some who come to grind their flour on Sunday risk upsetting themselves on account of its being done. And therefore, it is no argument to move us to grind flour on Sunday, just because they do it commonly in other places in Germany. If others have sufficient grounds by which they can rest their consciences at the labor of grinding despite the fourth commandment,10 we are happy to grant it to them. With us the causes which can be cited for it are not strong enough to outweigh the explicit command: Thou shalt keep the sabbath day holy, and to give the miller a dispensation to grind on Sundays and holidays.

Friday, the 26th of March. I have spoken numerous times with Kocher, an intelligent and skilled man of the 4th transport, in his hut; and it is becoming clearer and clearer to me the more I speak with him that he is honest and concerned about the one necessary thing. He and N. disliked each other somewhat since the journey, but they have once more found themselves in good order and Christian propriety. I will help to advance this new harmony. He and his wife are very content and glorify God, who brought them to Ebenezer, where they find their sustenance for soul and body. I believe it was not by chance that in the drawing this Kocher received his acreage near town. It consists simply of such good land that he could not wish for better. From the first beginnings of my acquaintance with him I have had him in mind as a schoolmaster.

I visited the Schmidt woman for the first time since she delivered. In the last days of her pregnancy she had all sorts of bothersome and unfaithful anxieties on account of her many bodily problems, but now that all has turned out well and her child is healthy, she is very much ashamed of them. Among other things I recited to her the verse: Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompense of reward. For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.

Saturday, the 27th of March. The Swiss boy, brought here from Savannah, is being cared for now in the orphanage, because he does not hear well, is lame, and has neither mother nor father. We are doing this all the more because pleasant gifts have already flowed to our congregation and orphanage from Switzerland. We give him labor according to his strength, and he is faithful in it. With his bodily frailties he is very simple, and in Switzerland he had to seek his bread by begging, which here is not necessary for him. For amongst us are no beggars, although there is no lack of poverty here and there.

Sunday, the 28th of March. Just as two weeks ago we recognized from the regular gospel, Dominica Reminiscere, in the beautiful example of the Canaanite woman, the Christian behavior in evil days of Christians, in todays gospel text (John 6:1 ff.) we were shown the Christian behavior in good daysof Christianswhen things are going well for them. The introductory words were from Sirach 41:17: My children, when ye fare well, observe instruction and be at peace. God presents us in Ebenezer with many a good day amidst all trials; and after we have surmounted many difficulties He causes things to go well for us. Also, from Gods word and our experience till now, we have hope that things will get better and better: as the children of Israel had to be reminded during good days when things were going well for them in the land of Canaan not to forget their God, so we too must just so be reminded. The proper good days are those when we can truly say: Through thy merits alone I can be peaceful here and blessed there.11 A good spirit such as this is a daily life of pleasure. Proverbs 15:15, 17.

Monday, the 29th of March. I inquired of the N. woman /Mrs. Scheffler/ whether she had remembered what we preached about yesterday from Gods word and whether she had applied it. She is eager for Gods word, marks carefully the verses cited and read aloud in church, repeats them with her heretofore quite rough and unintelligent husband, and is gradually learning them by heart.

Gods word gladdens her, and she regrets that formerly she took so little note of the sermons and did not look up the Biblical verses or profit by them. For a long time her husband has not been as wild, impudent, full of temper, and malicious as he was. I hope that these two married people, however improperly they came together, will become right Christian and edifying people.

Some people cannot read, such as Lechner and his wife, likewise Scheffler and his wife; but, because they desire it, we shall immediately set aside an hour for instructing them in an easy and understandable way. Either Ortmann or Kocher will be appointed daily to hold an hour with the adults at the town school, to be sure at such a time during the day that they cannot labor anyway in the fields and gardens because of the summer heat, and will therefore miss little in their external professions. We might also have need of a similar school on the plantations for the adults, but the one must wait for the other.

The Zimmerebner woman had her catechism before her during her housework. She said her husband had told her that, if one wishes to defend oneself from evil thoughts, one should always have something good before one and hold it in ones heart. She greatly bewailed her worldly sense; but she attested also that the word and the good example of her husband was blessed in her soul. As weak as these two people are, nonetheless they are blessed in their domestic concerns, for not only are their physical needs abundantly provided for, but they can also sell corn and rice, and are content in all respects.

Tuesday, the 30th of March. Today we married the young locksmith Ruprecht Schrempff to Barbara Brckl, and also Johann Theobald Kieffer to Matthias Bachers daughter /Maria/, whose husband drowned in the Rhine. Old Kieffer in Purysburg now has three children married in our place, to wit two daughters and the last mentioned son, a very Christian youth, superior in all respects to his brothers and sisters.

A pious woman had these thoughts on the matter: she said she had heard, from her late husband and others, that our Salzburgers had enjoyed many good things in Kieffers house in Purysburg during their travels to and from Savannah, both day and night. Parents and children had taken great pains to show many loving favors to their guests who were lodging with them, and she felt that God was now rewarding this love by bringing one child after another to our place to His word and to the holy sacraments. This observation was very dear to me because it reminded me at once of the many good things I had enjoyed with Kieffers family, on my journeys, and also of my duty. The eldest son lives in Carolina with his wife, in our vicinity, and can come every day to the practice of the divine word and to prayer, as he does. We only regret that he is quite often inconvenienced by flooding of the Savannah River and is obliged to move away.

Wednesday, the 31st of March. Today Mr. Vigera and I balanced and closed the accounts for the mill, horses, provisions, and other things. I confess that I find that I am in debt for over 20 Sterling, and I can pay it in no other way than from my shortly expected salary. Nonetheless, I feel not the slightest unease in my conscience about it, especially after I and the above-mentioned friend placed the entire account and the debts which appeared therein before the almighty Creator of heaven and earth, our Father reconciled in Christ, whose arm is not shortened and who can act superabundantly in everything we ask or understand, and after we commended those debts to His paternal care. The treasured words amidst the prayer were very sweet to me: Cast thy burden on the Lord, and He shall sustain thee, etc. That according to the accounts I am in debt to both the orphanage and the congregation itself, no one understands better than my dear colleague and now Mr. Vigera, who are also witnesses that my household is restricted in a most thrifty manner, and therefore I can hardly owe a shilling for its sake.

The question of the Lord, Is the hand of the Lord waxed short? is also very blessed to me in these circumstances, and at once directs me and others who might be uneasy about this debt.

APRIL

Thursday, the 1st of April. For a long time there has been no cowherd on the lowest parts of the plantations, hence the people have suffered much harm to their cattle and have had many obstacles in their work. Now the honest Klocker, who came with the 4th transport, is willing to serve. He is doing the people therein a right great favor. Now others are doing for him and his family just what lies within their capability. This Klocker and his wife are Christian people and have reached such an arrangement in their domestic concerns, under divine blessing, that they are living contentedly. They are very happy that they have come to Ebenezer, and they thank God and their benefactors for it.

Until now, the fact that we lack small coins has caused many difficulties in buying and selling among us. The smallest money of the Lord Trustees consists of 1 sterling notes, but General Oglethorpe has had notes or bills made up for his soldiers, in 5 sh., 4 sh., 2 sh. 6 pence, and single shillings. These are still practically unobtainable, because far too few of them have been produced. Now, whoever has a few pence to pay must either stay in debt or not take his purchases, for we hardly get to see English silver and copper money. The merchants in New York change quite quickly whatever is sent or brought from England, out of pure selfishness, for it is worth twice as much there.

Because now the lack of small coins is producing quite a lot of inconvenience and sometimes loss among our congregation, Mr. Vigera has taken the trouble to write quite a large quantity of all kinds of notes with values of 6, 3, 2, and 1 pence, which the people are accepting willingly, and with which they can pay amongst themselves quite conveniently. If they have 4 or 5 shillings together in such notes written here and wish to purchase something in Savannah, they surrender them to us and get for them the Lord Trustees or General Oglethorpes notes. In this way our own notes remain here and do us very good service, while the copper pieces, as mentioned, would soon circulate to Savannah and beyond. This way of making money is quite harmless. Our precursor in this was actually the merchant Charles Pury, who, because of the dearth of small change, issued similar notes in Savannah and redeemed them with sterling money. No one has to worry about any debt, for not only Mr. Vigera but also my dear colleague and I are good for them, that these notes will be taken up from them and changed whenever they have a few of them together. Also, no one has the slightest worry that he will lose a single pence on account of it, rather all inhabitants of Ebenezer are happy to get something in their hands to discharge and pay off their small debts. We, for our part, fear no harm, for no one can copy the signature and Mr. Vigeras impressed seal beneath, as some have dared to copy and print the Carolina money. In the English colonies in America the authorities have made similar notes by permission of the king. They have no value beyond the province where they are distributed, with the exception of the bills of the Lord Trustees; they are accepted everywhere as drafts which are properly paid in London.

Friday, the 2nd of April. The locksmith Lechner has now established his smithy, and today he began to forge a few pieces. We have more need of a blacksmith than a locksmith; and, because he also understands the smiths trade well, he will serve the congregation well in this matter. He is an obliging and fair man; and therefore by his labor many things will be much eased in the congregation, since till now they have had to pay a high wage in Savannah for a small amount of work. Moreover, things have been difficult on account of broken tools, or when someone needs something new, to travel to Savannah, to wait until it has been convenient for the smith to work for us. Lechners workplace is better set up than that of the blacksmith in Savannah, more than eight years in this country. In addition, he dwells near there in a quite fine little house, fitted with floors and windows, which for the most part he built himself and spent little money on.

His stepson, Ruprecht Schrempff, has now married, and has also promised to become a new man. In addition, we have disclosed and presented to him his clear disobedience to his loving mother and stepfather from the story we are dealing with of the disobedient and chastised Absalom, as a main source of temporal and eternal perdition. If he is suited for Christian orderliness, and wishes to work with his stepfather as a son and companion, we will be very much pleased, and much profit will stem from it. In addition two plantations fell to them by lot which lie directly next to one another. They look on them as a unit and are able to work on them whenever they have nothing to do in their trade.

Saturday, the 3rd of April. Planting at the orphanage is indispensably necessary because we do not have enough money to buy as many provisions as are necessary annually for the support of the widows and orphans, and we had to buy corn and rice this year because the people who are fed here are many, while the laborers are few. Rice and corn are quite costly this year, and this too has increased the expenses of the orphanage. Perhaps our dear Lord will bless the sericulture this spring, so that from it the orphanage may receive a little money for the purchase of needed things.

This week the days have been very hot, as if in the middle of summer, hence planting in the field is becoming somewhat irksome. But we always say: In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, wherein loyal and honest people have the sweet comfort that the Christian arrangement of their irksome and burdensome calling is in divine order, and that their labor for the Lord will not be in vain.

Some dissention arose amongst some people, and our Enemy1 used external things pertaining to the household for the purpose. But our dear Lord helped, so that both my judgment and my exhortation were blessed, and instructed the parties. One likes to accept the help of intelligent men who contribute, from their experience, their own ideas towards the advancement of peace. Many a person bases his right on some old custom, or attributes to his fellow man the same thing previously attributed to him, perhaps from oversight or maliciousness, by others. Drawing conclusions is a harmful thing among common people. Gods word and natural and Christian fairness must be the guiding principle of our actions, but not habits or other inconsequential things.

Sunday, the 4th of April. Because the days are longer, we began holding the repetition hour today between five and six oclock, which, for the sake of the children, is much better for looking them straight in the face. We recited many good things to them from the two verses: Dear children, when it goeth well with you look well and remain in the fear of the Lord; also, They proceed from evil to evil, and they know not me, saith the Lord. Jeremiah 9:4, and this should have gone to some of their hearts. The last verse was the introduction to todays sermon, and we recognized from the gospel for Dominica Iudica both the abominable evil of men, and also the Lords inexpressibly great gentleness and kindness. May the Lord make of it a constantly enduring harvest!

Monday, the 5th of April. Our dear Lord has strengthened Peter Reiter on his feet so much that a week ago he could come to the divine services on the plantations for the first time. He recounted to me after the early morning sermon that, since he had not attended one for so long, he was in quite good spirits during the sermon. Last Wednesday I intended to visit him in his house after school, but I did not encounter him, as he had gone to Bachers place. In the meantime I spoke somewhat with his wife and told her that she should simply come and partake, since our dear Lord wished to be gracious to her and she desired nothing else, for the Lord Jesus said: And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.

Thereupon I came to Bachers place, where I encountered Peter Reiter praying with others. In his unconverted condition he would certainly not have had dealings with such people; but, since he himself has acquired the spirit of grace and prayer, he was happy to go there even on crutches. He is quite content with everything, since our dear Lord is ordaining it for him. He does not worry about whence his future support will come, rather he lets the Father, whom he has now come to know in Christ, worry. The introductory words from Psalm 115:3, ... Our God is in the heavens; He hath done whatsoever he pleased, were very impressive to him.

Tuesday, the 6th of April. The war is making everything in Savannah very costly, to which the monetary confusion in Charleston contributes much. There they are beginning to accept sterling money once more for a meager price.

Wednesday, the 7th of April. In my absence the previously mentioned blacksmith from Purysburg came to our place and begged corn from house to house on the plantations. In doing so he availed himself, in a deceptive manner, of the intercession of the righteous Theobald Kieffer, himself only recently an inhabitant of Ebenezer. A few weeks ago I sent him three bushels of corn and told him the reason why I could not allow him to petition the people for assistance in his poverty without the foreknowledge of the authorities and without prior consultation with the congregation. For the like still has not occurred amongst us, and I believe it is incumbent on every country, and therefore Carolina also, to take care of its own poor. Even if we had wanted and been able to apply a gift to this man, it would have to take place in Christian orderliness: for charitable services without orderliness are more harmful than profitable. He did not report to my dear colleague, and when he saw me yesterday on the returning road, he and his great sack of corn vanished from my eyes so that I did not know where he had been.

Thursday, the 8th of April. This morning we dedicated Gschwandels new house with Gods word and prayer. He had invited his neighbors to it. We sang the edifying hymn, Prange Welt mit deinem Wissen, etc. and profited before the prayer hour from a few instances from the story of the passion of our Lord Jesus Christ, e.g., according to Matthew 20. He spoke with His disciples on the road of His forthcoming sufferings, turned aside in Bethany to Simon the leper, and here also testified of His death and burial. He was pleased by the loving deed of the divinely blessed woman, etc. He had occasion to be at a certain house in Jerusalem at the time of the Paschal Lamb, and also here He spoke, before and during the setting of the Holy Communion, from a fervent heart, of His sufferings, etc. Finally His inner and external sufferings commenced at the Mount of Olives, which continued more and more until He was crucified.

At every point we showed how every Christian should simply profit, in all circumstances wherein his worldly calling leads him, from the most meritorious sufferings of Christ, and what great advantage would ensue therefrom. With the first Christians it was thus; at the Passion Season they said: Jesus my love is crucified. At Easter time: Surrexit. At the time of the Ascension: Sursum corda, etc.2 In the beautiful hymn: Ein Lmmlein geht und trgt die Schuld, the 8th and 9th verses state very impressively: I shall and will make use of that at every time. etc. During the prayer it occurred to me anew that Gods wisdom ordained for the first members of the congregation to come to this country with us in the Lenten season. This should have taught us that, in this pilgrimage, Christ the Crucified should be our most prominent matter of study, and that we must be willing to walk in the crucified imitation of Christ, for there would be crosses and sadness, as has happened.

Gschwandel is from the first transport, and after he overcame many trials, God blessed him so that he cannot marvel enough at divine kindness. His neighbors, Leimberger and Simon Reiter, have also progressed well in their household and livelihoods with divine blessing, and this can be nought else but impressive to the people of the last transport. They did not have nearly the difficulties the first ones had to suffer, but now they prefer it to being spared this experience of the cross throughout their lives.

The Lackner woman has moved into the orphanage for a few weeks to learn about sericulture, and for that she is getting food and a small wage. I would wish that several people would apply themselves to making silk, which would bring them great advantage if they have enough white mulberry trees. Besides the orphanage, the widow Helffenstein, the Rheinlnder woman, the clockmakers wife /Christina Mller/, the Swiss womans girl /Magdalena Meyer/, and Bachers two daughters are engaged in sericulture, using sometimes wild and sometimes cultivated leaves. Although the orphanage has had many larvae and has gotten a fine quantity of them from Savannah, we still seem to have too few, and many leaves will probably be left over. The day before yesterday I brought a little box with several thousand worms in it from Savannah, but we could feed more in the orphanage. In Savannah they have many worms and little foliage, and I do not know how it happens that the trees in the Lord Trustees garden are standing like broomsticks and have only a little foliage here and there.

Friday, the 9th of April. The Rheinlnder woman is badgering me to take her little girl and small boy in with the orphan children, since she is not in a position to maintain them. In previous times, however, she was not pleased by the stipulations connected with the acceptance of her children, and which are concerned with orderliness. Otherwise the orphanage would stand open to them. Now the orphanage is so full that, if more children were taken in, we would have to build a larger dwelling and take on someone as supervisor, because Kalcher and his wife can now hardly keep up with everything pertaining to the domestic matters and managing the children. But for this there is no supply; and I have no call to plant myself in the midst of copious debts, since I find myself deep enough in them anyway on account of various accounts which we kept and now have closed. I directed the Rheinlnder woman to prayer. If she and her children keep with it, it will be easy for our dear Lord to grant means for caring for her children.

Sunday, the 11th of April. Last night a very violent storm with thunder and rain came up, tearing down a few garden fences. Towards morning it had cleared up once more so much that today we had a very pleasant day. Our dear Lord made known to me that He had blessed His word richly in some persons on Palm Sunday. The love of the Father and the Son penetrated their hearts by means of the illumination of the Holy Spirit such that they vested their heart in Him, and they believe that everything has been forgiven them.

Today the young Kieffer brought his Negro to church for the first time. He does not fully understand the German language to be sure, nonetheless he was present with great modesty and quiet disposition. Kieffer has called on me to allow him to bring both his Negroes to church and to the prayer hour so that by and by they might learn the German language and become aware of some of the doctrine of Christ. This poor man forced out many moving sighs and prayers from us on his behalf, even some tears from some amongst us, from which this Negro himself also profited, for he was given a shirt and one other gift, for which he showed himself very grateful and humble.

Monday, the 12th of April. For some time N.N. has longed to disclose a certain wound which pains her conscience; but, since they still do not have their own dwelling, the moment has not been right for it till now. Today she came here on that account from the plantations, and I directed her properly on account of her misery.3 She is a true, quiet disciple of the Lord Jesus, and like an eager little dove applies loyally every crumb and morsel she hears from the Lords word. Various people still lack Bibles and hymnals, which our dear Lord will surely grant in His time. Our miraculous God is placing this trial over her husband and a few others: The water is covering and inundating the land which good friends directed them to plant this year, until they could get to their own plantations. For the time has been too short for them to clear their own land of trees and bushes, and secure it with a stout fence. If in the previous time the first Salzburgers in our place underwent a trial of that which was in their hearts (trials of which there was no dearth, and cannot be), how should the 4th transport be able and desire to be spared them? Hebrews 12:611. The above-mentioned woman said the verse that comforted her was always: Commit thy way unto the Lord; and trust also in Him; and He shall bring it to pass.

Today I read through the continued report by Pastor Schumann concerning the state of the Salzburgers souls whom the wise providence of God has led to His spiritual care. I have found much edifying matter therein, as have my dear colleague and some members of the congregation, to bring me to a powerful awakening to carry out my office to my parishioners with greater earnestness. May the heavenly Father bless the righteous shepherd with the little sheep, and may He also bring the recalcitrant and obstinate ones thereto, so that they make up a blessed flock and together be a right blessed salt both near and far. I am now considering lending out this edifying and easily read report among the congregation, so that neighbors may profit by it in small groups, for fine examples make a good impression.

Tuesday, the 13th of April. Prior to the edification hour I visited N.N. and his wife, who have wanted to plant something in the fields for some time, in addition to their profession. To be sure they have both improved somewhat, but I found in their practice of prayer and Gods word many a great deficiency; and, as long as that is lacking, a true penance must also be lacking. This time, I once more presented to them in detail their great peril and the path from it to salvation through Christ, and also what a terrible judgment of God they would draw upon themselves if, as in previous times, they went to Communion in a state of would-be penance. Amongst other important materials I made known to them the two verses: But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread. For we say in the words of the institution of Holy Communion: He gave it to His disciples, and therefore this treasured and valuable food belongs to the disciples of Jesus. Also, Because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out, etc.

The N. woman subsequently wept copiously in the edification hour at the beginning of 2 Samuel 19, for from it she could recognize her disorderly conduct, but also at the same time the heart of the Lord Jesus, bubbling over with reconciliation, who much more than David wishes to forgive everything to the hostile and malicious person, and who wishes to accept her in grace. Psalm 86:5 says of Him: For thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive (He forgives gladly); and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee (mercy which extends over great sins and great sinners).

I learned from Pichler that the filtering cloth for our mill in the last gifts from Stuttgart was too delicate and cannot be used for making cornmeal. Hence I fear we will have to take counsel otherwise as well as possible from Savannah.

Wednesday, the 14th of April. Mr. Meyer brought an unmarried woman named Christina Husler here from Memmingen. She served as housekeeper to him but has now moved to the plantations with Kornberger and his wife, since Mr. Meyer can no longer use her. It is quite profitable for her to learn field work and household management, to which she had not been introduced before now. The Kornberger woman will be a very honest mistress and leader for her in all spiritual goods; and since she loves the good and is obliging, I hope she will become a pure maiden of the Lamb, and someday a good housewife amongst us.

The N. woman visited me this afternoon to discuss the state of her soul. For she practically never goes to Holy Communion without having previously presented herself, according to Gods word, for an examination. She does not hide her condition, rather is quite specific about everything, and insists weepingly that we deal earnestly with her. She must always pull on her husband; and, because he is not seriously interested in progressing to blessed eternity, but rather is unfaithful and indolent in many points, she has a real cross to bear. She is seeking to rear her four-year-old little girl in discipline and admonition to the Lord, and uses gravity and love at the right times, which the Holy Spirit is certainly teaching to her, as I recognized from clear examples. The husband, however, considers the willfulness and disobedience of the child to be more lack of understanding than sin worthy of punishment. Hence he, through his forebearing demeanor, harms the child; and in the presence of the child he sins with gestures and words against his wife, believing that the child does not understand.

In these and similar circumstances, which come to her alone or amongst her family, I directed her to prayer, which would be better, I said, than to upset oneself or even do oneself harm through unseemly fervor. I told her God had everything in His hands and that He could steer her husbands heart further, as He had already done in many points. Whenever God by and by granted her requests and she sensed the fruition of her prayers in the real improvement of her marital and household circumstances, she would have inexpressible joy and profit. I also said she should bear well in mind the timing of her well-meant friendly admonitions, e.g., when her husband is in a position to take a friendlier reminder and chastisement, also, when the child was not there, etc. I, however, will immediately find as much time as I need to deal with this family in detail.

Thursday, the 15th of April. This morning in town and on the plantations we held a sermon on the important epistle on Maundy Thursday. Our dear Savior blessed it noticeably in me and others, as I was informed directly afterwards. May He cause His love which He has manifested to us so gloriously through His meritorious suffering and death, as well as through the institution of his loving supper, so that we all place our trust in Him with all our misery, repose only in His love, and fervently love Him once more in deed and truth. May He cause us also more and more clearly through the spirit of Revelation, to recognize what a most highly cherished treasure Holy Communion is, which the most gracious Lord Jesus offers most lovingly, especially to the ailing and mourning sinners, and appropriates and dedicates to such simple consciences by means of the presentation of His body and blood in bread and wine, everything that He has gained: Give to me what Thou hast merited; and I shall not ask for more. Oh, what a sweet, cherished Savior we have in Him! Poor sinners could not wish a better one for themselves!

Friday, the 16th of April. We celebrated this day, morning and afternoon, once more as the day of the death of our most cherished Redeemer and as the high holy day of reconciliation of the New Testament with song, prayer, and the practice of the divine word and Holy Communion. Eighty-three of us took communion, for which cherished banquet our loving God was pleased to prepare us through His word in the regular evening prayer hours, and especially yesterday in the sermon on Holy Communion, which we repeated in the evening. Indeed we sensed this in our souls. We have certainly looked forward to celebrating this day solemnly with each other; and, since the entire congregation gathered in the town for the celebration and our dear Lord granted us the joy to treat of the word of the death and burial of Christ from John 19:3142, I certainly believe God has created a great blessing not only amongst us but also amongst many others.

Saturday, the 17th of April. I received from General Oglethorpe once more a very friendly letter in which he reported receiving my last communication and at the same time requested that I send in news more often. And so that letters may go from and to Frederica every month with certainty, he has arranged for people on horseback to accept and deliver the letters in Old Ebenezer on a certain day each month.

Sunday and Monday: the celebration of Holy Easter. Therein our loving God in Christ, who has nothing but forgiveness and blessing for mourning sinners, revealed His fatherly heart abundantly and clearly to us from the Gospel. On the first Easter day we heard the sermon concerning the immense grace from Jesus Christs resurrection from the dead, according to the text in the Gospel of Mark, 16:1 ff. The beautiful verse in Apostles 10:33 was the occasion for this presentation. On the second Easter day the loving and kind heart of the risen Jesus toward miserable sinners was presented to us. The introductory words were from Psalms 149:4.

On the first Easter day my dear colleague in the epistolic reading dealt with the salvation which comes through Christ, and what our duty thereby is. On the second Easter day he edified the congregation on the plantations concerning the proper text for our celebration, from Luke 24. He also discussed some genuine sources of comfort for true Christians in their suffering and sadness. On the way back he spoke with the carpenter Kogler, who recounted to him with brimming eyes how the Lord had permitted him this time to celebrate a blessed Easter. The widow Schweighoffer was perilously ill before the celebration, but she implored the Lord to make her well so that she might make a pilgrimage to the house of God with others and be edified from the treasured Gospel of Christ our Savior. The Lord indeed sent her this benefaction, so that she could also say: The Lord hath done great things for us, whereof we are glad, Psalms 126. These had been the introductory words on Good Friday.

Wednesday, the 21st of April. The Swiss carpenters niece /Engel Koller/ has brought things to the point that she can leave him and move into the orphans and widows home. Things have gone ill and wretchedly for her as a widow in Purysburg. As long as she has been in Ebenezer, however, she has conducted herself in an honest and Christian manner, and has received good testimonials from everyone. She may never have been held to do household work; and, because the old carpenter Krsys household appears very disorderly, she has been unable to learn anything here either. She is still young and of vigorous constitution and is willing to learn something. Hence I am hoping that something good will become of her in the orphanage, so that in the end she will make of herself a skilled and Christian house-mistress. Her little child is about one and one-half years old, and is feeble. Its situation will also be improved now. From this example our benefactors in Switzerland will be able to perceive that we are happy to allow their countrymen to enjoy with us the benefit that has flowed from their generous hands upon our orphans and widows home and, through the blessing of the Lord, may further flow upon it.

The orphanage is now somewhat cramped on account of the many people in it. Perhaps in autumn, when our dear Lord places something in our hands for the purpose, necessity will require us to expand it. The manager /Kalcher/ has inspected the roof on the orphanage and found that the shingles are almost rotten; hence it, too, should be completely covered anew. We will need nearly eight thousand shingles for that purpose. For the sake of long durability, we would like to have them made from cypress, should the Lord grant us such means. In our glorious Jesus we have infinitely more than the Israelites had in their Joseph. We may appeal to Him faithfully and calmly. He can and will be solicitous and see that every benefit be abundantly among us so that we may have sufficiency in all things and be rich in all kinds of good works, to be able to practice them within and without the orphanage. 2 Corinthians 9, 8.

Friday, the 23rd of April. Christian Riedelsperger is not improving, rather his powers are diminishing more and more. He is having many pains intermittently in his abdomen, and in some parts of his body there is almost no feeling. He is very patient and content with Gods guidance, although it pleases Him to place him on a wearisome sickbed. Because he is becoming weaker and weaker and wishes to know that his legacy has been settled, my dear colleague and I and two wise, Christian, and discreet men, have set his will to paper, regarding his temporal possessions. Our dear Lord rewarded his labor in the sweat of his brow with a fine blessing in horses, all sorts of cattle, and household items, although he did not seek temporal things since his conversion, rather he has been generous and disinterested. He did not forget the poor, rather he bequeathed them his clothing.

Although the orphanage already owes him much gratitude and compensation for his good service, he is again granting it a few head of cattle; and, most important, he is presenting to it his well-constructed house. The house is to be sold, and with the money realized from it, a sick bay is to be built in the orphanage. He knows from experience that such a thing is very necessary. To Kalcher, with whom he has a strong bond in the Lord and has been of one heart and soul, he is leaving a young horse and some cattle. In addition, the Eischberger woman of the 2nd transport, his fathers sister, is getting a fine present of horses, cows, pigs, and shirts. He has made an arrangement with his wife so that if, with Christian advice, she marries, her portion is so arranged as to satisfy her. May God, for the sake of Christ, hear our poor prayer for this sick man and make him once again sound in this life according to His gracious will, for we have great need of him in the orphanage and in the congregation.

Saturday, the 24th of April. Last night the mill had to stop running because a very large crocodile got into the mill wheel and was crushed. This morning some men pulled the animal out with difficulty. In addition, from time to time the milling has been hindered because the miller does not have enough flour sacks.

Sunday, the 25th of April. Today after the afternoon divine services Kogler gave a beautiful testimony on the state of his heart. I fairly rejoice over it. He feels the power of the word much more impressively than before; and, when one of us is preaching, he says it appears as if the preacher knows precisely the state of his soul and everything is clearer than in previous times. He is a very skilled, obliging, and generous man who, till now, has done the congregation many good services. What could we not hope from him if he offered himself fully to the Lord Jesus?

Monday, the 26th of April. A man in Carolina sent me a letter whose contents were as follows: He said he had many horned cattle; and, because he has heard that the Salzburgers want to buy a few head, he was willing to bring as many here as we wanted. I should write him the number very soon. He is the same man with whom I struck a bargain in Old Ebenezer on his journey to Frederica. He promised to bring a herd to Old Ebenezer and give our people the freedom to select such cows and calves as they liked, for which they were to pay him 2 6 sh. Sterling. Now he is not thinking at all of these circumstances. I am writing to him in response that we wish to have thirty cows with their calves, the sooner the better, because the pasturage is at its best now. But he would have to bring an entire herd, as he had promised, and grant us the choice. I am writing that if we like his cattle we may not stop at thirty head, but rather he should be able to sell more cows and oxen for ready money as soon as he lets us know that he is in Old Ebenezer with his cattle. Nonetheless, he will have to arrange things to spare us on Sundays, for we cannot become involved in that kind of external matter then.

Tuesday, the 27th of April. Yesterday evening shortly before the prayer hour a subject of special importance to Christian intercession was brought home to us. Young Lackner brought the news that our dear, pious Ruprecht Steiner had been bitten by a snake and thereupon had suddenly become ill. Since no horse could be found, Mr. Mayer and my dear colleague traveled rapidly on foot to take the steps to counteract the poison. When they arrived there they found the patient naked and buried practically up to his neck. A cobbler had given this advice in the opinion that the earth would draw out the poison. They pulled him out straightaway, put him to bed, incised the snakebite, washed out the wound with a great deal of salt water, and gave him theriac and other things, whereupon the excessive pains subsided somewhat and the very violent fever abated. He had to vomit a great deal. Thereafter, he passed impure blood (per sedes,)4 and his thirst grew so great that they poured masses of milk and water into him even before the arrival of the surgeon.

My dear colleague spoke comforting words to him from the Gospel, and prayed with and for him along with others. He understood everything well and prayed along with them. This morning I would happily have ridden out quite early to his place, but for a lack of a horse I arrived only after nine. I then learned that he had very much desired my presence, as he himself attested with friendly words. I reminded him of the beautiful words from Numbers 21:8, 9 of the exalted brazen serpent and directed him to look upon it in faith in his current circumstances.5 Then he would become pure in his soul and enter into the heavenly Canaan, as I repeatedly cried out the words to him: Look unto me and be ye served, all the ends of the earth; also, Come unto me, all ye that labor, and I will give you rest, etc. Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Then, with all the Christian people present who had come to the gathering, we went down on our knees and in the name of Jesus Christ implored the Father for everything useful for the patient in soul and body. I suggested to a pious man that, when the occasion arose, he read aloud to the patient, along with the beautiful story from 2 Samuel 19 which we were now considering, some chapters from the late Arndts book on True Christianity, Book V, part 1, ch. 7, concerning the gracious forgiveness of sins. This also will be like a balm to his wounds. He was heartily content with the guidance of God and committed himself in life and death to his Savior, lamented only his lack of faith, but sought rest and comfort in the blood and wounds of Christ.

He thanked me very courteously for one and another of the things he said he had gotten from me, and he also paid his respects. He attested that he would like to beg forgiveness of everyone whom he had offended. I also told him that our miraculous, gracious God, by means of the cross placed upon him, was effecting good and salutary things with others in the congregation, for many a person had been awakened to seek peace hurriedly with God, as long as today lasts. Mr. Mayer also assured us that this was so, and therefore I said that in his suffering and in his day-to-day life he should be a good instrument to the honor of God and to the service of his neighbors.

Yesterday in the prayer hour we heard how Simei hastened to humble himself and seek pardon before David, when we also remembered the words: For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God; and if it first begin at us, what shall be the end of them that obey not the gospel of God? He esteems the intercession of the faithful and does not doubt people will pray for him. He complained that he does not know how to pray properly. But I reminded him of the words from Psalm 38: Lord, all my desire is before thee; and my groaning is not hid from thee.

Last Saturday I had business with him;6 and there I heard that he had told his wife to call their child from the field because he had seen snakes. He himself was working with his wife in the field to clear the grass from the crops when unexpectedly he felt a mild sting at the ankle of one foot. He guessed that he had poked himself on a stalk and thought nothing of it, but after a while he had great thirst and pain and saw that he had been bitten by a snake which he had seen in the grass. It cannot have been a rattlesnake, for when they bite, a sudden death results in a few moments, of which we have had various examples till now amongst both men and animals.

When I arrived home from the plantations and was holding family prayers with my helpmeet, we read page 301 from the Little Treasure Chest7 of Halle, which redounded to the strengthening of my faith. The beautiful verse and the appended application and encouragement very well suited our present circumstances of trial. The entire little sheet contained these treasured words: Abraham believed in hope, against hope. Romans 4:18, 21. O soul, thou hast not only, as did Abraham, one single promise before thee, rather many promises and many thousands of examples of faith. For their sake hold thou to the word and faith, and if succor vanishes, indeed, if evil becomes more wicked, do not become therefore weak, rather strong and joyous, because Gods promises come to fruition by means of such miraculous paths, and God is prepared to succor thee for the least cause. If the cause be there, He etc.

Help, thou mighty God, lest I lose heart in Thee,

Since here I lead my life in sheerest frailty;

Let me Thy promise thus more reassure

If, instead of succor, sheer hindrance occur!

Wednesday, the 28th of April. The young /David/ Eischberger and /Georg/ Eigel have their plantations next to one another; and, what is more, not like the others, on the mill stream. Rather they go further inland and are separated from the other plantations on the mill stream by a broad gap. Therefore, because they have no neighbors, getting started fell more heavily on them in the first years than it did on others. Fence-making they found especially burdensome, since both plantations had to be fenced in completely. Both families are very industrious and have, with divine blessing, accomplished much in building their huts, preparing the land, making fences, etc. Anyone who sees their many labors and recognizes their contended spirit, strengthened with good hope, will rejoice and will praise the Lord with them for all support. Thus have we in like manner praised God with one another on bended knee, and called on Him for His blessing in the earnest conduct of Christianity and in the faithful carrying out of our secular professions.

I have been very pleased indeed that Eischberger and his helpmeet have recognized their former inadequate Christianity and the necessity for a true conversion and that they are also diligently employing the means thereto. The man is not used to labor, but exerts himself beyond all his powers and does almost too much. God has held His hand over him especiallyotherwise he would have been struck down on the spot by a tree. That occurrence, as well as what happened to Steiner, has been a call to penitence for both of them. I spent my time very contentedly with them and their neighbor Eigel (and his family), and my visit likewise gave them much joy and encouragement.

/Ruprecht/ Steiner, who has been visited by Mr. Mayer, my dear colleague and me, has since yesterday felt the assistance of the Lord abundantly in soul and body. The pains in his body and the severe fever are quite gone. Only in his foot, where the snake bite is, is there an intense inflammation, and the wound is beginning to draw pus. Mr. Mayer is taking every measure he can in the matter, applying internally and externally his own and our medicines. I was able to recite many comforting things from the gospel with him, strengthening his faith in the Lord Jesus. Because in his fear of death he looked to himself and his own transgressions rather than to Christ the Eradicator of sins, by means of whose wounds we are saved, he has been very agitated. Hence I advised him to become fully familiar by means of the Gospel with the heart of the Lord Jesus, which is full of love and reconciliation, and not to mix his own piety and good works, which were wholly inadequate, into vindication; for He called the sinners, I said, and made the godless righteous.

The above-mentioned chapter from the late Arndts book on True Christianity was very impressive and comforting to him; and our dear God also gave him much blessing and edification with the story of the resurrection of Christ. I recounted to him also how yesterday God had strengthened my faith and hope regarding his critical circumstances, viz., Romans 4:1821, wherein we came upon the beautiful song: Es ist das Heil uns kommen, and especially its beautiful words, by which we profited when we distributed the dried fruit: With God our faith is rightly placed, love will do our neighbor good, if you are born of God, likewise, If it appears that He would not, let it not dismay you, for even when He is with you best, He will not reveal it, etc. I also read aloud to him and others the song: Wunder Anfang, herrlich Ende, etc., and prayed with them. We gave his wife necessary admonitions that fitted her circumstances.

For some persons whom God is causing, internally and externally, to feel the bitter fruits of their sins, I had the opportunity to interpret and apply the words found at Hosea 5:15 and 6:1 ff.: I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offense, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me early, [saying] Come, and let us return to the Lord, etc. All of this is to be quite clearly explained with the example of the Prodigal Son.

Friday, the 30th of April. Today after the prayer hour we calculated roughly the most recent mill expenses, which come to 20 pounds 5 sh. Sterling. Since I have only 1 pound 4 sh. 2 p. left, we will pay the smith and the carpenter for some additional work and buy a few ells of sack cloth, the best that can be had here. The people are willing to give up one quart or by weight two pounds from each bushel of corn, rice, or wheat for the upkeep of the mill. These shall be collected and profitably turned to money. In case of need they wish jointly to work a few days gratis. They look upon it not as forced service but rather as a grateful labor of love as profitable as the mill is to them. For each bushel of grain the miller gets 2 quarts or 4 pounds, which indeed he cannot subsist on; but in addition he can cultivate his field because the milling cannot be done constantly, and he has no tasks and expenses at the mill, since everything he needs is made and built for him. Corn and rice are getting a good price now, and with this compensation he can well afford the labor at the mill. In the future, when prices become cheaper, God will also take care that the miller is given recompense for his labor.

MAY

Saturday, the 1st of May. My dear colleague traveled very early this morning to Savannah to examine the people who are taking Holy Communion tomorrow and at the same time to preach the word of the Lord. May God place in him many blessings and also strengthen me at home so that I may be something for the praise of His glory. In the same boat we sent a fine quantity of silk to sell. The silkworms at the orphanage and at a few other peoples places spun it. Only a small part of the worms have finished spinning, and therefore the greatest amount of silk will be ready for sending down shortly.

Since the orphanage made a beginning, and to be sure a successful one, at silk cultivating and since the inhabitants of our place have recognized the great profit of this labor (which can be performed even by weakly persons such as women and children), some people who were able to get mulberry leaves have applied themselves to it this year; and it is a great joy to me to learn that they are being well rewarded for their pains. Now they have learned that art and can serve others with their knowledge, and I also see that others earnestly wish to apply themselves to planting many mulberry trees. Whenever there are enough trees in the vicinity, sericulture is an easy and very profitable thing. We have presented each and every widow this year a fine, full, white mulberry tree for their use in the orphanage, which indeed will prove useful to them. This year, contrary to expectations, there were too many sillkworms at the orphanage and too little room in the attic. We also had to feed them many wild mulberry leaves, for which reason quite a few worms died and a few became so weak that they barely half spun out. In the meantime we hope, nonetheless, to get a good quantity of silk, the profit from which will be applied both to the honest, industrious Kalcher and other co-workers, and also to build something which is indispensably necessary for the rearing of the silkworms.

At the moment the worms have to lie beneath the roof, where they are heated too much by the warmth of the sun, which in any case has been quite strong and lasting this spring. Also there are many midges and blow-flies which harm them. We have an indisputable need for a special house to accommodate the worms, but at this time we have not been able to build it, because we lack money and people to do the work. Our mulberry trees are still, for the most part, quite delicate, hence we have to get the bulk of the leaves elsewhere in this neighborhood. They grow in a wet area and are not as fine and sound as those that grow at our place, and this too may have contributed much to the death of many of the worms.

One of General Oglethorpes soldiers (who must reconnoiter the woods between Fort Argyle and Old Ebenezer) came to me to fetch a letter for the general. I will now always have a safe opportunity on the first day of each and every month to write a letter to this gracious and beneficent gentleman. This time I wrote a few hurried lines, once again commended Mr. Vigera to his good will, and gave him a report of the perilous accident which befell Steiner. I asked him to share with me the tested means against snake bite of which he had told me in Old Ebenezer, so that in case of need we will have something to apply. I am also reporting to him how burdensome and costly the journey to Savannah by boat falls to us, and am asking therefore that a road on land be made to Savannah.

Monday, the 3rd of May. Hans Schmidt visited me, and his tale of what the Lord had done in him was very edifying to me. On account of the high waters innundating a part of his land which was due to be plantedthe milldam contributed something to thathe was somewhat troubled and uneasy. But God comforted him powerfully and fully satisfied him when he reverently read the hymn: Also hat Gott die Welt geliebt, etc., especially from verse 16: If this or that be lacking, be undaunted. Let care and worry vanish. He who does not refuse me the greatest will find counsel for whats small. God has given me His Son and sent Him to His death. How could He (let us think) not give us everything with Him? He could cite many instances in previous times of how our gracious Lord had stood by him and helped him out of his miserable circumstances, and this strengthens him in faith and hope. I could recount to him how much I was both shamed and strengthened in trust in the reconciled heavenly Father, by means of a little bird on the roof of my house, singing merrily and happily, caring nothing for what the future might bring. We have a redeemer and spokesman with the Father, whom other creatures do not have. How peaceful and content we can be if only we hold to Him.

Schmidt intends to apply himself more to planting wheat than he did previously. He does not lack land but rather sufficient manure for it, and to get it he wishes to buy himself a cow, for which I shall lend him some money. I myself have to have recourse to loans; nonetheless, for those people who wish to support themselves in an honorable and Christian manner I cannot refuse it. God will grant everything.

Tuesday, the 4th of May. The people in Savannah, both German and English, are feeling anew the rod of Gods wrath, inasmuch as now as last summer the cattle are succumbing in droves, and eventually they are losing their few cattle. Mr. /Thomas/Jones, our honest friend, returned from Frederica at the end of last week, but he intends to travel back there already today.

The physician for the orphanage in Savannah /Patrick Hunter/ caused the pleasant report to be given to me that something has been collected and already sent to Charleston. It will very soon be turned over to me to dispose of, for money or goods. In one day the Lord is causing His kindness to our orphanage to become manifest in three noteworthy ways: today, as my dear colleague transmitted this news to me, a devout woman in the congregation presented the orphanage, with heartfelt good wishes, 7 sh. sterl., which had been given her in London. Also today, from the silk lately sent, a small blessing came our way, not to mention what the righteous Christian Riedelsperger bequeathed the other day to the orphanage. Our heavenly father knoweth what we have need of. We urgently need a spacious house, for the current one is much too constricted and too cold in winter, and its roof is dilapidated. We prefer to make do till God shows us, by means of real gifts, a more definite call for the construction, which is so costly in this country.

Concerning other matters, the people in Purysburg and elsewhere in Carolina have been vaingloriously claiming that they alone, and not the inhabitants of Georgia, have made silk, and that the silk sent annually to London shows only the industry of the inhabitants of Carolina. This vainglory has brought things to the point that silk from Carolina is no longer accepted at the store house in Savannah. Because of that, the people of Purysburg, who have drawn a fine sum of money from Savannah every year, are getting into a scrape and are trying every idea they can to get their silk into the store house.

Wednesday, the 5th of May. Some people in town are still very much behind in their reading; but, when I inquired, they attested their desire to go to school and remedy their defect. My dear colleague and I would like very much to become involved in this labor if only we had the time and strength for it. The schoolmaster Ortmann is now starting the school for the adults between two and three oclock, at which time all the children are learning the catechism with my dear colleague. Because this is an extraordinary labor, we must give him something for his benefit from that which God will grant. On the plantations we are gladly making similar arrangements for the adults to learn reading. But, because we have to pay Ruprecht Steiner four pounds annually for the school with the children and also have no means at hand for it, we will have to wait for another time to set up school for the adults.

Thursday, the 6th of May. I found /Martin/ Lackner of the 4th transport at his labor in the field. He was sweating copiously but was in a good mood. He planted a large field somewhat late and, because his corn is younger than his neighbors, the birds have pulled some of it up again and he must therefore plant again. If they all plant at the same time, the uprooting and harm caused by the birds can be sooner prevented. He recounted to me several things of what God was doing in his soul, through His word and especially on the occasion of the stories in the evening prayer hour. For him and his helpmeet it is extremely agreeable, on account of the daily prayer hours, to give up their most distant plantation and move nearer to the city. I am very hopeful for both people. They fit well in the congregation and live in Christian order.

The German crop of wheat, rye, barley, oats, and peas stands so handsomely in the gardens that we could not wish it better, and it will shortly become ripe. The people urgently need more cattle for making manure, and it might be wished that the Lord Trustees could grant some to the last transport, for the furtherance of agriculture. As a consequence the poor land, which they scornfully call pine barren (unfruitful land of Scotch pine), would also be profitable to use, as we know from many good tests. God can give everything, we must only pray for and await it.

Friday, the 7th of May. Before and after the prayer hour on the plantations I was busy paying the people for the last work on the mill. To be sure, it tired me greatly; but a letter from Mr. Whitefield, delivered to me while I worked, gladdened and refreshed me. He writes that in Edinburgh he collected 20 . Sterl. for our people, in which especially the orphanage but also the congregation should share, for the rice mill or whatever good use I might find. He said he bought 600 yards of cloth and sent it here to make clothes for the orphan children in Bethesda. From it we can buy some for a small price. He hopes to collect still more for us before he departs from England. Praise God for this new benefaction. May He compensate Mr. Whitefield, and others for it, abundantly, with temporal and heavenly goods. It was very impressive to me that, as I was on the point of paying out the last money for the labor at the mill, I received this pleasant report of the above-mentioned collection, from which the mill will also profit.

Saturday, the 8th of May. I received a visit from the cobbler Reck, who once belonged to our congregation, but later moved to Port Royal. He regretted what he had done and how he had lived till now, and he cited also several particular cases of misfortune which had befallen him since his departure as evidence of the heavy hand of God over him. He sees himself in error and in great peril and recognizes that he has violated the Sabbath and kept bad company; and he has many good resolutions. They are not to remain merely resolutions, however, and with Gods help they shall come to fruition. He has proved to be benevolent in a certain matter concerning the orphanage, and offers to do more.

He has land nearby on the Carolina side, and is thinking of moving there this coming fall. Yesterday evening in the prayer hour he heard much for his own instruction in the example of the evil Ziba and the honest Mephiboseth, and of the behavior of David towards them both, and I noted that it impressed him. We read aloud and emphasized Ephesians 4:25 ff. and Sirach 5:29. We have dwelt upon the 19th chapter of 2 Samuel for some time in the prayer hours, because the material has been so important and edifying. The heart of the risen Jesus especially was demonstrated quite clearly and lovingly to us by the model of David and his behavior towards his rebels, with our duty towards Him; and I felt the power of the gospel in myself and others. The verse from Romans 4:5 was for us quite select and valuable: But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, etc., for it brings comfort in the struggle to do penance, in temptation, and on ones deathbed.

Sunday, the 9th of May. A sad report from Savannah was confirmed, to wit, that the owner of a sloop which went regularly back and forth between Savannah and Charleston, twice came into mortal peril in the water, and at last drowned in it. Large fish dealt roughly with the body, and at first it was concluded that perhaps he had been murdered and thrown into the water; but now it is known with certainty that the boom knocked him overboard. Such judgments happen often, rather than seldom; yet few reflect thereupon. And therefore, with perverse persons God effects just as little by earnest means as by means of His kindness. May He aid the pious ones in the land, by means of their humble and constant prayer, to become a battlement against those judgments and step into the breach.

Monday, the 10th of May. This afternoon I visited some families in the upper part of the plantations and had much pleasure with them in conversation and prayer. Mrs. Krause had been waiting for me a long time to disclose to me the state of her soul and to request good advice, since it goes from fear to hope with her. On Good Friday God displayed to her an act of grace so that she could believe that God had forgiven her everything. She recounted to me many edifying circumstances and details from it. Peter Reiter also came here, and we conducted a pleasant (and very profitable for all of us) conversation concerning the proper kind of faith and its business in righteousness and salvation, for then we can especially recognize that it is not a work of the head but rather of the heart and an actual effect of the Holy Spirit.

N. sees the glorious grace in Christ and the bliss of a true evangelical Christian from afar, as it were, and looks forward to it. He regrets his lack of faith and blindness in wanting to be saved from perdition more by means of his own works and his activity than through faith in the Lord Jesus. He prays very earnestly and takes great pleasure in having good conversation and good examples, hence it is much to his liking when we visit him and his family. He is now, as he himself attests, very content with everything, even as burdensome as the country life strikes him, and he thanks God for saving him from the life of his companions in Germany. He believes he would have perished body and soul among the rough crowd had God not torn him away from the journeymans life and brought him into solitude. He recounted exactly the same thing about N., who was compelled by force by other members of their guild to drink excessively, etc. Kornberger recounted how, when he came into a certain imperial city1 as a weaver journeyman wearing a black scarf, other journeymen compelled him to put on a white one and to display pomp with a walking stick and other vanities. He sent them about their business, however, when he said he had not left Salzburg for the sake of vanity, but rather for the sake of the Gospel.

Tuesday, the 11th of May. This morning a woman of the 4th transport came in from the plantations to fetch medicines for her sick husband, and she also then called on me and, weeping copiously, acknowledged several sins which were leaving her no peace day and night since she had been awakened by Gods word. Because she could find no comfort in the merits of Christ, she was forced to a candid confession. They were the kind of sins that cannot be hushed up and prayed away in secret, and the good woman did quite right in disclosing her wounds in the appropriate place. The words from Sirach 41:19 fit many: One often is ashamed, when one should not be ashamed.

Wednesday, the 12th of May. N. had gotten into a conflict with his neighbor. Because the former had acted angrily and threateningly, yesterday morning I impressed seriously upon him that his intransigent behavior was evidence of his unconverted heart, and I promised more thoroughly to investigate and punish these goings-on. This morning he came a long way here from his plantation, humbled himself, asked pardon, and said he would be happy to take whatever punishment is pronounced upon him. I reminded him of a few old sins which he had secretly committed with N. and N. (both of whom took miserable leave of Ebenezer), for which God had borne him in such great forebearance and had waited so long for an act of penance, but in vain up to now. He acknowledged well everything we told him in addition and departed from me with good resolutions?

I visited the people on their plantations on Ebenezer Creek, to encourage them at their hard labor by means of a Christian exhortation, not to let their spirits fall, but to consider Gods promises and the example of the first Salzburgers, with all difficulties which arise with the construction of new plantations. In Savannah I bought a ploughshare which I am giving to Kogler and Rottenberger. They will finish the wooden parts for it, so that there then will be two good plows, one at the orphanage in the town and one on the plantations. The horses at our place are mostly brood mares, young and weak. The people are saving them for breeding, as far as possible.

Because I would rather see the German method of agriculture introduced for the good of the orphanage and the congregation (the sooner the better), I am considering risking, in the name of the Lord and on credit of the heavenly Father (who can easily steer the heart of a benefactor in Europe to pay for it), the purchase of a pair of strong horses. Together indeed they would cost up to 24 sterling, but they would redound to a profit of many years duration in the congregation, by the blessing of God. The people in town and on the plantations would cultivate their plots with them, and on their account contribute something small to the upkeep of the horses, as they have done till now with the one commonly owned horse now left.

As long as we plant only the local crops2 even at the orphanage and have to perform everything with the hoe, we will not become independent of benefactions from Europe, but will still have to support ourselves here and there with borrowing. But, if God blesses our plan for Kalcher in company with another honest man (for whom we are now seeking), to set about plowing and cultivating wheat, rye, barley, and oats (for which project some funds will be needed early on), we hope to manage more easily. Little will happen without manure, hence I think we must have some additional head of cattle. We would want to put an honest Salzburger and his wife on the orphanage plantation with them and to build for him, as householder, a house and stables to facilitate the matter for him as much as possible. Then he and Kalcher would jointly cultivate the orphanages land near town and by and by on the plantation. In this manner we can dispense with servants, who are not to be had anyhow; and, if we use day laborers, they can earn their daily wage sooner than with the local crop, and bring profit to the orphanage.

Almost everyone is convinced that our people here would have not only easy labor but several advantages if they concentrated on German agriculture and sericulture, and would therefore succeed sooner. Health would be more stable. For we can clearly see that when the people have to plant their corn, rice, and beans in the great heat and have to mow the grass, they get fever, diarrhea, etc., especially the ones from the 4th transport.3 On the other hand, the German crops are sown in fall and winter, and no further labor takes place with them until they are gathered in during the current month. For they let no grass come up, and therefore need not be weeded out. May our simple yet honest intention please God, and may He accompany it with His blessing at the orphanage and in the congregation!

Thursday, the 13th of May. This morning, when I was on my way from a sick married couples house to the orphanage, a man offered me two packets of letters and the report that Mr. Vigera was in Savannah and had received these letters from Colonel Stephens to me. Mr. Vigera himself had written a few lines to me of his sound and safe arrival, saying that he had brought along to our place from Frederica six barrels of flour and all kinds of trappings for horses for the seven rangers, or soldiers. He said our people were to fetch those things along with the large chest from Halle, which had arrived last Friday in Savannah from Charleston, with the large boat. Yesterday evening the two Kieffers went to Savannah. They will help with the boat which they borrowed from us to bring those things which will not fit into the large boat.

Last Friday, just as the large chest was brought to Savannah, we so profited, among other things, from the example of David (2 Samuel 19:39), who showed himself grateful in word and deed to the beneficent and righteous Barzillai, that we gratefully remembered, to the praise of God, the many good deeds shown us in our pilgrimage by our dear superiors and other worthy patrons in Europe. Since we cannot reimburse their unselfish love by kissing and blessing them, as did David, we will love them and pray with righteous hearts that they may be found among those on that day to whom the risen and transfigured Christ will say: Come, ye blessed of my Father, etc.

I cited as an example of our new benefactions General Oglethorpes order that I report to him the status of our congregation every month and that I shall be able to take advantage of his advice and assistance and that last Friday, while reckoning and paying for the labor at the mill, amidst extreme bodily fatigue, I received a letter from Mr. Whitefield reporting that he had collected 20 sterling for us, from which the orphanage should partake most but also the congregation, and especially that a few pounds should be allocated to a rice mill. He said he was hoping to collect more before his departure from England. And it could be none other than impressive to me that, as I was paying out the last money, I received a letter saying that God had once more brought together something for the mill. This state of affairs, in which I recognize divine wisdom and grace, caused me to be not at all offended upon seeing from the Weekly History, a sheet printed in London and enclosed with the Court Chaplain Ziegenhagens worthy letter, that the letter I sent to Mr. Whitefield on 6 April 1741, in which I reported to him on the church we have built and of the orphanage and the mill, is inserted word for word in this sheet. For it gives him and other benefactors not only news of how the monies we received were applied to the building of the church, but I also wish them in compensation every divine blessing from the abundance of Jesus Christ. I and my parishioners implore the Father of all mercy on bended knee in the new church to compensate such great benefactions in time and there in eternity, as both adults and children have already done.

Our faith was strengthened no little by the long awaited chest from Halle, for we have held to it till now so strongly by faith and prayer that we knew it would not go astray from us. Even yesterday, after my bloodletting, the specifications of the linen, medications, and books in the chest came into my hand and before the eyes of my dear colleague and myself. The appearance of this great blessing redounded to us to the praise of God. For the sake of distribution we also made a rough estimate, as if everything were already in our hands. This was somewhat amusing to us, but today it strengthened us in our faith.

Concerning myself and my own households circumstances, I cannot find a purpose in the wisdom, omnipotence, and kindness of God in His conduct, nor fathom the reason here; rather I only say, full of humble astonishment: Thousand and thousand thanks be unto thee, Great King. For, as indicated in my journal, I owe (from what oversight I cannot say) upwards of 20 sterl. to many different accounts. Now that I have paid such debts from my biannual salary, which I had received the 1st of this month and therefore had little left, I received in todays pack of letters the following note from Prof. Francke: Because in his will the late Mr. von Burgsdorff bequeathed 100 Reichsthaler to Boltzius or his heirs, the same belong rightfully to him, and he is requested to send a receipt to me for Mrs. von Burgsdorff. Indeed, in the words of the song: O Gott du tiefe, etc., The fame and glory of Thy name reaches such a distance that no one can imagine it. All worship you and must bow to you. And if anyone reports his need to thee in confidence, Thou wilt help him with thy glance. By the good counsel is the deed, etc.

The worthy Court Chaplain Ziegenhagens most pleasing letter, which we also received in copy, brought my dear colleague and me much refreshment, for which may the Lord refresh him in turn. His arguments for our continuing our official duties serve us vigorously to confirm us in this calling to take charge of the physical as well as the spiritual affairs of the congregation, as again offered and accepted from General Oglethorpe.

Some weeks ago the N. woman opposed me in a matter and used spiteful words so that I wished a temporal authority here actually to punish such wickedness. But God took hold of her by the foot, in which she trod a deep puncture, so that she needs no further punishment before men, but rather, by means of this severe discipline, can come to reflection and penance if she does not willfully strive against it. God helps us thus on every side, if occasionally human counsel and aid may be lacking.

Friday, the 14th of May. General Oglethorpe, laboring practically day and night and in great fatigue, has to bear right much from the unbroken people, and hence he has need of our own and others intercession. He received Mr. Vigera and Pichler very kindly and attested to much joy and pleasure concerning our place. He is giving Pichler (appointed by him tythingman or non-commissioned officer over the six rangers) 20 sh. sterl. per month, and each of the six rangers 15 sh. He is also giving them horses, good flintlocks, saddles, trappings, powder, and lead, which things he brought along. The work they must do is meager, and it is a great benefaction not only for these men but also for the whole congregation, which may not be burdened with foreign soldiers. The description which Pichler gives of Frederica and its inhabitants agrees fully with what the young Zbli recounted from his own experience after his return. The wheat which stands in the fields there is so skimpy that if it did not grow better here no one would plant anything like it. From his story our people can palpably grasp what a great benefaction our solitude is, and how many advantages we enjoy.

Today in the edification hour on the plantations I shared some things from the letters we received (as will happen this evening in the prayer hour), so as to move the listeners both to gratitude for the many kindnesses of God which hold sway over us, and also intercession for our German fatherland and our benefactors in Europe. To this end especially I have drawn many passages from the beautiful letter from Prof. Francke. At the beginning of the hour I repeated in general a few points from the 19th chapter of 2 Samuel, which we had been examining, and I showed briefly what a benefaction it was that our dear Lord granted us therein so many edifying examples. I said He had a salutary purpose in the example of the late and living righteous ones, which, alas! a most meager number of men allow to reach them, and thus increase their measure of sin.

If the pious ones of olden times were a despicable little spark in the eyes of the world, as the late Luther testifies concerning the prophet Isaiah in his preface on this servant of the Lord, and as we see in David, Mephiboseth, Barzillai, even Christ and His apostles, then this is still so. Men of the world are so blind that they do not recognize at all the inner treasure of the faithful, but only their transgressions and errors, which indeed are their daily acts of penance. They perch like blue-flies upon their wounds and boils, and I told all this to our listeners in admonition. Our friends and dear patrons far away recognize that there are faithful among us, and hence they receive news of our congregation as gladly as from their own children in a foreign land, as the present letters attest. Hence it is a sign of a perverted mind whenever some amongst us know people no more pious than they themselves are, and almost dislike hearing of any difference.

Also, the recent introductory words of Sirach 21:18 show that there has been constantly a difference amongst the parishioners as wide as the heavens. We reminded them further that the old Barzillai had done well to act alone and together with eternity rather than go to Jerusalem. For his eyes could see anew what doubtless he knew from much experience, to wit, that with a large population there is much bustle and unrest. For what unrest and bickering arose over trifles from ambition and other worthless causes both here and by the Jordan between the tribe of Judah and the remaining Israelites.

I reminded them from the stories of the patriarchs that the nearer they came to the cities and society of uncouth men, the more unrest and harm they had. Though there may be all sorts of trials in our wilderness, it is nonetheless a sweet wilderness for the many sorts of spiritual and physical causes, a wilderness into which God beckons us and speaks with us lovingly. Pichler now regards our wilderness quite highly, after he has been some weeks at another place. I reminded everyone that our dear Lord effects many sorts of convictions in the hearts of our parishioners, as then amongst the Israelites after their rebellion, v. 9, so that they begin to see the misery of their sin and to long for grace in Christ. But with many it lasts no longer than with this ancient people, who were not only coarse and immodest towards their virtuous king, v. 41, but finally for the sake of an utterly worthless cause disapproved of him and followed after quite another, to wit, Seba, as earlier they had followed Absalom. For that reason they had not only great sorrow of heart but also tumbled headlong into the judgment of God.

Today Hosannah and tomorrow crucifige is always the modus procedendi with hypocrites.4 With that I warned our people conscientiously against further lack of faith towards the signs of grace of the Holy Spirit. At the end of the repetition I inquired whence came the cause for Joabs and these Israelites having so little respect for David, and that they were impudent and spiteful. A main cause is doubtless his great kindness and gentleness. He was happy to forgive and forget, which is what all gentle parents, authorities, ministers, and superiors experience. And thus it happens even to our dear Lord. What is more abused than divine mercy and patience? But therefrom follow judgments all the more severe.

In this I directed them once more to Sirach 5:2. I told them in plain words how I had fared till now in this regard with self-willed parishioners who want always to be justified in their wickedness. Their consciences would have told many of them this. What happened to me personally I do not punish, and I gladly forgive and forget, above all whenever such people assert regret and sorrow. For, if they were to be punished for transgressions against me personally, others might take exception to it and look upon it as personal revenge. I feel sorry for such miserable people, who fall into the hands of the living God. He has grasped many a man for his disobedience and contradiction so that he feels it well, and it is good when the hand of God is felt, so that they may humble themselves beneath it. On this occasion I announced to the parishioners what a labor of love the worthy Court Chaplain Ziegenhagen had undertaken this time in the writing of a long letter in which he sought to move me and my dear colleague with very important reasons, all pertaining to the true benefit of our parishioners, to preserve along with our ministerial office the office of Justitiarius.5 To this end I have been resolved, in Gods name, as long as God grants me life and strength. Indeed, since the arrival of the fourth transport my strength has increased right markedly. God be praised!

Saturday, the 15th of May. Yesterday evening around eleven oclock the locksmith /Ruprecht/ Schrempff called me to his young wife /Barbara/, who had already been struggling with death, and who was already dead before I came there. She had only complained for a few days, and the violence of the vomiting and asthmatic attacks had increased so rapidly that her end came sooner than she and others had guessed. My dear colleague was with her during the day but was able to talk and pray more with others than with her, because she understood little by then. Her name was Barbara Prck, and she came to us as a single, often sickly woman with the fourth transport.6 At her own request she served in my house until her marriage, which I would rather have hindered than encouraged. This quick death is making a great impression on the people of our place.

They shall be further impressed with the word of the Lord tomorrow. The fourth chapter of the prophet Amos, which I read today with my family, shows how God takes hold of men from time to time, and how thereby He seeks nothing but their true conversion, but nonetheless must lament that He can attain His gracious purposes neither through benefactions nor through judgments and chastisements. Mrs. N. was present with me at the death of the young woman, and took such an impression of it that she herself became ill and had me called to her this morning in haste. She shrieked and cried with the unrest of her heart and felt very severe strokes of conscience. She sighed and called constantly: The troubles of my heart are enlarged, and deported herself very fearfully. I urged on her the verse: I know also, my God, that thou triest the heart and hast pleasure in uprightness; and explained to her what honest penitence was according to scripture, that no intention may consist of sinning further in any way, and I showed that the Lord Jesus healed such broken hearts. She admitted a few of the things with which she had sinned, and prayed very earnestly.

Mr. Vigera arrived yesterday evening in our small boat during the prayer hour, and with us he praised the Lord for what He had done for his good and ours. He cannot mention General Oglethorpe without extolling his kindness greatly.

Sunday, the 16th of May. Our large boat arrived only at sunrise this morning with the large chest filled with books, medications, linens, and other things. Mr. /Thomas/ Jones also sent six small barrels of flour for our orphanage. He had bought the flour for a tolerable price in Frederica from the sloop taken from the French. When I come to him I will hear whether they are gifts or must be paid for. The chest was so large and heavy that it could not easily be off-loaded and brought up the bluff, hence I had it opened in the boat in the presence of the manager, Kalcher, and the blessings found in it brought up on peoples arms and in baskets. Several people were very busy at it. When everything was laid out in my chamber, we had to marvel at the great blessing which the Lord had brought together and had preserved on the long journey, and had to glorify Him for it. Not the least item was damaged; in addition none of the rain which had fallen yesterday on the river had been able to penetrate the well-protected chest.

Yesterday afternoon, quite suddenly, such a violent storm arose, the like of which none of us had ever experienced. It tore up many garden fences and took the roofs off a few huts and scattered the shingles a distance away, and thereupon occurred a downpour. The oarsmen did not dare to make land for fear that it would throw the crashing trees upon them and into the boat from the shore. They had rather to stop in the middle of the river, and the harsh weather was the reason they did not reach our Ebenezer but rather had to put into one of our plantations.

I refreshed them this morning in my house with wine and bread, and there God revived us with the sight of this great blessing. At this time we received for our library all the exegetical works of Dr. Lange on the Holy Writ of the Old and New Testaments,7 and besides them other important special writings for our office by the late Prof. Francke, the late Dr. Anton, and the late Pastor Freylinghausen,8 and also the sermons of Pastor Schubart on the gospels and the epistles.9 For the congregation we received Bibles, hymnbooks, Arndts book on True Christianity, catechisms, many small sermons, all sorts of seeds, also various things necessary for our school children. The linen comes to a great quantity and is in such a fine condition along with the books, thread, medicines, two dresses for our helpmeets, and other things, that everything might have been packed yesterday. Once more we say: What our God hath created He will also keep, Hallelujah.

After the morning sermon I announced this blessing which we had received to the parishioners, and indicated once more that the distribution of the linen for the first three transports was to be set up in the manner already reported, for which purpose they might be present in town at two oclock tomorrow, if it please God. I told them that the beautiful books with which the fourth transport was to be provided would be more highly treasured in the eyes of the knowledgeable than a piece of linen. I said that if the Lord would see their honest feelings at these gifts, it would be an easy thing for Him in His time to cause the remaining things which did not come to them now to devolve upon them, according to His promise in Matthew 6:33. I reminded them of what had been quite impressive to me this time among other things, to wit, that the chest which we had received had been packed and sent off in Halle at the beginning of June of the previous year, at which time we had received a large chest of linen, books, and medicines from there. And therefore, I said, God had given us one thing with His right hand, and with the left (anthropopados,10 one might say) had prepared another unbeknownst to us for our joy, which indeed should effect gratitude and contentment.

Monday, the 17th of May. We used this afternoon to distribute the physical blessings bestowed by God. The people from the plantations were indeed quite punctual for it. In the morning the men and children were occupied with my admonition of yesterday to clear the streets and large open places near the city of bushes. This is a very necessary and useful thing because otherwise the snakes and other varmints will make nests and by and by, if the growth continues, every good appearance of the city would be lost. We felt with certainty today that the Lord was with us during the singing, praying, and the entire business of the distribution. We gathered at a given signal in the church and sang the hymn: Danckt dem Herrn ihr Gottes Knecht, etc.

Thereupon I confirmed to the parishioners, adults and children, that it was very pleasing to me to see them gathered here before the Lord and in His house. I said they might praise the Lord with us for His kindness still holding sway over us, and that amongst ourselves we might spend our short lifetimes in His service and honor, and especially that we might pray for our dear benefactors. For this we had, I said, high cause: for the current gifts and benefactions of many costly books, forty-seven rolls of linen, medicine, and other things had not only come to us at a time of trouble, by Gods fatherly direction, but also by His foresight had come safely over water and land to Ebenezer, when indeed we were hearing that, during this time of war, men, material, and whole ships were being lost. I said that we not only had not deserved this, but also that it was the free good gift of the heavenly Father, through which, however, He disclosed His loving heart lovingly to us and that, when He caused the physical gifts to befall us in so miraculous a way, He had much rather bestow upon us the perfect gifts which His dear Son really merited. I reminded them thereby of the verse: If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts, etc.

I do not see it as mere chance that since Easter God has brought us joy through a collection by Mr. Whitefield and in other ways, but especially by means of the loving gifts received from Halle at this time, to wit, between Easter and Pentecost (a year ago our kind Lord did just the same); but also He wishes to coax us thereby, so that we shall call to Him for the best gift, the Holy Spirit, as the disciples did before Pentecost at the command of Christ. He will give it most gladly and we promised the parishioners, who are parched with thirst for this water of life, like Zion, an example of a simple, hopeful, and confident prayer according to the contents of the material we spoke of. This entire sermon was aimed to inspire the simple souls from the recognition of and pleasure in the gifts now being distributed to a good and sweet trust in the reconciled Father in Christ, who is rich in mercy towards all who call to Him. Finally we sang: Was unser Gott geschaffen hat das will er auch erhalten, etc.

After the conclusion of this verse we again went to my house, and in good order each of the 103 persons (men, women, and youths)11 was given four yards of linen carefully measured (making 12 mathematical feet); and a few besides got knives, buckles, and boots. I had already made clear publicly to the children in church that I would keep my word and would have to lay aside the gifts for the disobedient ones until they improved, but the very small children, who had an advantage in the grace and love of Christ, were also to have an advantage in physical gifts.

After the distribution they all came into my chamber, where the women had their small children on their arms. I said aloud the little verse: Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings, etc., showing them therefrom that the children, on account of their baptismal grace, had such a great treasure in their souls and hearts that it surpassed every worldly treasure and the splendor of every angel. I said that Jesus had repeated these words from the 8th Psalm when He was in the temple at Jerusalem and heard the children crying Hosannah! etc. And because it says here: Thou hast perfected praise, we may recognize therefrom that He works through His spirit and dwells in their hearts and uses even their frail mouths as instruments of His praise.

I told them that, since many of the larger children till now had been misusing their mouths and the nobler member, the tongue, for sinning and vanity and had likely committed a world of unrighteousness, they therefore could recognize from it what miserable hearts they had, from which everything evil was going through their mouths and other members. I could apply to the small children, embellished with the righteousness of Christ, what I had once read aloud to them: You should, said Christ to each, be my dear little son or daughter, the others still belong to the world. The latter part was very frightening and the former most comforting; and, I said, they could all come to it if only they would wish to renew their baptismal vows.

I repeated again that I wished to let the small children partake first of this giftthe small ones, whom Jesus had in His loving arms and for whose sake he He had also bestowed upon us this gift. On the other hand, I said I would hold back the part of those who had been mischievous and disobedient so far until they improved. Because some of them appeared pitiful, I did not wish to send them away completely empty-handed, but rather presented them with either a comb or a few buckles and knives. But before that I prayed with the large and small children, all standing, which prayer a little girl closed with the Our Father and another with the little rhyme: My Father, prepare me for Thy service. May Thy will be done in me in time and eternity. Still another added: My Jesus, impress upon me Thy childlike nature, let me obey at once Thy first word.12

Those who could not be brought in from the plantations shall receive theirs tomorrow, please God, admidst prayer and praise of God in the house where church is being held. The total number of children who each got a shirt and other things and who shall receive still more with successful improvement, is eighty-three. And thus concluded the entire business, to my edification and to the extensive inspiration of the parishioners. May God bless abundantly the worthy benefactors for these benefactions which have been meted out to us, the orphanage, and the entire congregation, and gladden them in return for the joy they caused us, in time, but especially in eternity, amen! Hallelujah!

Tuesday, the 18th of May. In the morning I was occupied alone with the children on the plantations, those who had gathered at the place of the divine services with their parents, or mothers and fathers. I first prayed with and over them, and then I told them that I wished to bestow upon them something which God had placed into my hands. But first, I said, they were to grant me something in return: I required in fulfillment nothing else but that each child who could read should recite me a little verse for my edification and joy. Out of the hearts and mouths of the children came forth the following little verses, even from those who hardly knew how to talk. We and our children dedicate them to the worthy benefactors as a testimony of our feeble gratitude:

... prayer also shall be made for him continually, and daily shall He be praised. Psalms 72.

For whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth. Hebrews: 12.

... Praise the Lord, O my soul. While I live I will praise the Lord: I will sing praises unto my God, etc. Psalms 146.

Remember that Jesus Christ ... was raised from the dead.... 2 Timothy 2.

In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God.... 1 Thessalonians: 5.

Bless the Lord God on every occasion; ask Him that thy ways may be made straight and that all your paths and plans may prosper.

Thou art indeed the best gift which a man, etc.

Many, O Lord my God, are thy wonderful works ... and thy thoughts.... Psalms 40.

My children, when it goes well with you, see, and remain, etc. Sirach 42.

Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. John 1.

Fear God, dear child, God knoweth and seeth all things.

My chaste Jesus, make clean my unclean heart, so that I may be a bride of the pure Lamb.

.... let not those that seek thee be confounded.... Psalms 69.

Wednesday, the 19th of May. Old N., who was otherwise an honest Christian, has many good books, is well read in them, and has depended on his own righteousness, is now on his sickbed coming to a recognition of things. He is beginning, in his current condition, to doubt his imaginary state of grace. That pleased me, and I thank God for it and believe it will progress further with him. Towards evening I was called to the locksmith N. /Veit Lechner/. I found him in bed; and as soon as I came to him he commenced to howl and weep about his sins. I told him I was pleased that God was opening his eyes and that he had only to seek more and more to progress further, for his being brought low would be the way to his being raised up.

As I was speaking thus, his stepson N. /Schrempff/, whose wife /Barbara Brckl/ had died so suddenly the previous week, also came in, sat down next to the bed, began to weep as well and to say that he was the greatest sinner. The locksmiths wife also stood by the bed and said it was indeed a special day which God had presented us with. Oh, what a grace it is indeed when God can disclose to the sinner his corruption. If a person sets about it in a faithful manner he will certainly come to the recognition of His great love and friendship. Oh, may the Lord indeed help these people to a further recognition of their so deep misery, as well as of His great grace! I told them they should reflect carefully on their previous life and that it would be good if Hell were right hot for them here in the time of grace and if they learned totally to despair of themselves but not of Gods grace.

Thursday, the 20th of May. This noon I spoke with an ill person of the 4th transport who was also lamenting her sins. She said they had caused her much trouble during the night, and that it appeared to her they were greater than could be forgiven her. I said that I was happy that it was coming to that point and that it customarily happened that, in penance, a persons sins appeared as great mountains, but that this must only serve to make one despair totally in oneself and come only to Christ, who said: Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Another person who was listening to this said afterwards that the words of Jesus had brought great blessing for him in his dark circumstances, since he did not know how things would turn out with him. He said he had only been praying that God not let him fall from His grace; for the rest He could do with him as He liked: He who appeareth to lose his soul will help it to life.

This story gave me a proper explanation of these words: It is also found in the practice of Christianity that, just at the point when one believes things appear so miserable that one will indeed lose ones soul, God is near to the soul with His aid and helps it to life. Thus can the Holy Spirit unlock His word best of all to simple people, while others, even scholars who do not allow themselves to be enlightened to Him, rack their heads over it, turn out this and that meaning from their own reason, but nonetheless do not catch the sense of the Holy Spirit.

Friday, the 21st of May. Yesterday evening a storm arose, and it rained right penetratingly. Nonetheless, various German people came to the prayer hour, in which we made known the purpose of the blessed time before Pentecost.13 To wit, we are making known now to ourselves in the regular Sunday Gospels many necessary and glorious things about the Holy Spirit and His person and ministry, whence they are to study such wholesome and treasured material and take it to heart in quietude and amidst heartfelt prayer. To further such study I offered them three points, with divine assistance: 1) who the Holy Spirit is according to His person and function; 2) how necessary He is to us; and 3) how we can partake of Him. I enjoy talking of divine truths like these, not only because they are most highly necessary for being saved, but also because I have found that many people indeed have been badly instructed about it and lack a literal recognition of it.

At the storehouse I received 2 9 sh. 6 p. Sterling for fourteen pounds, fourteen ounces of silk, which has been made this year in our orphanage. In Savannah, the woman who was actually designated by the Lord Trustees for sericulture lost over half of the silkworms, and the same happened to a man in Abercorn who could make no more than two pounds. Some people ascribe it to a poisonous dew that fell onto the mulberry leaves. Others believe, however, that the too excessive heat at the beginning of spring made the worms sick and killed them.

With us in the orphanage they lay in the attic beneath the roof, and the heat and the moisture from the leaves and from the excrement of the worms was so great that we could not take it but for short periods. Hence it will be necessary for the silk business to have its own arrangements, which thereafter we may look upon almost as a capital from which yearly would be drawn certain interest for the benefit of the orphanage. Now would be a good time for making silk, for it has been quite cool for some time both day and night. We are having sufficient rain and right fruitful weather, so that we may hope for a good harvest. The wheat has been brought in, the rye, barley, and oats are still not completely ripe, but everything has thrived so well that one could not wish for anything better. Also the Indian corn is standing just as we wished in every field.

General Oglethorpe gave Pichler a written order by which the Rangers, or reconnaissance, are to be governed. I translated it into German for them today in Brandners house, and admonished them to good behavior. This order is very well composed, and at quite many points it redounds to Ebenezers benefit, so that we must thank the Lord as for a benefaction in this matter, too. Pichler is an officer and senior man of these six rangers, but in the judgment of General Oglethorpe he can continue to do his milling, because there is very little to do in that office, except if extraordinary steps would have to be taken to remove enemies such as Spaniards, Negroes, deserters, and other nefarious people who molest our place.

My errands on the plantations lasted until sundown, and when I hastened off, Mrs. N. had me called to come into her chamber. She and her husband are boarding with N. until they can move to their own land. While tending corn in the fields today, her soul was under great stress and she wished either her husband or N. to come to her and speak comfortingly to her. And God listened to her sighs, for a Salzburger brought salt in the boat for her husband and called her husband to fetch it, and she could lament her concerns to him. And since, contrary to her expectations, our dear Lord arranged for one of her ministers to come into her neighborhood and be in N.s house, she recognized His faithful and paternal care and was very much strengthened, took comfort from Gods word with an eager heart, and prayed with me to the Lord. It was dark when this agreeable business was over, and I came home so late that we could not hold the evening prayer hour.

Saturday, the 22nd of May. Ms. N. attested to me tearfully that our dear, patient Lord had given her a tangible blow to her heart through the sudden and unfortunate death of Mrs. Schrempff, who was almost the same age as she. I see from this example (although I already know other examples) that unfounded certainty of salvation holds the wicked and hypocritical world in false security. On the contrary, in the case of such deaths we bring many people to reflection when we show our parishioners, within appropriate limits but without mincing words, that we feel the most heartfelt commiseration for such people who have died without penitence but that it does them no good after they have frittered away their time of grace.

This Ms. N. recognizes and regrets her former lack of faith and backsliding, and I reminded her of the verse which had awakened her not too long before: Strive to enter in at the strait gate. I also recommended to her that she practice constantly the six syllables: praying, guarding, struggling; none could be without the other, and because she had allowed them to be lacking, this was the cause of her falling back. But, I told her, if she would zealously practice these six syllables, as it were, each of the six weekdays, according to Christs command, then the calm Sabbath of the Lord would enter into her, and she into it, so that we could say: I rest now, my salvation. There one will get the power to continue praying, guarding, and struggling. I said that, if it was true (as I did not wish to doubt) that she had humbled herself because of her sins like the prodigal son, she would already be making a joy for all heaven by means of this work of God, which she allowed to take place in herself. What might then not turn out if she converted to the Lord? It just chanced that she found a certain small gift with me at the moment I presented to her the heartfelt love and care of God. I said she would really recognize and draw pleasure from it when she and her husband became serious.

Sunday, the 23rd of May. Christian Riedelsperger is still lying quite patiently upon his wearisome sickbed and is enjoying every possible support from the orphanage. He asked me not to become impatient with him, because he considered it a great benefaction that he was being taken care of in soul and body in the orphanage. I told him that I remembered quite well indeed his good service to the orphanage; since I was not in a position to reward him for it, our dear Lord was doing it for him on his sickbed. During the conversation we came to the 41st Psalm, which I read aloud to him, and which was very clear and impressive for us both, since it fitted him and the circumstances of his household and his Christianity so well. His faith and hope were so much strengthened that I could look upon the emotion of his heart in his tear-filled eyes and in his gestures. I also gave his mother-in-law and her daughter the 41st Psalm to re-read.

Monday, the 24th of May. Mrs. N. is a faithful hearer of Gods word, and with it she seeks to further her soul and her husband. She means well whenever she says something aloud to her husband from Gods word. But she does not always act wisely, for her husband has an uncontrollable temper. Whenever she wishes to direct him properly from Gods word and chastise him, she makes the bad worse and acts contrary to the command of the Lord: Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, lest they trample them under their feet and turn again and rend you, etc. This last item she acknowledged as having experienced. I advised her, from Peter 3:14, how she had to behave towards her husband; and I said that, if she prayed earnestly for him in this, God would bless her words and actions in him. She could also say that, when his anger had passed, he was happy to have her talk with him and regretted his wrongful action.

N. and his wife are coming from the plantations to me to hear a word of admonition from me concerning the state of their marriage and their Christianity. They have moved in with N.N. with the idea that they would live more peacefully with one another, but because they took their old hearts along with them and kept them till now, words and works still smell and taste like water from the same old barrel. I was pleased that they did not justify themselves, but rather considered themselves unconverted, and attributed their disunity, frivolousness, and intemperance to that, and that they had resolved to turn about and become like children, otherwise they would come from the hell of an unhappy marriage into the other hell.

I gave them directions on how they should set about becoming righteously converted, to which end they also took along the beautiful little book Dogma of the Beginning of Christian Life.14 Until now they have gladdened the evil spirits by means of their disorderly way of life. On the other hand, they have distressed God, angels, and the pious people who have knowledge of them. In the beginning I was of a mind to keep their gift of linen with me until there was a consequential true improvement (as has happened also with a few other adults and children). Finally I gave it to them with confidence, and saw even today a good effect from it.

Our dear merciful Lord is everywhere in the congregation bringing the souls to a recognition and acknowledgement of their sinful misery, and my dear colleague told me some details of it. When that is done, the departure from Germany will be right dear to them, and when they come completely through and to the enjoyment of the fatherly favor and grace of God in Christ, this solitude will become right pleasant for them, and they will be very well content with all divine guidance and trials, which are aimed only at their true salvation. In similar circumstances I often ponder the words of the Lord: What I do thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know hereafter.

Tuesday, the 25th of May. N.N. received me with tears of penance and joy when I visited him in his bodily weakness prior to the edification hour, and he unburdened his whole heart before the face of the Lord. God disclosed to him the hiding places of his heart so that he no longer viewed as insignificant what others viewed as insignificant, rather as great, and he found himself humbled most deeply by it. Amidst copious tears he acknowledged that he had not been loyal to his beneficent employer but rather, although he had performed his work with all his strength, he had nonetheless stained his conscience with unjustly obtained goods. This was now causing him a thousandfold disquiet, and hence, he said, he desired instruction.

Some masters had treated him very badly and he had wished them evil. It now pained him and caused him woe. He sees the restitution of the unjust goods not as penance itself, still less as a meritorious work for whose sake God would have to forgive him and be gracious to him. Rather, because God has effected a hatred in his heart for all sins, he wishes to suffer nothing thereof either within or outside of himself, and cannot come to rest in the blood and wounds of Christ until sin is gotten rid of. This matter will have to be transmitted in writing to the worthy Mr. N., as he himself movingly prayed. The latter knows his old master well and will, according to his wisdom, act as he should in the matter. His heart is overwhelmed with remorse and he has an inner desire for salvation through the blood of Christ, hence I could confidently give him absolution, whereupon with a strengthened heart he prayed the beginning of the 103rd Psalm: Bless the Lord, O my soul, etc.... who forgiveth all thine iniquities.

A second man of heartfelt piety from the 4th transport remained behind after the edification hour and disclosed to me a certain rather complicated matter of which, to be sure, he was already absolved in Germany by a treasured instrument of the Lord. But he still cannot properly attain repose, although I cannot comment on this matter in detail. He has an honest desire for others, who with him have a curse upon themselves along with a good appearance, to come to a recognition of sin and be saved from the danger of perdition.

Wednesday, the 26th of May. Young Mrs. Eischberger, who came to us with her husband from Bieberach, has been lying since Sunday in severe labor; and, because yesterday no one could give any further aid or advice, we fetched Mrs. Rheinlnder. I, too, rode out yesterday around 4 oclock to visit a few sick people, especially Glaner and his wife, and at the same time to be nearby to baptize the probably weak child. In the middle of the plantations a woman reported to me that a young daughter had been born and that mother and child had been in extreme mortal danger. We quickly prepared for the act of baptism, but it was delayed until evening because of the godparents. They wished to ask some married couple from the 4th transport; but, because I knew that they were ignorant and had not grasped properly the basic lessons of Christianity, I had to advise against this sponsorship, and they were satisfied with it.

Prior to the baptism I examined Mrs. Ott in her dwelling on her knowledge of catechism and said a few words for the edification of the Eigel children. They are very remote from the school being held in Steiners house, so that only the two biggest children have been able to go there. But, because going to school is also necessary for the three small children, I have talked with Mrs. Bischoff /Friederica Bishop/, who enjoyed a very good instruction in our school and also has a good talent, and have requested her to take these small children of her neighbors into her house, and instruct them in writing, and impart to them a few easy Biblical verses and something from the catechism. She wishes to consider it further with her husband.

Young Eischberger, whose little child we baptized yesterday, is a well-trained miller, to whom I committed the milling and the complete care of the mill in the name of the congregation, and he has taken on the job with joy. In Pichlers absence he has done the milling and has rapidly made such good flour that he has won everyones confidence. God is working powerfully through His word in him, and if he remains faithful to God he will also be a faithful, conscientious miller who seeks the profit of the congregation. God will not forget to reward him for his faith and love, although the congregation is not in a position to fully support a miller.

Thursday, the 27th of May. Today was the celebration of the Ascension, on which our merciful God granted us much edification from the dear gospel of Christ. Because the Lord Jesus is so loving and offers His grace abundantly even to the faithless and unworthy people, I had the children come to my chamber after the afternoon divine services and gave them, with good admonitions and heartfelt wishes, those gifts which I had recently kept back and laid aside until their improvement. Some adults also received Bibles and hymnbooks and a few of their gifts which had been put aside with good reason, so that today was a day of true joy in body and spirit. They could recognize how desirous our exalted Savior must be to distribute the gifts we have received, since people have such a love for the members of our congregation that they would gladly donate all kinds of things to them according to their need, if only it were within their power. Yesterday evening, while we were contemplating the Bible story, the little verse from Proverbs 17:13 came up: Whoso rewardeth evil for good, evil shall not depart from his house. I also gave these words to the children today to take home and warned them against ingratitude and improper application of the gifts they had received.

Our dear Lord has now done well indeed with my own debts, which I had on account of the various bills and expenses, for with the present of 18 Sterl., which we received as a legacy from Mr. von Burgsdorff, I have been able to pay everything to the last farthing. It was to my benefit that my dear colleague remembered a certain item of a few pounds from the goods which had been bought for the congregation in Charleston, which was to be paid to me. A few days ago, I reviewed my bills again and found, to the restrengthening of my faith, that I could pay accurately everything to the various cash accounts, and my current semiannual salary of 25 Sterling was just left over, for which I rightly praise the Lord.

Friday, the 28th of May. N. and his wife have both become ill, and I would have liked to have visited him already at the beginning of the week. When I was with him today, he asserted that he had longed for me and regretted that he did not come diligently to me when he was well and (as he expressed it) recount the whole badly led course of his life. He said he had been too fond of the world and temporal things and had sinned greatly, especially at his work in Germany, by taking advantage of his neighbor. In his opinion he had done his work more faithfully and better than others, so he thought he could take something for himself over and above his wages, etc. I could already hear what he was aiming at, and that each and every unjustified farthing was now becoming a fire in his newly kindled conscience. Hence I told him how necessary bodily distress was for us, because by means of it God wished also to awaken the sleeping conscience and lance and press out the abcesses therein, as it were.

Sunday, the 30th of May. We dealt with todays gospel Dominica Exaudi On the Faithful as Temples of the Holy Spirit, 1) that they are such, 2) that, however, they are not recognized as such by the world. In the exordium we showed, comparing the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 3:1617, that even the most perverted, miserable people, who by nature are right loathsome and offensive and who, as corrupters of Gods Temple, deserve to be corrupted again, can only come to this degree of dignity if they let themselves be brought into the good, wise, and salutary order of God by means of the preaching of the law and gospels. Without this they will remain abominable and frightful creatures, in whom, as children of disbelief, the Prince of Darkness, along with other unclean spirits, has his works and dwelling. This meditation brought me to the serious example of the possessed boy of whom the late Dr. Kortholt wrote a special little treatise. From it, during the afternoon repetition hour, I read the first part aloud, with necessary reflections and applications. It certainly was very useful, for me and others, for the advancement of the Kingdom of Christ and the vexation of Satan.

JUNE

Tuesday, the 1st of June. After the edification hour we showed the people on the plantations that our dear Lord had gradually granted 147 Sterl. & 8 p. for the building and maintenance of the mill. It was also paid out gradually and the bill for it was closed. Two sh. and tuppence more was spent than taken in, but someone made a present of that, so that income and outgo could be balanced. The corn delivered up from every bushel for the maintenance of the mill is to be ground and sold for money in Savannah. If we use the great benefaction of the mill with faithful and grateful hearts, our Father in Heaven will easily enable us to pay off the 50 lent for the mill after the stipulated five years has passed and to continue the maintenance of the mill. We have also come to such an arrangement with the millers wages as to satisfy him and the congregation.

Wednesday, the 2nd of June. N.N. and his wife are very ignorant. I had the husband at my house this morning to examine his knowledge of the catechism, but it was in a terrible state. He cannot read properly, and she does not recognize a single letter, and they both dwell at the farthest end of the plantations, so that we cannot so easily go to their aid. I would wish that many a person had applied more diligence in Germany to reading and to the catechism. Now the people are involved in constant work and are just getting started getting their first living arrangements settled, but will get provisions for only one half a year. But God will show us how to help their ignorance and plant the true recognition of God and Christ in them. Many are also very lazy and slow in the matter.

Thursday, the 3rd of June. Granewetter is a very Christian and faithful laborer, who loves Kalcher and the orphanage. He is inclined, according to Gods will, to take over without pay the management of the plantation to be planned for the orphanage. But he is now ill, and has planted some corn on Steiners land, so that only towards fall will we be certain about the assumption of the above-mentioned labor for the benefit of the orphanage. We cannot get servants, and I hope in this manner to lighten Kalchers burden and have as much planted as might be necessary for the maintenance of the orphanage. But may the Lord do what pleases Him.

Friday, the 4th of June. Today we completed the story of the 20th chapter from 2 Samuel in the edification hour on the plantations and in the prayer hour at the city. Without doubt many join me in praising the Lord for the rich treasure of edification which He is graciously bestowing upon us from it; and every devout parishioner sees quite clearly that such Biblical stories are not dry history but rather are of great importance. God has disclosed to us many kinds of human corruption; and He has reminded us very impressively by means of appropriate examples and testimony from His word of our duties in all circumstances, also in view of the present valuable time before Pentecost. God strengthened me quite remarkably in the weakness I felt a few days ago in the edification hour during the act of baptism and in the conversation with some people who had some things to discuss with me on account of their plan to take Communion; and He caused me quite noticeably to feel His presence. Upon completion of this spiritual labor I was called on a rather remote path to Sanftlebens old plantation, which he had sold to Matthus Bacher of the 4th transport. This old and very ill Bacher yesterday enjoyed a good consolation from my dear colleague. But today he also was longing for me; and, in the hope of accomplishing a few useful things with him and his family, I let neither fatigue nor extreme midday heat keep me back from this visit. My hope was indeed blessed by our gracious Savior, who thirsts mightily for the salvation of the coarsest and most extreme sinner.

When I came to the house, the mother and children were singing the beautiful hymn: Wenn meine Snde mich krnken, etc. The sick old husband told me he was very anxious on account of his sins. He complained vehemently about his earthly heart and wished with all his heart to come to rest in Christ. His eyes brimmed with tears of melancholy over his sins against God, and the whole character of his words and gestures showed true remorse at his sins and his parched thirsting for absolution through the blood of Jesus. He had discussed it with his family, deciding that after his death something of his wherewithal should go to our orphanage. But I told him that I did not wish to hear more about it because my time was short; rather, I wished that God might not begrudge him his time of grace for complete preparation for blessed eternity. I left him with the hymn: Weltlich Ehr und zeitlich Gut Wollust, etc., which his stepson, Theobald Kieffer, is to read aloud to him.

Sunday and Monday, the 6th and 7th of June. The holy celebration of Pentecost. Forty-nine persons were at Holy Communion on the holy day of celebration. More people reported for it, but they themselves held back partly for sound reasons and partly because we had to advise them that they needed better preparation for this holy feast.

The young locksmith Schrempff received a salutary stroke on his conscience by the sudden death of his wife, so that he not only is more withdrawn and quiet, but also diligently bends his knee in prayer before God. His parents, with whom he is now staying, attest that of him. Good intentions and the diligent practice of the means of salvation are in themselves still no sign of true conversion and change of attitude, and therefore one does not have to hasten to Holy Communion if one does not wish to cause harm and hinder the work of God in the soul towards a rebirth. For that reason I have previously spoken about Schrempff and his intentions with his parents and later with him and given him reasons why it is better for him to hold back this time. This postponement does not make him unworthy, rather he has received instruction concerning what we, in Gods stead, are seeking through this deferral.

Many have already made a good beginning with Christianity; but, because they have hastened rapidly to Communion, wishing to strengthen their faith here before it has been in fact properly kindled, they have received more harm than profit from such haste. N. had to acknowledge, when asked, that he knew nothing of true conversion to God; and he could easily comprehend that in this state the holy repast was not for him, as for one spiritually dead. Although he has been amongst us now for some time, he has not yet grasped the letter of the little catechism of our church. He excuses this with his inability and gross stupidity, but I do not accept such excuses. In other things he is active and capable enough.

He should first learn the catechism without interpretation, then I will assign him new reading. He has the Unselt girl, his wifes sister,1 at his house, and he should encourage her every morning and night, even indeed at midday, to repeat clearly a main section, when he should then listen and re-read it with his wife. The catechism is the little Bible and in it is instruction for true faith and pious living and for coming to the enjoyment of the treasure of true Christianity. For common, simple people the catechism is written separately, although even learned persons, if they have the proper childlike spirit of the New Testament, find their splendid reading there. We carefully remind the people that learning the catechism by heart is not enough, rather it also has to come to the practice of the truths learned there.

Tuesday, the 8th of June. Our dear Lord has caused various people, indeed the greatest part, of the 4th transport to become violently ill with fever. But we notice quite clearly that the illness is not mortal but rather to the honor of God, so that the Son of God may be honored.2 I have spoken with various such patients today in town and on the plantations and have had much pleasure, edification, and hope from the openhearted recognition of the state of their souls; surely God will attain His goal in them. He rakes up old sins; and, although they confessed them in the confessional years ago and received external absolution, this and many other things do not satisfy their conscience because, in all external things, good in themselves, they had false, unrepentant hearts that loved the world and sin. Their frivolous behavior directly after they had gone to confession and communion made that clear enough. But now through the grace of God it will come to this: From the world to Christ, and then the matter is done.

Because it is necessary for such souls to experience a veram contritionem cordis (true contrition of the heart) and thus become a proper place of work for the Holy Spirit to produce a true, beatific faith, I have faithfully warned them against too rapid comfort; for many have hardly tasted the bitterness of sin and of the anger they have merited from it when they immediately wish to be comforted, absolved of sin, and provided with Holy Communion. The wound must first be squeezed out and the wild, putrid flesh be cauterized at the same time before one can lay a poultice of salvation on it, if it is not to become a cura palliativa3 which turns out badly. In the meantime we do not leave them without comfort, rather we demonstrate to them from the gospel how willing the Lord Jesus is to accept sinners and what treasures of grace He has won and prepared for them, if only they come to Him weary and burdened and do not simply take His blood and merit as a most precious ransom in faith, but rather also submit themselves to His tender yoke and rule with upright heartsfor we are instructed in the gospel to believe not in half-Christ but rather in the entire Savior, as High Priest, Prophet, and King.

Wednesday, the 9th of June. I visited the shoemaker Kohleisens wife. She was in her sickbed, and my consolation was so dear to her that she let me recognize her pleasure with words and gestures. She is like parched earth, as it were, visibly drinking up the downpour. She longs very much for a blessed death and therefore wishes to use no more medicine, since those already used have had no effect. She had the little verse In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be ye of good cheer, etc. recited to her until she had grasped it in her mind and at the same time in her heart. She prayed along very fervently and held herself unworthy of all spiritual and physical benefactions. And she even insisted upon paying for a certain gift meant for her refreshment, because she holds herself in her poverty to be well enough provided with temporal goods. She says she has more than she needs in this life.

Thursday, the 10th of June. Yesterday afternoon a herd of 200 head of cattle came to our place for sale. Amongst them are some that are tamer than can be gotten in Carolina. Around about Purysburg and Savannah it is a dangerous time to buy cattle on account of the fiercely raging epidemic. Hence I did not wish to involve myself with the man in a trade for anything other than a cheap price, because he would risk less with a cheap sale than we would with a cheap purchase. But because many people of the 4th and remaining transports would like to have cows on account of their milk and dung in order to be able to apply themselves all the better to growing German crops, they nonetheless bought cows and calves for 2 5 sh. sterl. But Mr. Vigera waited till today and profited by waiting: he received ten fat oxen to be slaughtered for the orphanage and the congregation at a fair price and was able to select them from among the herd. Should our dear Lord, as we hope in His kindness, hold His hand over us, so that our cattle are protected from the epidemic, then our people have not bought too dearly. For cattle will gradually become very rare and expensive.

We are now beginning to examine the remarkable story from 2 Samuel 21 at the prayer meeting, wherein we hear that God afflicted His people for the sake of old sins which had not been disposed of by means of true penitence, with physical judgments. Thereby we shall receive many necessary reminders, as happened just yesterday evening.

Friday, the 11th of June. Today I read, to the strengthening of my faith, Nahum 1:7: The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in Him.

Saturday, the 12th of June. Till now I have had only a very few children in the preparation for Holy Communion. They come to me four times a week between 11 and 12 oclock. We have been able to choose no other hour because that is the time the children can best be away from their work and it is also the most convenient for me. There are very few schoolchildren in town because most of the people live on the plantations, and hence we are determined that the schoolmaster Ortmann give the reading and writing lesson to the few older children who must still go to school. Thus my dear colleague keeps only the catechisation, and as a consequence he gets enough time to take on the labor with the Praeparendis ad S. Synaxin.4 This is useful to me in that I can visit the people on the plantations much better and more easily, and my vigor may not weaken too much all at once. For, whenever I traveled out early in the morning and had to be back home already at 11 oclock, I had to hasten and would overheat myself; and after being overheated I would have to apply what little powers I had left to the spiritual labor in the preparation lesson. But this way I can often remain outside until afternoon, when it is cooler, and accomplish all the more with children and adults. Most of the people have been very happy with our visits and consolations, and (praise God!) they have proven profitable to many.

Sunday, the 13th of June. The locksmith Lechner and his wife both have the fever. She is lying in bed, but things have improved with him. Our dear Lord is doing great things in the souls of these people. They have come to the contrite recognition of their sin and have borne a great deal in their conscience. But after their hearts were properly humbled by the law and it appeared to them that there would be no grace for them and that they would perish in their misery, God caused them to cast a glance into the gospel and comforted them very much; and He brought the woman effectively to the assurance of His forgiveness of sins and His fatherly love.

Tuesday, the 15th of June. The righteous Israelite Glaner is for the most part recovered from his perilous illness, but his wife is lying in bed in a very weak condition, and as she did for him previously, so now he can be on hand to come to her aid. Her brother Lemmenhoffer, with whom she and her husband are dwelling, told me yesterday that she had had hard struggles on account of her youthful sins, but through the grace of Jesus Christ she conquered and obtained assurance of the gracious forgiveness of all her sins. For this reason she was reposing there quite peacefully. I too found her thus when I visited today and sought further to strengthen her, by means of the gospels, in the grace she had received. I reminded her at the same time to prepare herself for new struggles, but also to creep with all her misery to the faithful Savior and into His wounds. As it is said of Him: He can save all which come unto Him, likewise, His hand hath no end of helping, however great be the harm.

Wednesday, the 16th of June. Mrs. Kohleis received Holy Communion this morning on her sickbed, as was her heartfelt desire. She told me that two years ago in Memmingen the Lord had opened her eyes and had brought her to a deep recognition of and bitter feeling of her sins, by reason of which she had come to great unrest, sadness, and many tears. She had revealed her concern and trouble to an honest man, Mr. N.S., and has had much comfort from his consolation and instruction. She extols her Savior above everything and considers herself to be a sinner worthy of death, and not worth any gift. I somewhat clarified for her the great love of the Lord Jesus for sinners and the great treasure of Holy Communion. At that she became greatly amazed and joyful and began profusely to glorify God. We prayed fervently before and after Holy Communion, and I can hope that the Lord has given her much blessing from the enjoyment of His love and His blood in the holy sacrament. Some time ago she wished to present me and my dear colleague with 7 sh. 6 p.; and, because we did not wish to accept it, it had to go to the orphanage. Now that she is ill and has need of some refreshment, while her husband is somewhat sparing in his expenditures, I am giving her the money back gradually so that her husband may procure some care and refreshment for her. To that end I gave him 2 sh. 6 p. today.

Thursday, the 17th of June. Some men from the congregation were busy in my vineyard today sticking in 7-foot stakes for the grapevines and tying them up. In the winter we planted 184 vines for the first time, and 145 have come up. Since Marchless than four monthsa few have grown over seven feet, and they have become so thick that those who dealt in viticulture in Germany had to marvel and to assume, not without reason, that next year, with Gods blessing, there will be grapes on some of the stems. Now that the vines are properly bound up, the vineyard has a very pleasing appearance, and Christian hearts are fairly moved to praise the Lord for the kindness He has shown here. This, along with the encouragement for the congregation to a similar viticulture, is the chief objective of planting this vineyard next to my house.

General Oglethorpe has even advised me to choose the method which they have in the Madeira Islands and lead the grape vines up high above the ground, somewhat as in Germany on the house walls, or as people are accustomed to making arbors and grape houses. But I wished to try it with the German method because the man whom we are using for it understands the German method but not the Madeira method of planting; time will show which the best method is. The above-named gentleman, who has inspected everything in Madeira, is of the opinion that the heat reflecting back off the ground would spoil the grapes if they were not hanging quite high. Also the grapes there are watered by means of certain water ducts, as for instance in Egypt; where there is little rain, the fields have to be treated as in Deuteronomy 11:12 ff. The above-mentioned German assures me that on the Rhine, where he has produced wine, it is as hot as here in this country, yet the grapes have taken no harm. I had also had some grafted or branched onto wild varieties, but we only got a single one. Perhaps the wild vinestocks, which I first caused to be set up in the winter and soon thereafter grafted, had not taken proper root, or perhaps the great downpour which immediately followed it caused harm. Some also were not properly watched, and we will try again in the future, since now the wild vinestocks have taken root well, and have put out many shoots. May God also cause His honor and the best for the congregation to be furthered thereby.

Sunday, the 20th of June. Yesterday towards evening two Englishmen arrived here, and because the one, a physician, had lodged in my house last year, along with Col. Stephens and Mr. Jones, they also requested lodging with me this time and wished also to have horses to ride this morning to Old Ebenezer. If they had not asked on Sunday we would have done what we could, but we did not wish in the least to participate in their desecration of the Sabbath, which they did not like at all. Such people speak out quickly about the urgency for whose sake their journey will brook no delay. In like manner they claim that they can pray and serve God on the journey. They made an agreement with an English servant who was waiting for his master. They traveled with him to Old Ebenezer and from there wished to go on to Savannah-Town.5 Some Reformed people from Purysburg brought these Englishmen here in a boat, and this morning they went home again. Although they had the opportunity to celebrate Sunday with us here and to learn something from Gods word for the salvation of their souls, they did not avail themselves of it. This downright despicable scorn of Gods law and word cannot possibly drag on into the future without retribution.

Monday, the 21st of June. Old N. from the 4th transport is still very weak and seems to have a hectic fever. He has already been inconvenienced in Germany by something hectic, and the remedies used did not take. His sickbed will, I hope, redound to his spiritual recovery. For on account of his sins he is bent very low, is getting away from his own piety (long possessed but self-made), and wishes only to become blessed as a weak sinner by means of the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. We can see clearly that God has gradually disclosed to him the idolatry he was practicing with the opere operato6 and the habit of worshipping in public, so that now he holds them, to be sure, good and necessary, but regrets that so many such as he seek their salvation and blessedness without true conversion and change of heart. In previous times he and his family had heard that godless people were glorified from the pulpit as blessed after their death; and he had, as it were, blessed himself in his heart and thought that, if N. has become blessed although he led a godless life, you and your family cannot be damned, for you take displeasure in such ways, Isaiah 3:12.

Old Mrs. N. seems to recognize more clearly what a horrible abomination sin is. I showed everyone in the house once again how necessary but also how blessed the true conversion to God is. I said they had to be careful not to consider this important work of God to be of their own power, and that when things had progressed far they must not simply stand by Moses, i.e., by the recognition and feeling of sin and the external improvement of their lives, but rather as persons hungry for grace must believe totally and utterly in the name of the only begotten Son of God, and therefore come to assurance of their salvation.

Wednesday, the 23rd of June. Yesterday in the evening prayer hour we heard from the especially remarkable story of 2 Samuel 21 that David offered everything which the Gibeonites would require and, to be sure, for the purpose that they bless the inheritance of the Lord through their prayer, whereby we compared Job 29:131, The blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me: and I caused the widows heart to sing for joy. With that we reminded our parishioners of their duty, in view of all our worthy benefactors in Europe. Every blessing is the heart and hand of God, and that means whoever knocks, with a believing prayer, for him will it be opened. God happily opens His merciful hand and casts down abundant blessings. We repeated this very point today with the orphan children and we mutually implored the Lord for His blessing for us, for our orphanage, and for all our known and unknown benefactors, in the name of Jesus Christ; and we certainly hope for His sake that our prayers are favorably answered.

Saturday, the 26th of June. This afternoon I found a little time to visit Lechner and his family. The husband recounted to me how severe the weather had been yesterday evening, saying that from yesterdays heavy thunder his window was so shaken that three panes popped out and were thrown to the floor. I showed them how they should let this serve to make them properly humble. Yes, said the wife, we ask our dear Lord properly to humble us, for otherwise we cannot do it.

Till now we have been considering a remarkable story from 2 Samuel 21 from which we can recognize by the example of the Gibeonites how it is that God cannot suffer His people to be oppressed, although they are poor and of minor consequence in the world. It is this one story that I believe is so especially appropriate to todays Christianity. For which sins are indeed more common than these: that people cannot suffer the poor, especially when they are faithful? Who indeed takes heed of the pious? They are a despised people, hence it is also no wonder that judgments follow. But who believes that it comes thence? Nonetheless, all men might consider that the faithful are so dear to God their Father that He cannot suffer the apple of His eye to be touched, thereby arousing them to struggle thence, also to become people such as that. Oh, what a benefaction it is that our dear Lord grants us the opportunity also to look at the stories from the Old Testament!

Sunday, the 27th of June. Today God as love was made known from the Gospel on the second Sunday after Trinity, and thereby demonstrated to my soul, as I believe, to others, much compassion. May He be praised for it, and grant proper faithfulness.

Tuesday, the 29th of June. On Friday towards evening I traveled to the orphanage in Savannah to receive gratefully the gift of 20 Sterl. which Mr. Whitefield collected in Scotland for our orphanage and congregation. At first I was of a mind to travel there on foot; but, because night was falling and bad weather was coming up, I would not have arrived there safely, especially because I did not know the road properly. The road is long, in some places covered with water, and in the vicinity of the orphanage the air is so full of flies that ones eyes, nose, and mouth are full of them.7 As a consequence, the wisdom of God ordained that, since I was worrying about a horse and had no hope of getting one for money, a horse came into the courtyard where I was lodging. I spoke a few good words to the man to whom it belonged [he was not at our place], and he turned it over to me. In the meantime another was found upon which our housefather Kalcher was supposed to accompany me. But he was feeling a few hints of fever (motus febriles), hence he had to remain behind. Thereupon a pious youngster, considered dear and worthy in the orphanage, was dispatched to me to show the way.

We arrived shortly before evening at the orphanage, without being inconvenienced by the weather in the least. There to my great joy I met Mr. /Thomas/ Jones, who was awaiting a boat returning from Charleston on which he was going to Frederica. I was received warmly by him and those in charge at the orphanage; and I spent that evening and the following morning amidst blessings. After I had settled the accounts and other things, I traveled with my faithful companion on Saturday morning at nine oclock back to Savannah. The orphanage has been built to the point where most of the rooms can be occupied, but it will still require much money before the construction is finished. The interior and exterior have the appearance of a princely castle, and the residents in it enjoy much comfort. The word and prayer of God are also diligently practiced here, but I did not find out by which blessing it is accompanied. They themselves regret that it is set up in a very inconvenient place, where there is practically no good land for crops and raising cattle, and also no good water. Five hundred acres of land are fenced in, and because they let cows and horses go free upon the pasture, many are adversely affected; for the pine forests are so miserable that almost no grass grows there. One cannot find such miserable land far and wide elsewhere.

Wednesday, the 30th of June. We indicated yesterday on the plantations in the edification hour, and today in the town during the prayer hour, that we intend to celebrate a day of prayer and penance next Friday, for which we are now preparing right properly. May the Lord grant the grace to all members of the congregation to draw near to Him, through heartfelt penitence and faith: thus He will certainly draw near to us, and by means of His presence of grace be a fiery wall around us, which no enemy by whatever name can breach. Today God granted me much strengthening of my heart during meditation, with the penitential text Jeremiah 6:8: Be thou instructed, O Jerusalem, lest my soul depart from thee; lest I make thee desolate, a land not inhabited. His fatherly heart is now still turned towards us, and He certainly will cause us to celebrate this day of penance for that reason, so that by means of penance and faith we may partake of all the blessings raised up for us in it, indeed, so that we may creep into it as an unconquerable citadel. The words which are preached to us in this verse are quite right: And who is he that will harm you, if ye be followers of that which is good? My introductory words are to my own, and hopefully to others, strengthening of faith: I can take comfort in Him when the need is greatest. He has more than a fatherly love for me, His child. That is indubitably true.

Barthel Riesers youngest son /Johann Georg/, a lad of 15 years, has been dealt with very severely by a large dog. Along with other frivolous lads, he beat the dog several times without cause when they were guarding the beans. Hence, the dog avenged himself in this way when he met him alone. The hand of God is quite clearly to be recognized in this unfortunate occurrence, which even the parents and others who know everything about the story indeed see. A few weeks ago in the repetition hour I communicated to the adults and children something from the noteworthy report by the late Dr. Kortholt about a lad who was possessed. It was very impressive to me and others. I saw this lad, however, as heedless and ill-behaved, for which I had to speak with him and remind him before the entire congregation that already in Germany with the departure of the first transport he had broken his leg, and lastly, that he had been sitting on a horse, disobeying his mother, and had been thrown to the ground twice, injuring his shoulder badly. I added that, since he had not accommodated himself to repentance through such chastisement from God, but rather persisted in his despicable behavior, something was coming which was not good for him, and I warned him movingly to improve himself. But this did not result; rather, he progressed further in his depreciation of Gods word and in other ways, to the annoyance of other people and the saddening of his mother, and therefore this judgment had come upon him.

In Savannah on the first Sunday after Trinity a man of about twenty years, whom the new magistrate had shortly before brought here from England, drowned; and they found his body after a few days, grievously dealt with by the fishes and the crocodiles. He too would not listen to warnings, but rather against the will of his cousin, the above-mentioned magistrate, went swimming secretly. Who knoweth the power of thine anger? Even according to thy fear, so as thy wrath.

JULY

Friday, the 2nd of July. Today, to the great edification of our souls, we celebrated a solemn day of penance and prayer. We took the penitential texts from Jeremiah 6:8 and Hoseah 14:25, wherein was clearly presented to us not only the proper kind but also the great profit of true penance and improvement. In the afternoon we had a drenching rain, which I turned to the strengthening of our faith according to the instruction in 21:10, 14, showing it to be a sign of grace that God was once more reconciled to the land. In the evening prayer hour we sought the face of the Lord further, praised Him for His patience and forebearing and so many other spiritual benefactions, and we prayed to Him according to our sins and those of the country according to the example of the prophet Daniel, Chap. 9:4, etc., in the Name of Jesus Christ.

Saturday, the 3rd of July. This morning our dear Lord caused me by means of an example to learn that yesterdays day of penance and the preaching of the Word was abundantly blessed by Him. N.N. had fever but came to the church door to listen to the sermon and visited the prayer hour, at which time our dear Lord walked so near to his heart that he spent the entire night in prayer and came to an inner feeling of the deep corruption of his heart by being enlightened by the Holy Spirit. Especially the verse from Matthew 15:1920 penetrated deeply into his mind and, upon recognizing his sins and the grace of God ruling over him, he wept profusely. He requested instruction and aid from me in prayer, and I faithfully admonished him for his external and internal calm, to pray diligently while working, to study the divine word reverently, and to guard and struggle against everything which seeks to draw him away from his good intentions. I gave him something for repeated reading, from which will ensue much for the furtherance of good for him.

Old Bacher from the 4th transport is becoming weaker and weaker and seems to be drawing nearer and nearer to his end. Today he received Holy Communion as a sinner truly repentant and hungry for grace. I had not the least cause to doubt that he was a worthy communicant at the table of the Lord Jesus Christ, as the gracious doctrine of the gospels demands. In his own eyes he was a worthless worm who deserved eternal damnation many times over, but one for whom it had always been a matter of inner regret that he had spent his lifetime not in the service of God but in the service of the world and sin and had offended the eternal love and his all-highest Benefactor. But he crept, like the most miserable beggar and publican, to the feet of Jesus, and cried out only for grace, for the sake of the treasured sacrifice merited for sinners; and he stands earnestly ready to surrender his heart honestly to our dear Lord.

Bacher also stands ready, if God should allow him to rise once more, to spend the rest of his life, by means of the certitude of the Holy Spirit, in honoring Him. He let us recognize his sadness over his sins and his longing for Christ and for aid by word and gesture so beautifully that for a long time I have not had such confessors and communicants. He no longer regrets that he let himself be led by God into this wilderness, because God thereby sought his conversion and salvation. He indicated to me that he had bequeathed 50 gulden for the orphanage and a like sum for the construction of the church, and for that I wished for Gods blessing to come upon him. His son-in-law, Theobald Kieffer, tells me these days that his mother-in-law has also become ill and is now beginning to recognize the peril of her sins and soul. Thus I found her today also. Her earthly sense, in which she has been involved till now, she regards as her most common sin, and so it is; but she recognizes at the same time that, even if she has done nothing more, for the sake of that she would already be fit for damnation. I hope God will also bring her to true penance, as He has done with her husband and daughter.

Sunday, the 4th of July. Very early this morning I received the news that last night old Matthus Bacher passed away quite peacefully into his Savior, into whom by faith he had crept like a poor worm, and had therefore exchanged toilsome time for blessed eternity. Yesterday he attested that, after he had taken Holy Communion, things were quite well with him. The last Biblical verses which I called out to him and laid upon his heart, after we had partaken of Holy Communion, were: Thou hast made me to serve with thy sins, etc., I have blotted out thy transgressions, etc., item 1) Lord, now thou lettest thy servant go in peace. etc. He seized them with an eager heart and rejoiced over the great love of the Lord Jesus Christ for us poor and lost sinners, with his heart, his words, and his gestures. He had a good recognition, had read many good books (as he had brought along hither a fine supply of them), and knew many Biblical verses by heart.

Satan would gladly have made use of Bachers wide knowledge and plain righteousness as a cord to drag to perdition; but divine mercy grew so great over him that he well recognized that at the hour of death nothing will support us but Christ and His merits within which the penitent sinner may hide and conceal himself against every claim of the law, every charge against his conscience and well-deserved wrath, as in a sanctuary. Gods wisdom arranged things so that he got Theobald Kieffer as a son-in-law, from whom he received much physical charity and spiritual opportunity to concern himself about the truth in Christ. This young man has a fine gift for being edifying in speech and behavior to his neighbor.

My dear colleague held divine services on the plantations today and returned home quite late indeed because he had been requested to aid in burying the righteous Israelite Andreas Pilz, who died this morning even before my colleague arrived. As others had, this dear man had had tertiary fever, but did not spare himself with it, nor properly wait out the perspiration, because he was much too industrious in carrying out his profession and caring for the corn he had planted. Hence he got great swelling in his feet, great pains in the old injury to one of his feet, and other unfavorable occurrences. He was a very honest man, regarded by all as dear and worthy. We can testify about him as did the worthy Senior, that he was his worthy and dear penitent and had never grieved him, i.e., Mr. Urlsperger and his one-time father confessor in Lindau, Senior Riesch. In all circumstances he deported himself as a child and quiet lamb, and even in his final sufferings never caused us to feel the least impatience. When he was asked just this morning by his pious neighbor how his heart stood with the Lord Jesus, he replied that his case had never been better than now and that he rested fully in Gods paternal will. Mr. Vigera gave him testimony regarding his behavior on the voyage over here that could not have been better; since he had become particularly fond of this man because of his honest heart, he as well as we are truly grieving this mans premature departure. But since the Lord Himself is doing this, we accept that His will is supreme, and what He does is well done.

Monday, July 5. For some time now, we have had heavy rains almost every day. Thus, the summers heat has been quite bearable. So far, this type of weather has not damaged the crops, but all is in the will of the Lord. He has given and He may take away and spoil the crops as quickly as the peaches have rotted on many of the trees before they were half ripe. In our gardens, many of the trees are so damaged by the worms which dig into and around the roots that the leaves have started turning yellow; this is a clear sign that they will soon rot away. Here in this country, the peach trees do not grow old, and here too, quod cito fit, cito perit.1 For the trees mature quickly here, and bear fruit in their third year.

Klocker, his wife and their children have suffered much from the fever, but now they are doing somewhat better. Both honest people praise the Lord, that He has chastised them lightly for their own best. They are both honest people, gladly accept edification through the Lords word and like our praying with them, and they also seek to serve their neighbor without considering their own benefit.

Tuesday, July 6. N.N. attested that his wife was now on the narrow way to the Lord; he added that he had never had such good hopes of her conversion as now. He has worked with her without tiring through the word of the Lord, prayer and good example, and has also shown great patience, knowing full well that God had shown and is still showing great patience with him as well. He also recognizes that a true conversion is the work of the Lord Himself which will come about in its own time, without our legalistic endeavor and self-conceit. Nonetheless, we must also make our own efforts for ourselves and our neighbors, and not push everything into our dear Lord and His ministers.

Wednesday, the 7th of July. N. is lying on his bed at the plantation quite ill. Yesterday he had someone ask me to come to him, but I could not, lacking both time and strength. This morning I found him in a severe fever, and his wife was assisting him to the best of her ability amidst her own bodily weakness. I was just beginning to speak when tears flowed copiously from him and he at once poured out his many sins committed in Germany, using his mouth to empty his conscience, and charged himself as the most arrant sinner. She also concluded with confession, and both tearfully thanked God for saving them from darkness, from glib put-on Christianity, and from so many horrors of the world; and also for bringing them to the opportunity properly to know themselves and Christ. She was raised a Papist and turned first to the Lutheran doctrine under our guidance, which grace she extols very highly. What others are accustomed to regard as minor are now for them damnable sins, and they fully intend to offer the remainder of their lives to God. A great gift should for a long time not have been so dear to me as this penitent recognition, and I told them that with their penance they caused joy not only for me, poor man, but also for all of heaven.

I said I could assure them from Gods word that the Lord would carry out this now-commenced good work splendidly if they remained faithful and would use the means properly. As long as we have known them they have led an honorable, orderly life, but they sought no comfort in it, as they knew that in Christ Jesus nothing counted but a new creature. I gave them the 32d, 38th, and 51st Psalms for reverent reading and study, wherein they would find that there was only one way to blessedness for both mighty and lowly, to wit, a penitence, and faith. I also visited Michael Rieser and also found signs in him and his wife that God was doing something in their souls through His word and was freeing them more and more from their prejudice which they had against the truth. Similar good things were edifying to me when I heard them concerning Simon Rieser and his wife, who both were ill with fever.

Thursday, the 8th of July. Colonel Stephens recounted to me recently that one of his friends had been in Edisto in Carolina on Sunday and saw that all the men came to divine services in the church with daggers, rifles, and pistols, which they had to do from fear that their black slaves might revolt during the divine services. If the Lord Trustees should give in to the desire of the inhabitants of this country for Negroes, we will hardly be certain of our field and garden crops, let alone our lives.

Ruprecht Schrempff was with me and was thanking God for letting him recognize the danger to his soul when he was amongst the journeymen. He was given to drunkenness and other disorderly behavior according to the custom amongst the traveling artisans and journeymen. He recognizes now through Gods grace that this is the broad path which leads to hell. He has been a very useful person to us with his handiwork, and will be even more profitable to us if he righteously offers his heart to the Lord Jesus. Indeed, he wishes that he had learned no trade, since thereby he became involved in so much sin; but I informed him that the trade was not really to blame for it and was not sinful of itself, rather he could with it serve both God and his neighbor. He is a locksmith but he can do almost every task that is asked of him.

Saturday, the 10th of July. At my request the men from the plantations gathered in town this morning. I announced to them there the circumstances in which our colony, according to Gods destiny, found itself on account of the war. We see things not simply according to reason without the Word, but according to the Holy Writ, and we endeavor amidst prayer and petition to have the purpose of our merciful heavenly Father redound to us. I gave them the prophet Jeremiah for diligent reading. Therein is presented quite clearly the causes for the judgment of God upon His people and is shown the path to avoid it. Because so many people from Savannah and other places are fleeing to us, our people are reminded of the many good things that so many thousands rendered them in Germany when they were fleeing Salzburg and Austria.2

Now in almost the same circumstances they should unselfishly let others enjoy those same good things. And since dwellings are lacking to take these guests, I suggested quickly building a large hut, for which Mr. Vigera wished to turn over the shingles he had intended for finishing his own dwelling, but the congregation found it better to repair the old vacant huts and stables, which they did straightaway unitis viribus,3 and now so many huts are ready that a great many can be taken in. Also, the people on the plantations and in town are taking in as many as there is room to spare. In the meantime Mr. Vigeras house is being finished, in which we may (as happens in our houses and in the orphanage) put up honoratiores (distinguished folk). We are not lacking, praise God! in foodstuffs, and we are prepared to supply them with meat and bread for some time; for drinking, safe water will suffice.

In the following matters a miraculous kindness of God holds sway over us: 1) that none of our inhabitants is being required to serve as a soldier for field duty, as must be done in Carolina, where there are no regular troops; 2) that now that flight is upon the land our wives and children are not having to be sent away to another place and therefore be separated from their families for a long time, as happens in Savannah and other places; 3) that our little Ebenezer, wherein nonetheless the great Jehovah is with His Word and Sacrament, is becoming a refuge for the inhabitants of this country, in which we are quite assured of Gods protection from hostile Indians and Negroes, as natural4 people recognize; 4) that we are provided with sufficient provisions and foodstuffs, although the import from other places may be cut off; 5) that we have boats and horses to transport our weak and sick, if Gods providence shows us the way to turn elsewhere.

Our people are willing and happy to furnish another contingent of emigrants if the Father wishes it. They formerly emigrated from their fatherland and, like Abraham, did not know whither they were going, but they emigrated into His outspread loving arms, and found everywhere a table spread before them from His loving kindness, although their enemies and closest relatives had previously prophesied quite fearsome things for them. If He wished to build for us a third Ebenezer, why should we not be satisfied with His guidance? What we leave here are purely gifts from God, for of ourselves we have not one spoon, still less anything greater. How should we not trust Him abundantly to give us once more everything which we turn our backs upon, according to His loving advice and command? For what appears impossible to us is for Him the least of His works. God has strengthened us mightily in our faith and we certainly believe that He will cause us to come into distress for its sake so that we may see His glory as we have already had many proofs thereof (may He be praised for it).

The current story of the last wars of David against the Philistines from 2 Samuel 21 gives us much insight in our present circumstances, and with it instruction and comfort, and I still hope more and more that we may be able to observe the following twenty-second chapter with application to ourselves, where it says in the superscription (as below): And David spoke unto the Lord the words of this song in the day that the Lord had delivered him out of the hand of his enemies and out of the hand of Saul, etc.

Sunday, the 11th of July. God imposes other chastisements on the inhabitants of the country, and all sorts of intermittent fevers and deaths upon us. May the Lord nonetheless attain His salutary purpose with everyone, and cause none to be discovered amongst them of whom He has to complain: Thou hast stricken them, but they have not grieved; thou hast consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction: they have made their faces harder than a rock; they have refused to return.

Monday, the 12th of July. This morning two boats full of women and children arrived from Savannah and were lodged in a large chamber in my house and a neighboring building already prepared. Last night they stayed on the plantations with Theobald Kieffer. They put up with much on their way on account of the summer heat and especially on account of the extraordinarily violent rain which we had day before yesterday and yesterday for an hour. They were happy to find an opportunity here to dry all their clothes in the sun. The preacher from Savannah /Orton/ was also amongst them and was making every effort for their provisioning. In Abercorn, likewise, many women and children and a few men have arrived; and on Saturday I sent them a man on horseback to show them the way by land to the plantations, where the people accommodated them according to their ability. But because they have received good news from Savannah they only wish to camp in Abercorn until they have confirmation of it.

The young locksmith Schrempff asked for me; I found him lying sick in bed. He recounted to me that he had sinned mightily against me and my dear colleague and that it was causing him much distress day and night, because we had not blessed his wife (who had passed away), with whom he had lived in discord. He asked for forgiveness for the hate and bad feeling he had conceived against me and requested that I do it in his name with my dear colleague also. He finds the solitary life and lack of intercourse with other people very salutary for his Christianity. He thanked me also very courteously for withholding Holy Communion from him, now seeing the necessity and profit of it.

Tuesday, the 13th of July. When I came to the mill from visiting the sick I found Mr. /Thomas/Jones here. He had come to Abercorn yesterday evening and had sent our herdsman from the orphanage cowpen to me this morning to ask for a horse. I sent him one directly, and Pichler traveled along with it to show him the way here. More and more people are still coming to Abercorn, because on account of the high waters the petiaguas5 cannot go further. Mr. Jones, according to his ability, wishes to care for them as much as for the people at our place. This morning I read a letter which one of those in authority, to wit Mr. Parker, had written to his wife, who was in my house. In it he reported that General Oglethorpe and his soldiers had such good hopes of driving off the Spaniards that not one of the women and children from Frederica wished to flee to another place. Hence I am astounded that people are still moving away from Savannah in greater and greater numbers, giving them much anguish. From the story in 2 Samuel 21:1522 we have learned that it was a kind of Philistine and heathenly gross behavior to rely on men and flesh, even if it were that of giants, to hold before our arm as a shield, which according to Jeremiah 17:5 brings only a curse. We rely, however, on David and Jehoshaphat (2 Chronicles 20, 1-30) upon the Lord Sabaoth, who can create help when it is most needed and none knows whence it shall come forth.

Wednesday, the 14th of July. This morning was quite blessed in my soul, notwithstanding the manifold disquiet because of so many people in my house.

Schrempff sent his stepfather /Veit Lechner/ quite early to me, and asked to talk to me. When I came to him he said that the righteous Austrian /Johann/ Schmidt had already been with him and had brought him much profit by means of his encouragement. He said he had been unable to sleep the entire night since he had prayed to God in Christs name the entire time and thereby had spent the whole sleepless night in a blessed state. He would rather, he said, if it pleased God, not sleep at all, because otherwise he had many fantasies and could not contemplate God as diligently through word and prayer. He believed he was assured that God, since his day of penitence, had begun to convert his heart and bring it to a new birth, and he wishes to remember this same day all his life.

Schrempff uses words in such a way and deports himself in such a manner that I believe the Lord has made him into another person. He loathes sin immensely. He recognizes his former best friends to have ruined the time he had on earth, and he sees quite well that their respectability and self-righteousness will not suffice before Gods judgment. He has a heartfelt love for the faithful in the congregation, whom he formerly considered hypocrites, and he can well distinguish light and darkness and appearance and truth. He has a great love for the church, for the orphanage, for my dear colleague and me, and wished to present the two of us with four Sterling. I did not wish to accept it, however, since I knew his needy circumstances; hence I had to promise to accept it after his death. He fears neither the Spaniards nor death itself. He wishes for General Oglethorpe the same faith that he feels in his soul. With that faith, he believes, which breaks through steel and stone and encompasses omnipotence, Oglethorpe could chase them back alone.

Schrempff asks God only that He strengthen him with enough that he might go to Holy Communion with the congregation this coming Sunday, and then he says he would gladly be sick again and even die. I recognized the same grace in the late Bachers house. The daughter, Kieffers wife, had become quite weak and had me fetched to her to receive comfort from the Gospels and finally to receive Holy Communion. Since the death of her father the young woman has quite faithfully had in mind the passage, Thou hast made me to serve with thy sins, etc. Jesus has given her the grace to perceive Him as her Blood-bridegroom covered with blood and wounds upon the cross and to learn from Him that her sins have made Him into such a picture of misery but that, as she draws near to Him as a penitent sinner, everything shall be eternally forgiven and forgotten. She testifies of her great worthlessness and unworthiness but also of the great love of Christ for her, and of herself for Him, with such powerful and heartbreaking words and gestures that my heart was especially awakened and stimulated to praise God for the experience of such great grace.

The old mother also has every sign of the penitent sinner who wishes with all her misery6 to repose in the blood and wounds of Christ and hear nothing of the world or anything else except Him. Along with Theobald Kieffer they made confession very heartily and fervently and took Holy Communion to their great blessing. With this the story of the publican Zacchaeus became as alive for me as if it had just happened today in this house.

Thursday, the 15th of July. Today, when I visited two patients who were very calm and comforted in the Lord, He greatly blessed the Word of our Savior in my heart: Fear not, thou dear land, but be cheerfully comforted, for the Lord can do great things.7

We conferred on the plantations, agreeing that the cattle belonging to the congregation, which for some years had been in the forest in unfamiliar areas, would be sought and driven nearer here, so that in case of need the congregation would have them close by. Also a few men were sent on horseback and on foot to catch a black who had been encountered in the woods with a weapon.

Friday, the 16th of July. This morning our dear Mr. Jones traveled with me to the plantations where a boat was already prepared to take him down the mill-river to Abercorn and further to Savannah. He has been quite content staying with us, and he rejoiced over the spiritual and physical blessings with which our dear Lord has crowned our Ebenezer. He has had two oxen brought to Abercorn and one hither from Old Ebenezer. They will be slaughtered and distributed amongst the people, in which our sick will also participate. At the beginning a calf and soon thereafter a fat ox were slaughtered at the orphanage for these strangers, so that till now they have not lacked either meat or bread or roof and shelter for dwelling. They are hoping very soon to get good news, whereupon they intend to return to Savannah. At this time there are no more women and children in Savannah: some are in Abercorn and some are here. Also many people from Frederica are amongst them.8

I am surprised that the people are nonetheless still hesitating, even though they are hearing good tidings from Frederica. It is comforting to us that all righteous people of the congregation, even the sick, are of good cheer and trust the almighty heavenly Father not to allow the Spaniards power over us to trouble our little band and scatter them hither and yon. Last Sunday during the repetition hour we compared profitably the text at Jeremiah 4:1 with that at Timothy 3:15. The Lord discloses many things to us which the world does not consider sinful and horrible; but, because He declares them so in His Word, we are more and more offended by them and cause ourselves to be helped by Christianity.

Gods wisdom arranged for us last week to observe the last part from 2 Samuel 21 about the last wars of David and, by collating his psalms, to learn that he let such unrest in this miserable life serve to 1) cause him better to recognize and hate sin as the cause of all evil, 2) thereby drive him all the more zealously into prayer, 3) better to recognize his and our suffering Savior and to learn to have recourse to His merits, 4) cause the world to become bitter as gall to him, and Heaven and redemption from all .evil to become as sweet as sugar. The great peril into which David fell and from which the Lord rescued him by means of the otherwise evil Abisai reminded us not only of the manifold times we had been rescued and inspired to praise God, but also we learned to believe that even evil and unconverted people will have to help according to the will of the heavenly Father to save this country and the inhabitants thereof from the jaws of our enemies.

From the 22nd chapter now being observed we learned (and to be sure, from the superscription) that our dear David arranged things thus, as was already made known previously from the time of the New Testament (Psalms 72:15) and is prescribed for us as a rule of life, James 5, 13: Is any among you afflicted? Let him pray. Is any merry (even if only confidently hoping for help from the Lord)? Let him sing psalms. In this superscription it is attested that David the Lords servant 1) had many enemies. For, although he was a man according to Gods heart, he nonetheless was not a man according to the hearts of men. He did not please them, and they were secretly and openly rebellious towards him. The world loves its own and hates whatever has the disposition of God and Christ. But what miserable people are the enemies of the faithful!

2) That he had God for a friend, God who caused him, his servant, to fall into many trials but did not cause him to fail therein, rather He saved him. N.B.: from the hands of all his enemiesand at this we discussed the stories from 1 Samuel 18:11; 19:1012; 21:10 ff.; 23:2628, 29, 30; 2 Samuel 21:16. We were able to take a clear example therefrom that David was as it were caught in the hands and claws of his enemies but also richly experienced in the miraculous help of his God, whom he could not glorify enough in this song of praise. This great and wise God lives still and still performs great things amongst His people. His grace takes many forms. In the 34th Psalm, v. 20, it says to our great comfort: Many are the afflictions of the righteous; but the Lord delivereth him out of them all. What a benefaction it is then to have for friends the triune God and the entire struggling and triumphant church!

3) He begins to sing to the glory of this faithfully experienced God and benefactor a song of praise and inspires others to do the same, to which end he ordered it sung publicly ex instinctu Spiritus Sancti.9 See Psalms 18. Because this song is found twice word for word in the Holy Writ, it must have very great significance for the Holy Spirit. May He teach us with it to conduct ourselves properly. He has indeed displayed many proofs of His help and saving grace in this war with the Spaniards, and who knows what good reports we will hear while we are observing this long chapter and psalm, reports which likewise will inspire us to the praise of the ever faithful God? When we observe Isaiah 26 with the beginning of the 22nd chapter from 2 Samuel and our current circumstances we have, especially at this time, to rejoice with trembling. By and by the Lord will clarify everything for us so that we will recognize His wisdom, kindness, omnipotence, and justice. Hallelujah, Amen!

Saturday, the 17th of July. My dear colleague held confession on the plantations before noon this morning and brought back the news that Mrs. Klocker had died this morning. He was able to be sure to talk somewhat with her, but not much. Nonetheless she understood his call from the Word of the Lord and his prayers with her fairly well. She was an honest woman who could tell of difficult temptations, and her tale thereof was of such a nature that one who had experienced anything similar could well recognize that she had truly escaped Satan when she converted and hence had aroused his rage against her all the more. On her sickbed she was very patient and well content with divine dispensation. Prior to her illness she worked very hard in the fields, and indeed had her suckling little child with her in its cradle.

Sunday, the 18th of July. Since with Gods assistance at our place we hold so diligently to the Third Commandment, our dear Father in Heaven causes things to be so good for us that even in this time of war we can come together undisturbed openly for divine services on Sunday and workdays, when others in this country and vicinity have great distress of body and mind all day. May He be humbly praised for this undeserved benefaction!

A German who fled here from Frederica with his wife and children came to me and requested permission to settle amongst us. He has planted seven acres of land with corn, beans, potatoes, and pumpkins. All of it is said to be standing very nicely and is almost ripe. Now he has had to turn his back on everything and abandon everything that was his, and already it will have gone completely to waste. This man and his child had a great misfortune on the journey from Frederica, for a German boy who was with him in a boat mistakenly shot the child twice through the foot. As soon as I heard that, it occurred to me what Pichler had recounted to me after his journey from Frederica, to wit, that this man had sworn horribly at the general out of resentment and had execrated Frederica.

Monday, the 19th of July. Yesterday during the morning divine services Mr. Terry,10 the municipal scribe or recorder at Frederica, arrived here. He had to put up with a great deal on his journey via Fort Argyle, on account of the high water. This gentleman did many good things at sea for the Salzburgers of the 4th transport, hence they consider him their benefactor and father, and I am quite happy to show him some good will in my house, although there are also many other people and children along with the English preacher. He has applied already around 100 Sterling to the construction of a home and the establishment of a plantation and would not have fled had not the highest necessity required it. He described the attack of the Spaniards after they had taken Fort Simons so fearsomely that there was no hope for anyone to defend Frederica more than a few hours. Hence we have cause all the more to be astounded at the kindness of God which has helped so much and has presented the general many advantages over the Spaniards, and to glorify His holy and magnificent name.

Yesterday evening the honest wife /Maria/ of the cobbler Kohleisen died and was buried before noon today. I visited Simon Rieser and his wife who lay next to one another in bed, both ill with fever. I sought to aid them with bodily and spiritual remedies, may the Lord bless my doing so!

Wednesday, the 21st of July. Since the Spaniards cannot accomplish anything on land against Frederica but rather have lost a good deal of men, they have attempted to do their utmost on the water with their galleys, but they were received so warmly by Mr. Oglethorpe that they retired head over heels back to the sea. The prisoners are declaring that the Spanish soldiers are very agitated and disheartened, and it is said that quite secret counsel is being taken amongst the officers, one of whom is said to be the Governor of Havana. Until now no warships have come to help from Charleston. If they should arrive in time, the Spaniards retreat could very easily be cut off. It seems as if God Himself is not allowing a great physical mighty force of Englishmen to appear at Frederica, rather arranging that our dear General Oglethorpe should engage in combat alone with the enemy, so that everyone who observes it in the proper light might say that God had done it and should note that it is His work. For it is indeed amongst other points something remarkable that, although Mr. Oglethorpe is everywhere at the point, he has nonetheless received not the slightest wound, and also none of his people have been killed, but only two men wounded, one in the arm and one in the foot. He had a prominent Spanish officer in Frederica for a long time as a prisoner and treated him very amicably and magnanimously; but he (the Spanish officer) was contemplating setting fire to the storehouse in which all the powder lay, but God discovered that in time.

Thursday, the 22nd of July. Yesterday evening at the prayer hour and today on the plantations we announced that at the request of the authorities and according to our circumstances we are considering once more (please God) to celebrate publicly a day of penance and prayer. My dear colleague intends to hold divine services on the plantations and I to do so here.

I traveled to Abercorn this morning with the English preacher /Orton/. On our way a good friend from Savannah met us and brought us the joyful news that the Spaniards with all their ships, last seen to be around forty altogether, raised the siege with great loss and humiliation to themselves and retreated to St. Augustine. Doubtless they were apprehensive that the English warships were drawing near to offer them a naval encounter, for which, likely after the wise, clever, and bold defense of General Oglethorpe, they display no desire and by which they might also have lost their St. Augustine. The captive Spaniards even alleged that there were only six or eight hundred regular troops in the Spanish ships, but we now know better: besides the sailors there were at least four thousand of them.11

As a special proof of Gods care it was adduced that the evil intentions of the Spanish senior officer whom Mr. Oglethorpe had as a prisoner for a long time in Frederica came to light at the right time. At the siege of St. Augustine, in the Spaniards opinion, he surrendered a certain fort too quickly to General Oglethorpe and disclosed many things, so that he was viewed by his countrymen more as a turncoat and traitor than as a prisoner. At the time of the current assault he bade Mr. Oglethorpe for leave to retire to the northern colonies because, he asserted, the Spaniards would deal with him cruelly if they were to catch him. Because, from long acquaintance with this officer, Mr. Oglethorpe put no mistrust in his honesty, he gave him a small skiff to take himself to an area from which he might be able to go further. But he used it to go to the Spanish fleet and proposed that the Spaniards should draw nearer Frederica with their galleys and bombard the city, while he in the meantime would set a fire in the storehouse and blow up everything in it by means of the powder stored there. He then returned once more to Frederica, asserting that he could not get through because of the great fleet and its close watch. Before he was able to carry out his evil plan God arranged to have two English prisoners escape from the Spanish fleet to General Oglethorpe and disclose to him that this officer had been there at such and such a time and had made arrangements for the perilous business with the Spaniards. At the appointed hour the galleys drew up and fired heavily upon Frederica; but the officer was soon caught and bound fast, and at that point the Spaniards with their entire fleet withdrew to St. Augustine.

Friday, the 23rd of July. Yesterday evening a quartermaster arrived here from General Oglethorpe with a few newly enlisted volunteers. Their billeting and provisioning again caused some problems, which came inconveniently for me on account of my preparing for todays penitence, prayer, and thanksgiving. Today, too, because of them and others we could not remain undisturbed. Nevertheless our dear Lord succored me especially, and also my dear colleague felt His presence notably at the divine services on the plantations. We both had as our text the remarkable story of the gracious, miraculous rescue of the pious King Jehoshaphat and his subjects from the hands of their mighty enemies, from 2 Chronicles 20:130. It turned out here as it says in Psalms 50:15: And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.

God caused us, too, to come into a day of trouble with the surprise attack of the Spaniards, but only for our benefit. Since the last day of penitence and prayer we have been driven privately and publicly to prayer, and thereupon the Lord has delivered us and placed new matter for His praise and glorification into our hearts and mouths. So that our dear parishioners might better see the parallelisinum temporis12 and wonder at the great works of God even in our day, in humility and praise, I have made known to them in detail the peril in which the General, his soldiers, and the entire country stood, as well as the particularia13 of the miraculous rescue. Because in the above mentioned story of King Jehoshaphat there is clear reference in the song of praise to Psalms 106 and 136, both were read loudly and clearly by the big children between songs, before and after noon.

At the beginning of the morning divine services and at the end of the afternoon catechization chapters 14 and 17 of 1 Samuel followed in order to be read aloud. They also were very appropriate to our circumstances. In the evening prayer hour we sang Nun dancket all und bringet Ehr, etc. May He allow our holy practice to please Him, for the sake of Christ, and may He make our Ebenezer His vale of praise.

Saturday, the 24th of July. If wishing would help, I would like to give up my house to someone who could be authority and housefather for Ebenezer, and I would be happy to dwell in a house just as confined as it could be made. For I recognize it better now than previously: the bigger the house, the greater the unrest. For everyone who comes to Ebenezer asks where my house is and requests an amicable reception and ius hospitalitatis.14 It is customary here in this country for traveling people to receive everywhere free the nights lodging and food and drink, because no proper inns have been established in the country, and if they do not find the same thing at our place, too, they will pass very unkind judgments.

I wrote a letter to General Oglethorpe this morning in which, amongst several other things, I reported that I was much impressed that he had used at the beginning and at the end of his letter just the words from the story in 2 Samuel 22 which we had considered the previous week, which had strengthened our faith and hope so much. I said that the Lord had delivered him from the hands of our enemies and that I had wished to decree a day of fast and prayer so that the Lord might wish to deliver this province from the hands of our enemies. We see now, I said, from his letter and from other reports, that it has happened, which should fairly inspire us to the praise of our so good and gracious Lord, as we are also inspired by the example and words of David in the 22nd chapter of 2 Samuel, with which we are now occupied.

I added finally that I believed that our dear Lord had something great in mind with and by means of this colony because He so clearly was protecting it from its enemies internally and externally. I said that I deemed myself and my parishioners fortunate to live in such a country in America to which the Lord our God turns His attention and upon which His eyes always look, from the beginning of the year till the end. It only depended on us, as the word of the Lord has it in Psalms 81: 14-17. For a last word I expressed the wish that the almighty and merciful God might strengthen him further and guide him with His eyes so that he would be the blessed one of the Lord in all his pathways.

To the worthy Mr. /Thomas/ Jones, who traveled to Frederica at the beginning of this week, I wrote as follows: I learn that you have traveled to Frederica, and therefore you will see with your own eyes the great works of God which He has accomplished for our safety through His treasured instrument, General Oglethorpe. I cannot express with words what joy and gratitude were, and still are, in our hearts and mouths for our God our merciful deliverer during yesterdays day of penance, prayer, and thanksgiving. We cherish such a high regard for the General that we would like to appear pleasing to him in everything that comes to his attention, so far as we are able. Publicly and privately we have besought God for him, and we do it still; and, since various members of the congregation have been anointed with the spirit of grace and prayer, I do not doubt that God has glanced favorably upon our poor prayer for the sake of Christ and will continue to do so and keep the General for many more years in health and prosperity for the benefit of this and other colonies, etc., etc.

Monday, the 26th of July. I had a small job done by a man in the vineyard I had set up. On three of the vines some young grapes showed up unexpectedly. On one vine they were blooming, on the second they had faded, and on the third they were still very tender and will soon come to blossom. A few weeks ago by oversight a small grape was broken off. Now I can understand that it was true what a man from General Oglethorpes barony at Palachacolas told me, to wit, that vines here can bear grapes twice a year, for the young grape vines planted in the spring push out the little grapes late, and get ripe late. Now I have no doubt that if otherwise no harm comes to it, already in the second year there will be many grapes to harvest in my little vineyard. This also strengthens me in the hope that our dear Lord has kept aside for our people (whenever they first strive for the kingdom of God) many a beautiful material blessing which they will enjoy for pressing need and refreshment in the sweat of their brow. Every beginning is difficult, throughout the entire world.

The little son of my dear colleague, Israel Christian, a year and three quarters old, died last night and was buried with blessings this afternoon. He was sickly from his birth to the last moment of his life, and especially in the last part of the time he had to suffer a great deal on account of a stinging rash and other incidents. He has escaped all of that now, and has become a true Israel and prince of God. Although my spirit has been rather depressed on account of one thing and another, at the viewing and burial of this dear body God strengthened me and uplifted me mightily.

Tuesday, the 27th of July. The alderman from Savannah, Mr. Watson, accompanied me to our plantations and inspected everything, especially the mill. He showed an especial pleasure in it, as an important and very profitable work. He wished such closely proximate plantations were in the region around Savannah. He said he would happily take a walk through them almost every day for a good and thorough exercise. He recounted to me that the Scots in Darien had planted much corn and other crops this year, but because the men were with Mr. Oglethorpe in the war and the women had fled to Ogeechee or Fort Argyle, the fields had been plundered of all that kind of thing by the Indians and other people, so that there was no hope of a harvest.

Thursday, the 29th of July. The German people of Savannah let me know that they would like one of us to come to them, and that they too wish to celebrate a day of penance, prayer, and thanksgiving amongst themselves, as I admonished them to do in Abercorn. My dear colleague today took the journey on himself for this purpose. To be sure they cannot all come together before Sunday, nonetheless we hold an edification hour every evening with them, after the work we do with the city people. In the edification hour we will take as a basic text the important story in 2 Chronicles 1 ff., which we are examining here. May God help in making much good result from it.

A pious English widow has been lodging at the house of my dear colleague till now. She has been perilously ill, but now that she is a little stronger she traveled along in our small boat to Savannah, with her serving girl and baggage. Mr. /Thomas/ Jones lodges in her house and whenever we are in Savannah we enjoy many good things from her and him. Hence it was a joy for us to serve her on her pilgrimage, according to our ability. The big boat took down the alderman Mr. Watson, the preacher Mr. Orton, the English lady with her children, and large boxes. Since General Oglethorpes soldiers, for whom we furnished horses, rode off this afternoon in like manner, I have finally gotten rid of the disquiet from my house. Some large boxes are still standing here and will immediately be sent down when the big boat returns. Praise God for allowing us once more to come to quiet and solitude. He will also be able in His time to restore to us victuals, wine, etc. that have been consumed beyond the ordinary, and what was partly spoiled and partly lost, if we should need it.

I had a pleasant little hour with the sick N. Not only was her heart somewhat turned from N.N. for a long time because of mistrust, but also she faulted our manner with her children, and through careless talk caused harm to come to them. Here too we must say, however: God will not abandon the soul, he loves it far too much.15 So that He might convince her of her weakness, mistrust, and hasty judgments and bring her heart anew into His heart and her into the faithful and orderly union with other faithful persons, He laid her out on a harsh sickbed. From that He produced such a recognition and acknowledgement as bore witness to new grace. Indeed, the Lord has once more forgiven her everything and has made her desire the pleasure of His meal of love. She is considering partaking of it immediately. Since N. was not there, I prayed in the company of the N. and N. women and praised the Lord for all His spiritual and physical benefactions which He has shown to us and the patients.

Saturday, the 31st of July. I wish that the Lord Trustees, or the General in their name, might present a horse to the physician and the surgeon, so that they could visit the sick more often. Our one commonly owned horse has been lame for some time, and my horse, which my dear colleague shares, is used almost daily by us for visiting the people on the plantations. Therefore we can only lend it to the physician now and then, but not constantly.

AUGUST

Sunday, the 1st of August. We learned today from the proper gospel as well as from the example of two deeply pious Austrian emigrants that there are to be sure crosses but also blessings in the imitation of the Lord Jesus. Because the people in the Gospel of Mark 8:1 ff. abandoned their villages, cities, and friendships and followed after Christ into the wilderness, and also remained with Him for the sake of spiritual nourishment, they and their families were in need of food. But, when they just held out, the omniscient, merciful, and omnipotent Jesus showed Himself to be the right and most beneficial helper in need for them. The emigrants, who emigrated for the sake of the gospel, have to be tested by means of the cross, so that Gods word may be legitimated then even against our enemies, and so that everyone might recognize that in truth it was not their bellies that were in question but their consciences and souls. God causes the Salzburgers, Austrians, and Bohemians1 in other places, and our own people in our place, to undergo fire and trial in various ways, but always we say, however, as in Psalms 31:8: I will be glad and rejoice in thy mercy for thou hast considered my trouble; thou hast known my soul in adversities.

As with all machines, so goes it with our mill. Often there are things to repair or to add on. Since the last repair soon after the arrival of the 4th transport it has been working constantly day and night and has served the congregation and other people in Savannah and Purysburg splendidly. Now that the water in the creek is visibly falling and diminishing and is moving in a stronger current, it is washing out a few small holes in the dam. In addition, the millrace through which the water is led has become damaged, and necessity requires the men to make a new repair. The work which they completed lately with fascines is so durable that we could not wish for better. On the other hand, that which was built the first time without fascines still needs patching. Because I now have very little money in the mill coffer, the people are doing the current labor gratis. Till now it has not been necessary to set up the other course for which we already have the millstones; in addition we do not have the money for it. We guard against unwarranted additions and new debts according to our ability, but we also believe that, if necessity requires making new debts, it would be an easy thing for our dear Lord to pay everything. We have indeed many beautiful experiences of that.

My dear colleague returned home well this morning, via Abercorn, after he had preached the counsel of God concerning their salvation, not only twice on Sunday but also on Friday and the previous Sunday at noontime. Because the English preacher was indisposed, the English held no divine service on Sunday, so my colleague was able to serve the German people in the church alone without hindrance. And in any case, the public divine services of the English only begin after 10 and 3 oclock, but we start around 8 and 1 oclock and finish regularly before the beginning of their services, and so we do not hinder them, nor they us. God strengthened my dear colleague mightily in his spiritual labor, and we expect that he will cause a harvest to arise and remain in the hearts of the parishioners.

Tuesday, the 3rd of August. The late Maria Mauer, ne. Wemmer, who was born in the Jurisdiction of St. Johannis, had often wanted to tell Hans Schmid how she wished her temporal legacy disposed of after her death. But, because Schmid did not guess that her end was so near, rather assumed that there was good hope for her recovery, he always steered the discussion from the earthly to something better. A few hours before the end she informed Held, her neighbor, how and in what manner they should distribute everything she would have to leave in the world.

Because everything came down to the testimony of Held alone, who also was to participate in the legacy, I took the matter up today in the open congregation after the edification hour. Held had to promise before God and the Christian gathering that he now intended to tell nothing but the pure unadulterated truth and devise neither for himself nor for anyone elses joy or grief a single condition, otherwise the threat of God found in Psalm 5 would be fulfilled in him: Thou shalt destroy them that speak leasing: the Lord will abhor the bloody and deceitful men. Herewith he recounted loudly and clearly what Mrs. Mauers last will and decree were concerning her plantation, cattle, and things, to wit, that Gabriel Mauer, Hans Schmid, Held, and the orphanage were to receive specific pieces; but the entire household effects and the small amount of money Schmid, Held, and the orphanage were to divide amongst themselves in three equal parts after her few debts had been paid. What others had borrowed from her or her husband was to be given to them as a gift. In addition, from the entire amount something was to be given to Dresler, who, along with his wife, had done her favors.

Maria Mauer had expressly bequeathed to the orphanage her newly laid out plantation with the crop on it, likewise her cow and calf; and from the household effects it also got one third part. The orphanage is marking out the plantation with the new hut to the inhabitants of the lower plantations by the mill, and they in turn wish to present it to Michael Schneider, till now the herdsman for the orphanage if he is willing to guard the cows for them for about three quarters of a year. We do not need him so urgently at the orphanage now, and we shall be glad to know that the people who have no herdsman have been helped thereby. He would be quite imprudent if he did not wish to accept this offer. This late Mauer woman is supposed to have an old mother in Memmingen. We hope the worthy Senior Urlsperger and other friends of Ebenezer will make it up to her that her daughter quite unexpectedly caused a fine part of her earthly property to flow to our orphanage.

Wednesday, the 4th of August. This morning I was occupied with the manager Kalcher, Schmid, Held, and Gabriel Mauer in distributing the bequest of the late Mrs. Mauer. She had expressly designated them as heirs in her will and had in general determined the distribution herself. The orphanage received in money 2 11 sh. 7 p. Sterling, and the beds, clothing, cooking utensils, and hand tools from the household effects, and other things pertaining to the household, were such a rich blessing that we fairly glorify the Lord for them. Also, there is a passable field planted with corn, beans, and rice, which was left to the orphanage exclusively and which will indeed prove useful to it.

The sick Simon Riser, who is well known to the worthy Senior Riesch in Landau, asked for me urgently already on Monday, in his bodily weakness, so that he might declare to me his last will and testament regarding the money he lent the orphanage, his household effects, and plantation. On Monday I was prevented from coming to him, and yesterday on account of his high fever he was not in a position fully to disclose to me his will in the presence of his sick wife. Quite early this morning he was having convulsions also, but when I came to him at noontime he gave me his thoughts concerning his temporal goods. His money consists entirely of 40 10 sh. Sterling, which has been used by the orphanage with his full knowledge and consent. Besides that he has a sum of his own which he does not wish mentioned in the will. In addition Schweiger owes him one pound, which he has forgiven him as a neighbor.

His two cows and their calves, his plantation with everything planted on it, in like manner all his household effects shall be given over to the honest and obliging Burgsteiner, who with his wife did Riser and his wife many favors on sick days and sound ones. Of the above money, after his death the orphanage shall have 15 , Klocker 12 , the church 4 , Hans Flerl 1 , Carl Flerl 1 , Burgsteiner 6 , and the poor 1 10 sh. Although the will has been made and Riser and his wife surmise that they are near their departure, nonetheless I have good hope of their recovery if only they will follow somewhat the good advice we are always giving them about keeping a good diet. May our dear Lord recompense them also on their sickbeds for the love which they have shown in their testament to the orphanage and the church as well as to other needy persons in the congregation, and fulfill in them in grace what is said in Psalms 41.

Thursday, the 5th of August. Yesterday afternoon I received the sad news that Paul Mllers wife /Anna Maria Krmer/ brought a premature child into the world the day before yesterday and that she herself had died yesterday in very great pain. For two weeks she had been in very dire circumstances during which the midwife Rheinlnder also used every possible remedy, but it did not take effect as we had wished. Who would have thought that these two young women, Mller and recently Ott,2 both brought here from Savannah and married at almost the same time, would die soon after one another, and to be sure in premature birth? At the funeral in town, this little verse was very profitable to me and the mourners: And account that the long suffering of our Lord is salvation.

Although N. is not a Salzburg emigrant, prior to and during his illness he has had many good motives and intentions, and has also begun to pray. Nonetheless he is still letting his old, evil disposition come through by way of coarse anger, bitterness, and curses if even some small thing gets in his way. His wife, still lying hard abed with fever, has to put up with much from him, and bear the brunt of his rage when she certainly does not deserve it by way of her conduct towards him; and therefore she senses the bitter harvest of her marriage begun in a perverted 3 manner. When I visited him today I earnestly from Gods word placed his malice before his own eyes, and showed him what sort of a person he was and how perilous his circumstances were. He does not lack for excuses, but thereby he betrays all the more his vexatious disposition, and shows that he is still far distant from penitence.

Friday, the 6th of August. Things have not improved to date with Schrempff, the young locksmith. Dr. Carl, in his Poor Mans Apothecary, advises that whenever one is in such a mania as this Schrempff finds himself nowit stems from overheated bloodone should have ones blood let often and mix saltpeter or spirits of vitriol in ones drinking water.4 At first we tapped a vein in his head and, because the blood would not run, after that a vein in his arm, which last, fortunately, proved very successful. We had several men at hand who were holding him. May God grant His blessing thereto, for which before the bloodletting we also called out to Him beneath the open sky in the name of Christ. The tailor Christ was also there and had the courage to hold Schrempffs hands so that he could not thrash around and hinder the bloodletting; but thereby or in some other way he must have become very fevered, because directly thereupon he had a severe hemorrhage which lasted from six to eleven oclock.5 I as well as my dear colleague were called to him in the nightwhen we indeed administered two powders to him; but, because they showed no sign of calming his blood, we undertook a sympathetic cure for him, by which his blood was also calmed. He lay as if dead on the bare ground, and things would not have turned out well for him if we had not had some men bring him to a warm bed.

Saturday, the 7th of August. I was downright gladdened when my dear colleague recounted to me this noontime that the righteous Klocker is quite comforted in his family burden and his lingering fever and does not allow himself to regret leaving Germany and removing to this solitude. I find just the same honest attitude in Lechner and his wife who are both quite ill indeed but, with Gods guidance, very well satisfied. Among other things I said that amongst the fruit of the spirit in Galatians 5, patience was also recounted, which one cannot practice, or show that it is imbued in ones heart by the Holy Spirit, unless the Lord God lay cross and affliction on it. The greater the affliction, and with it patience and resignation to divine will, the more grace; and it is a sure sign that such bearers of the cross have gone over from their natural state, by rebirth, into the realm of grace. Of them we say: If He has resolved it, then I shall accept my fate undaunted, etc. Let it go as it goes, my Father on high hath help and counsel for everything.

The mill has been repaired by some men under the guidance of the carpenter Kogler, so that already since Wednesday it has again been in full operation. The laborers seemed to prefer waiting, at my proposal of nine days ago, until the water in the river fell, to setting themselves now to repairing. Nonetheless, when, on the one hand, the uncertainty of the hoped-for waters dropping (from our experience till now) and, on the other hand, the danger to the mill was made clear to them, they decided eight days ago to have some fascines constructed, and Monday they radically improved the dam and canal with them. At one point, when the work was still not completed, I received the news that the water was again beginning to rise strongly, and therefore praise be to God for causing things to come far enough that we can serve the congregation and strangers day and night with the mill. White flour is excessively expensive, and the mill is indeed really proving useful to us with our wheat planted here. The Indian corn is becoming ripe now, so that we are already gathering a few ears and preparing meal, which is very sweet and tasty.

Sunday, the 8th of August. As is usual in town, today we should also have held public divine services on the plantations, as has been done every two weeks for some time. But we have noticed in this hot summertime that quite many people are hindered in their prayers in Steiners cramped house, and hence some have preferred coming to town for public divine services. Hence, we are resolved to hold the divine services jointly here in town where we have a comfortable although not fully constructed church, until the carpenters and their assistants get the time and the strength to set up the church out there. This should have taken place in the spring, but there were other labors on the plantations, at the mill, and in the town, a good part of which would not bear postponing; and therefore we had to wait. Our dear Lord, who does everything beautifully in His own time, and whom we must follow rather than precede, will have His important reasons for it. Perhaps He wishes gradually to drop just enough money into our hands so that we can carry out this construction debt-free. For our dear faithful laborers, who must do many things gratis and without pay, as has been the case at the mill, badly need every single penny for their own and their families frequent bodily weaknesses and for clothing in these expensive times.

Monday, the 9th of August. At the end of last week, N. and his wife moved to N.s plantation to get better care for his and her illness. Mrs. N. was at my place and requested that I come to N. as soon as possible, saying she was very weak and desired to speak with me. I found her on her sickbed; and, because the fever had passed, her strength had rallied somewhat. She applied it as best she could to prayer and the disclosure of her desire and thereupon became quite calm once more. She rendered such a beautiful, spontaneous, and joyful confession of her experience of penitence and righteousness and the same of her heartfelt intention to serve the Lord from now on with body and soul, and for His sake more and more intimately to cling to the Lord Jesus and believe in Him, that it gladdened me in my heart. She certainly knows that the Lord has listened to her many, many times; and she relies on Him in Christ to grant her wish with respect to her husband, who still causes her much suffering in her heart because of his coarse ways and sins, so that when she recovers once more she might be able to conduct a Christian state of matrimony.

Tuesday, the 10th of August. Yesterday afternoon Simon Risers wife died, and she was buried this morning on the plantations prior to the edification hour. From Germany and on the journey here she brought along not only a good testimony of a calm, Christian demeanor, but we in our place can also say everything good about her. Especially in her rather protracted illness she learned better to realize her sinful misery and what she deserved from God for it, and to humble herself before God in Christ and retire into His wounds as into the proper sanctuaries of the poor sinner. I heard no complaint from her and also perceived no cares for earthly things in her. In the last three days she had many pains and on that account sighed and wished that the Lord Jesus might come and resolve them, which was attributed by some to impatience. But the feeling of pain which often forces words of complaint from the sufferer, is for the faithful person as little a sin as it would be for Christ, who also felt bitterly the pains of soul and body and lamented them.

Wednesday, the 11th of August. I hope that, by and by, our inhabitants will apply themselves to making manure, since then the now scorned pine barrens would make right good and comfortable plantations. If only the orphanage or we two had one or two faithful servants and a small reserve of money we would make a try at starting a vineyard or other garden in the pine barrens or evergreen woods. Hopefully the eyes of others would open up so that they too would desire such land, which requires for clearing and fencing almost only half the labor. I showed Held, as one who understands wine making, my vineyard, and it caused in him a new and right immense desire to devote himself principally to planting vines near town, since he sees the advantage there so clearly. One cluster, which bloomed a short time ago, already has berries like mid-sized cherries, and hopefully it will become completely ripe in a months time. I now count on all the wine stocks 32 young clusters, and there would be more of them if I had not broken them off diligently, to save the young wood. This man assures me that in Germany it hardly comes as far in three years with the vine stocks as it has come here in the first year.

Thursday, the 12th of August. Ms. N. took Holy Communion this morning and showed herself thereby to be a penitent sinner hungering for grace. Since her husband went away on business, she disclosed to me her final wishes concerning her small amount of money and many clothes and household effects. Her husband came to her almost peniless, and from the beginning behaved in a very unChristian manner, for which she wishes from her heart to forgive him. Because the two of them have no children, he is to receive one third of her entire bequest, but her sister and the poor in the congregation each are to receive a share after her departure from the world. She especially wishes to know that something has been bestowed upon her current benefactress.

Friday, the 13th of August. N.N. was very much involved in a conflict with N., and for that reason was at my house. He did not justify himself, rather he recognized his misdeed tearfully and regretfully, and I hope he will now grasp that his Christianity till now has consisted more of words than of substance. We are greatly annoyed when we work on the people from one time to the next and still accomplish little. I was hastily called to a sick woman on the plantations, and her bodily circumstances were put to me so anxiously that I let everything drop and hurried to her. Her son-in-law met me in front of the house and told me that his mother-in-law was feeling a certain coarse sin very painfully in her conscience and would not be able to feel content until she had confessed it and gotten it off her heart. He said she would have acknowledged it from the time that God had begun to bring her to penance, if she had not been afraid. And therefore he was making her request known to me. When I came to her I found in her all the signs of a truthful sinner, hungry for grace, to whom, as if to a parched soul, the comfort of the gospels clung. The experience of some blessing in my office raises my downcast and troubled spirit once more.

Saturday, the 14th of August. This morning /Anna Maria/ Schwarzwlder in Old Ebenezer, and this afternoon her four-year-old only son, were buried in the cemetery on the plantations. Before the interment there was a sudden violent downpour, during which I read some things from the New Testament and hymnbook, and prayed in Leimbergers dwelling with the mourners. N. was downcast because some people put the blame for the untimley death of the child on him. He recently acknowledged, to be sure, that he had once been too harsh with the child but since then had withheld all harshness and had done everything possible for the child to promote his good health. He said his wife and Mrs. N. as well as his conscience could give the best testimony in this matter. I told him that he could easily justify himself before men, but that he had an omniscient judge over him before whom he would indeed have to examine himself and humble himself; for the sake of His merit He would forgive him if he had done something bad to the child or had neglected to show him a kindness.

Meanwhile it would be an injustice for the people to do too much to him through unfounded judgments, and he had to believe that he had deserved this and sundry things for what he habitually did to the child and other matters. In private I told him that in his short marriage already many sorrowful things had come to pass; hence I worried that he had not begun his marriage in prayer and in the fear of God, for which reason I intended to admonish him to do true penance, failing which there would be even more misfortune. On the other hand, piety profited all things. He requested me to visit him often and to give him and his wife needed reading material. This will come about better in the future because he has resolved either to move to the town or to N.s plantation.

We had such success with the matter of N. and the reconciliation of everyone on the plantations, in like manner with N. and N., that I was very much cheered about it. Also towards N. and the old N. he had once more a conciliatory and enlightened feeling. I am now setting about to fulfill my suggestions to him, which he approved, so that he might come into good physical order in his dwelling, his husbandry, and perhaps even in his marriage. May God intend for us to feel His blessing in this matter, too. We can ask for everything from Him in the name of Jesus Christ.

Monday, the 15th of August. This morning my dear colleague, Mr. Boltzius, traveled to Savannah in Jesus name and took along Gods Kingdom of Kindness, Patience, and Forebearance,6 which he had explained yesterday, as his introduction to the morning sermon. When one considers that God Himself directed this journey, it strengthens one in faith and trust in Him. My dear colleague was already inclined last week to travel to Savannah today, because he was always hoping to meet with letters from Europe and to arrange other matters. He did not, however, wish to force himself to do it, rather he caused it to depend on the providence of God. He inquired with our listeners whether there were not some intending to travel, and would they let him know; but nobody was about to go. But since God Himself had decided upon this voyage, He gave him a good cause by the arrival of the letters. Thus God knows how to overcome all obstacles so that His projects may continue. And whatever we may encounter, we may rest assured of His help.

Tuesday, the 17th of August. Today I held the edification hour on the plantations and used as a text the New Testament in order. It was John 8:3136. Lastly, I showed our listeners the wide difference between having a son and a servant in ones house. Similarly, even as concerned the realm of all nature, God had in it two types of people: Some used their material gifts as servants, but others rejoiced in them as His free sons and daughters.

The afternoon I used to visit some of the sick in the town, in which effort the dear Lord considered me worthy of His help; I therefore have hope that all that was said and prayed shall not be in vain. One of the ill remembered how Senior Urlsperger, whom he had often had occasion to see, had admonished him to be won over, to relinquish himself entirely into the Lord, and to withdraw from other bad fellows, but that he had never really followed this advice. True, the Holy Spirit had worked on him seriously quite often, so that he had indeed started to follow Him, but this state had never lasted for long and had soon vanished. The dear Mrs. von N. as well had told him that she would rather see him faithfully give in to the Lord Jesus than have him bring her a bag of a thousand ducats. I then admonished him to start following now, for he still did not know how he stood with his Maker; thus, he would now be able to please his dear friends, and even more so the dear Lord Jesus, Who had shed His last drop of blood for him. His old Adam might be as strong as he wished, the Son of God is even mightier to set him free of all his sins. 1 John 8, 36.

Wednesday, the 18th of August. This morning, the locksmith Lechner brought the news that the Lord Jesus called his wife to account from this world last night. I was with her just yesterday. I prayed with her; she wanted to repeat my words but it became too painful for her. In the evening she had begun again loudly to cry out, again and again: My Jesus, My Jesus, come, etc., as she had done the previous night, and that had lasted a long time into the night, until at last she became calm and departed toward morning. At the interment I pronounced the words of the Apostle Paul, 2 Timothy 4:17, And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto His heavenly kingdom: to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. I took this opportunity to cite what she had recounted to me in her days of health, to wit, that she had heartily implored our dear Lord that He might forgive even her sins and assure her of His grace. I said that God had heard and granted this simple prayer and had granted the request for which she had prayed. When our dear Lord thereafter laid her on her sickbed, we perceived no impatience in her, nor did we notice that she was sorry to have come to Ebenezer. She wished for nothing other than to be soon with her Lord Jesus, so as to be refreshed from the fountain of the living water. I said that this had happened the previous night, when the words of the Apostle Paul had come to fulfillment in her.

Thursday, the 19th of August. Towards evening, praise God! I reached Ebenezer once more; and I have to glorify the presence of God highly on this rather arduous journey. The heat is extraordinarily great day and night, so that even the oarsmen on the journey there became ill on the way. As soon as we arrived in Savannah, I made arrangements for their care and refreshment; and, after they had rested, our dear Lord gradually restored their strength once more. As much as time and strength allowed I went through the very gladdening letters from Europe on Monday evening. Captain Thomson had delivered them to our dear Mr. /Thomas/ Jones, and I read them further on the return journey.

I have to acknowledge, praise God, that some of them quite shamed and humbled me, and some of them inspired me to new zeal and earnestness in my Christianity and my office. I do not doubt that the Lord, who knew so miraculously how to preserve these letters in Captain Thomsons quite damaged ship, will richly bless them amongst all in the congregation. May His glorious and holy name be praised for proclaiming quite noteworthy proofs of His especial paternal solicitude for our congregation, orphanage, church, school, and for our own homes. For we not only perceive it in general from the letters, but in parts from the excerpt from the foreword to the 8th Continuation: quite many worthy benefactors in Europe have designated their generous gifts to the valued Senior Urlsperger for Ebenezer, and we have been given the freedom at the same time to accept these gifts of love, which we very desperately need in these impoverished times, by means of a draft or sola-bill.

God has also inclined the hearts of the Lord Trustees to send orders to Colonel Stephens that I shall be paid 40 Sterling towards the construction expenses of my house, in the event that I be willing that after my death it be turned over not to my family but to my successor as a parish house. I have never had any other thought. Also the Lord Trustees have presented the skilled and industrious carpenter Kogler with a gift of 5 Sterling which he currently needs and which will greatly encourage him. I inquired of Colonel Stephens whether the Lord Trustees had considered anything about the bounty for our inhabitants from the year 1739,7 so that it would be paid once to them as to others in the country, as was also the desire of General Oglethorpe. He requested of me that I tell our people that this bounty or praemium for their hard work should still not be lost, but that they might have patience until the coming spring. For, he said, this time the enemies of this colony in Parliament had brought things so far that the Lord Trustees had received no money, but that they had good hope of receiving double the amount in the next session. Then they would be in a position to pay them the so-called bounty not only for the crop harvested in 1739 but also for this current year. And therefore it is an especial kindness of God that the Lord Trustees in these circumstances have appropriated the above-mentioned sum for my house and for Kogler. May He cause me and all of us herewith seriously to consider our last introductory verse: Despaireth thou the riches of His goodness and forebearance and long suffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth to repentance?

In the first prayer hour in Savannah I told the Germans gathered there of their duty from the little verse: Offer unto God thanksgiving; and pay thy vows unto the most high. They were carefully reminded thereby of the gracious rescue from the hand of the enemy, and what other kind things were bound up with it, and to recognize the fairness of Gods demand in the verse cited: Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me, and to him that ordereth his conversation aright will show the salvation of God. I would like to have added the little verse which follows (Call upon me in the day of trouble, etc.), in the following prayer hour but was prevented partly by business and partly by lack of strength. The practice of this gracious command of God should teach them the present distress in Savannah, for most of the people there are very ill and several have died, amongst whom is the English preacher, Mr. Orton. There are also now no victuals to be had, for which the poor must suffer greatly. Mr. Jones sent a large boat to Charleston to fetch food for the poor and the sick. From that one sees that God can forcefully afflict a country whose inhabitants are disobedient not only with war but in many other ways. Oh, that we might fall to our knees before Him in the name of Christ, and through true penance turn away still greater judgments!

Tuesday morning I was fetched to the orphanage in Savannah to marry a Christian captain there with a maiden brought up in the orphanage, for which reason I traveled once more to Savannah that afternoon. But on the way, because the path was long and the heat intense, I became quite tired out, so that I could not hold the admonition and prayer hour for the Germans who had gathered in the evening. For my refreshment, our generous Mr. Jones offered me everything within his capabilities. He himself had a perilously ill woman in his house. He showed me a letter in which the Lord Trustees, in very affectionate terms, write that he is to leave his duties as magistrate. He is also considering going to London between now and spring and returning here again after describing for them the status of this colony and his suggestions for its improvement. It is his intention to procure himself a sloop and to bring inexpensive goods into this country from Pennsylvania.

The principals of the orphanage and their children and family members have returned from Carolina once more, but they have to make do rather carefully with what they eat and drink, because their assistance from Europe may be lacking. For a long time we have received no letters from Mr. Whitefield, and from that they surmise that they are either lost or captured. In this matter we have the providence of God over us to glorify in that, as far as we know till now, no letters or other things directed to us have gone astray. Also, our children and people in the orphanage enjoy such advantages that they and we have great cause to thank our kind Lord for it and heartily to pray for our esteemed benefactors, who have caused a considerable amount to flow to the advancement of our little establishment for widows and orphans. We are planning to awaken ourselves publicly to a show of thanks.

Friday, the 20th of August. All the letters which we have received, although they are few, contain much material for our edification and for the praise of God, and I am right gladdened to make known and profitable the joyful and edifying contents of them to our parishioners in town and on the plantations. Our dear Lord has accompanied it always with noticeable blessings. This week I must first go through the last words of David from 2 Samuel 23 in the prayer and edification hours. We began to examine them before my journey. These words, according to the basic text, quite clearly deal with Christ, of whom all prophets, and therefore also David, have testified.8 Those words present Him to us in the most loving manner as the rock of Israel, the sovereign amongst men, the just one, the sovereign in the fear of God, as the ascension from on high, and the gentle rain to the spiritual fruitfulness of the New Testament.

It occurs to me that, if one wishes to know that the unfaithful are not blessed, and on the other hand the faithful are blessed, one need only examine in solitude their names which are attributed to them in fact and with much justification in the Scriptures. Thus, if we wish to know how much good we find in Christ, we should consider in our minds these and other glorious names so often attributed to Him in the Old and New Testament. Everything for the poor, penitent sinner; and therefore it is, as the esteemed Mr. N. writes in his very inspiring letter, senseless and horrible to oneself, when one by means of deception of a few sins, beloved in ones heart, causes oneself to be held back from this great blessedness in Christ. Our recently sent diary and the special, clear marks sketched therein of Gods care which is holding sway over us in this perilous time of war show that our dear Lord has abundantly fulfilled in us the wish of the worthy Senior Urlsperger, which he placed over his very pleasing letter with the words of the 20th Psalm, v. 12: The Lord hear thee in the day of trouble; the name of the God of Jacob defend thee; send thee help from the sanctuary, and strengthen thee out of Zion.

Also from His Zion in dear Germany, where we have so many intercessors, much aid and strength has redounded to us. I have often remembered, in the distress of the times, the intercession of the faithful who carry our Ebenezer in their hearts; and I have strengthened myself from it in the old times of need. Hence I am impressed anew by what I have read in the extract of the foreword to the 8th Continuation, where an unknown 70-year old and very dear well-wisher writes with the gift which he sent in: I think about you (the shepherds and sheep in Ebenezer) daily in my poor prayer before God, as many hundreds are doing, so that God may forever and ever multiply the good. May God Himself add His gracious amen to this. Hallelujah. Another worthy friend caused these words to flow in: The dear Salzburger shepherds and their flock in Ebenezer are always on my mind, after the depressing news.... Hopefully God will not have given them as prey to the grim lions, in which case they would be looked upon as martyrs. Oh, may the Lord protect and shelter them if indeed they still are making their pilgrimage in the wilderness. The onetime benefactor Mr. N. sends the enclosed for Ebenezer amidst heartfelt sighs for their preservation and victory over spiritual and material enemies.

If these and other well-wishers of our little band would experience how clearly and gloriously our dear Lord has heard their wishes, sighs and supplications, it would strengthen them also in their faith and encourage them also in their own need and peril to ask and look for everything from the Lord. On account of the 4th transport, our dear Senior expresses the desire of his heart thus: Oh, how anxious we were for the joyous report: The 4th transport and all goods have reached Ebenezer safely. Another sincerely minded unknown benefactor writes on 5th December (new style): May the supreme Commander over the sea now bring the 4th transport uninjured upon the waves of that sea to its resting place. Which, praise God! as the submitted reports will have shown, took place eight days thereafter, to wit, in the new style, on the 13th of December.

Our dear Senior writes briefly as follows of our flour mill: You were severely tested in the building of the mill. The Lord in the meantime will have healed the hurt. This benefaction also took place for us not long after the arrival of the 4th transport, and it is now in such a condition that, as the worthy Mr. N. judged, we have to regard it fairly as an earthly treasure for our congregation. Although the water in the river has fallen noticeably, the milling goes on vigorously day and night, and the people can now already enjoy their new corn sweetly in the kindness of God, whereas formerly hardly half of it was profitable to them without the mill. It is said indeed with justice: The works of the Lord are great, sought out of them that have pleasure therein (if they take them properly in spiritual symmetry). Oh, may the Lord cause all sincere generous wishes dedicated to Ebenezer and its unworthy shepherds and flock in letters and in contribution of loving gifts to become such a loving seed that they might have from it a blessed harvest of joy once more in their sickbeds and at the ascension of the just! For the good works of the faithful, to which their intercessions and consilia also belong, will follow them as indubitable attestata of their unalloyed faith.9

May our gracious Lord, however, grant to us the wisdom to apply all the loving gifts which were sent over this time for the orphanage, for the building of the church, into the poor box, for my house, and for the refreshment of the two of us, according to the loving intentions of our esteemed benefactors. We now have for the ill and the healthy various objecta misericordiae,10 for which a few contributions from the poor box are necessary. The people from the 4th transport have lain ill for a long time and have had their corn smothered by grass or be eaten by vermin, especially since they have not been able to keep watch at night, and the healthy have had enough to do with caring for the sick and with watching over their own crops in the field. Kranwetter wept today over the fact that the bears tore up his fine corn, amounting to about 60 bushels, before it was properly ripe. The few people on Ebenezer Creek have not had time to make a fence around their fields, hence the sows and other cattle cause them much harm. Mr. Meyer is still ill and can serve the patients little. He has his own medications but none which were sent as a gift to the community; thus, it is only fair that he should be paid for them together with his labor. Still he himself charges little, and his love for the people effects love in return.

Saturday, the 21st of August. On her death bed, the late Mrs. Lechner stipulated that after her death, her little girl Elizabetha should inherit the largest bed and all her clothing and linen. Her husband, on the other hand, who lived with her in a Christian and peaceable manner, was to have the small bed and a few specified pieces of clothing besides his own. Since he came to her quite poor, he is also very much satisfied with it. This morning, in the presence of myself and Kalcher, the things were separated from one another, and one-half the money which was present was given to the little girl. She is being taken into the orphanage, and there we will see that her fever, which appears to be hectic, will be cured. In this manner the stepfather Lechners burden will be greatly lightened, since he has fever himself every day. From her mother the little girl has miscellaneous woolen clothes which shall be sold for her benefit before the moths gobble them up.

For many weeks on her sickbed the deceased woman became like a martyr, and having already surrendered her heart to the Lord Jesus in healthy days, she was satisfied with all of His ways and departed in peace. She recounted to me once that she had held her own blessed ascension in her spirit at our Feast of the Ascension, and that at it her mood became as joyful as never before in her life. She showed me the little place where she had knelt down and acknowledged all her sinful misery to the Lord Jesus. Words and tears flowed from her quite easily, and she said she had experienced then a beautiful assurance of gracious forgiveness of her sins. As often as we came to her we were right welcome to her with the gospel, and she showed herself always desirous of the rational, pure milk, just like a newborn little child. In this instance the words of the late Pastor Breithaupt impress me anew, as found in the autobiography of the late and valued Pastor Freylinghausen, to wit: He had heard the blessed deceased saying voce quasi tonitruante11 about Ephenians 4: ... no one could ascend with Christ who had not traveled, as it were, in the deepest places of the earth through a feeling of spiritual misery and of the Reatus12 dependent thereon. Both she and her husband took displeasure in the ways and behavior of Mrs. N., with whom she became acquainted in N. and who had quite shallow teachings regarding penitence and faith. She thanked God for having saved her.

Sunday, the 22nd of August. N., who has been looked after in the orphanage in his illness till now, was not happy with the food and service and wished therefore to move with his small son to the plantations with the cobbler Ade. I granted his wish, but he soon reconsidered and remained in the orphanage, and now he is asking my pardon for being so hasty. For he now sees well that he would have settled into much unrest and inconvenience if he had moved out there. We have here not an inn but rather an orphanage, and therefore the people have to make do with whatever God grants. For the patients something special is cooked which they can tolerate; if they have the appetite they can receive their portion from the ordinary well-prepared fare. At the beginning of the afternoon divine services a great cloudburst opened up, and the wind accompanying the rain was extraordinarily strong. But God caused everything to pass away without harm, and we recognized the great majesty and power of God, who, if He wished, could throw everything together into one mass.

Monday, the 23rd of August. My dear colleague traveled away this afternoon to speak to the ill N. from Gods word, so that she may prepare herself for blessed eternity by means of penitence and faith. On account of travel to the plantations, our duties are becoming greater and more time consuming. Our horse, which we use for our visits, is becoming old and stiff since we use it so often (as do the medicus and others). Therefore we see it as a divine dispensation that amongst the current gifts we have received, through the Christian decree of some worthy benefactors, a little money for our own use, with which we can procure a good, strong horse. A friendly and unknown patron presented a Max dOr for the building of a hut on our plantation.13 We are now considering also applying it to a much needed riding horse, which costs probably 10 to 11 Sterling, now that our faithful neighbor and manager, Peter Gruber, has just died blessedly upon completing the construction. Doubtless it will all be the same to the benefactor as long as his gift is profitable to us in one way or another. May the Lord recompense everyone abundantly for everything! We would gladly go to the plantations in pursuit of our official duties on foot like the Apostles if we could remain there for a long time like them. However, because we have sedem negotiorum,14 the school and prayer hours in the town, we can remain away hardly longer than a half day from home each time.

During his wearisome fever, Cranwetter got a very bad leg which has now burst open. He was brought in with some difficulty from the plantations this morning on a horse, so that he can be bandaged daily by Mr. Meyer, who himself is still very weak. He has every possible care in the orphanage, and Kalcher, along with his wife, is being right useful to him in spiritual and physical circumstances. The daughter of the late Mrs. Lechner was also accepted amongst the orphan children. She especially needs care and looking after in her current physical weakness. May our dear Lord recompense all benefactors of the orphanage for what they have presented in money this time also for support and progress through the hands of His treasured instruments. They have now put us in a position to pay every debt of the orphanage to the last penny, and there is still a good part left over for future housekeeping. And thus the Lord Jesus also works amongst us, so that it is said: ... they were filled; and took up of the broken meat that was left ... for future need, Matthew 15:37.

The space of the orphanage is becoming rather cramped because it is used for many purposes according to our present circumstances. If our dear Lord wishes to have it enlarged, He will easily show us the means and the ways. Moreover, we cannot consider it now, since we lack carpenters. For, when they are finished with Mr. Vigeras house, with divine support they will finish off the church in town, complete the bridge, and also try to set up the church on the plantations, for which the lumber is already lying on the building site. This time, too, God has also cast a fine, loving blessing into the poorbox. At this time of current need in the congregation it will serve us very well indeed. Praise God for His superabundant grace!

Tuesday, the 24th of August. Till now Leitner has had the plantation on which our blessed mill stands; but, since we need the land near the mill greatly on account of the timber, the miller, and other things, he is ceding it and his huts completely to the mill, and he will be paid 7 10 sh. Sterling for the work he did there. He himself, however, is moving to his wifes still uncultivated plantation on the Savannah River, where he will find doubtless much new work, but also much advantage. The miller Eischberger is now getting what he wished, to wit, cleared, very good, and already fenced land; and for the sake of this advantage he will serve the congregation very inexpensively. He had set up a plantation far from the mill, but because he had to be absent from his wife and children day and night on account of the milling, it caused inconvenience on all sides. Hopefully he will be passing his own plantation on to someone. God has already granted something for payment of Leitners plantation, so that we have not needed to incur any debts. Thus He continues gradatim15 to help us. We glorify Thee, that Thou hast helped us, and in the name of our God we raise up banners.

Wednesday, the 25th of August. I paid Steiner 4 Sterling for holding school on the plantations, since it will soon be a year since he began the school. To be sure he has few children, but with them he shows great diligence and faithfulness, and he is worth the meager stipend and more. He was very satisfied with it, and received the money with heartfelt gratitude.

Thursday, the 26th of August. Yesterday evening an officer, Mr. Watkins, was expressly sent by General Oglethorpe to our plantations by water, and this morning Pichler brought him on horseback to me. He had with him a letter from Mr. /Thomas/ Jones to me. In it we were asked to have this gentleman brought on horseback in all haste to Old Ebenezer, from thence he was supposed to go with the greatest celerity to Charleston and further to Boston. He had very secret documents from General Oglethorpe to all the governors, to which he was supposed to bring back the answers himself in a period of 100 days or 14 weeks. He must never travel by water, rather by land at all times, because such secret correspondence now is much too uncertain on the sea. This officer wished neither to eat nor drink at my house; rather he hastened to Old Ebenezer, whither Pichler accompanied him. The above-mentioned officer related that the Spanish soldiers had letters of remission of their sins for seven years from the Pope if only they would conquer, kill, and burn out the heretics. They had a great mass of hand, leg, and neck irons with them in which to place their prisoners, for their victory was, in their opinion, certain already; and they wished to capture the inhabitants of this colony alive. Here too it was said: Take counsel together, and it shall come to naught; speak the word, and it shall not stand, for God is with us.

We have already celebrated our feast of thanksgiving for this notable rescue publicly at our place on the 23rd of July. It was, however, very heartening indeed to me that in General Oglethorpes Christian orders such beautiful specialia came to my attention on account of that; for, if our dear Lord strengthens my body, I wish to use them profitably once more properly with the congregation and it shall resound amongst us for joy: Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands. Serve the Lord with gladness: come before His presence with singing. Know ye that the Lord He is God: it is He that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are His people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter into His gates with thanksgiving and into His courts with praise: be thankful unto Him and bless His name. For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting; and His truth endureth to all generations. Psalms 100, also Psalms 124.

Mr. /Thomas/ Jones recounted recently how the people and soldiers in Frederica, on the Sunday when the Thanksgiving Feast was held, observed calm and good order such as he had never before seen in Frederica. There was read aloud also a very edifying prayer of thanksgiving, which Mr. Jones, a very knowledgeable person regarding edifying things, judged to be quite fine. He considered it to have been composed and finished off by General Oglethorpe himself, he said, for at the time there was neither preacher nor schoolmaster in Frederica.

Friday, the 27th of August. Because my indisposition has increased today rather than diminished, my dear colleague has had to hold the prayer hours for me in town, today as well as yesterday, and also the edification hours on the plantations. I do not notice any fever, and my spirits seem rather good enough; but in my abdomen I feel much constant pain, which stems from the large obstruction and flatulence, which we have not been able to remove thoroughly either by means of an enema nor other medications. I must place myself in the will of God, for He holds His horas & moras.16 I learn that the edifying news from N., which the worthy Mr. N. has once more passed on to us, has been blessed in many people. Such noteworthy examples of a fundamentally evangelical conversion serve us very well indeed in our official duties in order to convince our parishioners of the necessity, possibility, and sweetness of a true conversion, and that this important work of God can be effected even in the dullest and most ignorant people if only they do not wantonly strive against peace.

Saturday, the 28th of August. Last night Mrs. Scheffler, ne Krher, who had served Mr. von Zoller in Memmingen, died on Kornbergers plantation. Our dear Lord prepared her on her sickbed, as in His great mercy He had begun to do when she was healthy, for a blessed end and a consecrated journey home. As did other people in the congregation, she had had no illness other than a chronic quotidien fever, which finally wore her out. However, because Mr. N. recommends in his current letter a fundamental fever cure of a countess who is pious and experienced in arte medica (and also a great benefactress of Ebenezer),17 my dear colleague has taken it upon himself to manufacture this fever potion, and Mrs. Lackner is now using it to good effect. The Wurttemberg fever powder has been blessed in various people with quartan fever; but for some time there have been no more doses of it on hand. May God look upon our need in grace and bring about improvement in the time and in the manner when and how it is pleasing to Him. NB: Amongst us in the vernacular this powder is called the Wurttemberg powder because it was brought from there, but in fact on its box it read the Berlin fever powder. The manufacturer of it is Dr. Glockengiesser.

Sunday, the 29th of August. On this day forty persons from the congregation ate and drank of the body and blood of Christ in Holy Communion. Yesterday my dear colleague had double confessions on the plantations and here in the city, as also today he had all the errands of our office in the church alone, because my weakness is still persisting. In this he felt the presence of God abundantly. Because I was still hopeful yesterday evening that I would be able to read aloud my meditation on the beautiful gospel on the 12th Sunday after Trinity on the God-Pleasing Figure of a Penitent and Forgiven Sinner, he was not able to prepare himself for this gospel, rather in the morning he held his reading on the regular epistle 1 Corinthians 15:1, etc., and repeated the same in the afternoon.

I almost wish we always had one only one sermon and two repetition hours because the profit from them is very great, as experience shows, although those who are sated in spirit might have no real taste for it, in the manner of a few of the Ephesians, Acts 17:21. Nonetheless there is enough repetition amongst ourselves in the school and in the church, and we lack neither knowledge nor recognition. Besides the content of this gospel, my edification brought me the valuable verse: This is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, etc. Whoever confidently recognizes Christ in His amplissimo merito,18 has indeed in reality everything which is said in the beautiful hymn read aloud by my dear colleague: Was hat getan der heilige Christ, etc.

Tuesday, the 31st of August. Mr. Vigera is having the builders working vigorously at his house, but he is very ill with fever and some time ago he left my house and took up lodging in the orphanage, where he believes he will enjoy fresher air and may have more care. I told him today that these days my most pressing care was to bring my affairs concerning God and Christ completely into order; and, I said, since quite a good deal of unfaithfulness and impurity had fallen into my conscience, I had not heen able to relax through the improvement I had hoped was coming, rather I had done as the Prodigal Son and the poor publican in the recent gospel did; and now I knew from the gospel that everything had been laid aside and made good for the sake of the complete payment of and propitiation of Christ. In this manner being ill and dying turns to good. The other thing, I said, to which I had next directed my concern was my frail body; also I owed it, an instrument of the soul, love and care. For the purpose I had used the means ordained by God for my good health; and, even today, I said, I clearly perceived the good effect of it.

SEPTEMBER

Wednesday, the 1st of September. As recently mentioned, on her sick bed Mrs. Scheffler made a will so that her husband, her own sister, and the poor would share in her clothing and legacy. Today the will was executed in my presence, and we allowed Scheffler to enjoy first choice in everything and such advantages as would make him satisfied. From the part which fell to the poor, the payment for the physician and the washing was made, which came to 18 sh. Sterl.

If I can find a modicum of time I am considering translating into German the beautiful ordinance of General Oglethorpe concerning the holding of a feast of thanksgiving in Frederica, in order to be able to read it aloud to our parishioners. The story from 2 Samuel 23 today of the heroes of David also inspired me to do it. God considered these heroes, their names and deeds, worthy of being placed in the Bible so that the name of the Lord, who gave such great salvation through them (as it says several times there), might be praised by the people living then and by future generations. Why should we too not do likewise in our day, since our dear Lord has given us heroes in the Lord Trustees, the General, and others, through whom such good befalls the country? One does not commit idolatry at all thereby, since on the contrary the lack of gratitude and thanklessness towards God and His instruments is quite great in this country and in the immediate neighborhood.

The meaning of this story of heroes certainly goes further and into the New Testament, of which we will also remind people of the most important things. If it redounded to the honor of King David to have such heroes around him, heroes who through his prayer, piety, and brave example increased so, so too it doubtless redounds to the honor of our Immanuel and to the spreading of His realm, if ministers and parishioners do not remain weak under His authority, rather they become strong in the Lord and in the power of His strength. The heroes were called that because they gathered to him at the time of the persecutions by Saul, as people in need and guilt and of saddened heart, and in this sadness they were tested. How many a poor publican, in need and guilt, has become a hero in the realm of Christ, who has accomplished so much to destroy the realm of darkness. Even if they were not equally gifted, nonetheless each one contributed what he had to the honor of Christ and the furtherance of His realm.

It is said here, too, heroically: Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, etc. I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, etc., Romans 8, likewise:

Whoever has Christ as a Governor and Breaker will break up and say with Plerophoria, I hang and remain hanging to Christ as a member. Wherever my head passes through, He will take me along, too. He draws us through death, through the world, through sin and hardship; He draws us through hell, and I am ever His companion. He pushes to the hall of glory, I follow always after Him and cannot turn aside for any discomfort. No matter how much they rage, my Head will receive me, my Savior is my shield that calms all raging.1

Oh how Blessed he, who clings securely to this priceless sovereign through faith and learns from mortal heroes to keep his courage up when there are difficulties or indeed when one stumbles or even falls on the scene of battle and action. One should pull oneself together and not delay too long with lamenting and worrying, otherwise one will remain behind, and the King and his realm will be harmed by it. Falling and stumbling must serve us to practice all the more what we are enjoined to do in Jeremiah 9, 23, 24.

Thursday, the 2nd of September. In todays edification and prayer hour I was so gladdened and edified by the German translation of General Oglethorpes decree that there be a thanksgiving feast in Frederica that I became right strong in body and spirit while reading it aloud and elucidating it. When they read the specialia of our miraculous deliverance from the hands of our enemies, all of our friends in Europe will have to acknowledge, along with us, that the Lord has demonstrated to us in this country such miracles of His might, wisdom, and kindness as once occurred amongst the children of Israel in the wilderness and in Canaan. I only worry that, just as there were then great numbers of people who were blind to the miracles of God or who did not correctly profit from them or who soon forgot them, there are in this country no few of such a wicked kind, and we shall warn our people faithfully of such examples of lack of faith. Psalms 106:3, 4, 7; 8:1117, etc.

What miracles God has demonstrated in the matter of the Salzburg emigration! But they have been almost forgotten by the Salzburgers themselves, and for some they have become almost a matter of amusement. Oh, what a decline! While preaching it I remembered what one of the magistrates who fled to us from Frederica, Mr. Terry, recounted, to wit, that the Spanish ships lay at anchor in the vicinity of Frederica for some days in the finest order, and formed a half-circle. Everything appeared as if the two present governors of Havana and St. Augustine had concurred and agreed on everything for the best and most orderly, as if they had overwhelmed Fort St. George, Frederica, and everything else with no difficulty and intended to gobble up everything like a breakfast. Also at spring tide and high water in the full moon they went in the best order under sail and did not turn away from the cannon fire from our side, and put their people ashore. But here too we have this word: He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision. They wanted to lay the chains and bonds they had with them upon us, and God put a ring in their noses, Isaiah 27, 29, and drove them back full of shame and ignominy.

Today and yesterday in the prayer hour we sang with great pleasure the incomparably beautiful hymn: Wo Gott der Herr nicht bey uns wr, wenn unsre Feinde toben, etc. In the second verse it says: What human strength and wit undertake should rightly cause no fear. He sitteth on the highest peak and will reveal their plans. Though they attack most cleverly, our Lord will take another route, the outcome is in His hand. They raged greatly and came here (with their thirty-six ships) as if they wished to devour us all, their desire was to wreak havoc, God was forgotten with them. As the waves of the sea break on the shore, they stalk after our bodies and souls. May God have mercy on us! V. 4, They pursue us like heretics and thirst for our blood. V. 5, Praise and thanks be ever to God, they shall not succeed. Hallelujah, praise God from eternity to eternity. Amen!

Tuesday, the 7th of September. A man from the plantations had some things to do at my place, and, when he had accomplished them, he recounted to me in the praise of God how the Lord had especially refreshed him on the 13th Sunday after Trinity. It happened not only while taking Holy Communion, which he enjoyed with others during the day, but particularly in the afternoon at the repetition of the morning sermon. At that time He caused him especially to taste His grace, so that he was in especially good spirits because of it. If a verse was quoted or a point otherwise made, this was particularly impressive to him; but, if something new came up, it was even more impressive to him, and so forth. His heart was so uplifted by it that he went home joyfully. From this example we see that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and in eternity. For, as he saw himself as the penitent publican, whose example we observed on just that Sunday, so it was with this man. Praise the Lord, who even now shows that He has the desire to dwell also in Ebenezer. Such a soul as that is indeed worth more than the whole world. There are still rams amongst us too, many of whom (but not all) can be made into His little sheep. I showed this man how he should faithfully proceed with the grace he had received, and not cast away his courage whenever he felt the still remaining coarseness in his heart. All this should serve to humble him, and he should seek only to be discovered in Jesus. At last I prayed with him, and he took his leave joyfully.

Wednesday, the 8th of September. In the prayer hours I (Boltzius) read aloud to great numbers of Germans in Savannah those points concerning holding of a feast of thanksgiving, from the translated decrees of General Oglethorpe, and have recounted various things along with them, as I have done here in Ebenezer, to the great edification of the parishioners. I also read aloud to them the beautiful hymn: Wo Gott der Herr nicht bey uns hlt, etc., and recommended that they read diligently the 78th Psalm, with the request that they not fall into the same example of lack of faith as the ancient Israelites.

In Jeremiah 34 we read that the Jews at the time of their distress appeared to be quite pious, and did what pleased the Lord, as it says in v. 15; but, as soon as the fancy took them, and the Chaldeans, their enemies, had lifted the siege, they forgot Gods kindness and wended their old ways, indeed to their own ruin, as was prophesied to them in this chapter. Thus it went also with Jerusalem and the Jewish country after the ascension of Christ. The first time the Romans had to lift the siege and retire, and thereby the Jews only became more defiant, and laid all the more wood to their wrathful fire. But the faithful Christians meanwhile retired according to the word of Christ, Matthew 24:18 etc., to Pella, a Zoar beyond the Jordan, and they were protected. These two prayer hours were very impressive to the Germans, and we will see whether they will be grateful to our dear Lord for His saving, protecting, and beneficent kindness, with their mouths, their hearts and their demeanor. I am hopeful for a few. The Swiss Altheer, whom people here simply call the German butcher, is a great lover of the divine word.2 He not only visits our prayer hours and sermons diligently, but also holds the divine services with the Germans on the Sundays when we sing, pray and read aloud partly from the late Dr. Mllers and Ltkemanns Postille and partly from Mr. Ulrichs book of sermons.3 This will generate good profit from time to time.

Thursday, the 9th of September. Our heavenly Father has awakened the hearts of some dear benefactors in Germany who have sent some gifts of money here for the need and refreshment of myself and my dear colleague as the foreword to the 8th Continuation certifies. The most necessary thing which we could procure this time with them for the advancement of our office was a young, strong horse for visiting our parishioners on the plantations on the mill stream and on the Ebenezer Creek, likewise on our return journeys from Savannah to gain precious time taking a shorter land route from Abercorn to Ebenezer. The manager /Habersham/ of the orphanage /Bethesda/ near Savannah offered me a young, easygoing horse, which I also bought for 8 sterling since it was most highly recommended by all my good friends.

On the newly printed map of Georgia,4 just now sent to us, it appears as if the way from Savannah to Fort Argyle, Old Ebenezer, Fort Prince George or Palachacolas were paved, but for all that it is very badly arranged. No mention is made of our New Ebenezer; and Old Ebenezer, which is called simply Ebenezer, is not even placed in the proper spot on the map. Had God caused the danger from the Spaniards to gain ground so that people had had to flee (as everyone in the country had prepared to do), it would have been a miserable flight on account of the miserable paths and would have borne no comparison to the flight in Germany. No one would have been able to take along any goods, the sick would have to remain lying in bed and languishing without assistance and care, and many weak mothers and children would have forfeited their health and lives. Oh, what a benefaction the Lord rendered us by delivering us from the hand of our enemy! We are still singing and talking of this benefaction in our congregation, here in the prayer hours and out yonder in the edification hours.

I reminded the people today that, had God caused the eyes of the people in Frederica and other places to open, they would have seen, as did the boy Elisha, fiery steeds and chariots all around us, or, like the emigrant Jacob, at the approach of his hostile and grim brother Esau, they would have seen as at Mahanaim (Genesis 32:2), whole hosts of the invisible spirits which God sent to aid us; for Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation. It is Gods most blessed purpose that by means of this great deliverance every living inhabitant of this country should inherit salvation, or as it says in v. 7 of Psalms 78, which was read aloud today, That they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep His commandments.

From the reports which have now come to hand from Maryland and Pennsylvania via Charleston the inhabitants of this and the neighboring colony see how little safety would be found in other places and that they simply would have gone from the frying pan into the fire. For they are writing with certainty from there that four warlike nations5 which had always been sworn enemies of the French and friends of the English, had been drawn by machinations of the French to their side, and had begun to take action against the local English colonies in concert with them. May God make us and all wise indeed, in order properly to be concerned with the true fortress which is Christ and His invincible name.

Saturday, the 11th of September. This morning four men were busy bringing corn in from the young locksmith Schrempffs field (he is still in a constant delerium) before the vermin or the weather spoil it for him. They will receive compensation for this labor of love in some way. It will still take two men to gather everything in for his harvest. This poor person has for some time been in a well-kept chamber in the orphanage and has also had victuals and nursing from Kalcher, who has had much unclean work thereby, for which may God recompense him. We could get no other man for this purpose, because each one had to take care of his crops and the current harvest. The harmful wild animals still always necessitate a guard at night.

Some men have worked this week on the church in the city in order to complete it fully, to wit, to lay the second floor and to finish the doors and windows and whatever else is necessary. Old N.6 from Purysburg came to us this evening by boat to attend todays prayer hour and tomorrows divine services. He had once again another unexpected affliction at his house, for his wife, when she was pulling out young turnips in the field, was bitten on the finger by a small snake. The injured part was quickly incised, covered with salt, and bound tight, but because the finger became numb from it, the bandage was loosened, but with that she became deeply anxious and had severe pains in the finger and other parts of her body. After they had administered theriac to her and placed a certain kind of plaster upon it, the pains subsided, and she is now supposed to be out of danger.

Sunday, the 12th of September. On this 13th Sunday after Trinity we demonstrated from the Gospel the proof of faith through love. The words from Galatians 5:6, which we examined in the introduction, gave us the opportunity: For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but faith which worketh by love, etc. In the application we showed that no person is excepted, and therefore no one of our parishioners is excepted from the righteous practice of love towards God and hence towards his neighbor. For God Himself says to each one of them: Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. But no one loves himself in thoughts, intentions, and words, rather he seeks by deed to promote the benefit of his soul and body to the utmost of his capability; and therefore each one has to be well-disposed towards his neighbor.

I explained that God had presented the 4th transport to our old inhabitants and parishioners as an object of love and mercy in action, for till now that same transport has been very ill and has had either no harvest at all or a very poor one, only a half-year allowance which has long since run out, or provision of money, no cattle like the others. And, since, because of a lack of a grant in aid from Parliament, the Lord Trustees were not in a position at the time to do anything further for the 4th transport, our own people, to whom our dear Lord has once again given a good harvest, should show by deed that a true faith, valid before God and spontaneous through love, is being established in their hearts and souls by means of the prevailing sermon on the Gospel.

Before I went to bed last night, and after I had read over my planned meditation, a letter from the worthy Senior Urlsperger came to my attention. It had been sent to the 4th transport in London, but really directed to us, hence it was brought along. In it the worthy Senior shares, certainly at divine command and wise direction, the main contents of his sermon of last year on this gospel (Luke 10:23 etc.) to the edification of ourselves and our parishioners. Because it was so splendidly pertinent to my above purpose, I once again read aloud to the congregation in conclusion these points concerning the contents of the sermon he gave at that time. I explained to them first that I had thought at first reading that the sermon suited the well-to-do dear Augsburgers very well but that our own people might well not derive very much from it because they are still objecta misericordiœ7 while they are establishing themselves and because they need and are getting some assistance in good measure from the benefactions from Europe.

Now however I perceive, to my great pleasure, why the wisdom of God qrdained not only that this sermon be preached in Augsburg, but also that it come into our hands by means of the 4th transport. Namely, it is for the purpose of calling our inhabitants to show the suffering 4th transport in the most loving manner a merciful neighbor-love by means of our poor service, here just as it is shown so far away by the actions of the dear father of the Salzburgers, the worthy Senior; and I also see that the sick and needy people of the 4th transport (of whom various ones were present at the sermon) would be strengthened in faith and trust in His assistance by this particular example of Gods paternal care.

God, who had already cared for them for a year in advance (according to the content of the above-mentioned letter) and, by means of His paternal and wise decree, had loving thoughts for them, will indeed not abandon or neglect them in the present and future trials, if only this can bring about, by means of the sadness imposed, His salutary purpose (as we see now from the story of Davids heroes who had also been in need and guilt and heavy of heart). For, it is said, His manner was always first to humble and then afterwards to raise up. Because our dear Lord especially blessed the points read aloud in myself, my dear colleague, and others. I consider it worthwhile to enter them here as a reminder to our posterity who mayhap will inherit the Ebenezer daily register.8 This will also not be contrary to the wishes of the worthy Senior when he sees that the Lord has thus ordained it; for one should glorify Gods work magnificently.

The fourth thing (as written in the letter of 28 August 1741) is that I should send to them, or rather to their congregation for the purposes of edification as a greeting, the salient points of the compassionate love of ones neighbor, as I preached to them yesterday on the 13th Sunday after Trinity from the regular Gospel (Luke 10). I clarified each and every characteristic with the behavior of the Samaritan towards the injured person and applied each and every characteristic directly to my congregation with the constant and lasting cry: Go, and do thou likewise. I. Compassionate love of ones neighbor does not pass by the misery of that neighbor if divine providence places that same neighbor either near to ones physical eyes or at a distance from the eyes of ones spirit. II. It does not close its eyes to the trouble and misery of the neighbor but looks at it precisely. III. It does not look at the misery of the neighbor with indifferent but rather compassionate eye and heart. IV. It does not come to a stop at a distance and does not shrink from the misery of the neighbor but rather goes directly to it. V. It renders aid effectively to the neighbor to pull him out of his misery or soothe him in the midst of it. VI. It proceeds with its effective assistance fundamentally and prudently. VII. It denies its own righteousness. IX. It is untiring. Untiring in will, word, and works so that one good will follows from another, one good word from another, and one good work from another. It not only begins something but continues and completes it. X. It acts according to its ability and according to external and internal powers; it does what it does freely, willingly, and joyfully, or else it would not have the true nature of love. XI. This love also does not forget its enemies in their misery, rather it acts in this matter without regard to the person, nonetheless in such a way that it first turns its eyes to the misery of its companions in faith, especially those who not only profess their faith but who in truth have become faithful. XII. It does these things and continues to do them if no one mentions its name, even when people ascribe what it does to others or if others who have not done these things take credit themselves for them, if people slander them for their beneficence and seek to make it into sheer misdeeds. XIII. Compassionate love of ones neighbor is not governed by others who are considered either prominent and great, or intelligent and educated, or even pious; rather it is governed in accordance with Gods Word, by means of which it is governed purely through faith and through the spirit of faith, according to the need which is there, according to the miserable neighbor before it, according to the ordinary or sometimes extraordinary impetus of a properly limited, humble, unsullied heart, and according to the above circumstances in which one finds oneself at one or another time in view of ones profession, according to the freedom in which one stands, the place where and the people amongst whom one lives, the general world and particular ways which manifest themselves here and there, and the power of mind, of body and of other faculties which one has received from God. The basis upon which I built everything was the well-known little verse: Faith with God doeth well. Love will help thy neighbor if you are born of God.9

Monday, the 13th of September. A few years ago a rich widow in Purysburg County had her two children with us in the school, and they had their dwelling and care in the orphanage,10 for which she was to pay just a tolerable sum, to wit, for each boy 5 sh. sterling. After a few months she took them back, but fell behind in her payment. Now, however, since her second husband, a Frenchman, has died, she is writing to me and is offering to pay off her debt as soon as possible. Some few people from Purysburg have had their children here and had them boarded in the orphanage, but soon the small boarding fee would become too high for them, hence they took them home, and would rather let them go astray and grow up wild than apply a few monies to them. The great bulk of people care only for their own and their childrens bellies; little or nothing is applied to church, school, and proper raising. Even if there are some who are poor who otherwise might have been able to send their children to school, they prefer to use them for herding cattle, in tilling the soil, at fishing, hunting, or supervising blacks. It seems probable that most of them will gradually start leading a wild and dissolute Indian kind of life; may the Lord take pity on such a miserable thing. How lamentable things appear indeed amongst the German youth in Savannah! To be sure the children are kept at work, but not in school; their masters do not allow them this freedom. From their parents (for the most part unfaithful servants) they see nothing but disloyal services, practices, and old, sinful habits brought with them from Germany.

Wednesday, the 15th of September. Some people are now using the means which Counselor Walbaum transmitted to us a year ago and reiterated in his last letter, as a certain and fundamental cure for fever. Mr. Thilo himself has been gradually convinced that the fever is not only suppressed by it but cured, hence he has prescribed it also in the case of my spouse, who has had to drag herself around with fever for some years. We are also seeing the good effect in everyone who follows the prescribed routine, which consists of no great but rather quite easy and minor things. It requires the following: A few quarts of good wines, China de China, juniper berries and Virginia or local snake-root. For the regurgitation, however, which must come before one drinks the fever potion, Ipecacouna and cardobenedicti cooked in water to drink. This makes the cure somewhat costly and dear, to be sure, but everything for it is bought from the poor-box, so that it costs the poor nothing.

We would be happy to apply everything to this cure if only the tedious quotidian, tertian, and quartan fever could be remedied, with divine blessing. In this we have many traces of divine providence which has led us into this path of helping the people with their fever; this comforts us and causes us to hope for a good effect. Not only are the people soon losing the long-entrenched fever but also, when they use the cure, their strength increases noticeably. My dear colleague prepares everything himself according to the prescription which was sent over and is also present when the vomiting powder is taken along with those things pertinent to it, so that everything is arranged precisely according to the prescription. Thus the Lord cares for us in every particular, although sometimes we must wait a long time.

When I asked the sick cowherd N. whether he had accepted the word of penance which I had preached to him last Tuesday, he recited the first verses from the hymn: Ach Gott und Herr, wie gross und schwer, sind meine, etc. I told him that in my blindness I and many thousands had also sung that song and nonetheless had had no penitent recognition of sins. Hence, I said, it was necessary for him to put the Ten Commandments before him and, according to the instruction of each of them and as from a mirror, to recognize item by item the sins he had committed against God, to which end I myself gave him instruction. I am myself aware that he is a right coarse sinner; and, as long as he does not wish to recognize it, I cannot believe that truth is in him. For, although we do not prescribe a Popish aural confession and show the people from Gods word that a recognition of each and every sin is neither possible nor absolutely necessary, nonetheless it is a property of the great or so-called publican penance that, when their conscience is awakened, they feel the rough lumps in their conscience painfully, shake them out, discover their wounds and seek good counsel. What the late Luther said in the catechism comes about unconstrained: We should acknowledge in the presence of the one hearing confession the sins which we know and feel in our hearts, of which he specified some sins as examples.

Thursday, the 16th of September. This afternoon I visited three families on the plantations, among others Hans Flrl, whose wife, because her time of delivery has drawn near, can no longer go out or come to church. I was greatly pleased everywhere, especially at Flrls, in conversation from Gods word and prayer, and I dare hope that the Lord will have laid a lasting blessing on everyone. The people are busy with the harvest, but they are happy to lay everything down and be seated, or take such a position as if they wished to say, as Cornelius did, ... Now therefore we are all here (with children at hand or in their arms) present before God, to hear all things that are commanded thee of God. (Acts 10:33). I presented Mrs. Flrl with the late Dr. Speners Pure Milk of the Gospel,11 since she will daily read a treasure of grace and salvation and, as she certainly will do, will seek and find her nourishment in it. She is one hungry and thirsty for righteousness, as were Hanna and others who wait for deliverance in the manner of the New Testament. It is good to preach to such souls, for they themselves give one the material into ones heart and mouth.

Friday, the 17th of September. As I was about to ride to the edification hour on the plantations today I might have had a great misfortune with our new horse if our good pious Lord had not turned it away in grace. It has been used a few times in the cattle roundup at the orphanage /Bethesda/ near Savannah, where man and horse are not spared, but rather everything has to go as if on a European fox hunt, wherein many a rider tumbles from his horse and breaks neck and leg. Because I wished to be out there quickly and to arrange something before the edification hour, this horse was supposed to take me a measured gallop, but it took to making such violent leaps as I had never seen in all my days, still less experienced. Because I was now worried that it would run at such an excessive speed across our still unfinished bridge (the rails for both sides are still lacking) and that I could not be able to stop it with the poor bridlebit, I had to decide to jump down. In doing so, however, I crashed into a standing tree unexpectedly and struck my right side and shoulder so that for a little while I could not catch my breath.

Nonetheless, I felt no harm to my head from the tremendous concussion and I still had my mental faculties. I had to let the horse run; but I went back to take an antispasmodic powder (pulvis antispasmodicus) and, according to my intention, to request another horse, because I had to hold the edification hour, if the people were not to have gathered from their plantations for it in vain. (My dear colleague had business elsewhere.) I took the orphan boy along and, when I came to the area where the bridge was, the horse was standing quite properly with saddle and bridle and let itself be caught twice more by me, when through my own fault it got out of my hands the first time. The boy brought it back home.

In Gods name I rode to the gathering and the edification hour, although the journey out had been especially bitter and the journey in very bitter too. I continued to take antispasmodic powder and had the injured, swollen shoulder, which was suffused with blood, smeared with Schauer Balm.12 First I sang with my audience: Lobe den Herrn, den mchtigen Knig der Ehren, etc., and then I preached to them from the story of Davids heroes from the first part of my meditation which we had before us; and God allowed me to conclude everything well, so that the sermon was easier than the last two times. What consoled me greatly in this unfortunate occurrence was the fact that our dear God had granted me strength and joy to hold this edification hour, to which I had already looked forward in advance as to a harvest sermon. For the material appearing in the story suited our present circumstances splendidly.

Among other things we learned that the Philistines intended to destroy the harvest of the children of Israel and that according to 2 Samuel 23:11 and 1 Chronicles 12:13, they had already come so near to their lentil and barley fields that the Israelites fled and let everything drop; but the Lord delivered a great rescue by means of Shammah, who slew the Philistines and saved the field. If our dear Lord had not, through General Oglethorpe, delivered such a great rescue and driven out the Spaniards, our own and other peoples harvest in the country would certainly have been destroyed. For we know that they also had this as a goal, from their practices of several years. They have always attempted something in this colony when the crops have ripened. We were inspired to praise His name for this salvation from God which we experienced, we were strengthened also in trust in divine kindness.

As God granted Davids heroes such strength and bravery to master physical enemies and strike them to the ground, how should He not be willing to grant to all true Christians as spiritual warriors of Jesus Christ as many powers as they need to conquer their spiritual enemies?13 For Christ gained just that for us. That day14 will make it clear that many a true Christian defeated not only eight hundred spiritual enemies, as did Jas-hobeam as many physical ones, but rather many thousands, indeed the whole of Hell, by means of the right spiritual weapons, which are prayers and tears, and also drove back the physical judgments and physical enemies, as did the Legio fulminatrix of the first Christians.15 Such spiritual heroes, who are so profitable to the country and are such great benefactors to the world, are only too little regarded, like David and his people, and indeed are even sent away to the country. They are unbearable for the ungodly to look upon. Wisdom 11:11.

It is very edifying that David and his heroes, because of the malice and ingratitude of Saul and others, were not kept from doing good for the country and its inhabitants; and thus indicates a fine Christian disposition. The other thing which impressed me very much on my journey home was not only Steiners conversation, in which he attested to the blessing of this edification hour, but also the edifying attitude of two pious women under a tree whom I was able to see from my horse; I could also understand a few sounds of their prayer and conversation with God. Without doubt they thanked God for the benefaction which He manifested so obviously to us in the protection of our harvest and in preventing our flight from our enemies, about which we had suffered much anxiety. Things would have gone quite miserably had we done it.

Directly after the edification hour one of these two women told me that her husband, along with her neighbor, were having two bushels of new corn qround as a gift for me and my dear colleague, which need only be fetched from the mill. Another pious man brought me more than a bushel of very fine potatoes on his back to my house. And thus the Lord sweetened the occasion of sadness and pain for me in manifold ways. Mr. /Ludwig/ Meyer inspected the injury and found nothing broken or sprained, nonetheless the shoulder is swollen and suffused with blood, and I feel pain in other places. Hence I have entrusted myself to the surgeon, Mr. Meyer, for a cure. May God cause it to redound to my benefit! He has presented me anew with my life today, for there was not a step between me and death. We have a God who helpeth, and a Lord who saveth from death. (Psalms 68:21) Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not what good He has done unto you, who hath redeemed thy life from perdition and hath crowned thee with grace and mercy. I look upon this rescue also as a granting of the pleas of so many of the faithful for us, as we find so many assurances in the preface to the 8th Continuation. May God reward it!

Saturday, the 18th of September. Because the nights are becoming cooler, the people are beginning to slaughter their oxen and old fattened cows for meat for the winter. A few are also coming to sell, if not whole oxen, nonetheless a few good pieces, which is proving especially useful to the 4th transport, which still has few cattle. In the orphanage our kind Lord has blessed us so abundantly this year that we will get sufficient meat and lard from oxen and pigs for a whole year, as just yesterday two large oxen were slaughtered. It is indeed a special solicitude of God over us that, although other people in the country and in Carolina have lost very many cattle because of an infectious disease, nonetheless we in our place have felt not the slightest trace of it even though the most part of the horned cattle are free in the woods and even run off a long way. Some of them are searched for by our people on horseback, and some are brought into Old Ebenezer, for a small payent, by the Lord Trustees herdsmen.16

Monday, the 20th of September. Ms. N. attends the prayer hours and the public divine services on Sundays very diligently and thereby purports to desire forgiveness for her sins and to stand in the grace of God. She knows well how to talk the speech of the faithful; but when we see her deportment in dealings with her neighbor, we notice the dominion of the Old Adam, and we see the natural, not-born-again man everywhere. But she is so clever that she can paint the coarsest things in a good color and can disengage herself from them in such a way that she is not easy to apprehend and convince. We admonished her yesterday about the path and attitude of Ananias and Sephira. I worry that the country will spew out such people sooner or later.

Tuesday, the 21st of September. Yesterday and last night Flrls wife was in very difficult labor, at which the righteous Mrs. Bacher was used as midwife; but, because she was unable either to advise or assist in the troublesome circumstances of the mother and the still unborn child, at night we had to fetch Ms. N. out to us. She performed very fine services. This woman is a very skilled and practiced midwife and knows how to administer medication for female circumstances very well. Likewise David, in his retinue of heroes, had various ones who were not the best, as we observed in the story from 2 Samuel 23 in the prayer hour. Nonetheless they rendered him and the Israelites good services, and for that reason he bore them and worked on them through the Word of God and by good example, although otherwise he liked to have pious servants, according to the content of the 101st Psalm.

We completed this story of the heroes today, and during it just yesterday and today we remembered, to His praise, a few right important benefactions of God which we have experienced in this country. For example, God gives us a safe river, fountain, and well water in abundance, for refreshing ourselves in healthy and sick days, whereas David and others did not have it so well in the cave of Adullah during his exile and concurrent high fever. What a great benefaction it is we experienced not only on our shipboard journey, with the lack of water, but we also would have experienced it even more with our little children if we had had to flee before our enemies. The full bottles, as with Hagar, Genesis 21:15, would soon have become empty. N.B. that we have no lions here, also that the other rapacious animals such as bears and wolves are so timid that they flee before people, and this is likewise a great benefaction in this desolate country.

In the Lord Trustees of the highly praiseworthy Society in London, in General Oglethorpe, in so many brave ministers and other benefactors in Europe, our Ebenezer has nothing but heroes, who through their prayer, good counsel, and benefactions have turned so much harm away and so much well-being to us that we must fairly praise the name of the Lord because of them, pray for them, and demonstrate in words and actions that we are grateful to them. For if anyone rewards good with evil (as King Saul and many Israelites did with David and as was done in the New Testament with Christ and His Apostles), evil will not leave his house. Our dear Lord has caused us more than once to find from this story quite many fine prefigurations of persons who have their loving fulfillment in Christ and the new economy.17 It is a testimony of the great benefaction and kindness of God that He caused such a famous fountain to spring up in an otherwise obscure Bethlehem, not in a corner or courtyard of a private citizen but in a public place, standing open to everyone, to wit, beneath the gate thereof, from which even the famous Jerusalem and other places, as is known amongst the scholars, were able to take refreshment.

This signifies that the Messiah would be born in that very place, He for whom many prophets, kings, and righteous persons have thirsted, and in Him would such a fountain of life come up that not only could all sin and impurity be effaced but also many poor sinners languishing under the law would find their single and proper refreshment. Zecharia 13:1: As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, etc.... When shall I come and appear before God? in which words dear David certainly sighed for the future in which the Messiah would come incarnate. Now we say: Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, etc.... And out of His fullness have all we received, and grace for grace. By means of such faithful acceptance one becomes a true hero, John 7:37, 38.

Wednesday, the 22nd of September. Today during the morning N.N. and his wife showed me a new tile oven which his wife had set up with her own hands almost as tidily as a mason. But if she is to grasp and keep a good verse from the Bible or an item from the catechism or experience the effect of penitence and faith upon her soul, then she lacks memory and powers of body and mind, and we get excuses everywhere. Recently she once more caused great vexation by cursing and unChristian scolding, from which she could palpably grasp that still she had no faith and has not become a new creature, although she acted for some time quietly, honestly, and obligingly, provided there were no provocations. Such blind people either consider such works of the flesh to be sins of weakness which cling to Christians, or even if they have to consider them to be outbreaks of a prevailing lack of faith and as signs of an unaltered heart, nonetheless they are still of the opinion that they had had a better foundation but had fallen from grace. Because they allow themselves to be somewhat sorry and improve themselves, this too is supposed to be called penitence, as if they were once more standing in a state of grace, from which they (in their opinion) once more may fall on the occasion of hard provocation, and into which they may enter once more. This is a right terrible error. Some consider it penance and conversion if in the evening they ask God for forgiveness for their sins and whatever else they can think of. Oh! What a tight corner we get into with such people, over whom we are placed as watchmen according to Ezekiel 3.

On my way home a woman recounted to me with great pleasure how our dear Lord had shown her the means and ways to reconcile herself with N. in a right warm and sisterly manner, amidst prayers and tears, and to dispense with all the old misunderstanding and mistrust. This renewed Christian friendship means much to me and others who know the circumstances. She regretted her hard and haughty heart deeply, which always wanted to be right in the end and not humble; and she was very pleased by my well-meant counsel in view of future events. The Kingdom of God amongst us will profit greatly from this new coupling of hearts; for their mutual prayer to God, for themselves, the congregation, orphanage, benefactors, all Christendom, and all men is very ardent. This, too, clarifies for me the stories of the heroes which we have been contemplating. May the Lord trample further Satan beneath our feet in the near future.

Friday, the 24th of September. Because of my still uncured arm and a few bodily weaknesses I cannot do anything more than ride to the plantations on Tuesdays and Fridays and cannot even visit people in the city, and therefore I have begun quietly to read the late Prof. Franckes Collegium Pastorale, which was printed in Halle last year.18 It was sent to us amongst other beautiful books a short time ago; I shall edify myself from it both in my Christianity and in my office. I glorify the Lord for this undeserved benefaction which He presented to me in the form of this exceptionally beautiful book, for I find in it oil and wine for my wounds, and I have desired to read such a work which goes to the main point without circumlocution and prolixity. When one has official duties and allows the concerns of the souls of the adults and children to lie upon ones heart for the deliverance of ones own soul, one finds so much to do that one cannot catch up in reading long books. However, enough time turns up to go through an abridged treatise, which can be done bit by bit. In it the heart of a minister who would like to become a faithful and wise householder can find proper nourishment. On account of the great blessing which, through Gods mercy, I find in this writing, I wish that it would come into the hands not only of students of theology but also of beginning and other preachers who would like to be useful to their Lord and become more and more faithful and also remain so.

Monday, the 27th of September. Today a strong, right cold west wind came up which would soon bring us night frost if it were to keep up, although one could hardly have expected it of this country, which lies south of the 32nd parallel. Because our dear Lord has given continually dry weather, our people have had the most suitable time to gather in their physical blessing in the field, as they have done faithfully; and they are still busy with beans, rice, squash, and also corn, bringing it in completely. The beans grow uncommonly abundantly, and if one should take a mind to plant a single one apart from the others and later count the beans which grew from it, one could not marvel enough at the great increase together with the wisdom, kindness, and omnipotence of God.

Single beans, or also a type of Indian red pea that is bigger than the German sugar peas, are thrown into a hole between the Indian corn, which is planted four feet from one another. At first they grow somewhat slowly because the corn seems to draw some nourishment out of the ground and also casts shadows. However, when the corn is ripe and bent down, they grow quickly and run up the half-bent down corn stalk as if on an adminiculum,19 and cover over the earth and the corn as if with a green tapestry. When the first ones have become ripe, the subsequent ones blossom on their tendrils or the straw and become ripe by the time the frost comes and kills the remaining blossoms, and the young shoots or hulls of the beans wither and are used for cattle fodder.

Men pay no attention to the miraculous creatures of birds and flowers because they always have them before their eyes and are accustomed to them, so that the Lord must expressly direct them thereto and say: Behold the fowls of the air, consider the lilies of the field. It is the same with these and other crops, and one should, as an intelligent, and even more as a Christian person, encourage oneself diligently to view the miracles in nature, to the recognition and honor of the wisdom, kindness, and omnipotence of the Creator, and also accustom the children to them during their early days.20 That would be a profitable and blessed stroll in Gods garden. Gathering in all the local beans and peas is somewhat tiresome because they do not all ripen simultaneously, and, unlike the peas in Europe, cannot be mown with or gathered in with the straw. Nonetheless the trouble is worth it because beans and hulls, the former for people and the latter for cattle, can be used very profitably, because horses and cattle like eating the hulls or shells alone almost as much as the beans or corn. The deer also eat up not only the green, young bean stalks but also green and dry beans just as quickly as they grow if they are not kept away. The bears, squirrels, and other animals dangerous to the corn leave those things unharmed.

Thursday, the 30th of September. I called on a pious man whom I found somewhat downcast. In the last edification hour he understood from the beginning of the 24th chapter of 2 Samuel and other places in the Scripture that we have to judge our sins not according to reason and the opinion of other men but rather according to the Holy Writ, if we do not wish to err and come to harm. For we showed then what judgment the Holy Writ passes on sins which occur in thoughts, desires, gestures, words, and actions, which, if one considers it properly and believes such judgments an unerring word of God, should drive out ones frivolity and self-certainty. There are things which one can call per se indifferent, innocent, and neither good nor bad, as with David the reckoning of the people here; but if they are acted upon and brought to fruition they are not indifferent, they are noted and judged, as the person who does them is constituted.

A converted man is a good tree and brings forth good fruit so that all his actions, even the smallest, such as measuring corn, beans, and rice, counting squash, etc., are not only good but are also a veritable service to God.21 On the other hand an unconverted man, or one who lets his flesh dominate him once more, is and becomes a bad tree which bears nothing but bad fruit. His best works are without faith, as the principio bonarum actionum solendida vitia,22 as the late Luther expressed it. To the pure, everything is pure, but to the impure and unfaithful nothing is pure, Titus 1:15, cf. Matthew 6:22, 23, at which not just the parishioners current, but also their former lives in patria, in Germany, on the journey, and here in this country were enumerated, and the verses of Matthew 12:3537 and I Corinthians 4:5 were laid upon their consciences. With this, I specified to this sin-burdened man the recently contemplated story of the free and open fountain beneath the gate at Bethlehem, which was a splendid model for Christ, with whom counsel and comfort for penitent sinners are to be found. He well knew how great and dear Christ would become to him if God would disclose his sins and make all his own good deeds as nothing, and would cast him into the mire; on the other hand he knew that Christ, with His precious merit, is paid little heed if one does not feel sin in ones conscience, and the wrath that is deserved with it.

OCTOBER

Friday, the 1st of October. In todays edification hour on the plantations the abomination of drunkenness was pointed out, and we showed the parishioners what their behavior with regard to such vexatious persons should be, which we hope will make a good impression on the sinners and others. Today I warned my parishioners about the sins of Davids subjects, over which the wrath of the Lord (as is expressed fearsomely in 2 Samuel 24:1) was once more kindled. To be sure, they are not specified; but we may assume from other places in the stories and from the Psalms of David themselves that it happened under the fortunate regime of David, with the enjoyment of the peace they had wished for, and the well established divine services, and so many physical benefactions in Jerusalem and in the entire country. As it says in Ezekiel 16:49, 50: Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride and fullness of bread [when people went lustily for eating, drinking, fancy clothing, etc.] and abundance of idleness, etc. What then do we have to expect in this country, in which the abominations of Sodom and Jerusalem are in full fashion, if the Lord shall see into them (as it says in loc cit.). It says here, too, from Isaiah 1:9: Except the Lord of hosts had left to us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, etc. May the Lord increase and strengthen His little band so that by means of prayer it may place itself in the breach and make itself into a rampart.

Saturday, the 2nd of October. The good Christian Riedelsperger has been for some time now somewhat downcast over a certain matter which concerns his person and marriage. But today I found that he is taking his heart in faith and patience and is becoming more comforted, as I also laid before him a few reasons which can dispel completely all burdensome thoughts like a fog. What the Apostle James said of other sick persons who believe in Jesus is also pertinent to this righteous Riedelsperger: The prayer of faith shall save the sick. For, since no remedies took effect, he, and others with him, prayed all the more in faith, which God, contrary to his and others expectations, has vouchsafed a clear and gracious hearing. He is becoming stronger in his limbs every day and is getting his proper speech once more, which heretofore had been very labored. To be sure he has not been able to plant anything because he has been ill a very long time and also has to give a great deal of money for his cure, nonetheless he is comforted and is experiencing what the Lord says: Take therefore no thought for the morrow, for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. For the heavenly Father causes something to fall to him every day, so that he is advancing further than others. In cattle breeding he has much good fortune and blessing; and, since he has served the orphanage in quite many ways and continues to serve it, his cattle go to the orphanages cowpen and our dear Lord recompenses him also, with the good success of his horned cattle, for the impartial love he has shown the orphanage. Because the doctors fee is very high for him we have designated one sterl. from the poor-box for his help. With him it is applied in the way that our benefactors would wish.

Monday, the 4th of October. This afternoon I visited Hans Flrls wife. In our conversation she came to the miraculous ways upon which our dear Lord led her to escape from popery and to bring her to the Lutheran doctrine. In her it is fulfilled that the Kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed and leaven: it commences from a small state and thereafter spreads right gloriously in the soul, where she is being made faithful. Several others also gathered here who united with me in prayer and praise of God.

On Saturday our dear Pastor Mhlenberg arrived in Savannah; he rested on Sunday. He has accepted a calling to the office of minister in Pennsylvania; and today he came by water via Abercorn. His things are coming up in a large boat via Purysburg with a Salzburger family who had previously been in Cadzant in Seeland. He has brought along letters from the most praiseworthy Society and from Court Chaplain Ziegenhagen. The reports from Prussia and the massive silver and heavily gilded communion chalice and those items which a Christian midwife in H. has sent were also brought along, for which may our dear Lord be humbly praised. We are somewhat troubled that in some long time no letters with the diary have arrived in London, since we wrote quite often at the end of last year and in this current one, and each time appended a portion of the journal. May the Lord set right what is floating around astray or seems to be lost. Pastor Mhlenberg has taken the path here because Court Chaplain Ziegenhagen finds it to be a good thing for me to accompany him to Pennsylvania, and according to the grace which God bestows, that I should myself help to make the first arrangements. May God convince me of His gracious and pleasing will.

We are very fond of our dear Mr. Mhlenberg and with him we help to praise God for His miraculous care which he enjoyed upon the sea during the very long, arduous journey. On board ship they found themselves with the most extreme lack of water; and, since they were still far at sea, our dear Lord, upon their fervent prayer, granted a strong east wind which brought them most quickly to the coasts of Carolina. Because the wind became contrary they had to float around for a week after drinking the water to the last drop, God arranged for two English warships to come to them and to present them with three barrels of water, by which they were all gladdened and refreshed. Moreover, Mr. Mhlenberg is sound and in good possession of his powers, which is a good thing because he must hasten off on account of the winter, when no sloops go to Pennsylvania.

Tuesday, the 5th of October. This morning God granted me a very pleasurable hour in the gathering on the plantations, and I certainly believe that the blessing thereon extended not only to me but also to my parishioners.

After the edification hour we had to bury Ruprecht Zittrauers youngest little son. He had died the previous night. At the grave I spoke of how death in the world makes great and painful separation amongst the best and dearest friends, as married couples, parents, and children are. I said, however, that there was a day of complete and eternal restitution coming when that which stands in the New Testament as a model will come to pass completely and forever: The Lord gave the awakened child and only son once more to his mother. What joy it is here, when good friends separated from one another meet once more. But what will such an eternal and completely sinless reunion of the blessed in the resurrection of the just bring in the way of joy and blessedness? If our own are to be given to us once more and if we are to come together with them forever, our most loving occupation in this our time of grace would have to be to help to lead our own to Christ, through penitence and faith; and nothing should lie closer to our hearts than their true salvation, for besides our own selves we can take along nothing but our children into eternity, and those we call our own.

Wednesday, the 6th of October. Young [Paul] Mller, the clockmakers son, indicated to me at my house that, with the assent of his parents and from his own inclination, he desired to marry the milkmaid in the orphanage, Apollonia Kreder, a quiet, diligent, and Christian person, and that he wished today to be betrothed to her. He invited me to his parents house to bless their intention with the Word of God and prayer, which I did forthwith; and the Word of God and the prayer brought about much emotion and edification amongst them all. The marriage itself will still not take place so soon; nonetheless, since they surmise that I am traveling away, they wished to announce their intention to me, and ask the blessing of the Lord through my office.

Friday, the 8th of October. Today in the edification hour on the plantations and in the prayer hour in the city Pastor Mhlenberg gave a sermon from Gods word to the congregation. May the Lord bless it in everyone. The Salzburger family who came with Pastor Mhlenberg, to wit, the parents and three small girls, arrived here towards evening; and for their care they were put into the orphanage, for which they showed much gratitude. My dear colleague had traveled to Savannah to have them brought here with our people, since nothing came of Colonel Stephens order for it which he had given to other people in Savannah.1

Sunday, the 10th of October. This day has been a right remarkable and blessed day for us: through His holy word and through holy communion, which sixty-six persons enjoyed with us, our dear Lord has shown us so much good that in blessed eternity we cannot thank Him enough for it. Dear Pastor Mhlenberg was amongst the communicants and was right heartily inspired and refreshed. It is a year since our church was dedicated, and we reminded our parishioners of the many spiritual benefactions God has shown them in this church in the year just past, and we roused ourselves with them to His praise. After the afternoon catechisation I took my leave of the congregation in prayer, on account of tomorrows early departure. The leave-taking took place not without tender emotions on both sides. In such circumstances it is obvious how fond people are of one another through the grace of God. Prior to the prayer I reminded them of a few points they were to observe during my absence so that the double burden which my dear colleague now had to carry would be lightened and good order would be promoted and maintained. We bound ourselves diligently to pray for one another, which will certainly have great profit.2

Monday, the 11th of October. It was determined that today was the day for the departure of my dear and worthy colleague and Mr. Mhlenberg to take place, but that did not happen until evening. In the meantime the day was spent with much blessing, and many things were discussed which were necessary for me to know in my office. My dear colleague has experienced many things from which he realized how the Lord had blessed yesterdays recitation. When it came time to leave, my dear colleague took leave of us in prayer. Many of our parishioners were present, who, along with many others, accompanied him and Pastor Mhlenberg to the water, where once more we took leave of one another, and commended them to the Lord. Pastor Mhlenberg sang at the departure: So let us follow our dear Lord with body and soul and stand with Him cheerfully, comforted, and glady in suffering. For he who does not struggle will not carry off the crown of everlasting life.3

There was great emotion amongst us all. I hope the Lord will bring us together again in blessing. We have never had such a blessed period in Ebenezer. For the Lord has never manifested such a benefaction to us: He led to us one of our dear friends in Germany, who otherwise had already loved us in spirit, whom we indeed have been able to look upon as a true friend and brother in Christ. Now I hope that we will be united even better and that God will grant the grace for a congregation in Pennsylvania to be gathered by the preaching of the Gospel, and for us to be one heart and one soul with it. Yesterday afternoon we treated the epistle pertinent to the occasion. May the Lord grant that it come to that end, for the sake of His love, and for the glorification of His name. Amen.

Tuesday, the 12th of October. Today God gave me the grace to preach Jesus Christ to my parishioners on the plantations and in the city. I preached Him as a high priest who is holy, innocent, unsullied, separated from the sinners, and higher than Heaven itself. To this end the words of the Lord Jesus gave me the opportunity, John 8: Who among you convicteth me of sin? Thus was the Lord Jesus able to proceed and inquire with great joy; but we, however, must say of ourselves something quite different, to wit, what is written in Romans 3:23. But whoever recognizes this penitently and causes himself to be brought to faith in this innocent Jesus, that person will be made pure of all sins through His blood, all of his sins will be forgiven, sin will also not, therefore, hold sway over him, and he can now proceed and ask: Who will condemn? For, whether or not sin rages and blusters in him often, nonetheless it is said of those who are and who remain in Christ and who do not follow after the flesh but after the spirit, that there will be no damnation amongst them.

Wednesday, the 13th of October. In the afternoon I went to the plantations to visit some people. On my way I was pleased to see the field still garnished and decorated with all kinds of beautiful flowers. It would almost look as it does in spring, if the leaves on the bushes and trees were not beginning to turn yellow. I was going especially to the person to whom my dear colleague had lent, for her edification, the late Speners Pure Milk of the Gospel, since she had not been able for some weeks to be at the divine services. She told me that someone had recounted something from yesterdays edification hour, at which point I showed her still more of the good things I had said of my Savior; she was indeed gladdened to hear it. She only regretted, she said, that she could not put it properly to use, and it went thus for her also with the observance of the glorious benefactions of God as they are presented in the above-mentioned book. She would often read through many a benefaction, she said, but she still could not properly make it her own, at which point I showed her that by the grace of God she belonged amongst the poor in spirit, of whom the Lord Jesus said: Theirs is the kingdom of heaven. I said she must not look to feelings so much but rather simply keep faith in His word of promise. Oh, may the Lord take further pity on this person, as He has already done, and strengthen her mightily in faith.

Thursday, the 14th of October. This afternoon I visited some neighbors who were in their sickbeds. The one is Peter Reiter, whom for a year the Lord has drawn to Himself by means of a hard test in that He caused him to become lame because a bear fell on him from a tree. He told me that a few days ago he had wished to die joyfully but now he found himself otherwise inclined. I told him, however that he must not look to feelings but rather keep faith in Christ; Christ was completely his, and what he lacked, I said, he should seek in Christ. The other person was Mrs. Crause, and she can also say: Now Thou hast accepted me as I came imploring to thee. My heart has felt that Thy gaze of mercy has touched it.4 This person needed to hear just that which I told the former one.

Friday, the 15th of October. In todays edification hour on the plantations I read aloud the letters of my dear colleague. With what came from Thomas Stephens I reminded the parishioners to consider what a sin it was to place oneself in opposition to the authorities, and I said that each one of them should guard against taking part in such a sin.5 At the same time I indicated publicly on this occasion what I had said to the miller in private, to wit, he had asked if he could grind his flour on Sundays because the people needed flour. To which I answered that it was contrary to the express ordinance of God concerning keeping the Sabbath holy. I said that, if we turned our minds to it, it would be an easy thing for him to keep the mill running longer, as he had shown us frequently. For, although it is quite dry in the country on account of the lack of rain, the mill is nonetheless running quite well and it has had to stop for only a few days. Indeed, if it pleased our dear Lord to cause the water once more to fall, we would still have done His will, and it would be an easy thing for Him, after we had borne the trial, to help us once more.

Saturday, the 16th of October. When I was at the millers yesterday I saw their little child lying in the cradle in great pain. It was a real picture of misery, so that one could recognize to a certain degree how much heartbreak has come into the world through sin. Already then, when I was in their hut and afterwards in the edification hour, I asked the Lord if He might absolve us from the great pains, and thus it also happened. When the prayer hour was over someone came to me and brought me the report that it had happened; they asked whether I might come out and help to bury the child, which also took place.

I caused myself and other people at the interment to profit from the words: His pain, sorrow, and misery have come to a blessed end. He has borne Christs yoke. He has died and still lives.6 May the Lord be praised for granting our prayer and supplication, may He cause us all willingly to bear the yoke of Christ; thus we shall be as favored as this child was, and all faithful imitators of Christ.

Monday, the 18th of October. Because our dear Lord gave me strength yesterday evening, I held a prayer hour in which, prior to the prayer, I made a start at reading something aloud from Dr. Franckes, Glaucha Memorial Booklet,7 in which it is my intention to progress therein every Sunday, if the Lord grants me the power and life to do it. This morning a woman concerned about her soul came to me and recounted how, in yesterdays reading, it came anew into her conscience that she had spent her Sundays so badly in her younger years. Indeed, she said concerning the matter, I am too sinful. It appears to me that there is no one as sinful as I. I preached Christ anew to her and told her she should not hold herself back from Him through her feeling for her sins.

Wednesday, the 20th of October. This afternoon a woman, one of the old inhabitants, came to me. She has often wished to tell me what God has done in her soul, but she has never had the right opportunity for it, hence she did it today. She is quite simple, but was able to say so much that our dear Lord disclosed to her her corruption. At that point she was sorely tempted;8 but, she said, she prayed all the more zealously and diligently, and finally our dear Lord gave her a light heart. When these and like circumstances which she experienced then appeared in the sermons, they became for her living recollections. Yes, she said, I have indeed experienced that all external suffering is nothing compared to inner temptation. The first powerful awakening happened in the old church hut, when she heard my dear colleagues sermon that one must properly come to see and know Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit.

Thursday, the 21st of October. At noontime a woman was with me who was still the same, but I cannot believe it. She knows well how to justify herself in everything. I did not speak much with her, rather I more often kept quiet. When she was on the point of going away, I told her the cause, to wit, that she was one of those who say: I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing. The Lord Jesus says, however, ... And knoweth not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked. She said she knew as much but that God had shown her grace. But I replied briefly that it might well be that Gods preliminary grace was tapping at her and that she was feeling it, but that it had not yet come to a change of heart and had not yet broken her old ways of Adam. There are such people as she is, who are satisfied when they notice that God is beginning to work powerfully upon them; but they do not proceed faithfully with the preliminary grace. Rather they believe that they already have Christianity and therefore they cause it to come no further; they cause sin to hold sway over themselves and consider such a thing to be weakness. This is also the reason I do not often visit this person. I can accomplish nothing with her. She thinks and remains convinced that she is converted, and I cannot concede her such a thing. Hence all discussion is in vain. Such people are glad to hear something good; but, when it comes to the proper point of extirpating the old Adam, then it is at an end. May the Lord take pity on such persons and open their eyes.

Peter Reiter has gotten tertian fever. Our dear Lord has given him to recognize with it all the more how miserable this life is, and he longs more for eternal peace. In the meantime he wishes nonetheless to use external means and let our dear Lord reign however He wishes to bless the matter. The honest Klocker, his neighbor, has also used the fever cure; the fever left him, but his diarrhea is very severe. In the meantime he was comforted in the Lord and is satisfied whether the Lord wishes him to live or die. He stands firmly in the grace of God and thanks his God many times for the treasured work of His redemption. He is indeed quite satisfied (as he himself expressed it), that our dear Lord is flogging him. If he should die, the Lord would care for his children; if he should remain living longer, he would like to apply all his diligence to them so that they come to a recognition of God. Especially on the eldest girl he wishes to spare no diligence; she can comprehend practically nothing. Finally he asked me to pray with him, and admonished his two girls that they should pray along with us. Amongst other expressions he used this one: It was not good, he said, if a person suddenly died off, it was better if prior to that he were to suffer and be ill, because then he would have the opportunity better to be prepared for blessed eternity.

Friday, the 22nd of October. Our dear Lord has caused Brandner to become very ill, nonetheless an improvement has begun once more. His fever clot inconveniences him greatly;9 hence, when he is lying down, he has to turn so that it does not cause him too much pain. Already in Salzburg our dear Lord worked powerfully on him. The most prominent amongst the Lutherans advised that each person in those circumstances diligently pray for himself so that the Lord might show what to do and what the best thing would be. He followed this advice also and prayed diligently. But our dear Lord then disclosed to him his corruption very clearly, so that he was able to say no other prayers but the pater noster. He said the anxiety of his heart had been very great. Afterwards, when he came to Lindau, these circumstances lasted on for two years, and he had not the courage to disclose them to his ministers; yet afterwards it became somewhat easier. Now he was lamenting bitterly over his lack of faith. I told him for what reason our dear Lord granted him to recognize this. Of Peter Reiter he told me that about three weeks ago he had gone home from church with him and that he, the former, had said to him: Today indeed we have heard something good once more; it appears to me that my life in the world will be very short, and I will be happy to die. When I was with this Peter yesterday, he told me that in his circumstances the words he had often heard occurred to him: I hang and remain hanging to Christ as a member. Wherever my head has passed through, he will take me along, too.10 Oh, said Brandner, what a person this Peter was heretofore, and how Gods grace has now turned him around. I added: Hallelujah!

Saturday, the 23rd of October. Martin Herzog told me today that he was now coming upon the proper sign for true Christianity: his reading and listening till now had not helped him, he said, because he did not pray to the Holy Spirit. But now that he is doing it, he said, things are quite different with him; he only wishes that he might be faithful. I told him that the Lord Jesus wished to be entirely his. With him one could receive everything, and I believed that in him, too, the works of God would also become apparent. I am, said he, forty-two years old, and he said he was now beginning to come to the proper sign. Oh, what an abundance of patience and forebearance of God this is! This happened in passing as I met him along with the new Salzburger from Cadzand at work and discussed it with him briefly.

Thursday, the 28th of October. This morning at 8 oclock our boat, which had carried my dear colleague and Pastor Mhlenberg to Charleston, arrived at our place in good condition. My dear colleague is also returning again because there had been no opportunity to go to Pennsylvania, and to stay long in Charleston costs much money, hence we expect him shortly.

Friday, the 29th of October. After the prayer hour our kind Lord brought my dear colleague along with Kalcher from Charleston via Old Ebenezer, on land, back to us again.11 Praise the Lord for everything He did for them and for us while we were separated. His kindness is great and manifold. Hallelujah!

Saturday, the 30th of October. Praise God! Who vouchsafed me (Boltzius) once more to see my dear colleague and our entire congregation in blessing. I was welcomed most lovingly by them, and the joy at our unexpected meeting and reunion was very great. What will take place in Heaven when we shall again meet with the dear parishioners who have preceded us and other true members in Christ? I put my travel diary in order because I must share its contents and the way the Lord led me on this pilgrimage with our congregation and our friends in Europe. I wish to incorporate it into this diary, and therefore I am turning back to that time on the 12th of October when I arrived in Savannah from Ebenezer.

Sunday, the 31st of October. My dear colleague12 had the reading on the proper gospel on the 20th Sunday after Trinity, for which he had prepared prior to my return, and thus I and my parishioners profited in the afternoon by the proper epistolic section, and he recounted towards the end of the hour a few points concerning the kind providence of God which held sway over me and my traveling companions, so that that which stands in todays epistle may be brought in praxim by all of us: Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. I am attesting publicly my joy that the heavenly Father, for the sake of Christ, has granted the prayers of the congregation for us travelers and our prayer for those members of the congregation left behind, both sound and sick, and for granting my wish that I made known among other things to the parishioners, that no one in my absence might make the duties of my dear colleague difficult and cause me sadness. I found everything in good order, and the Lord bestowed much strength, joyfulness, and blessing on my dear colleague for the conduct of his duties. In the evening we held a prayer hour wherein we praised our dear Lord for all the spiritual and physical benefactions He has shown us, most especially in the many advantages in Ebenezer above so many other people in this country and in Carolina. We have seen them anew with our eyes and heard them with our ears. We prayed for the miserable people: May God convert the sinful world that considers itself so fortunate while hastening to hell.

NOVEMBER

Monday, the 1st of November. Today we were busy delivering to the people of our place, for payment, those things which were purchased for them in Charleston for a rather inexpensive price; every single one had a choice and selection.

Wednesday, the 3rd of November. The sick Klocker cares only for Jesus and, without Him, considers himself a worm worthy of damnation. He mentioned to me a particular sin which he had already acknowledged to my dear colleague, and requested that a report be made of it to Senior Riesch, because it would be to his advantage. He complained that the lack of loyalty among the servants in the Empire1 was very great; I have heard this song of lamentation already from several people.

Thursday, the 4th of November. This evening I received a letter via Purysburg from Pastor Mhlenberg. In it he reported that our taking leave of one another on Sunday had indeed left him somewhat downcast, but that he recognized therein also the will of the Heavenly Father.

Friday, the 5th of November. Today we held a harvest sermon, my dear colleague on the plantation and I in town, and inspired ourselves and the congregation to the praise of God for the harvest we had received so abundantly and for other spiritual and physical benefactions. The little verse from last Sundays epistle (Ephesians 5:20), which we both had as text, gave us right fine material for it: ... Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, ... Mr. David Zblin had come to us yesterday from Purysburg; and it was his and our pleasure to glorify our dear Lord for the blessed harvest. This year we had especially great cause to praise our merciful God; for He had not only granted a fruitful year and bestowed constantly dry weather for the gathering of the crops, but also drove away the Spaniards in a miraculous manner in midsummer when the corn was just beginning to ripen. They otherwise might have laid waste our harvest and driven us quite away. In the evening prayer hour we briefly repeated the morning sermon catechismically with the children. Praise God, who brought me back safely from Charleston and who deigned to allow me also to hold this harvest sermon, in order to inspire me and to unite me with my parishioners in praise of God. Some people from the 4th transport who were kept from properly tilling their fields because of their illness, and hence had little or indeed no harvest, were directed to do herewith as Job did: The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord. We should be thankful to God for everything and in everything, thus also for crosses and trials. We are also bound to pray for our neighbor and to praise God for His kindness, and therefore such persons can also celebrate a harvest and thanksgiving feast. The harvest which we had this time consisted of the following:




Saturday, the 6th of November. This afternoon when we were sitting down to eat, with my two guests Mr. Zbli from Purysburg and Mr. Vigera, a man from Old Ebenezer brought me a pleasing letter from Mr. Verelst from London, at which I was reminded of the beautiful verse from Psalm 50: Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me: and to him that ordereth his conversation aright will I shew the salvation of God. Yesterday on account of the harvest we had received we were inspired to praise God.

We began to write down the number of bushels of the crops we had gathered in the hope that this year our laborers would receive the bounty or some money from the Lord Trustes as encouragement to new industriousness. In the letter I received from Mr. Verelst he gave me the joyful news that the Lord Trustees had resolved for certain to pay our inhabitants the bounty or corn shilling from 1739. If the current money suffices, Colonel Stephens is supposed to pay it now; if not, we are supposed to be patient only until the New Year. Also the 4th transport was promised cattle, swine, and fowl. This morning the people of the 4th transport discussed composing a letter of request to the Lord Trustees for stock animals and a half-yearly provisional payment. In the above-mentioned letter from Mr. Verelst it was reported that the Lord Trustees had also resolved to give the 4th transport cattle, swine, and fowl as soon as they get a new grant of money from Parliament. This strengthens our faith and gives us hope that the request for a half years extension of the provisions will also take place.

Monday, the 8th of November. Mr. David Zbli has been with us since Friday and is traveling home again today. He has a son in Switzerland who is studying theology, and has gotten the testimony from Professor Wegeli that he is fit for office.2 The father would like to have him over as the German preacher in Purysburg, but, because the German people are becoming fewer and fewer and he himself has no strong desire to remain there, he wishes that the Reformed Germans in Savannah might call him to be their preacher. If the younger Zbli is such a pious and skilled student of theology as people claim he is, we would wish him for the German people in Savannah. The Lord Trustees have let me know in a letter that in time they wish to give the Reformed people in this country their own preacher.3

This evening we began once more to hold our song hour, which a small group of people, especially women, very willingly attended. We repeated the two songs: Gott, den ich als Liebe kenne, etc., likewise, Gott wills machen, dass die Sachen, etc. At the end of the hour we bent our knees before God (as is always done), praised Him for allowing us to live so long and to begin once more this hour of song and prayer. We also implored Him for the sake of the Holy Spirit to place us in a position to discuss amongst ourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, etc. And thus we went home with pleasure and blessings.

Tuesday, the 9th of November. Zettler has built a new dwelling for himself and has now occupied it. He along with his wife requested that I come to them and help them ask for a blessing, so that the old might pass away and everything might become new with them. Two hours before the prayer hour I was with them and initially told them something for their instruction and edification concerning the last words of the recent Gospel: and himself believed and his whole house, etc., likewise concerning Ephesians 4:32, And be ye kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christs sake hath forgiven you. We appealed to our dear Lord on our knees concerning everything necessary for them in regard to their Christianity, marriage, and household.

The people on the plantations would like to have Kocher as schoolmaster. Steiner is very faithful and diligent; but he has also an important household,4 so that he cannot devote himself completely to the school. Kocher, however, is too weak for cutting trees and other rough forestry work, and therefore would like to be used in the school. He does have time enough to wait for the school. And therefore I have consented in the matter gladly, so that he will be accepted as schoolmaster, the more so as I know that on the journey he looked after the children of the 4th transport so diligently and for that reason received a good testimony from Senior Urlsperger and Mr. von Mllern.5 We are giving him 5 per year as salary from the poor box, but the people who send their children to school are giving him something from their crops to support him.

For that purpose, he has to hold classes in two places, to wit, in Hans Schmidts and in Krauses dwelling, so that even the smallest children from the outermost plantations do not have too far to go to school. He is buying Schmidts plantation and dwelling for 8 Sterling and is getting from us 30 sh. Sterling as aid. Schmidt, on the other hand, is moving to Kochers undeveloped land near town and thanks God for this dispensation, for he likes being near the city with good reason.

Wednesday, the 10th of November. If the land beyond the millstream were not so low and were not sometimes flooded at inopportune times, we could have many very fruitful plantations on that very same island. The high land is owned everywhere and there is practically nothing left over but the pine forest, which no one wants to take, because no one has enough stock to make sufficient manure, which would necessarily be required if such land is to become useful. In such a case it would bear fruit abundantly, as we already have tested. The people here in this country do not take the pains in agriculture that they apply to it in Germany; and they scorn the ground which does not bear all year without manure. They, and especially the orphanage, get great profit from pieces of land near their dwellings, because it is easy to bring the manure there from the stalls. I learned from the Surveyor General, Mr. Avery, that he had brought orders from London to lay out good land for all inhabitants and to consider the pine forest for nothing. However, it will become difficult for him, if not impossible, to carry out these orders if the people are to live with one another. If they do not have their land near each other there will be spiritual and bodily harm.

Thursday, the 11th of November. The Lord Trustees have given freedom to all the children of their German servants here in Savannah. They would have had to serve some years for the desired freedom of their parents. They will now be able to move to their plantations, which will be laid out for them by a large stream in the vicinity of the orphanage, around Christmas.6 They are supposed to set up their own city, cooperatively. These servants have cause not to forget for their entire lives what the Lord Trustees have done for them. Their labor is of little significance, yet they and their families have had such good care that they will not have the like when they are on their own land. They have, however, for the most part sinned greatly against the Lord Trustees through unfaithfulness and unjust offenses, for which they have already felt the heavy hand of God through the death of their stock; nonetheless they have not become any better. The divine truth has been freely attested to them when we are with them because of our official duties, but they simply listen to it; it never comes to true penitence and withdrawal from injustice.

Saturday, the 13th of November. I answered dear Pastor Mhlenbergs amicable letter today and gave him news of the safe and sound end to my journey from Charleston to Ebenezer; and I assured him of our righteous love and mutual intercession for his person and office. I hope, for our edification and for the sake of the Kingdom of God, that we will find occasion to correspond with each other diligently. I wrote also to our friend and patron Mr. Jonathan Bryan and thanked him for the love he displayed recently to me and otherwise to our people; and I sent him once again the last words of his wifes sister-in-law, who departed in peace; and set the account we had with him in rice and horses completely to rights. Such correspondence is profitable to our congregation and advances the Kingdom of God.

The Salzburger Kurz and his wife, who came here recently, were at my house. Both of them, by means of their openhearted disclosure of their previous and present spiritual and bodily circumstances, give me pleasure and the hope that they will be true Christians and profitable people amongst us. They and their children are healthy and vigorous, and they thank God for the many good things they have enjoyed in England, on the journey, and here. They cherish the memory of Mr. Mhlenberg, and they wish for him much good for the love he showed. They have a great desire to send a letter to their relatives in Cadzand, and they wish from their hearts that they were here with them.

Monday, the 15th of November. It rained practically the entire day, the rain becoming stronger especially around evening time, so that we had to put off the public prayer hour. Notwithstanding that, a few people came to my house to hold the song hour, when we repeated a song and started to learn others. It is very fine and profitable that the melodies of the old and new songs are to be found in the song book edited by the late Pastor Freylinghausen.7 How many songs can one not sing at all because the melodies are unknown, and some are so corrupted that people in various places have learned them in various ways. Now, however, we can help them correctly and watch in a small congregation such as ours so that anomalies and mistakes do not come into use in the melodies we have learned.

Tuesday, the 16th of November. Prior to the edification hour I visited Mrs. Leimberger and inquired about a certain matter which had appeared suspicious to me. She explained herself very clearly about it and asked me about the correct understanding of the words of Christ at John 9, God heareth not sinners: but if any man be a worshipper of God and doeth his will, him he heareth, as also through the example of the penitent publican. She has Grimmigers little girl with her and is bringing her up well, and we can clearly see the difference between the previous and the current education in behavior, words, and deeds of the child.

We observed from the recent Sunday gospel on the 22nd Sunday after Trinity Gods loving kindness and our duty to Him and our neighbors. Amongst other things was shown that one must not be separated from the other, and that those who neglect their duty are very much fooling themselves if they take comfort in the kindness and mercy of God. A married couple was in the church, who, however by their own fault was little improved from the sermon. They are bitter that we cannot allow them to go to Holy Communion, but we cannot help them.

Wednesday, the 17th of November. At this time all the good land in our region is occupied. The island on the millstream has a great amount of good land, but no one can depend on planting there because in the last two years there has often been flooding. There is still good enough land towards Abercorn and in other regions, which, however, lies fairly far distant from us; and it is alleged that it has already been surveyed for and is destined for certain gentlemen. If more Salzburgers should wish to come here it would first have to be arranged to allot to them a region for cultivation upon which they could support themselves with Gods blessing.

Krause has built for himself on his plantation a durable and comfortable house, which was consecrated this morning with the Word of God and prayer. He had also invited Christian friends to it. We took the 30th Psalm as basis for the edification. David composed it upon the consecration of his house, as the first verse says. It gave me a beautiful opportunity to show how things went for dear David in his lifetime as well as what his spiritual concerns were in his house with all kinds of occurring circumstances. In our lifetimes in this pilgrimage we are also subject to all sorts of alterations of our health, as he was, and we should guard against self-assurance and self-reliance and our own good fortune in good days (v. 8), but not despair in evil days but take our refuge with God (v. 3). We should remember also with gratitude His previous rescues, protection, and all kinds of spiritual and physical benefactions, and glorify Him for them with heart, mouth, and demeanor (v. 2). We should also seek to know and associate with other faithful persons and to inspire ourselves to the praise of God with them (v. 5), for he dwelleth in the praise of Israel. In previous times this married couple experienced many kinds of sometimes troublesome circumstances, but also the help of the Lord. On the occasion of this psalm I reminded them of a few details known to me, and I showed them how they now should spend their time in this house. God gave us much edification and heartfelt pleasure.

Thursday, the 18th of November. Our dear God is working very powerfully on Ms. N. N.; and it appears to me that a good basis of true penance is being effected in her. She came here with the 4th tranport but nothing seemed to want to go right with her until she had to be pulled into divine order by means of a violent illness, as if by means of bridle and bit. At the end of her illness something came upon her on the way between the plantations and the city. By means of it she was sorely awakened, and it will be profitable and helpful to her for her whole life, as she recounted to me herself. Her own and her husbands peril was presented to her at once visibly and vividly, and this brought her to her knees under the open sky, when she implored God in the greatest consternation for just one more hour of grace (if it should not be any longer); otherwise she would wish never to have been born. She could but tell of the vision of her peril and mortal fear of death in such a way that anyone hearing it correctly must himself be moved inwardly by it. For a long time she imagined herself to be a good Christian; but in this vision of mortal fear, when she was told that her praying would now no longer help her, she said she saw her self-deception. Amongst other things I suggested to her the words of the 30th Psalm: O Lord, thou hast brought up my soul from the grave; thou hast kept me alive, that I should not go down into the pit. I also gave her the hymn to read: Ich bin ja Herr in deiner Macht, etc.

When Gottfried Christs wife was a widow she brought three unreared children to our place; and to lighten the burden of the poor parents we took the eldest, who is very frail and has to get about on her knees, into the orphanage. But it is not going here with this little girl as we might have wished and hoped, hence the parents themselves are finding it necessary to take the child back. We wish to provide it with necessary clothing and also a couple of bushels of corn instead of other foodstuffs as aid, and the child can gradually be brought to do needlework by its parents. If they keep to their Christian behavior amongst us, it could come about in the summer that we would take the other little girl, who is quite young and delicate now, into the orphanage as a boarder. I was at their house today and admonished them on the essence of Christianity and on the Christian matrimonial commitment between them.

Friday, the 19th of November. Prior to todays edification hour some men were showing some concern about Christian Riedelsperger and wished to learn how things stood with him. Yesterday they traveled into the forest in rather a large number on foot and on horseback to make still another attempt to drive the livestock which they have been missing for some years into the orphanages cowpen and to brand them so that the Trustees agent in Old Ebenezer will not take them away and count them with the Trustees cattle. This could quite easily happen; for he has the power to brand all cattle without any mark with the Trustees brand. Riedelsperger set off after a herd and thus got out of sight of the remaining people, and then they feared that his horse may have thrown him, and that he had injured himself. We learned after the prayer hour, however, that he had come safely back to the plantation again. They came upon a herd of forty head of cows, oxen, and calves together but were unable to bring it to the cowpen because they were wild and sprang once more into the bushes and swampy regions.

For a long time they considered many head as lost, but now they are hopeful that by and by they will come upon their own once more. They will work industriously to catch and brand them. Cattle ran away from us more than eight years ago, and since then they have multiplied. It is more than probable that they belong to no one else but our congregation although they do not have our brand and cannot have it because we have never been able to get them. The Lord Trustees can certainly trust our people not to desire any but their own; but it would be an inconvenience if they branded one with the sign of the congregation but could not substantiate through sufficient testimony that it was theirs.

To be sure, a couple of years ago the orphanage itself got back once more some cows from the Lord Trustees servant at Old Ebenezer; but we had to leave behind the yearling calves, and we were not permitted to catch and brand such ones in the forest as looked similar to ours. This greatly harmed the congregation. With the superior authorities in Savannah I got the answer that we could brand those calves that ran after the old cows as their mothers because the young and old ones keep together. But when the Englishman in Old Ebenezer holds his round-up and drives the calves and other unbranded cattle together, the cattle become separated. Now how can one know where the yearling and old calves have stayed, or can one substantiate that, if they are come upon in another herd, they belong to us? To be fair, we should also have the freedom to consider as many cattle as ours as have run away from us and as our people are missing for certain.

In the first years our people did their utmost to keep their cattle together under a few herdsmen and have them guarded in specific areas, but gradually the herdsmen departed from us, the pasture grew scarce, and the cattle multiplied, so that we were obliged to let the greatest part run loose in the forest so that they could go after their own pasture. The people have had much trouble and unrest for that, and they must have it also, for a large part of their nourishment consists of the cattle.8

If only a way could be found so that our cattle did not mix in with the Trustees cattle. At the arrival of the 4th transport, to whose people no one wished to give land granted by the Lord Trustees beyond the Ebenezer River, we humbly requested the higher authorities to drive the Lord Trustees cattle into another region and leave us all the cattle pasture between Abercorn, Old Ebenezer, and New Ebenezer. I received, however, no answer; and the above-mentioned cattle are not removed. If things had gone according to the suggestions of Mr. /Thomas/ Jones, they would already have been removed to the Ogeechee River and would have the best pasture; but he could not carry it through. If we should cause something similar to reach the Lord Trustees they would not be able to understand it and would interpret similar desires on our part as bad. Hence we must be patient because we are Germans and must recognize the English as our benefactors. Who knows how God may ordain for us to be helped in this.

Saturday, the 20th of November. Yesterday evening shortly before the prayer hour a welcome letter from Pastor Mhlenberg was brought to me. He had written it in Charleston on the 4th of this month, and in it he sent me many kinds of material for intercession for him and others of our friends, also for England and our German fatherland. He had received a letter from Mr. Zwiffler from Philadelphia. He writes that he is still unmarried and is considering remaining that way. He says that as a medical doctor he has so much work that he cannot think of marriage. He has a small monetary debt to demand from the schoolmaster Ortmann and from Ms. Rheinlnder, and he desires me to help him therein. For this reason he has already written four letters to me which I, however, have not received. It seems his income must not be so large there because he is seeking to collect the old balance. He also writes that Count Zinzendorf and his people are making a great commotion, concerning which much quarreling is being stirred up and many things must even be settled with blows.

Zinsendorf is having a church built in Philadelphia at his own expense, at the laying of whose foundation great solemnities were performed, and this caused a sensation. The count, he says, bought the piece of land which had previously belonged to Mr. Whitefield; one part of it received the name Bethlehem and the other Nazareth. It is supposed to lie forty miles from Philadelphia, and many Germans and Englishmen are said to have gone there to see the Moravians zealous divine services for themselves, etc.

Pastor Mhlenberg writes to me amongst other things the following details, which convince me and my dear colleague even more that I should not have waited in Charleston but rather gone back to Ebenezer to my duties. From this our friends in Europe will recognize the counsel and the hand of our heavenly Father:

Captain Grant arrived here on the 1st of November ... and is still considering whether he should travel to Philadelphia. I asked the captain of the small sloop from Philadelphia, which arrived here during these days, if he might take me along. But he excused himself, saying that he had not the meagerest comfortable spot for a passenger on his little ship. Mr. Fowler and Mr. Grant were of the opinion that the little ship was too small and too perilous in the wintertime. People also held it to be dangerous on account of the Spaniards. Mr. Lamptons brigantine, armed with cannon, goes to New York in 14 days; Mr. Grant is thinking of going with it, if he resolves to travel. But I do not depend on cannons or on accommodations aboard the ships but rather on God who has brought me hither. If He wishes to have me going to Philadelphia He can protect me without weaponry and bring me thither on a powerless sloop as well as on a brigantine. If Captian Childs of the little sloop condescends to do it I will accept it in Gods name and go so far as the Lord will have me go. But if he does not wish to take me along, as he does not like being crowded with passengers, I must look on it as Gods guidance and wait for Mr. Lamptons brigantine or other opportunity.

The sloop is departing here on the 8th or 9th for Philadelphia. Please be so kind and help me and pray with your dear colleague and trusted friends. You can easily understand the circumstances of body and mind in which I find myself, and whither I am supposed to go. Either to death or into the enemys hands or into the hospital, or, more likely, into a spiritual madhouse. Nonetheless I do not fear; The Lord is my shepherd, according to the 23rd Psalm. It will soon be a year since I set out on my journey from Hennersdorf. My current work is journal writing, instructing a few children, and preaching on Sunday. Captain Ellis is also still here. No one wishes to advise me to travel by land, and it is also impossible for me because I do not have much money.

Sunday, the 21st of November. On this last Sunday of the current church year sixty-three persons were at Holy Communion. In yesterdays preparation and act of confession the little verse from the 130th Psalm followed for observation: But there is forgiveness in thee, that thou mayest be feared. Our dear reconciled Father in Heaven also granted me much inspiration and blessing from this. My dear colleague held preparation and confession on the plantations and read and applied something to the parshioners from Dr. Mllers Heavenly Kiss of Love,9 which was very necessary and profitable. Since doors and windows have been set in place in our church we now enjoy great comfort in that neither wind nor rain nor cold can disturb us in the least. Whenever the church is filled with adults and children (as they all attend very diligently), it soon becomes tolerably warm inside.

In the walls of the church are twenty-four casements each composed of eight window panes eleven inches long and nine inches wide. Because of this it is extremely light and bright in the church, so that one can read the smallest script clearly in every corner. These glass windows, which are provided with hinges and latches, cost much money, for each previously described pane is worth more than six pence sterling. However, the profit and comfort which we enjoy in the divine services winter and summer, during the day and in the evening, is very great. There are also shutters on them which are most highly necessary on account of the strong wind which sometimes hurls the rain against the windows with the greatest violence.

The 22nd of November. This morning Theobald Kieffers wife and mother-in-law received private Communion in their house, and I applied to my and their use the first part of Psalm 130. Although her sickness has somewhat improved, she is still very weak so that she cannot leave home, much less go to church. I also visited the sick Klocker, with whom there has begun to be some improvent in the last eight days. The cold is very great. Although he has good quilts and blankets, he cannot get warm; and this prevents him from gaining strength. He is very comforted and ready for either life or death, so that in his case we can also say, If Thou wishest me dead, I will gladly die, my God. If Thou wilt that I live, I will resign myself to this too.10

Monday, the 23rd of November. At the communal labor of making fences misunderstandings have occasionally arisen; but because we were brought in a timely manner and advised the people who differed gave up their claims, everything soon returned to good order. There are few laborers to be sure, but they show great industry and have already advanced far. Once the fence is put in place there will be as much land enclosed as they can plant in ten years. The fence is also being built so durably that it will not need repairing for some years. Yesterday Kocher took up the school teaching on the plantations. At this time he has few children, but even these are worthy of a schoolmaster. By and by several will come there. Also, a few grown adults wish to have him help them further with their reading. He is a man of good will who takes instruction well, and therefore we hope that he will become useful. He has good natural gifts, and a good recognition of, and beginning in, Christianity; and he also possesses good manners and a method of getting along with children. Nevertheless, in Germany one would never have taken him for a schoolmaster.

Wednesday, the 24th of November. Because of their difficult household tasks and because they are without hired hands and also have small unraised children, our parishioners have so much work that it is difficult to hire them for a few days for labor on our houses. If they can break away from their regular business for a few days, they then have public labor to perform, e.g., at the mill and in building the church and bridges. They are also happy to serve Mr. Meyer, the orphanage, etc. Because we cannot get a woodcutter for lack of money, sometimes most of the men have gotten together and chopped us some stacks of wood, for which they accept no pay. Today they are here again doing similar work voluntarily, which we could get no one to do for pay. This evidence of their love is, to be sure, very dear to us; nonetheless we would wish rather to have a faithful servant who would do the same kind of work without burdening the congregation, which otherwise has its own hardships. Since the death of Peter Heinrich,11 who died already three years ago, we have found no one who is suited to our house. In similar circumstances I think of some words of the late Professor [A. H.] Francke:

Just as a minister must be on guard not to take a bad wife, so must he also certainly see to it that he takes no domestic servant into his house who lives badly, even if he can work ever so splendidly and is praised by others on account of his ability or industry. If, however, such domestic servants are once in his house, he must certainly have great patience with them and consider that God has led such bad persons whom he did not recognize as bad to him so that they might be converted in his house. Therefore it is fair for him to bear them and admonish them, so that their souls be not lost. Where, however, all gradus12 are used, and their sins burst out into vexation; there he must prefer the congregation to the labor of such people, and send the same out of his house.

One of the late Peter Heinrichs daughters is still in my house and is carrying on a serious Christianity. She is very frail of body and has been afflicted since childhood with epilepsy, but she can look forward in faith to the promise that also applies to her: Her transitory body (soma tes tapei oseas)13 shall become like the transfigured body of Christ. In the paroxysm of fever she speaks of spiritual things so impressively, clearly, and earnestly that she cannot do it with the full use of her reason, not in the grip of the paroxysm. She has, to be sure, a basic recognition in spiritual things but does not possess the ability to express herself properly. But whenever, as mentioned, she lies beside herself in the heat of fever, she knows how to chastize the vices which she perceives in herself and others so properly and movingly, and to laud the grace of God in Christ and to glorify it for others that those present find themselves moved to tears and edified. There are still two girls of Peter Heinrichs at our place; one is married and the other is single, and both are on a good path to seek and grasp their salvation in Christ. A grown daughter and a boy are still in service in Savannah. If it were within our capability we would like to bring them here according to their longing wish.14

I learn from Hans Flrl that Klocker is growing weaker and is coming nearer the end of his life. He has had the joy of seeing, while he lived during his life, his children cared for in the orphanage. The eldest girl is already amongst the orphanage children, the middle one is going now to help her father, and the smallest little boy, who is only two years old, is now being taken into the orphanage. After the death of his wife the father entrusted him to the care of Ms. Bruckner, and without our knowledge agreed with her to pay five pence a day for his care, but especially to give clothing. Although we are giving him something from the poor-box as aid in the matter, such remuneration could not be kept up over a long period. Mrs. Kalcher is quite willing to accept this little child as one of her own, which I prefer all the more since I know that Senior Riesch and Pastor Felss in Lindau bear a special love for the Klocker family, and therefore they will be pleased that the children are being maintained. It is only too bad that our orphanage is so constricted that we lack the capability at this time to enlarge it and place one or two stoves in it, so that the children could be kept together also in the heated room in the winter. They now make do in the large, well-equipped kitchen whenever it is very cold in the mornings and evenings.

Thursday, the 25th of November. My dear colleague has gotten a fever, hence I held school today in his stead. I caused the children to profit from something out of the very edifying personal record of the Countess zu Stollberg, whereby I also led them to the beautiful examples of right pious children, to wit, the young Samuel and Timothy, to whom Paul, 2 Timothy 3:15, gives a very beautiful testimony. Such beautiful examples give an instructor much material with which to give children good doctrine and admonitions. The littlest orphan boy was at my house this afternoon and fetched a sheet of paper for his writing book. I asked him whether he understood today in school what it meant to be called a bad child. Satan is also called bad; and those who are on his side also bear this ugly name. He replied: I understand it well. Question: Do you wish to remain so? Answer: I am planning to become different today. Question: How must you then do things, if you wish to become better? Answer: I must pray to God. Thereupon I exhorted him briefly and emotionally and allowed him to go. The joy in Heaven and on Earth would be great if this bad child would cause himself to change.

On this first day of my dear colleagues fever our dear Lord has displayed much mercy to my soul; may He make me faithful. What I told the children simply I have noticed for myself through Gods grace. How merciful it is of the Lord when He discloses ones own corruption more and more. It shall come to the point that, as with Paul (Philippians 3, passim), we abandon everything that is only sham and not truth and struggle only to gain Christ and to be created anew in Him. I hope and ask God soon to strengthen my dear colleague once more. In the meantime I see from this how good it is that I did not remain in Charleston or travel further. My dear colleague could not, and would not, have spared himself in my absence.

We hear currently from the story in 2 Samuel 24 that David once more awoke by Gods paternal mercy from his sleep of self-assurance, in which he had remained for almost ten months by his own fault and then came to true penance. And it is to be seen not as chance that we have been awakened by his example at the end of this church year. Indeed, among us, with all the use of the means of salvation and with all the civic respectability, many have remained in sin and the sleep of spiritual death throughout this year and longer. If God had called them, like others, to eternity in such circumstances, things would be most miserable for them. It is a right great benefaction that, through Gods providence and the Lord Trustees good land arrangements, we dwell so close to one another like the Israelites and that, by Gods word and through good examples, we are being earnestly encouraged daily to attain salvation.

If it had been good for the Israelites, God could have alloted them a larger country for dwelling and building so that afterwards, just as in Carolina and other places in America, almost every family can dwell in its own district and wilderness. However, He chose first the narrow land of Goshen for their increase, and then narrow Canaan for their sojourn; and they found all their support under the special blessing of God (5 Deuteronomy 11:12 ff.) and the frugal arrangement of their economy, although according to the count in 1 Chronicles 22 there were very many of them. In this manner adults and children could be inspired as to the main point of why they were in the world, and also be better preserved from heathen abominations. It is too bad that the people in this country do not wish to recognize the good purpose of God and also of the Lord Trustees and their state government, but rather long for the freedom of the planters in Carolina; but we wish to have no part of it. It is indeed much better for our disposition of our land to resemble Gods disposition amongst His people than to resemble the essence of worldly persons who dissipate themselves hither and yon and suffer harm in body and soul.

We have also learned anew our Christian duty from this story, which is emphasized with special vigor in 1 Timothy 2:13. If we wish to lead a calm and quiet life under the government of the authorities of this country then we must pray heartily for them so that they do not, as did David, happen on false paths and lay upon their subjects a burden and unrest as he did through arrogant and willful counting of them. Beneath David the blessed regime of the Israelites had enjoyed many good spiritual and physical things, which, however, they used so badly that Satan stood against them as an accuser, the wrath of the Lord flared up against them, and David, who did not guard and pray enough, fell into the snare of Satan, to the harm of his kingdom. What advantages we enjoy under the regime of our beneficent authorities!

Other subjects in England and Germany have, in this time of continuous war, much unrest and heavy taxes and are also forced to go to war, while we live in peace and can attend our divine services quite undisturbed. If we should not allow ourselves to be led to penance through these kindnesses of God, but rather be ungrateful, wrath would certainly envelop us like Davids subjects and other people in our time, who later on grumble about the authorities and bad times and forget their sins as the cause of every vexation.

Friday, the 26th of November. Today we had a very lovely summer day, the likes of which should hardly have guessed at in the current season. Our people are very enthusiastically occupied with planting wheat, for which great pieces of land near the orphanage have also been plowed up and today have been partially sown with wheat. They still cannot arrange things as in Germany where they kept the livestock in the stalls all winter and thereby got all the more manure. We still lack sufficient hay and straw, hence most of the cattle which are not giving milk go into the woods, where there is good grass and young cane. The producing cows are at home and are grazed during the day and brought back home again at night. If only they could fertilize and improve the fields a little, the profit would be great, as we already know from experience.

Saturday, the 27th of November. This afternoon the quartermaster at Fort Argyle, Mr. Milledye, sent to me by way of two of his soldiers a letter wherein he reported that he had received news from General Oglethorpe that the Spanish Indians had taken Fort Venture on the Alathamaha River by surprise and had compelled the soldiers to surrender the same. He said they had surrendered upon the agreement of free withdrawal, to which the Indians consented at first, but nonetheless as soon as they had taken possession of the fort and the weapons they killed the wife of Captain Francis and her child, and three men, and dragged off three alive. A man escaped from them and delivered the report. Our rangers were warned to be on their guard, for there is some worry that the Spanish Indians wish to press further inland to Fort Argyle and some of the plantations of Savannah. It is an especial judgment of God on the above-mentioned woman. She is a German whose parents were His people, and had already died a few years ago. Mr. Jones accepted the children (and therefore this female); she served and enjoyed many good things in his house; and, because she was acquainted with an unmarried Englishman named Francis, she was faithfully warned by me and Mr. Jones against seduction. But she paid no heed to it but rather became a whore,15 and had herself married, after a time, to this Francis, by the preacher in Purysburg.

Her child was already around six weeks old when, in the absence of her husband, she had it baptized by me, since it was ill. But subsequently the godparents did not suit her, hence the preacher in Savannah, since dead,16 undertook new ceremonies with the child, and godparants were requested with whom one could make merry in the way of the world. She heard Gods word, felt it in her heart, also received good books from us, but improved herself little. This is a new example of how God finally takes into His hands the sins which take place here in this country and are quite unpunished for unpenitent sinners the terrible words are written: It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

With this sad news we, too, have our lesson, for we should not look upon it as chance that He caused it to come to our ears just on the last day of the church year. Thereby God wishes to preach penitence to us tangibly, just as it was preached to us yeterday and today in the prayer hours from the story in 2 Samuel 24:10. We learned that our merciful Lord finally awakened David powerfully from his long self-assurance, so that he 1) humbly recognized his sins, 2) humbly acknowledged his sins, and 3) earnestly sought forgiveness. We also consulted the 6th Psalm, which seems to have been completed in these circumstances. Our parishioners were thereupon diligently directed to ask God to grant them to recognize the secret sins and subtle snares of Satan, by which many a person is kept back from his true conversion and proper breakthrough,17 to judge sins not by reason and other peoples wont but by Gods word and to learn in the school of the Holy Spirit what they cannot from nature and according to the self-love that rules them, to wit, to learn to be horrified at their sins and learn to regard them as great, for whose sake they should very earnestly look into the mirror of the Passion of Christ, etc. Otherwise may God be heartily praised for causing us to close this church year in calmness and blessing! May He grant, for the sake of Christ, our public prayers of penance which we have directed to Him and cast all our familiar and unfamiliar sins behind Him and sink them in the depths of the sea. May He also not act in the current fever sickness of my worthy colleague according to our sins but rather cause our poor supplications for him to find grace.

Sunday, the 28th of November. Today, the first Sunday of Advent, I had to preach the Word of the Lord alone because my dear colleague was very much exhausted from the fever, with a quite long-lasting high temperature, and had to lie in bed constantly. Morning and afternoon we observed the regular gospel and the introductory words, John 14:21: Christs love for us and our love for Christ. Instead of the repetition hour the people came in the evening to my chamber for singing and prayer. We sang four selected beautiful songs in two parts: O wie selig seyd ihr doch, ihr Frommen, etc., Seligstes Wesen, unendliche Wonne, etc., Auf Zion, auf! auf Tochter, same nicht, etc. God sent us much edification thereby, and we certainly believe that He will place His divine blessing upon the singing as well as upon the prayers engendered thereby. We wish often when we sing the beautiful songs and melodies for such a musical instrument as we could use for accompaniment and therefore increase and awaken our spiritual joy; but it would not only cost a good deal, there is also the worry that in the local very changeable weather, where the humidity also permeates everywhere, it would need frequent repair, which would not be possible to procure here.

Monday, the 29th of November. Our rangers today held inspection together in our woods today and also came to Old Ebenezer, where the local Englishman placed over the Lord Trustees livestock recounted remarkable and fearsome stories for them. Not only the letter we received day before yesterday but also a reliable report from Savannah which agreed completely with the contents of the letter, gave us sufficient instruction concerning the details of how things fell out in the taking of Fort Venture, so that the usual idle gossip in this country does not throw a scare into us. Who does not fear God may be afraid before His enemies. If all amongst us did as David did, who arose from his fall by means of true penance, then God would not sweep them away in His wrath but rather cause grace to be pronounced for justice, although paternal chastisement does not fail to appear. He prefers to chastise His children Himself rather than surrender them to the cruel will and hands of His enemies. At the end of the 6th Psalm David could say, in the power of his faith: Depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity; for the Lord hath heard the voice of my weeping. The Lord hath heard my supplication; the Lord will accept my prayer. Let all mine enemies be ashamed and sore vexed: let them return and be ashamed suddenly.

Tuesday, the 30th of November. I came just at the time when the new schoolmaster on the plantations was very earnestly praying and singing with his little children in Krauses kitchen. Some small children recited for me some little verses they had learned, and they received from him an attestation of diligence and ability, although they are still small. Scheffler, who is no Salzburger, sold his plantation and hut after the death of his wife, and at first had the notion of going back to Germany again; but, because he did not find this practical, he wished to apply himself to his trade of knitting stockings and built himself a new hut near town. But when he found obstacles to his trade he regretted that he had given away his land and is now pestering me to assist him in getting another piece. He is once more completely healthy and claims he would rather work on the land than knit stockings. We are giving him all kinds of suggestions for a new plantation; but there will be more difficulties with a new plantation than if he had kept his first one. Thus the people tumble into all sorts of distress and inconvenience if they do not wish to take advice and undertake their affairs without God.

Eischberger, from the 2nd transport, called on me and complained to me about his poor progress in Christianity. Our dear Lord, he said, had shown him much mercy since the last day of penitence and had disclosed to him many hidden sins; but, he said, he nonetheless could not properly come to a hatred against sin and to a proper certainty of the gracious forgiveness of sins. He said that the cross which God has placed on his body by means of illness is very profitable to him and that God was also laying upon him sufficient bonds of love by means of many different benefactions, but that he was so often frivolous, etc. I gave him instruction from Gods Word and delivered to our dear Lord in prayer the complaints of which he had unburdened himself. He was able to cite various things from the sermons and prayer hours which were very impressive to him, and I learned especially that the spiritual materials became very clear to him through simple parables that they had penetrated his mind all the more deeply.

DECEMBER

Wednesday, the 1st of December. Some suspicious symptomata and coincidences have manifested themselves in my dear colleague. We had to fetch Mr. Thilo for advice, and yesterday he bled him on the arm and today on the foot. We are praying diligently for him and he too does so on his hard couch, which our reconciled God and Father will not leave unheard. Mr. [David] Zbli from Purysburg is once again with us to attend tomorrow the wedding of his brother,1 who is marrying our serving girl Christiana Hussler from Memmingen. He is very happy that it was broken off with N., on the other hand he and we hope for many good things for both persons in the now agreed upon marriage. She is still not as she should be in her Christianity and her housekeeping and as she could be on account of the spiritual and bodily direction she has had, nonetheless she has a pliable, willing mind and has deported herself honestly and faithfully amongst us.

Thursday, the 2nd of December. Col. Stephens gave me a report, in a letter from himself, of the sad business which had been written to me on Saturday from Fort Argyle, to wit, that the Spanish Indians had raided Fort Venture unexpectedly and killed some people and dragged away some others. He said that they especially acted very cruelly with the wife and child of the commanding officer, who was away from the Fort in Frederica with some people. He did not report further details. He desires our rangers to be on the alert because no one knows how far these Indians might roam into the country although he guessed that they had retired to St. Augustine after committing their barbarities. For that is how the Indians act; they hide in wait until they seize something, and then they hide themselves again for awhile.

Friday, the 3rd of December. The quantity of harvested grain has now been brought together, so that it can be reported next week to Col. Stephens. In all, our people have received, under Gods blessing, 3,048 bushels of corn, 537 bushels of beans, 566 bushels of sweet potatoes, 733 bushels of rice, 92 bushels of wheat, and 11 bushels of rye and barley. In the specification of this years grain under the 5th of November the quantity is somewhat less because a little more came in later. If the water in the mill stream had not flooded the fields too long in the springtime and if the people of the 4th Transport had not been obstructed in planting and guarding their fields through a protracted fever-sickness, the quantity would have been much greater. Nonetheless, every one of them is not only heartily satisfied with this blessing but also considers himself, from humility, quite unworthy of the same. We all glorify God for causing us to take pleasure in Him in peace and quiet, and as the body is satisfied with necessary victuals, so is the soul satisfied and refreshed with His Word and the holy sacraments.

Saturday, the 4th of December. Yesterday and today again we have had very warm days, as if we were in the middle of springtime. A man from Purysburg offered me some grape vines, but we do not need them, especially as he is very costly with them. If I were to sell my own in this manner (I have still not had them completely planted for a year), I would be able to realize about 20 sterling for them. Gen. Oglethorpe is said to have bought such expensive vines last year from this very man. Another man in this colony had sent 500 mulberry trees and wishes to send 500 more, which Gen. Oglethorpe, without my request, is sending to those amongst us who still have none or have too few. Of such young trees we have sufficient amongst us, nonetheless we are accepting these too, since they cost us nothing. They will have to be planted in such areas as the livestock cannot reach, otherwise they will soon be spoiled. We would like to have planted the streets and other public places with similar trees, and last year we made a start at it. However, because the livestock got to them and because the grass around the roots, which grew very high, was not cut down, they were partly spoiled and partly hindered from growing. If I and my dear colleague had a hired hand, we would seek to arrange many things for the benefit of the congregation, even if the profit ensued only after some years. But our parishioners have so much to do for themselves that we can seldom get them for day labor.

Sunday, the 5th of December. On this second Sunday of Advent I still had the business of my office alone because my dear colleague was still prevented by bodily weakness from attending the public divine services. In the meanwhile his strength increased considerably today so that we have good hope that he will be able to take up his work again this week in the school and church according to his sincere desire. The Lord be praised for this blessing too! Instead of the repetition hour we held a song hour in my chambers and learned the excellent song Liebes Hertz bedencke doch, deines Jesu grosse Gute, etc., which so comfortingly explains and applies the glorious little word from the Advent verse from Zacharias 9:9: He cometh as a helper, which is so comforting for us sinners.

Monday, December 6. Yesterday the carpenter Kogler advised me that the construction of the church on the plantations was to begin and that its foundation should be laid. For that reason he wished to have me present if I were not hindered by the trip I was planning to Savannah. But I let neither the trip nor anything else prevent me from riding out there this morning to help lay the foundation with prayer and Gods word. I showed the assembled people that we should not look upon it as a matter of chance that the laying of the foundation for our church on the plantations was happening at this edifying time of Advent. We not only perceive from the Bible texts and gospel songs how ready our Savior, Helper, and King is to come to us and into our hearts through His word and the sacraments and to dwell in us with the Father and the Holy Ghost, but we will also contemplate very important circumstances in the current story from the Old Testament from 2 Samuel 24 and 1 Chronicles 22 in the regular reading. For we learn that because of the sins of the land great judgments went upon the Land Israel. When David with the elders humbled themselves before the Lord, our loving God granted him through the Prophet Gad the command and the gracious nod that he should erect an altar upon the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite on the mountain Moriah, and as it were lay the foundation for the temple, cf. 1 Chronicles 23:1. This was a sign of grace that our dear Lord was not dealing with David and his subjects in wrath but rather wished to reconcile them to Him, by means of the altar, which represented Christ in His reconciliation, which was to be established at that time. As the God of the Covenant He wished once more to have His fire and hearth amongst them. The piece of land, the altar, and thereafter the temple to be built thereon he bought for full gold from the Jebusite, a heathen race, etc.

At this time I reminded the parishioners that it did not cost the Lord Trustees little but rather much to obtain this colony and also our land peacefully from the local heathens, and therefore we had it by right and were obliged not to build our church on any place occupied by force. I said that God had awakened so many benefactors in England and Germany who had sent us charitable gifts of money from which this church now could also be built, and that He wished thereby to make our divine services inexpensive and easy for us. For this act of mercy, I said, we should fairly glorify the Lord as did David in Psalm 103 and request the blessing of God upon the benefactors. But now, since He had directed us, through the great judgments which are prevailing everywhere, to a location for building the church and had granted us the means for it, we should recognize from this how willing He was to bestow upon us the reconciliation established by Christ and to be spared His judgments; cf. Judges 13:23.

In this House of God also it shall be preached God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself, etc. The ministers will cry in the name of God: We pray you in Gods stead, be ye reconciled to God. If it comes to that, no enemies will be able to harm us, rather the word will be: If God be with us, who can be against us? etc. If God is against us, however, the whole world cannot shelter us, as we see in David, whose power and great forces availed him nothing when God caused war, famine, and plague.

The threshing floor of Arauna, which the Lord Himself selected as the place for the divine services, was in itself a humble place dedicated to labor, and we see therefrom that our great and glorious Lord takes no displeasure in humble things and therefore takes none in our humble plantations where the church shall now be built; rather He wishes to manifest His grace and lovingly in Christ here too. It is pleasing to Him when hard work which brings sweat is connected with the divine services. I accept it also as a sign of grace that my dear colleague at this time regained his strength once more with divine blessing and is therefore able to work with me in one congregation. After the sermon we stepped before the countenance of the Lord and lifted our hearts, eyes, and hands to Him in prayer, supplication, and thanksgiving. Our dear Lord sent a great awakening and strengthening of faith, and the laborers gained great joy to begin their labor with God and not relax until the church is under its roof.

Tuesday, the 7th of December. My dear colleague, Mr. Boltzius, traveled yesterday at noon to Savannah. I am now, to be sure, through the miraculous power of God, so far recovered in my illness that I can stand up, but my strength is still rather weak. Yesterday and today I wrote something in the diary, but that became rather difficult for me, hence I had to cease. Our dear Lord prepared me right well for this illness, for previously He had so especially refreshed and strengthened me at Holy Communion, hence in the illness I was very comforted and would gladly have died; and, when it came time for the bleeding, I was also comforted, for I knew I was in the hand of my Jesus, and the Lord caused it to be so successful that it seemed to me as if our dear Lord had granted me a completely new body on the first day of my bleeding, so well did I feel. It is likely a really miraculous cure which the Lord has manifested in me this time. I was very miserable, and yet He helped me so quickly. Now may the Lord be praised for that and cause me entirely to consume in His service the strength which He presented to me and is still presenting to me. Since we last partook of Holy Communion, and also during my illness, our words were: If thou lovest me, then feed my lambs, then feed my sheep.

Wednesday, the 8th of December. Today at one oclock in the afternoon we departed from Savannah and arrived at five oclock in Abercorn, at sundown. There I found a horse and companions with whom I was able to ride quite comfortably in two good hours across our plantations to Ebenezer; and therefore I got through my entire trip in six and one half hours. Since last summer our people have marked out a short road from Abercorn, which has already been rather well trampled out. This time our dear Lord caused me to make this journey to Savannah at such a time as I was able to accomplish everything that I had long intended.

Mr. /Thomas/ Jones had just arrived in Savannah day before yesterday at noon, and we both were very happy to see one another in good health once more. He brought no letters from Gen. Oglethorpe to me but he did assure me that Mr. Oglethorpe received well the letters I had written him and was seeking to promote our interests in every way. He is hale and hearty and is having Frederica very strongly fortified. He had given orders to Mr. Jones to pay us now the bounty, or so-called corn shilling from the year 1739,2 so that our people would not be obliged to wait until spring, when Col. Stephens is hoping to have more money for it. However, because of the calumny of malevolent people, it happened that Mr. Oglethorpes letters of exchange and sola-bills were accepted nowhere in Carolina, hence we have to wait until the next letters from London. I have now been fully able to bring up to date the bill at the storehouse for myself, my house construction and the orphanage and also my old debts for house construction. Mr. Jones also paid me 33 Sterling for our rangers for a six months period. This money comes at just the right time for them in their household expenses.

After Charleston I found an opportunity to remit what debts I still owed for goods and a horse. I learned that Pastor Mhlenberg had indeed taken the chance on the very small sloop and had gone to Philadelphia on it. Since there is no cabin, but rather everything is open, he will have to suffer a good deal in the winter, which is customarily very severe as one goes north. May God stand by him! Mr. Jones read aloud to me a few items which a merchant from Savannah, Robert Williams, had delivered to Parliament in London, in which he maintained that our inhabitants in Ebenezer were able to support themselves as little as others, and although we desired more Salzburgers to come here, only I had said it. The congregation knew nothing about it, for I was its God, king, and priest.... I am astounded at the impudence of this man in bringing such lies as this before Parliament, but they will not harm either me or the congregation.

Thursday, the 9th of December. As I went down towards Savannah I learned that the young man who was claiming to be a prince from Wurttemberg had been brought by Kieffer to his plantation and was only waiting for a trading boat to get to Savannah Town and to go over either to the French or the Spaniards. He cut a swath through all of Carolina, and although they indeed pursued him, they were not able to find him. I told Mr. Jones that in this matter I earnestly desired to have him brought here by our rangers, for he had run away and had already caused harm and was still embarking on more. On Monday evening I wrote of this matter to my dear colleague, who gave Pichler the commission for it; but, because Kieffer accepts the man and puts himself against the authorities orders and our rangers have no authority in Carolina, where his plantation is, Mr. Jones desire could not be fulfilled.3

In the meantime I wrote, by way of a trading boat which went past here this morning, to the captain in Palachacolas and reported to him the particulars about this man and why people are concerned if he should come amongst the Spaniards and French. I had the old Kieffer himself come to my house after school and told him that he was acting in opposition to the verse, Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth, etc. and against the tenth commandment,4 since he wanted to help this person get through and get on. I asked what he would likely think and say of us if we had done likewise with his blacks who had run away to our region a few times. I said he was doing himself and the person more harm than profit through such behavior, for he was getting himself into trouble and suspicion with our superiors. If the man were to run away and be caught, he would be all the worse off; but, if he voluntarily confided in us and thus were turned over to the authorities, we might hope by pleading to win milder treatment.

After I gave him these instructions, he coaxed him and persuaded him to come with him to my house before the evening prayer hour, when he showed himself willing to go along with our boat Saturday to Savannah. Because I was going along myself on account of the Germans, I wish to speak in his interests to Mr. Jones, so that he might leave him at our place, according to the concession of the General, as long as it takes to get letters concerning him, from which we will recognize the truth or falsity of his contention. He has been a prisoner in Corsica, Turkey, and even Bender,5 and, as he himself must recognize, he has stirred up no good everywhere. In my quarters he got the fever, and then we served him something warm for his refreshment. Kieffer has to guard him until he comes down in our boat, according to his promise. We gave him a new woolen cover or blanket from the orphanage. I also gave him a few of Pastor Riegers sermons. He knew him well and showed a desire to read in it with devotion.

Friday, the 10th of December. N. is again ill and bedridden. He has attributed it to his hard labor on the plantation which he is laying out. He could also have been struck dead by a tree if God had not averted it. He claims that he feels that he is an abomination and burden to himself on account of his many sins; but he is seeking forgiveness and calming of his bad conscience in the Passion of Christ, to which his mind always clings. He wishes me to read aloud to him at his bedside the far-reaching personal record which he has composed, so that he might remember anew, penitently, one by one, the sins he enumerated. Today I had no time for it, especially since he himself said several whole days would be needed for it. I hope that our merciful Lord will also bless this old sinner through Christ the universal Savior.

This morning my dear colleague married Johann Scheffler to the widow Anna Maria Ernst. It is his first official business after his illness. Praise God, who helped him so far; may He strengthen him further and cause him better and better to experience His precious promise: They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength ... etc. Because I was on a journey last Tuesday and was therefore unable to hold the edification hour on the plantations, I would not have liked setting aside the one for today on account of this wedding, especially as the laborers at the church also need to have something expounded to them for further reflection from Gods word during their work. They have laid the foundation of the church very well and are now already starting to erect the walls, indeed in such a way that the entire construction will turn out very durable and well-proportioned. Kogler told me, praise God, that they are all working in brotherly harmony with one another and that each one is doing his own task with the greatest willingness, calmness, and industriousness. If they did not have to make noise with their hand tools, passersby and neighbors would hardly know that work was going on. The Word of the Lord has been very much blessed in them at the laying of the foundation.

Saturday, the 11th of December. Our dear Lord is now causing us to note somewhat more clearly the granting of our supplication for poor Ruprecht Schrempff. His mad, wild character has already abated in the last few weeks; and he has no longer been tearing the clothes from his body. Nonetheless, he was crying out a good deal inside and outside of his prison, and no one dared approach him. Now, however, he is growing calm, speaks more humbly, and does a little labor in the company of Kalcher. Very soon he should be brought for bleeding, which up to now has been the only remedy we have been able to use with him.

The German people in Savannah are going to their own plantations after Christmas. They are being laid out for them in the form of a township behind the [Bethesda] orphanage. The Lord Trustees are doing a good deal for them. A few of them of our faith are asking that one of us preach the Word of God to them, and that one of us might hold Holy Communion before they move out. Because our large boat has to fetch something and the matter of the would-be prince has come to a head also, I am therefore traveling there with it very early this morning. God grant me to accomplish something good for the glory of the Lord Jesus.

Sunday, the 12th of December. Because my dear colleague, Mr. Boltzius, is in Savannah (as he himself noted in yesterdays entry), I have been alone today; and I have to report, to the praise of God, that He can do abundantly more than we ask and understand; for it grew fairly easy for me. To be sure, at the beginning of the divine services in the morning my strength was very weak, but our dear Lord strengthened me so much during the sermon, both morning and afternoon, that it grew easier for me than I first thought. As an exordium I had the verse from Luke 19:10: For the Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost. I repeated only that with the children in the afternoon, as I had no time left to repeat the sermon on the gospel.

We now indeed have cause to be gladdened because the Son of God Himself is our Savior, who not only has that name but also manifests Himself in that manner, as we ourselves recognize from the introductory words as well as from the gospel. Oh, how blessed is the one who really experiences Him as a Savior. We showed the parishioners in several ways that each and every one could experience Him as a Savior within oneself. May the Lord help things to come to that point, so that things are right in Christ for each and every one.

Monday, the 13th of December. This morning Mrs. Schweighoffer called on me, which right gladdened me, for I had quite a pleasant conversation with her. Through Gods blessing this was very profitable for her and for me. She complained to me of her distress and how yesterday her spirits had been right miserable. She said she had been pleased to hear how the Son of Man had come to seek and to save that which was lost; but her many sins, which seem great mountains to her, hindered it so that she was not able to take up the comfort for herself. Here I had the opportunity to preach the gospel to this poor woman and to show her how all the good things in the gospel apply especially to her. I said she should be exquisitely calm when her sins storm and rage, hold to the beautiful introductory words, and only hope that it will already become good and that the Lord Jesus will manifest Himself in her as her Savior.

I told her she should be glad that she was feeling her corruption more and more; others also felt thus. But, I said, just as she had all the more right to the Lord Jesus, so should she cling tightly to Him and diligently observe His love for mankind and how He died for us. That, I said, was the right basis for comfort; where we leave it out of our mind, we do not progress but always vacillate. I prayed with her and read aloud to her the beautiful hymn: Liebes Herz bedencke doch, deines Jesu grosse Gte. All this was very blessed in both of us. For what I told her I told myself too, because I had need of the same thing; and when we speak with others there is all the more impression on our minds. Hence this conversation was very blessed to me, and what our Lord Jesus says becomes true here also: When two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them.

Tuesday, the 14th of December. Yesterday evening my traveling companions brought me to Abercorn, from whence this morning (as soon as it was possible, on account of the extreme cold) I traveled to our plantations and home. It was a very cold journey this time; we feel it more in Savannah by day and night than at home, where we have either warm chambers or well protected kitchens. Our dear Lord strengthened me in mind and body so that I was able to hold a prayer hour Saturday, preach twice on Sunday, and still in the evening prayer hour preach something from the remarkable story in 2 Samuel 24 and pray with the people. Mr. Jones proved to be very kind towards the oft-mentioned would-be prince, who had traveled voluntarily down with me, had food and drink served to him in his house, presented him with one of his own coats, and promised to take him along himself to Frederica and advance his interests himself with Gen. Oglethorpe. Because he displayed a great desire to travel back to Ebenezer for the sake of his edification and to remain here until Mr. Jones departure, he agreed to it.

Saturday evening this person became violently ill; and, because he surmised that it would be his last night, he humbled himself very earnestly before God and approached Christ in a very woebegone manner, as a poor, penitent sinner. We did what we could for him. Things improved for him towards morning, so that he was able to go to church. He attested that this mortal fear had brought much profit to his soul. May God bestow grace upon him for a true conversion.

On Friday a young Creek Indian who calls himself a prince shot a bullet through the nose of a Cherokee Indian when he could not hit him in the head. They had a quite insignificant dispute. It was recounted to me that shortly before a Creek Indian had shot down another because the one had refused a powder horn to the other. It is appalling to live near and around these people, and therefore we may thank God that we have little traffic with them. Mr. Jones assured me that if peace with the Spaniards were once again to be established we would not have to suffer all this from the Indians. Now people allow themselves every devilry.

Wednesday, the 15th of December. Prior to my journey I had agreed with the parishioners on the plantations that instead of Tuesday I would hold the edification hour the following day and finish the story from the 24th chapter of 2 Samuel, which also took place today. By the beautiful example of David we learned how, in a manner pleasing to God, we should apply our times to those times when the judgments of God encompassed almost the entire face of the earth. He and the elders of Israel humbled themselves righteously before God, fell into His hands in penitence and faith, became obedient to His word, and acted precisely according to His decree in service to the Lord. We compared the 60th Psalm with the sign of grace that he should build an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor. In verse six of this psalm it says very comfortingly: Thou hast given a banner to them that fear thee, that it may be displayed because of the truth. Selah. That thy beloved may be delivered; save with thy right hand, and hear me. vv. 11, 12. Give us help from trouble: for vain is the help of man. Through God we shall do valiantly: for He is it that shall tread down our enemies.

The young locksmith Schrempff was at my house and requested a piece of advice in a matter pertaining to his trade. He is, praise God, now once more quite clear-headed, and thanks God, who rescued him from his misery and once again helped him to the right path. I warned him about disorderly emotions of the spirit, since he was complaining extensively about his head, and I also recommended to him association with Christian people. I said that, if something difficult and contrary came into his mind, he should go into prayer and learn to practice the Christian rule: Cast all your care upon Him; for He careth for you.

Thursday, the 16th of December. I spoke this morning with some men concerning the young locksmith and gave them some instructions about how they might behave towards him, act according to his weakness, and promote his interests by complaisance, and the practice of love. On account of the great headaches he felt he was bled by Mr. Meyer this morning. I believe God will be praised for putting his mind in order, just as previously He was publicly and very earnestly implored in the matter. I am also hoping that he will ponder upon the chastisement of God, which nonetheless occured in grace, will kiss the hand of the omnipotent Creator who gives and takes according to His pleasure, in humility and obedience, and will apply the reason and powers of mind now once more granted him exclusively to His glory and to the service of his neighbors. We will remind him of it as we have the opportunity. It now occurred to me what is recorded in Daniel 4:3134.

Friday, the 17th of December. I found Mrs. Schweighoffer still in bed and heard her complaining about a fever, nonetheless she attested, praise God, that things had improved with her shortly before. In her soul, too, and in childlike trust towards God she was more strengthened than a few days ago. I spoke to her and myself something for edification about the words of the catechism where we are directed to take pleasure and comfort in the Lord Jesus alone. For this reason our dear Lord inflicts us with all sorts of external and internal suffering so that we might leave all joy and comfort in ourselves and the world and penetrate into the joy and comfort of Christ and the salvation we acquire from Him.

With the many kinds of weaknesses and the lack we feel in the orphanage, the precious words of David occurred to me, Psalms 62:11, God hath spoken once; twice I have heard this; that power belongeth unto God. Immediately thereupon another evidence of divine love and kindness was displayed, which impressed me deeply and strengthened my faith that God will soon engender assistance. As I was departing I heard Mrs. N. praying to God in another room, and I believe with certainty what is said in Tobit 4:22 will also come true in us poor folk.

We are now beginning the story from 1 Chronicles 23, which connects precisely with the last chapter of 2 Samuel. As an introduction to the same, at the end of the hour we profited by the verse Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance. David performed true penance and now we are hearing of the righteous fruits of his penance. And therefore it is not enough that people pretend penance; they must give evidence of the truth of it also in a pious life, otherwise one cannot believe them and they will plunge into hell through self-deception.

Saturday, the 18th of December. We wish with all our hearts that all Protestants might live as calmly and contentedly as we are living in this colony under the gracious shelter of the Allhighest; they would not have much in the way of misery and dearth to complain of. Not only the progress of our diaries but also the daily letters of our people to their patrons, friends, relatives, and countrymen in Germany and Prussia attest sufficiently to the many good things and advantages which they enjoy in Ebenezer. From previous experience their hope is strong that the remaining difficulties which they are accustomed to finding in the new planting spots will fall away by and by and that they will enjoy the fruits of their labor in peace and pleasure, and we also hope this for the other inhabitants of this country who are not lazy and disorderly but manage their labor and households well.

In view of this, we would not be able to escape from the censure of being an ungrateful and bad segment of society if we grumbled amidst the many benefactions bestowed upon this country and were to have the least to do with the practices of such people who so maliciously oppose the salutary decree of the Lord Trustees.6 In accordance there with we and all the parishioners entrusted to us hereby protest against such people, who pretend to be agents of this colony; and we attest that we have nothing to do with them and their ways.

Sunday, the 19th of December. Since the holy celebration of Christmas is coming up very soon, our preaching and entire spirit is directed towards passing this blessed celebration, with Gods grace and support, as if it were the first and last in this miserable life.

Monday, the 20th of December. This year our people on the plantations have sown much wheat, which is ripening everywhere so beautifully that even merely looking at it causes pleasure. If God grants His blessing thereto, many a head of household will receive as much white flour in the coming summer as he has need of in his household. Heretofore the mill has always had enough water, and therefore everyone has been able to make his corn and wheat into flour without difficulty and expense. This inspires each and every one to industry in his agriculture and thanksgiving towards God. I hear that Kogler will ferret out a means of drawing off the superfluous water so that it cannot easily inundate the fields lying next to the river. The advantage of this will be that milling will be able to go on with very little water. To be sure, there will be some new expenses required; but since, as I already recognize from the description, the profit will be quite large, we cannot spare the expenses, rather we have a childlike trust in God that He will cause as much to flow to us from the little fountain of His kindness as is also necessary for this highly needed improvement to the mill.

Tuesday, the 21st of December. We will learn in the next prayer hour on 1 Chronicles 23 that many strangers found themselves in the land of Israel, who had abandoned their fatherlands on account of the religious worship there and had moved to a country where they had the opportunity to become acquainted with the true God of Israel. Hence it is indeed right absurd when people who profess the true religion stay away from the good opportunity to be edified for eternity, either constantly or for a long period. They would not do it if there were in them a genuine desire for the word of life. They are commonly ready with causes which induce them to such anomalies, but that day will make it clear whether such causes were valid. They also like to say that God is not bound to one place, He is present everywhere. Nonetheless, if there were many thousands in the world who must live without preachers and public divine worship, we cannot indeed condemn them for that reason.

Today in the edification hour on the plantations and in town we were warned about self-selected divine worship, as we heard that David did not make the choice himself of the threshing floor of the Jebusite for the future construction of the temple, but rather had chosen according to the direction of the Lord Himself. We find an example of a self-selected and therefore fruitless, indeed sinful, religious worship at Isaiah 1:12 and in the words: This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoreth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. Thus do quite many (unfortunately!) observe Christmas and other celebrations, which is a tempting of God and an abuse of His holy name. For whoever wishes to serve God must make it an earnest desire not to tempt God. We came to this place destined for a temple and to the words of David, 1 Chronicles 23:1 upon the two mystical stories wherein also is found beautiful material for Christmas, Genesis 22 and 28:12 ff., that the Jebusite was heartily willing to offer everything in his capacity for the temple and altar; and that heathens too were made worthy of contributing something. For it is without doubt a mystical image of how the heathens, too, would receive access not only to the temple of the Old Testament but also to Christ, who would live in human nature as in His temple and would open up a whole profusion of grace and truth; the promise at Acts 15:1517 pertains to this and is to be seen in the first of the heathens, the Wise Men from the Orient. Thereby it is also fair to note that there were also heathen women in the family line of Christ (Matthew 1:35) who contributed their own special things, according to Gods gracious dispensation, to the temple which the Son of God built for Himself in taking on the form of man. How comforting it is for us that we are by nature and by blood heathens. The very fine deportment of the Jebusite Araunah or Ornan should arouse us to surrender and offer up all our property, even the dearest and best, to our King of Glory, who has come to us in great love, as we have seen also on the first Sunday of Advent in the examples of the Gospel of Matthew 21:1 ff.

Wednesday, the 22nd of December. Leimberger was perilously ill last night and was seized by a very violent stroke of epilepsy. When I came to him the paroxysm had passed, to be sure, but he could not speak right clearly because he had injured his tongue with his teeth. Heretofore he had cut boards and laths at the church; and he did this necessary and profitable labor just yesterday, although for some days he has had pains in his abdomen. I brought him the treasured words from the 68th Psalm, from which I had profited this morning with my family, according to regular order: Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive: thou hast received gifts, etc. God lays a burden on us, but He helps us, too. We have a God ... etc. He was very calm and well composed in his soul, from which his body also took part. He spoke very edifyingly and thereby gave us to understand that our dear Lord had already prepared him for this illness and indeed also for death. He stands in true denial of self-will and wishes nothing other than what God his Father wishes; and, since he had experienced that our life, if it was savory, was only trouble and labor, thus he also longed for peace. Nonetheless, if God should cause him to recover, he wished first to become useful to God and his neighbor; and he believed with certainty, he said, that this illness, through Gods blessing, would produce much profit for him. He was overjoyed, as was the Jebusite Araunah, to be thought worthy to give up a place on his plantation for the church, the cemetery, or, if necessary, the preachers or schoolmasters dwelling, and I hope God will grant him the joy of helping dedicate the church, which will be built across from his dwelling.

His wife has already had almost the same sudden occurrence as harbingers of a rapid death, and she can and should be awakened anew to the serious desire for Christianity, through this perilous illness of her husband; of which I also reminded her. The church construction, praise God! is proceeding apace and the laborers are doing their projects in the most delightful harmony. The church is getting an even handsomer appearance both internally and externally than the church in town. For the more the carpenters practice important construction, the more benefits they derive; and thereby they cause no unnecessary expenses. We have, to be sure, not as much money in cassa as will be required for payment of all construction expenses; but I believe that we can risk something hereby and trust to our dear Lord, who has promised to grant everything with His Son, that He will, in His time, cause so much to fall to us that we will not have to remain obligated to any laborer.

Thursday, the 23rd of December. Things are still at a bad pass with Klocker. Yesterday I requested Mr. Thilo to visit him once more and to arrange some medications for his circumstances, to which end a horse was given him today to ride out there. Whoever knows the man wishes, along with us, that we might keep him longer in the congregation, for he is a profitable, obliging, and unselfish man. His heart is indeed with the Lord Jesus and is always directed to Him in prayer and praise. He is at Hans Flrls house and is enjoying many good spiritual and physical things. He well recognizes also (and Flrl rendered this judgment) that he is a spritually minded man, etc.

Since the above was written Mr. Thilo has returned from Klocker and has brought the news to me that Klocker had died shortly before his arrival. I was telling him yesterday, amongst other things, the beautiful Christmas verse: For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that ye through His poverty might be rich. Now, according to the state of his soul, he will have come to the complete enjoyment of this abundance; for Christ was his life, hence also dying his gain and not loss. I recounted to him how his eldest girl and youngest boy were being cared for in the orphanage, and what hope I had for the girls true improvement. He was pleased by that and said that the middle girl, who was now attending to him, was not praying so diligently and was not so obedient as before, on which account I admonished her. Because of that she shed many tears and prayed with me on her knees next to her sick father.

This evening after our song hour I received a letter from our dear Pastor Mhlenberg which he wrote in the quarter hour on the 12th of November when the little sloop, on which he had ventured in faith, was intending to leave. He wrote as follows:

I chose the first opportunity for Pennsylvania, and signed on with the sloop. It is about like the one on which Captain Grant sailed to Frederica, with one mast. Mr. Lamptons brigantine will still be waiting long. I gave Captain Childs 3 guineas for the passage. Mr. Theus wished to take nothing for my board. I wished to urge something on him because he is a poor man and has nothing but what he earns from painting, but he did not wish it. May our gracious Lord reward it according to His kindness. From the time I arrived I have instructed some big boys, preached twice on Sundays, applied the remaining time to writing down my journal, and completing a letter to the Court Chaplain. Aside from that I have run from one place to another in order to speak with the people about the journey. I gave my package to Mr. Theus, who intends to give it to Mr. Hopton.

Friday, the 24th of December. Today after the edification hour Bernhard Klocker was buried; and my dear colleague assisted at the burial because I had become somewhat weak and tired in the edification and preparation hour. This morning I had the legacy of this deceased man, as much as was in his own hut, written down and brought to Peter Reiters dwelling. The remaining best things are at Hans Flrls, where Klocker long lay ill. What we cannot store we will turn into money in the interests of the children. It is also better at this perilous time, when here and there the fatal cattle illness is still raging, that we sell the cattle which he left and put the money safely by. Our dear Lord this day caused us to hear many good things in preparation for the holy celebration of Christmas, and our hearts were inspired in the edification hour as well as in the prayer hour to safeguard our present salvation well.

Saturday and Sunday were the holy celebration of Christmas. Although some members of the congregation are now being afflicted with fevers and other weaknesses, nonetheless our dear Lord has granted to both of us the health and strength to carry out our duties entirely unencumbered. Also our parishioners diligently attended divine services, and we were able to edify ourselves with them in prayer and song and through the preaching of the Gospel of Christ. The weather was cold to be sure, but dry; and, because our church is well provided with windows and doors, we did not feel the cold very much. A German man from Savannah and two German rangers from Fort Argyle had come here to celebrate Christmas with us. God strengthened Leimberger so much once more that he was able to attend divine services on both holidays, which also caused us joy.

Monday, the 27th of December. The German tailor from Savannah7 has now fully resolved to move to our location, after he has secured permission from us for it, on condition of Christian behavior. He is buying Schefflers new hut near the city; he no longer needs it, as he has married Ms. Ernst. The tailor is promising all good things and will have it good amongst us, too, if he should keep his promise. He is a master, and works very quickly and cheaply. Prior to this he was a soldier amongst the French. But as John the Baptist also accepted military people and gave them salutary reminders, so it is our duty to attempt it with all kinds of people. Perhaps the Word of the Lord will succeed in their souls since it has been abundantly proclaimed to them as it has been to others. If they do not follow then they have all the less excuse.

Tuesday, the 28th of December. Our song hour is still prgressing, praise God, with blessing, and we have therein much edification and divine pleasure. Yesterday and today we practiced the beautiful song: Sey willkommen, liebstes Kind, etc., likewise Herr, so du wirst mit mir seyn, etc. to grasp correctly. Because the melody is somewhat difficult and the verses long and therefore there are many variations in the melody, it has been somewhat hard for the people to grasp it as quickly as others; but practice and repetition give everything subsequently. The latter is a very edifying pilgrim and emigrants song, which is quite appropriate indeed to the material which we are now learning in the evening prayer hours about the strangers in the Jewish country, according to 1 Chronicles 23:2, cf. 2 Chronicles 2:17. They did not move to the land of Canaan to make their fortune with the acquisition of great estates, for the way to that was barred to them by the expressed decree of God. Rather it was for them to a matter of recognizing God and serving Him and becoming blessed; and because they, as we know from many beautiful examples of such strangers, at first strove for the Kingdom of God and for His righteousness, the physical things also fell to them, although they had no land of their own at all and no rights of citizens or place of honor in Israel, nor could they have any. That God loved the strangers especially we see from Exodus 22:21, cf. 23:9, Deuteronomy 10:18, where it says quite comfortingly: He ... loveth the stranger, in giving him food and raiment, etc. This can strengthen very much the faith of ourselves, who are also strangers, so that if we arrange our way of living according to 1 Peter 2:11 ff., we will have no lack of any good thing, even if we do not possess as much land and temporal property as perhaps others in the vicinity, with which lack persons of carnal lusts often reproach our people.

We have also been reminded of our duty of gratitude and obedience towards our beneficent authorities, as they heretofore have behaved towards us as in 3 John 5-8. On the other hand, we must be right disgusted with the sins of the people who repress and oppress strangers, be they white or black servants, and have no thought for the word of the Lord Jesus: Whatsoever ye would that men should do unto You, do ye even so to them. Because the strangers had no land and no rights of citizens but rather had to feed themselves as day laborers, workmen, and artisans among the Israelites, David also gave them the opportunity to earn something with the preparation for the construction of the temple. Just such a thing is a reason why the Lord Trustees do not wish to introduce any Negroes into the country, so that the poor and the strangers can be employed at all kinds of labor, for otherwise there is no livelihood for poor whites where there are sufficient Negroes, as in Carolina and other places.8

Wednesday, the 29th of December. N. became very ill on the second day of the celebration and lay delirious almost 24 hours. This morning he had me come to him quite early and acknowledged, amidst weeping and sighing, that he had had a very sad night. For, he said, God had caused all his sins to fall heavily on his conscience; there were more of them than sand on the seashore. Especially oppressive were certain youthful sins, to wit, that he had often misused Holy Communion because no improvement followed therefrom. He said he had heretofore considered himself a good Christian, but now he saw well his error and self-deception. He was troubled that God would cast him out on account of his sins; if only that would not happen, he said, he would happily surrender himself to everything which God might intend for him. Hans Schmidt had offered him words of comfort during the preceding night, he said, but no comfort would cling to him. I told him that his current feeling of sin and the honest desire to be saved therefrom by Christ was a sign that God wished not to cast him into hell but rather would have him in heaven. I directed him herewith to the manner of penance of David, of the publican, of the Prodigal Son. I admonished him to a reconciliation with his neighbor, especially with N., with whom for some time he had not gotten along. I reminded him also of the beautiful parable of the king who had an accounting with his servants so that he might convince them of their disloyalty and fault, and who, upon their humbling themselves, forgave them everything. I said that this was also the purpose of God in this current illness and stirring of his conscience.

I visited N. N. this morning, but was able to accomplish little with him. He has a very good literal recognition of spiritual things, and therewith tells a good story, and is like an eel in the hand which one can never grasp but who knows how to wriggle out of everything which is culpable in himself. He quickly inveighs against other people with very coarse judgments, so that, if we did not know such people better, we would have to consider them coarse sinners and miscreants. He was also irritated with me because I cannot approve of his way of life and behavior; and it was his judgment, he said, that I had no good will and purpose towards him. What can one do? We have to deliver such people to the mercy of God; and, if He does not change, convince, and humble them, we poor instruments accomplish little or nothing.

Thursday, the 30th of December. At one oclock adults and children gathered in the orphanage, in the dining room, where I read aloud something to them from Gods word at the close of the old year, thanked our dear Lord with them for the benefactions we had received, and prayed for ourselves and our benefactors. During the reading I reminded them of the verse we had had from Deuteronomy 10:18. God loved orphans, widows, and strangers, in that He gave them food and raiment; and I showed them that it was pleasing to our dear Lord to make us into strangers in this land and make us similar to His ancient people Israel, indeed to the patriarch Abraham, and to Isaac and Jacob in this matter. I said that the manner in which He was inclined towards us strangers was contained here. He loved us; He showed this love, I said, not only by giving us food and raiment for the entire almost ended year but also by manifesting to us many other spiritual benefactions and by granting us His word and the holy sacraments, good opportunities for edification, good peace and much prevention of harm and misfortune.

From Europe God had granted many beautiful blessings for the support and progress of the orphans and widows institutions; and thereby He clearly gave to recognize that He had awakened other Christian hearts to an active love towards us, as we saw some time ago to our great pleasure from the edifying foreword to the 8th Continuation.9 Herewith I requested from our strangers in the orphanage two different things: 1) That at the end of this year they think back and ponder, one by one, how many acts of love the Lord had showed them. 2) That they inquire precisely how their mutual love towards the loving and merciful God and Father had been constituted. Whoever did not first strive for the kingdom of God and went around not grateful and faithful but rather discontented; whoever was disobedient, quarrelsome, envious, slanderous, did not have a true mutual love towards God but was rather a loveless and faithless person. Food and raiment God had granted to each and every one, for all of them had been able to satisfy their need and be clothed by day and night. But, I said, it was quite common that the discontented person was not satisfied with that. Soon they find fault with something in the quality of the food and raiment, soon they desire money and other things in addition; and, if they cannot have it so, they grumble secretly and do not consider such specimens of divine providence as signs of Gods love although He makes them l.c.10 Finally the horror of this sin was presented, and each of them was faithfully warned to eradicate it through true penance in the blood of Christ and to call to God the Holy Spirit, that He might make them all into entirely new persons.

Friday, the 31st of December. The tailor Metzger from N. called on me to ask whether we intended to allow him to move to us with his children. He cannot get on in N. /Purysburg/ and would like to care for his children in his old age that they will be instructed from Gods word.11 If it is true that he wishes to accommodate himself here with his children in Christian order, which is quite well-known to him, then we do not wish to hinder his living amongst us and enjoying the opportunity for the edification of his soul. He gave me such a deplorable description of the state of affairs in N. that one could not find fault with anyone if he left the place and sought his nourishment elsewhere. It was already known to us how confused everything appeared in spiritual and physical matters, and since in all particulars we enjoy great advantages, we have cause diligently to remember amongst ourselves the spiritual and physical benefactions which have abundantly befallen us from God, and to arouse ourselves to righteous gratitude towards Him and our benefactors.

MAY THE HEAVENLY FATHER BE HUMBLY PRAISED IN THE NAME OF JESUS CHRIST FOR ALL HIS KINDNESS WHICH HAS FLOWED TO OUR SOULS AND BODIES IN THIS YEAR NOW PAST. MAY HE CAUSE US TO END THIS OLD YEAR IN BLESSING AND BEGIN THIS NEW YEAR IN BLESSING, SO THAT WE MAY BE AND REMAIN THE BLESSED OF THE LORD IN TIME AND ETERNITY. AMEN!

Appendix

HYMNS SUNG IN 1742

Hymns followed by F-T and volume and song (not page!) number are reproduced in Albert Friedrich Fischer W. Tumpel, Das deutsche evangelische Kirchenlied des 17. Jahrhunderts (Gutersloh, 1916, reprinted Hildesheim 1964). Authors of all identified hymns are listed in (AF) Albert Friedrich Fischer, Kirchenlieder-Lexikon Gotha, 1878, reprint Hildesheim 1967).

Ach, Gott und Herr, wie gross und schwer ... (Oh God and Lord), by Johanne Majore, F-T I 52. p. 197.

Also hat Gott die Welt geliebt ... (God so loved the world), by Paul Gerhardt, F-T III 469. p. 100.

Auf Zion, auf! Auf Tochter, same nicht ... (Up, up daughter, do not delay), by Peter Franck, F-T III 388. p. 240.

Danckt dem Herrn ihr Gottes-Knechte ... (Thank the Lord, ye servants of God), by Heinrich Georg Reuss, p. 115.

Du bist ja Jesu meine Freude ... (Jesus, thou art my joy indeed), by Christian Jacob Koitsch, p. 33.

Ein Lmmlein geht und trgt die Schuld ... (A little Lamb goes and bears our guilt), by Paul Gerhardt, p. 84.

Es ist das Heil uns kommen ... (Salvation hath come here to us), by Lazarus Spengler, p. 97.

Gott, den ich als Liebe kenne ... (God, whom I know as love), by Christian Friedrich Richter, p. 223.

Gott lsst die Seele nicht, er hat sie viel zu lieb ... (God will not forsake the soul, he loves it far too much), unidentified, possibly part of a longer hymn. p. 172.

Gott wills machen, dass die Sachen ... (God will ordain that things ... ), by Johann Daniel Herrnschmidt, p. 233.

Herr, so du wirst mit mir seyn ... (Lord, if thou wilt be with me), by Christoph Jacob Koitsch, p. 260.

Ich bin ja Herr in deiner Macht ... (I am, oh Lord, in Thy power), by Simon Dach. F-T III 105. pp. 24, 228.

In allen meinen Thaten ... (In all my deeds), by Paul Fleming. F-T I 489. p. 61.

Jesu, deine heilige Wunden ... (Jesus, Thy holy wounds), by Johann Heermann. F-T II 429. See I 363, p. 34.

Liebes Hertz, bedencke doch, ... (Dear Heart, just consider), by Christoph Jacob Koitsch, pp. 244, 251.

Lobe den Herrn, o meine Seele, ... (Praise the Lord, oh my soul), by Johann Daniel Herrnschmidt. F-T I 275. Here it is attributed to Martin Alther. p. 25.

Lobet den Herrn, den mchtigen Knig der Ehren ... (Praise the Lord, the mighty King of glory), unidentified. pp. 32, 199.

Nun dancket all und bringet Ehr ... (Bring thanks and glory, all of you), by Paul Gerhardt. F-T I 526. p. 158.

O Gott du Tiefe sonder Grund ... (God, thou depth without a bottom), unidentified, p. 15. Possibly the same as Gott, du Tiefe sonder Grund in Detailed Reports, Vol. VII, p. 45.

O grosse Freude, die auf der Weyde ... (Great joy, that on the meadow), traditional Christmas song, p. 4.

O wie selig seyd ihr doch, ihr Frommen ... (Oh, how blessed are you, ye pious), by Simon Dach or David Behme. F-T I 405. p. 240.

Prange Welt mit deinem Wissen ... (Be resplendent, World, with all thy knowledge), by Johann Job, pp. 45, 84.

Seligstes Wesen, unendliche Wonne ... (Most blessed Being, eternal Joy), by Abraham Hinckelmann, p. 240.

Sey willkommen, liebstes Kind ... (Be welcome, dearest Child), by Johann Scheffler (Angelus Silesius), p. 260.

Singt dem Herrn nah und fern, ... (Sing unto the Lord, both near and far), by Johann Daniel Herrnschmid, p. 4.

Was hat getan der heilig Christ? ... (What has our holy Christ done?), by Stephan Praetorius. F-T I 223. p. 185.

Was unser Gott geschaffen hat, das will er auch erhalten ... (What our God has created, that He will maintain), unidentified, p. 116.

Weltlich Ehr und zeitlich Gut, Wollust ... (Worldly glory and temporal wealth, luxury), by Michael Weisse, p. 130.

Wenn meine Snde mich krncken ... (When my sins distress me), unidentified, p. 129.

Wie wohl ist mir, o Freund der Seelen ... (How dear to me art Thou, Friend of. the soul), by Wolfgang Christoph Dessler. F-T V 390. p. 27.

Wo Gott der Herr nicht bei uns hlt ... (If God the Lord doth not abide with us), by Justus Jonas, p. 189.

Wo Gott der Herr nicht bei uns wr ... (If God the Lord were not with us), possibly another version of the above song? p. 188.

Wunder Anfang, Herrlich Ende ... (Marvelous Beginning, splendid End), by Heinrich Arnold Stockfleth. F-T V 162. p. 97.

Notes

INTRODUCTION

1. ed. George F. Jones. Athens, Ga.: UofGa Press, 1966. The story is told in more detail in George F. Jones, The Salzburger Saga. Athens, Ga.: UofGa Press, 1983.

JANUARY

1. In the 18th century the word epilepsy denoted any paroxysm, in this case probably from malaria.

2. The captain from Palachocolas appears to have been Aeneas McIntosh.

3. The Mill River (Mhl-Fluss), a channel of the Savannah River, was almost closed at its northern end, with the result that it was easier to row against its sluggish current. It is now called Abercorn Creek.

4. This must be the same as the hymn beginning O grosse Freude, die auf der Weide.

5. For the Pietists, self-justification or unwarranted security (selbstgemachte Sicherheit) was a grave impediment to salvation.

6. This refers to the 6th Continuation of Urlspergers Ausfhrliche Nachrichten.

7. These were the occupants of the orphanage.

8. Pichlers name later appears as Bichler.

9. Allusion to a verse of a hymn, Was unser Gott erschaffen hat, das kann er auch erhalten.

10. No sooner said than done.

11. These were Ursula Meyer, widow of Thomas, and her daughter Magdalena.

12. This would appear to be Joseph Avery. See entry for 12 Feb.

13. The troublesome times refers to the First Silesian War (1740-42).

14. It was a custom of the times to send Bible verses to friends as gifts. See entry for 18 May.

15. His femur had been dislocated when he was struck by a bear he had shot out of a tree. His painful treatment had been administered by Jean Bourquin at Purysburg.

16. Maria Maurer, or Mauer, had undergone painful surgery by Bourquin in Purysburg for an abscess in the uvula.

17. Mit Gott der Glaub ist wohl daran, dem Nchsten wird die Lieb guts thun, bist du aus Gott geboren. From a hymn.

18. Balthasar Bacher of the 2nd transport received his brother Thomas with the latters wife and daughter, both named Maria.

19. In Pietistic parlance misery (Elend) meant sin, or alienation from God.

20. See note 6, above.

21. See note 1, above.

22. Boltzius has mentioned only the Zittrauer and Pletter infants, unless Urlsperger made a deletion.

23. This suggests that the Halle medicines were being sold at Ebenezer. See Renate Wilson, The Halle Orphanage Medications in Colonial Georgia. Paper presented at the Institute for the History of Medicine. The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, February 1987.

24. She appears to have had rickets.

25. The great works of God. Judged by Pietistic values, Gods conversion of these frivolous people was far more newsworthy, for example, than Oglethorpes striking victory over the Spaniards at Bloody Marsh, which occurred in the same year.

FEBRUARY

1. This mill had belonged to a Swede named Purcker (called Parker), who abandoned it because he could not use slave labor.

2. This was Abraham de Leon.

3. These were the survivors of Riemenschneiders party on the Europa. Although destined for Saxe-Gotha, many settled at Acton and Vernonburg after recuperating in Savannah.

4. He donated it through George Whitefield.

5. At this time the German word enemy (Feind) often designated the devil.

6. The name was usually written Gugel.

7. The formerly rebellious Rieser seems to have become subdued after being captured by some Indians. See Detailed Reports 8:339340.

8. This map, now lost, later became a bone of contention between Averys widow and the Trustees.

9. This may be the German trader who appears later in these reports.

10. It was the annual inundation that made the land so fertile.

11. The tenor of his present life.

12. This was either Hugh or Jonathan Bryan, both of whom were generous to the Salzburgers.

13. Theobald Kieffer took his daughter Elisabetha Catharina, wife of Matthias Zettler, back to Puysburg.

14. The name appears as Hsler, Hessler, and Hssler.

15. Gabriel and Hans.

MARCH

1. Archpriest Schumann was chaplain to the Salzburger exiles in East Prussia.

2. This account has been published as The Fourth Transport of Georgia Salzburgers in Concordia Historical Institute Quarterly 56 (1983), 3-26, 52-64.

3. Vigorously, literally, with sap and blood.

4. Ruprecht Schrempf.

5. This could have been the magistrate Georgii in Freudenstadt.

6. A legalistic (gesetzlich) person trusted more in the law of the Old Testament than in the grace of the New.

7. He and two others drowned while swimming in the Rhine, unless, possibly, they deserted the transport at that point. See article in note 2, above.

8. For the Pietists, all sicknesses sent by God were salutary, so it seems strange that they tried to cure them.

9. Boltzius is alluding to Johannes Arndts Passions- und Osterpredigten. Arndts True Christianity was the favorite book among the Germans in Colonial America, and his Little Garden of Paradise, Passion Sermons, and Postille were also much read.

10. Boltzius numbers this commandment as the third, according to the German and Roman system. In this translation the numbers are altered to conform to the English or Orthodox numbering.

11. Ich kan durch dein Verdienst allein, hier ruhig und dort selig seyn. Apparently from a hymn.

APRIL

1. See Feb., note 5.

2. He has arisen. Hearts, look up.

3. See Jan., note 19.

4. Possibly macaronic student Latin for durch den Stuhl.

5. The Lord sent fiery serpents to bite the Israelites for their sins. Then he allowed Moses to raise a serpent on a pole. If those who had been bitten looked at it, they would survive.

6. He refers to Steiner, who has not been mentioned for two pages.

7. Carl Heinrich Bogatzky, Gldenes Schatz-Kstlein der Kinder Gottes. (Halle, various dates).

MAY

1. Reichsstadt. Free city directly under the German emperor.

2. Mainly Indian corn, sweet potatoes, and beans as opposed to wheat, barley, oats, and rye.

3. They had not yet been seasoned.

4. The hypocrites manner of proceeding is to cry Hosannah today and Crucify him tomorrow.

5. The political and judicial officer of an ecclesiastical or other estate.

6. The name was usually written Brckl or Brickl.

7. Dr. Joachim Lange, Biblisch-Historisches Licht und Recht ... (Halle / Leipzig 1734).

8. Paul Anton, August Hermann Francke, Johann Anastasius Freyling-hausen. These were Pietistic authors connected with the Francke Foundation.

9. Heinrich Schubart, Zeugniss von der Gnade und Wahrheit in Christo ... Halle: Waisenhaus 1741.

10. Probably a typographical error, or a neologism suggesting In a human sort of way.

11. Boltzius wrote Jnglingen, but he must have meant to include girls.

12. Mein Abba, mache mich zu deinem Dienst bereit, dein Will gescheh an mir in Zeit und Ewigkeit; mein Jesu prge mir dein kindlich Wesen ein, lass mich aufs erste Wort so gleich gehorsam sein, apparently from a hymn.

13. Boltzius does not make it clear that he is in Savannah.

14. A. H. Francke, Lehre vom Anfang christlichen Lebens. (Halle 1696 ff.).

JUNE

1. Since the unnamed sinner was married to an Unselt girl (Friederica, Eva Regina, or Anna Justina), he must have been Henry Bishop, Georg Schweiger, or Franz Hernberger.

2. It was Boltzius frequently repeated theme that God sends sickness to those He loves to humble and chasten them.

3. A treatment that mitigates without curing.

4. Those being prepared for Holy Communion.

5. Trading station in South Carolina near Augusta.

6. He had depended on the work performed. That means he thought he could achieve salvation through good works without true conversion.

7. The area is now called Sandfly.

JULY

1. What grows quickly perishes quickly.

2. It is to be remembered that Salzburg was then not a part of Austria and that some of the third transport were religous exiles from Upper Austria.

3. With united forces.

4. Natural people (natrliche Leute) were people not yet reborn in Jesus.

5. Boats hewn out of large logs.

6. See note Jan., note 19.

7. Frchte dich nicht, du liebes Land, sondern sey frhlich getrost, denn der Herr kan auch Grosse Dinge thun.

8. This contradicts what Boltzius said on 13 July.

9. Through the spirit of the Holy Ghost.

10. John Terry (Jean Thierry), the recorder at Frederica, had been in charge of the fourth transport on their voyage.

11. It is a law of human nature that hostile forces, even when soundly defeated, are always far more numerous than friendly forces.

12. Similarity of times.

13. The details.

14. Law of hospitality. Southern Hospitality lasted in the South until the building of hotels and motor courts.

15. Gott lsst die Seele nicht, er hat sie viel zu lieb. From a hymn.

AUGUST

1. In referring to the Bohemians, Boltzius is probably thinking not of his competitors, the Moravians, but of other Protestant exiles from Bohemia. One group would have joined the third transport but for want of a Czech-speaking pastor.

2. Boltzius appears to have failed to mention Mrs. Otts death, or else it was deleted by Urlsperger.

3. Perverted (verkehrt) was the opposite of converted (bekehrt), turned from, instead of to, God.

4. It is amazing that anyone survived such cures.

5. Gottfried Christ was tubercular and had suffered hemorrhages already in Germany. Unlike most others in Ebenezer, his health seems to have improved in the Georgia climate.

6. Reichtum der Gte, Geduld und Langmthigkeit Gottes. This may have been a devotional tract, or else Boltzius may merely have taken Romans 2:4 to use as the theme of his sermon.

7. The Trustees had promised a corn-shilling, or subsidy on every bushel of corn, sweet potatoes, and beans. It was paid several years later.

8. Being more concerned with the grace of the New Testament than with the law of the old, the Lutheran theologians looked upon all persons and events of the Old Testament as prefigurations, or forerunners, of persons and events in the New.

9. Their counsels are evidence of their faith.

10. Objects of mercy.

11. As a thundering voice.

12. The feeling of being accused.

13. A large gold coin.

14. Seat of business, center of operations.

15. Step by step, gradually.

16. Hours and delays.

17. Medical art.

18. His most ample merit.

SEPTEMBER

1. Ich hang und bleib auch hangen an Christo als ein Glied, wo mein Haupt durch ist gangen, da nimmt er mich auch mit: er reisset durch die Hll, ich bin stets sein Gesell. Er dringt zum Saal der Ehren, ich folg ihm immer nach und darf mich gar nicht kehren an einzig Ungemach. Es tobe was da kan, mein Haupt nimmt sich mein an, mein Heiland ist mein Schild, der alles Toben stillt. From the hymn Auf, auf, mein Hertz mit Freuden by Paul Gerhardt.

2. Johann Altherr, a Swiss butcher from Purysburg, married Boltzius maid, Amalia Schiermeister.

3. D. Mllers und Ltkemanns Postille; Herrn Ulrichs Predigt-Bcher.

4. Probably the map reproduced on the fontispiece of Detailed Reports Vol. V.

5. Indian tribes.

6. Theobald Kieffer, Sr.

7. Objects of mercy.

8. The Ausfhrliche Nachrichten.

9. Der Glaub mit Gott ist wohl daran, dem Nchsten wird die Lieb Guthes thun, bist du aus Gott geboren. From hymn Es ist gerecht vor Gott allein, by Paul Speratus.

10. This was Frau Wallpurger, who had put her boy in school at Ebenezer in 1737.

11. Philip Jacob Spener, Lautere Milch des Evangelii.

12. A panacea manufactured by Johann Caspar Schauer in Augsburg.

13. Another example of prefiguration. See Aug., note 8.

14. The day of judgment.

15. A lightning legion, honorary title given to a Blitzkrieg Roman unit.

16. Boltzius spoke too soon. The cattle distember (blackwater) reached Ebenezer soon thereafter.

17. See Aug., note 8.

18. August Hermann Francke, Collegium Pastorale (Halle 1741).

19. A bean-pole.

20. In the Pietists view, nature had value only as a manifestation of Gods handiwork. Love of nature, as we know it, came with German romanticism.

21. Typical of the work ethic taught by Luther.

22. The principle of good works is a splendid vice. See June, note 6.

OCTOBER

1. Matthas Kurtz and his family, after long sojourns on the Dutch island of Cadzand and in England, were the last Salzburgers to reach Ebenezer.

2. All entries until 30 October are by Gronau, since Boltzius accompanied Muhlenberg to Charleston.

3. So lasst uns denn dem lieben Herrn, mit Leib und Seel nachgehen, und wohlgemuth, getrost und gern bei Ihm in Leiden stehen: denn wer nicht kmpft, trgt auch die Cron des ewigen Lebens nicht davon. From the hymn Mir nach, spricht Christus, unser Held, by Johannes Scheffler (Angelus Silesius).

4. Nun hast du mich nun angenommen, als ich bin flehend zu dir kommen, es hats mein Hertz ja wohl gesphrt, als es dein Gnaden-blick gerhrt. From a hymn.

5. Thomas Stephens, Col. Stephens disloyal son, was a ringleader of the Malcontents, the party that opposed the Trustees and wished to introduce slavery.

6. Sein Jammer, Trbsal und Elend ist kommen zu einem seligen End: er hat getragen Christi Joch, ist gestorben und lebet noch. From the hymn Nun lasset uns den Leib begraben by Michael Weisse, from and old Moravian hymn.

7. Unless it stands for beatus (blessed), the B in the Ausfhrliche Nachrichten is a typographical error for D (Dr.). Dr. August Hermann Francke, Glauchisches Ge-denck-Bchlein, Oder einfltig Unterricht fur die Christliche Gemeinde zu Glaucha in Halle, (Leipzig and Halle, 1693). Glaucha, now in Halle, was the site of the Francke Foundation.

8. By temptation (Anfechtung) Gronau meant temptation to doubt that Christ, through His merits, can save even the worst sinner.

9. A lump in the side, probably a spleen swollen by malaria.

10. See Sept., note 1.

11. For an account of their journey, see John Martin Boltzius Trip to Charleston, October 1742. South Carolina Historical Magazine 83 (1981), 87110.

12. Gronau. Boltzius has just returned.

NOVEMBER

1. Although Salzburg was in the Holy Roman Empire, leaving there was called going into the Empire.

2. Johann Joachim Zblin, subsequently the leader of the Georgia Dissidents and representative at the Second Continental Congress.

3. The young Johann Joachim Zblin, now calling himself Zubly, filled this office.

4. Until the 18th century, the German word Haushalt included not only the house and household, but also the farm and the entire family economy.

5. Johann Gottfried von Mllern, commissioner of the fourth Salzburger transport from Augsburg to London.

6. This was the beginning of Vernonburg on the Vernon River.

7. Johann Anastasius Freylinghausen, Geist-Reiches Gesang-Buch, den Kern Alter und Neuer Lieder, Halle 1714.

8. The Salburgers had been much praised for herding their cattle; but by now they had learned that it was easier to let them range as the other colonists did.

9. Dr. Mller, Himmlischer Liebeskuss.

10. Wilt du mich todt, so sterb ich gern, mein Gott: wilt du, dass ich soll leben, will ich mich drein ergeben. From a hymn.

11. Boltzius Palatine servant.

12. Steps.

13. Philippians 3:21. Our vile body. King James Version; The body belonging to our humble estate, English New Bible.

14. His children were (Anna) Catharina, Eva (Barbara), Johann Georg, (Anna) Magdalena, and Margaretha.

15. In the 18th century the word whore and its German equivalent Hure did not necessarily connote meretriciousness. The term was applied to any girl who had premarital sexual relationships, even with her fianc.

16. Christopher Orton.

17. The Pietist term durchbrechen (to break through) meant to come to a realization that Christ can save even the worst sinner. See Oct., note 8.

DECEMBER

1. Either Ambrose or Johann Jacob Zblin. One of the brothers has left Ebenezer, so Boltzius no longer distinguishes them, even though he has not indicated which one remained. Boltzius first used the Swiss form Zblin but gradually shortened it to Zbli and Ziebli.

2. See Aug, note 7.

3. An imposter who called himself Carl Rudolf, Prince of Wurttemberg. He also claimed to be an ordained Lutheran minister.

4. This may be an error for fourth commandment, since the Lutherans interpreted the word father to include both spiritual and secular authorities.

5. Bender was then the name for Eregli in Turky. Boltzius seems to have believed the imposters tales of travel, even if not his royal birth or his ordination as minister.

6. Boltzius is referring to the Malcontents. See Oct., note 5.

7. This would appear to have been Kikar, a tailor apprentice from Hamburg.

8. As so often, Boltzius was right in predicting the fate of the po white in the South.

9. See Jan., note 5.

10. It is not clear to what the l.c. (locus citatus) refers, unless it is to Deuteronomy 10:18.

11. The Metzgers did move to Ebenezer and become substantial citizens.

Index

Abercorn, village near juncture of Abercorn Creek and Savannah River, passim

Abercorn Creek (Mill River, Mhl-Fluss), branch of Savannah River, i and passim

Jan., note 3

Ade (Adde), Salomo, Swabian shoemaker, recipient 10

to become planter, a better man 49

crop report 221

Adult education, 78, 101.

Agriculture, see Crops.

Alther, Johann, Swiss butcher, 190

Sept., note 2

Alligator, crushed in mill, 92

Anton, Paul, Pietist writter, work by 114

May, note 8

Arndt, Johann, author of True Christianity 94, 97, 114

and Passion and Easter Sermons 74

March, note 9

Arnsdorf, Peter, Palatine, recipient 7

Avery, Joseph, English surveyor, makes suggestions 27

completes work 40

to lay out land 224

Jan. note 12

Feb., note 8

Augsburg, Swabian city i

source of gifts iii, 3, 6, 12

gift from coachman 19

Austrian exiles i

Bacher, Balthasar, Salz, recipient 13

crop report 222

Jan., note 18

Bacher, Christina, Salz, w Balthasar, recipient 13

Bacher, Christina, Salz, w Matthus, recipient 14

receives communion 233

Bacher, Maria, Salz, w Thomas, recipient 10

midwife 202

Bacher, Matthus, Salz, recipient 14

bequest to orphanage 142

dies 142

crop report 221

Bacher, Thomas, Salz, recipient 10

ill 129

crop report 220

Baptisms, see births and Baptisms.

Beans, see Crops.

Bears, destroy livestock and corn 179, 206

Bell, at Ebenezer 36

Benefactions, from Augsburg and Wurttemberg iii, 3-17

from Halle 107, 114-115

for Boltzius house 178

Berlin fever powder, see Medicines

Bethesda, Whitefields orphanage near Savannah 102, 138, 139, 173, 175-176

Bichler, see Pichler.

Births and baptisms, 1

Landfelder 39

Schmidt 76

Eischberger 125

Bischoff, see Bishop.

Bishop, Friederica, Palatine, ne Unselt, w Henry, recipient 9

well educated 125

Bishop (Bischoff), Henry, former English servant to Boltzius, recipient 9

crop report 221

Blacksmith from Purysburg, begs 42, 83

Blacksmiths, see Smiths.

Bloodletting 166, 246, 253

Bloody Marsh, Oglethorpes victory over Spaniards iii

Bogatzky, Carl Heinrich, Pietist author

April, note 7

Bohemians, Aug., note 1

Boltzius, Johann Martin, pastor at Ebenezer i and passim

Bounty, see Corn-shilling.

Brandner, Maria, Salz, w Matthias, recipient 7

Brandner, Matthias, Salz, recipient 7

has fever clot 216

crop report 221

Breithaupt, Abbot Joachim Justus, Pietist author 180

Brickl, see Brckl.

Bridge, being constructed iii, 21, 25

completed 31

Brckl, Barbara, Salz, recipient 15

marries R. Schrempf 78

dies 112

Brckner, Georg, Salz, recipient 8

house consecrated 70

crop report 221

Brckner, Palatine, nee Mller, w Georg, recipient 8

takes Klocker child 235

Bryan, Jonathan, S.C. planter, mentioned 47

thanked 225

Burgsdorff, Mr. von, benefactor, legacy from 108, 126

Burgsteiner, Agatha, Salz, w Ruprecht, recipient 9

Burgsteiner, Ruprecht, Salz, recipient 9

loses infant 46

receives legacy 165

crop report 221

Cadzand, place in Holland 226

Calw, city in Wurttemberg, source of gifts 65

Camuso, Maria, Italian silkworker in Savannah, sends silkworm seeds 63

Canstadt, port of embarcation on Neckar, source of gifts 15, 65, 71, 72

Carl, Dr. physician, 116

Carl Rudolf, Prince of Wurttemberg, imposter 247, 249, 252

Dec., notes 3, 5

Catholicism, converts from 145, 208

Cattle 47

bought from planter 93, 132

to be rounded up 151

being slaughtered 201

running wild 201, 228, 230

lost cattle found 229

Cattle disease, in Savannah 100, 225

not in Ebenezer 201

Chalice, brought by Muhlenberg 209

Charities, see Benefactions

Cherokees, see Indians

Christ, Gottfried, converted Jew, recipient 8

marries widow ne Metzger 29, 34

helps doctors 166

Aug., note 5

Christ, Mrs...., ne Metzger, Palatine, w Gottfried, three children 29, 228

Church in town (Jerusalem), repair of 192

description of 232

Church on plantations (Zion), to be

built 51, 53, 73

construction started 249

Collegium pastorale, see A. H. Francke.

Compendium theologicum, see Freylinghausen.

Consecration, see House consecration.

Construction, see Church, Mill.

Continuations, the continuations of Urslpergers Ausfhrliche Nachrichten 5, 16, 24, 63, 177, 263

Corn-shilling, subsidy on crops 222, 247

Aug., note 7

Cowherds, see Bernhard Klocker, Friedrich Nett, Jacob Schartner, Michael Schneider.

Cows, see Cattle.

Cranwetter, see Granewetter.

Crause, see Krause.

Creeks, see Indians.

Crell, Walburga, Salz, recipient 13

Crocodile, see Alligator.

Crops: beans 205

corn 121, 167, 209

oats 102

peas 102, 205

rye 102

spelt 35

wheat 35, 100, 102, 238, 255

crop reports 220-222, 242.

Cugel, see Gugel.

Deaths 1

Paul Zittrauer infant 17

Pletter infant 27

Burgsteiner infant 46

Matthus Bacher 142

Andreas Piltz 143

Elisabetha Klocker 46, 154

Maria Kohleisen 155

Magdalena Rieser 169

Anna Maria Schwartzwlder and son 170

Magdalena Lechner 173

Catharina Scheffler 184

Ruprecht Zittrauers infant 211

Bernhard Klocker 259.

Deer, eat beans 206

DeLeon, Abraham, Jewish vintner, Feb., note 2

Diseases: epilepsy 27, 46

malaria, quotidien 184, 197

tertian 197, 216

quartan 27, 51, 197

fever clot 216

Dresler, Catharina, w (Johann) Georg, Palatine, recipient 11

Dresler (Dressler), (Johann) Georg, Palatine, recipient 11

works at mill 59

understands waterworks 59

receives legacy 164

crop report 221

Durninger, Mr. benefactor 22

Ebenezer, Salzburger settlement near Savannah passim

Ebenezer Creek, unnavigable waterway from Old to New Ebenezer i

grants at 15, 23

Eigel, Georg, Salz, recipient 13

neighbor of David Eischberger 96

crop report 222

Eigel, Ursula, Salz, w Georg, recipient 13

Eischberger, Anna Maria, Salz, w David, recipient 14

lying in at orphanage 55

growing in Christianity 60

in labor 125

Eischberger, David, Salz, recipient 14

requests room in orphanage for wife 55

becomes strong 60

neighbor of Georg Eigel 96

a well trained miller 126

receives land 182

crop report 222

Eischberger, Maria, Salz, w Ruprecht, recipient 8

growing in Christianity 60

legacy of horses, cows, pigs 92

Eischberger, Ruprecht, Salz, recipient 8

consoles Zittrauer 49

has abscess 60

discloses sins 241

crop report 221

Empire, Holy Roman, mentioned 219

English lady, refugee at Ebenezer 161

Epilepsy, see Diseases.

Ernst, Anna Maria, wid Josef, recipient 11

marries Johann Scheffler 249

crop report 220

Ernst, Josef, deceased h of Anna Maria, medical costs 34

Europa, ship carrying Swiss, Feb., note 3

Felss, Pastor, minister in Lindau, loves Kocker family 31, 235

Fences, around garden 40

fence burns 41

around church 52-53

difficult to build 96

communal labor 233

Fever, see Diseases.

Fever clot, see Diseases.

Flerl (Flrl), Anna Maria, Salz, w Hans, recipient 7

pregnant 197

in labor 201

escaped from Popery 208

Flerl, Carl, Salz, recipient 6

marries Maria Gruber 29

receives lagacy 165

crop report 220

Flerl, Hans, bro Carl, Salz, recipient 7

receives legacy 165

busy with harvest 198

crop report 220

Flrl, see Flerl.

Flour and meal, from mill 75, 169

from Frederica 113

Fort Argyle, stockade on Ogeechee River, threatened 238

Fort Venture, stockade on Altamaha, scene of massacre 238, 242

Fourth Salzburger transport i, iii

Francis, English captain at Fort Venture 238

Francis, Mrs...., Palatine wife of Francis, massacred 238

Francke, August Hermann, deceased, founder of Francke Foundation in Halle. One of his works received 114

author of Colloquium pastorale (Halle 1740), of Glaucha Memorial Booklet 214

of Lehre vom Anfang Christlichen Glaubens

May, note 14

Francke Foundation (Franckesche Stiftungen), charitable institution in Halle i

Francke, Gotthilf August, s of A. G. Francke, one of Reverend Fathers of Georgia Salzburgers, letter from 110

Frederica, town on St Simons, being fortified 247

Freylinghausen, Johann Anastasius, professor at Halle, author of Compendium theologicum 69

of Halle hymnbook 226

writing received from 114, 180

Nov., note 7

Fruit: peaches 144

dried apples, pears, and plums from Germany 19, 22

olives 37. See grapes.

Geese, reference to eggs 38

Georgii, Privy Counselor, benefactor 71

German agriculture, German crops, 106

Germans in Savannah, divine services 160, 163, 175, 189. See Vernonburg.

Gifts, see Benefactions.

Glaner, Georg, Salz, recipient 14

sick 125

recovers 134

crop report 221

Glaner, Gertraut, ne Lemmenhofer, Salz, w Georg, recipient 14

sick 125, 134

Glaucha Memorial Booklet 214. See A. H. Francke. Oct., note 7

Glockengiesser, Mr., manufacturer of Berlin fever powder 184

Glocker, see Klocker.

Granewetter, Anna Catharina, Salz, w Caspar, recipient 13

Granewetter, Caspar, Salz, recipient 13

faithful laborer 128

corn eaten by bears 206

ill 181

crop report 221

Grapes, being planted 34, 40, 135, 159, 169

Grimmiger, Andreas, Austrian, recipient 8

crop report 221

Grimmiger, Anna Maria, wid Bischoff, w Andreas, recipient 8

Grimmiger, Catharina, d Andreas, recipient 9

brought up by Mrs. Leimberger 226

Gronau, Israel Christian, assistant minister in Ebenezer i

ill 42

improves 46

holds services on the plantations 64

ill 242

Gronau, Israel Christian, Jr., son of above, dies 160

Gruber, Maria, ne Kroher, Salz, wid Mosshamer, wid Peter Gruber, recipient 6

marries Carl Flerl 29

Gruber, Peter, Salz, deceased manager of glebe land 181

Gschwandel, Sybilla, Salz, w Thomas, recipient 8

Gschwandel, Thomas, Salz, recipient 8

house consecrated 84

crop report 221

Gugel (Cugell, Kugel), Johann, 4th Salz transport, visited by Boltzius 39

Feb., note 6

Haberer, Anna Barbara, Salz, w Michael, recipient 13

Haberer, Michael, Salz, recipient 13

crop report 221

Habersham, James, manager at Bethesda 190

Hussler, Christina, Salz, recipient 15

serves Kornberger 88

marries Zbli 242

Halle, East German city, site of Francke Foundation i. See Benefactions.

Heavenly Kiss of Love, see Mller, Dr.

Heinrich, Peter, Palatine, deceased servant to Boltzius, mentioned 234

Nov., note 14

Held, (Johann) Georg, Palatine servant, recipient 11

marries wid Knlin 49

named in legacy 163-164

tends vines 169

crop report 221

Helfenstein, (Anna) Dorothea, Palatine, recipient 9

to learn silk culture 85

crop report 220

Hertzog, Martin, Salz, servant at orphanage, recipient 6

comes to proper sign 217

Hessler (Hssler, Hssler), Christian, Salz, recipient 8, 48

crop report 221

Holtzer, Catharina, Salz, servant in orphanage, recipient 6

Horses, given by Oglethorpe 44

provided by God 52

saved for breeding 105

pastors horse too old 162, 180

out of control 198

Hssler, see Hessler

House consecrations: Brckner 70

Gschwandl 84

Zettler 223

Krause 227

Hunter, Patrick, physician at Bethesda 100

Hymns, see Appendix. Indian trader 44

Indians, rustle horses 47

massacre by Spanish Indians 238, 242

Creek shoots Cherokee 252

Boltzius opinion 47

Jones, Thomas, keeper of the store

house in Savannah, returns from Frederica 100

sends flour 113

receives Boltzius 139

at Bethesda 139

cares for refugees 149

leaves Ebenezer 151

sends letter 159, 173

fetches food 175

gives report 183

kind to imposter 252

Ksemeyer, Catharina, Palatine, w Johann Martin, recipient 11

Ksemeyer, Johann Martin, Palatine, recipient 11

crop report 220

Kalcher, Margaretha, Salz, w Ruprecht, recipient 6

useful 181

Kalcher, Ruprecht, Salz, manager of orphanage, recipient 6, 11

is supervisor 20

inspects roof 91

deeded a horse 92

to plant German crops 106

serves Granewetter 181

returns from Charleston 217

crop report 220

Kieffer, (Johann) Jacob, Palatine, s Theo, Sr., plantation threatened by flood 59, 67

carries letter to Port Royal 67

Feb, note 13

Kieffer, Maria, ne Bacher, wid Meyer, Salz, marries J. J. Kieffer, Jr. 73

ill 151

Kieffer, Theobald, Sr., Palatine from Purysburg, takes letter to Bryan 47

his family hospitable 78

protects impostor 248

Kieffer, Theobald, Jr., Palatine, marries Maria Meyer 73, 78

brings Negro to church 86

very edifying 143

crop report 220

Kikar, ... , ranger, tailor apprentice from Hamburg 260

Klocker, Bernhard, Salz, recipient 13

receives plantation 31

a pious man 70, 144

to serve as cowherd 79

receives legacy 165

sick 167, 219, 233, 258

gives child to Mrs. Brckner 235

dies 258

legacy 259

crop report 221

Klocker, Elisabetha, Salz, w Bernhard, recipient 13

sends letter 30

resigned to sickness 144

dies 154

Kocher, Apollonia, Salz, w Georg, recipient 14

Kocher, (Johann) Georg, Salz, recipient 14

a skilled man 76

buying plantation 224

schoolmaster 223, 233

crop report 222

Kogler, Barbara, ne Rossbacher, wid Riedelsperger, Salz, w Georg 10

Kogler, Georg, Salz, recipient 10, 11

builds church 51, 244

skilled and obliging 93

to make plow 105

directs work on mill 167

crop report 220

Kohleisen, Maria, Salz, w Peter, recipient 14

sick 132, 134

dies 155

Kohleisen, Peter, Salz, recipient 14

crop report 221

Koller, Engel, Swiss, niece Hans Krsy, moves to orphanage 91

Kornberger, Gertraut, ne Einecker, Salz, w Johann, recipient 7

employs Christina Hussler 88

Kornberger (Cornberger), Johann, Salz, recipient 7

relates past 104

crop report 220

Korthold, Dr. Christian, Pietist writer 127, 140

Krmer, Anna Maria. See Mrs, Paul Mller.

Kranwetter, see Granewetter.

Krause, Barbara, Salz, w Leonhard, recipient 7

visits Zittrauer 49

requests advice 104

visits Boltzius 213

Krause, Leonhard, Salz, recipient 7

builds and consecrates house 227

crop report 221

Kreder (Krder), (Catharina) Apollonia, Salz, maid at orphanage, recipient 6, 15

to marry Paul Mller 210

Krsy, Adrian, Swiss, s Hans, recipient 11

Krsy, Hans, Swiss from Purysburg, recipient 11

disorderly household 91

Knlin, Maria, Salz, recipient 6

marries Held 49

Kurtz (Kurz), Matthus, Salz from Cadzant 225

Oct., note 1

Kurtz, Anna, Salz, w Matthus, 225

Kustobader, Catharina, Palatine, wid at orphanage, recipient 6

Lackner, Catharina Barbara, Salz, w Martin II, recipient 13

Lackner, Margaretha, Salz, w Martin I, recipient 6

to learn silk culture 85

Lackner, Martin I, Salz of 3rd transport, recipient 6

crop report 221

Lackner, Martin II, Salz of 4th transport, recipient 13

working hard 102

crop report 222

Landfelder, Ursula, Salz, ne Wassermann, w Veit, recipient 8

bears daughter 39

Landfelder, Veit, Salz, recipient 8

gives up land 26

crop report 220

Lange, Dr. Joachim, works of 114

Lechner, Elisabetha, d Veit, Salz, receives legacy 179

among orphans 181

Lechner, Magdalena , Salz, w Veit, recipient 14

cannot read 78

sick 134

dies 173

legacy 179

Lechner, Veit, Salz, recipient 14

dissatisfied 16

cannot read 78

establishes smithy 81

sick 118, 134, 167

receives legacy 179

crop report 222

Legacies: Christian Riedelsperger 92, 93

von Burgsdorff 107, 126

Matthus Bacher 142

Maria Maurer 163

Simon Rieser 165

Magdalena Lechner 179

Catharina Scheffler 186

Bernhard Klocker 259

Leimberger (Lemberger), Christian, Salz, recipient 9, 11

prospering 85

ill 257

recovering 260

crop report 221

Leimberger, Margaretha, Palatine, ne Staude, w Christian, recipient 9

raising Grimmiger child 226

ill 258

Leitner, Dorothea, Salz, w Josef, recipient 11

Leitner, Josef, Salz, recipient 11

cedes land 182

crop report 221

Lemberger, see Leimberger

Lemmenhofer, Maria, Salz, w Veit, recipient 10

Lemmenhofer, Veit, Salz, bro Gertraut Glaner 134

recipient 10

crop report 221

Linder, Capt. Johann, judge in Purysburg, receives medicine 27

Little Garden of Paradise, see Arndt.

Little Treasure Chest (Gldenes-Schatzkstlein der Kinder Gottes), see Bogatzky.

Ltkemann, author of Postille, 190

Luther, Martin, reformer, references to 110, 207

Malaria, see Diseases.

Map of Georgia, inaccurate 191

Marriages 1

Flerl-Gruber 29

Christ-Metzger 34

Held-Knlin 49

Kieffer-Meyer 73, 78

Schrempf-Brckl 78

Mller-Kreder 210

Zbli-Hussler 242

Scheffler-Ernst 249

Maurer, Barbara, Salz, recipient 9

Maurer, Elisabetha, Salz, w Gabriel, recipient 10

Maurer, Elisabetha, Salz, w. Hans, recipient 10

Maurer, Gabriel, Salz, recipient 10

cutting boards 54

legacy 164

Maurer, Georg, Salz

crop report 221

Maurer, Hans, Salz, recipient 10, 14

cutting boards 54

crop report 221

Maurer, Maria, Salz, w Hans, recipient 14, 22

to be salivated 54

legacy 163

Jan. note 16

Mayer, see Meyer.

McIntosh, Aeneas, captain at Palachocolas

Jan, note 2

Medicines: sold in Purysburg 27

Berlin fever powder 27

(called Wurttemberg fever powder 184

cardobenedicti 196

china de china 196

fever potions manufactured in Ebenezer 184

ipecacuona 196

pulvis antispasmodicus 198

saltpeter 166

spirits of vitriol 166

Schauer Balm 6, 199

snakeroot 196

theriac 94, 192

Memorial and Thanksgiving Celebration, annual event 50

Metzger, Mrs....., Palatine, d Jacob, marries Gottfried Christ 34

has three children 37

Metzger, Jacob, Palatine from Purysburg, father of Mrs. Christ, wishes son in orphanage 37

wishes to move to Ebenezer 264

Dec., note 11

Metzger, ... , s of above, Palatine wishes to move to Ebenezer 46

Meyer, Elisabetha, w (Johann) Ludwig, recipient 14

crop report 221

Meyer, (Johann) Georg, bro (Johann) Ludwig, recipient 14

maker of fine purses 63

to mary Magdalena Roner 63

crop report 200

Meyer, (Johann) Ludwig, surgeon with 4th Salz transport, recipient 11

treats Reiter 21, 45

receives land from Steiner 35

attends wedding 50

treats Maria Maurer 54

treats Steiner 97

ill 179

treats Granewetter 181

treats Boltzius 200

Meyer, Magdalena, Swiss, d Ursula, moves to Ebenezer 55

to make silk 85

Jan., note 11

Meyer, Maria, wid, Salz, d Matthias Bacher, marries Theobald Kieffer, Jr., 78

Meyer, Ursula, Swiss wid, moves to Ebenezer 55

Jan., note 11

Milldye, Mr., quartermaster at Fort Argyle 238

Mill, work proceeding 57, 162, 167

charges 98

gifts for 108

upkeep 255

Mill River, see Abercorn Creek.

Mhlenberg, Heinrich Melchior, pastor from Halle, arrives in Savannah 209

preaches 210

departs to Charleston 211

letters from 219, 231, 259

proceeds to Philadelphia 247

Mhl-Fluss, see Abercorn Creek.

Mulberry trees, suffer from cold 72

planted for silkworms 99

Mller, Anna Christina, w Friedrich Wilhelm, recipient 9

edified 70

Mller, Anna Maria, w Paul, recipient 9

dies 165

Mller, Christina, d Friedrich

Wilhelm, to learn silkmaking 85

Mller, Friedrich Wilhelm, from

Frankfurt am Main, recipient 9

his kitchen burns 64

edified 20

Mller, (Johann) Paul, s Friedrich, recipient 9

to marry Apollonia Kreder 210

crop report 220

Mller, Dr.... , author of Postille 190

and Heavenly Kiss of Love 232

Negroes, fear of 146

Kieffers Negro attends church 86

Nett, Friedrich (Ludwig), Palatine cowherd, recipient 10

crop report 220

Nett, (Elisabetha) Magdalena, Palatine, w Friedrich, recipient 10

Ogeechee River, blackwater stream parallel to lower reaches of the Savannah River, mentioned 230

Oglethorpe, James Edward, founder of Georgia, covers medical costs 34

invites Vigera 43

donates horses 44

captures Spanish ship 63, 71

sends letter 90

receives Vigera and Pichler 109

advises on grapes 135

gives thanks for victory 183, 187

sends letter 247

Old Ebenezer, first Salz settlement, now Trustees cowpen i

cows from 71, 240

Olives, see fruit.

Orphanage, overcrowded and roof decayed 181

receives legacy 164

Ortmann, Christoph, schoolmaster, recipient 8

to teach adults 101

reading lessons 133

crop report 220

Ortmann, Juliana, w Christoph, recipient 8

Orton, Christopher, Anglican minister in Savannah, refugee 148

travels to Abercorn 156

dies 175

Ott, Carl Sigismund, Salz, recipient 9

struck by limb 39

crop report 221

Ott, Catharina, Salz, w Carl, recipient 9

examined by Boltzius 125

dead by 5 Aug. 166

Aug., note 2

Palachocolas, fort on Savannah River 1

Palatines, German redemptioners, many from Rhenish Palatinate i

Parker, Henry, Savannah magistrate, writes to wife at Ebenezer 149

Passion and Easter Sermons, see Arndt.

Peaches, see Fruit.

Pichler, Margaretha, Salz, w Thomas, recipient 7

Pichler, Thomas, Salz, recipient 7

distributes rice 17

serves as miller 88

appointed tythingman 109

commands rangers 121

accompanies courier 183

Jan., note 8

Pietist terminiology IV

Jan., notes 5, 19

Feb., note 5

March, note 6

Aug., note 3

Oct., note 8

Nov., note 17

Piltz, Andreas, Salz, recipient 13

dies 143

Piltz, Sybilla, Salz, w Andreas, recipient 3

crop report 222

Pletter, Elisabetha, w Johann, recipient 7

Pletter, Elisabetha, d Johann, dies 27

Pletter, Johann, Austrian, recipient 7

Plowshare, 105

Poor Mans Apothecary, medical treatise = Dr. Carl, Armen Apotheka 116

Port Royal, small seaport in South Carolina 67, 103

Prost, Prior, author of Theologia viatorum, religious tractate 56

Prussia, Salz exiles in 59

Pure Milk of the Gospel, see Spener Purker (Parker), builder of mill

Feb., note 1

Pury, Charles, son of founder of Purysburg, issues script 80

Purysburg, Swiss settlement across Savannah River from Ebenezer, passim

Rangers, mounted scouts, 99, 107, 109

orders for 121

hold inspection 240

money for 247

Reck, Jacob, Swabian, Purysburg cobbler 103

Red Bluff, site of New Ebenezer i

Refugees from Spaniards 147-148

Reiter, Gertraut, Salz, w Peter, recipient 9

Reiter, Magdalena, Salz, w Simon, recipient 6

Reiter, Peter, Salz, recipient 9

under treatment 21

gives plantation to Klocker 31

his Christianity improving 45, 70

consoles Zittrauer 49

recuperating 83

progressing well 85, 104

visited by Boltzius 213

has tertian fever 216

crop report 220

Jan., note 15

Reiter, Simon, Salz, recipient 6

crop report 221

Rheinlnder, Maria, Palatine, wid Friedrich, recipient 6

to learn silk culture 85

wishes children in orphanage 85

serves as midwife 125, 165

crop report 220

Riedelsperger, Christian, Salz, recipient 8, 11

ill 43

improving 51

in orphanage 54, 72

has relapse 54

prepares will 92

downcast 208

lost in forest 229

Riedelsperger, Maria, nee Schweighoffer, Salz, w Christian, recipient 8

in orphanage 72

Rieger, Pastor, sermons of 249

Riesch, Rev. Bonaventura, clergyman in Lindau, donor 12

letter to 30

mentioned 144, 219

loves Klocker family 235

Rieser, Bartholomus, Salz, recipient 8

crop report 220

Rieser, (Johann) Georg, Salz, s Bartholomus, bitten by dog 140

Rieser, Magdalena, Salz, w Simon, recipient 14

ill 146

dies 169

Rieser, Maria, Salz, w Bartholomus, recipient 8

Rieser, Maria, ne Zugeisen, Salz, w Michael, recipient 8

edifying 145

Rieser, Michael, Salz, recipient 8

moves to plantation 39

edifying 145

crop report 221

Feb., note 7

Rieser Simon, recipient 14

legacy 165

ill 146

crop report 221

Riser, see Rieser.

Roner, Magdalena, Salz, recipient 15

to be married 63

Rottenberger, Catharina, ne Piedler, Salz, w Christoph, recipient 10

Rottenberger, Christoph, Salz, recipient 10, 11

donates wood 26

to make plow 105

crop report 200.

Sachs-Gotha, German settlement in S. C., immigrants to 35

Sanftleben, Georg, Silesian carpenter, recipient 7

receives plantation 33

crop report 220

Sanftleben, Magdalena, ne Arnsdorf, Palatine, w Georg, recipient 7

sells plantation 23

Savannah, chief city of Georgia passim

Savannah Town, trading post in S. C. near Augusta, mentioned 136

Schartner, Jacob, Salz, cowherd at orphanage, recipient 9

Schartner, Maria, Salz, w Jacob, recipient 9

Schauers Balm, see Medicines

Scheffler, Catharina, ne Kraher, Salz, w Johann, recipient 15

eager for Gods word 77

cannot read 78

dies 184

legacy 186

Scheffler, Johann, not a Salz, recipient 15

visits Boltzius 43

fells trees 43

cannot read 78

knits stockings 241

sells plantation 241

marries wid Ernst 249

Scheraus, Johann, Salz, recipient 14

injures foot 43

improving 51

crop report 221

Scheraus, Maria Helena, Salz, w Johann, recipient 14

Schmidt, Johann (Hans), Austrian, recipient 8

ill 43

improving 51

cuts boards 54

visits Boltzius 100

executor of legacy 164

comforts N. 262

crop report 221

Schmidt, Maria, w Hans, recipient 8

bears child 76

Schoolmasters, see Christoph Ortmann, Ruprecht Steiner, Bernhard Klocker, Georg Kocher.

Schneider, Michael, Palatine, herdsman, receives legacy 164

Schrempf, Ruprecht, Salz, recipient 14

dissatisfied 15

marries 78

a new man 81

calls for Boltzius 102

penitent 119, 130, 146, 149, 150

ill 166, 192

asks advice 253

crop report 222

Schrempf, Barbara, see Brckl

Schubart, Pastor, religous author 114

May, note 9

Schumann, Pastor, chaplain to Salzburgers in Prussia 59, 87

Schwartzwlder family, Palatines at Cowpen 50

Schwartzwlder, Anna Maria, Palatine from Old Ebenezer, dies 170

Schweiger, Eva Regina, ne Unselt, Palatine, w Georg, recipient 9

Schweiger, Georg, Salz, recipient 9

crop report 221

Schweighoffer, Margaretha, ne Pindlinger, Salz, wid, recipient 6

ill 91

feels her sins 251

Scrip issued for Ebenezer 80

Silk culture, to be learned by Mrs. Lackner, Mrs. Rheinlnder, and Magdalena Meyer 85

progressing 98-99, 120

Smiths: smith from Purysburg begs 42

Lechner establishes smithy 81

Snakebite, Ruprecht Steiner 93

Mrs. Kieffer 192

Snakeroot, see Medicine.

Society, see SPCK.

Sola bills, bills of exchange issued by Trustees 247

Spanish traitor 157

SPCK (Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge) missionary society in London, patron of Salzburgers, presents decanter 74

Spelt, see crops.

Spener, Philip Jacob, Pietist leader, author of Pure Milk of the Gospel 198, 213

Squirrels, damage corn 206

Steinbacher, Barbara, Salz, recipient 15

Steiner, Maria, Salz, w Ruprecht, recipient 7

Steiner, Ruprecht, Salz, recipient, land to Ludwig Meyer 35

serves as schoolmaster 36, 101, 182

bitten by snake 93

recovers 97

attests to blessing 200

Stephens, Thomas, s Col. Stephens, leader of Malcontents 213

Oct., note 5

Stephens, Col. William, Trustees

secretary in Georgia, sends letter 107

receives Boltzius 146

reports massacre 242

Stollberg, Countess of, Pietist author 235

Stuttgart, city in Wurttemberg, source of gifts 65, 71

Surveyor, see Avery.

Swine, bought for 4th Salz transport 70

Swiss boy, brought from Savannah 77

Sympathetic cure 167

Terry, John (Jean Thierry), recorder at Frederica, refugee at Ebenezer 155

relates battle 188

July, note 10

Thanksgiving for victory 183, 187

Theologia viatorum, see Porst.

Therapy and cures, see Bloodletting, Sympathetic cure, Snakebite

salivation 54

Theriac, see Medicine.

Theus, Jeremias, Swiss painter in Charleston 259

Thilo, Christian Ernst, physician, recipient 11

treats Gronau 42, 242

Thilo, Friederica, ne Helfenstein, Palatine, w Christian Ernst, recipient 11

Thomson, Capt. William, brings letters 173

True Christianity (Wahres Christenthum), devotional book by Johannes Arndt 94, 97, 144. See March, note 9

Trustees for Establishing a Colony in Georgia i and Passim

Urlsperger, Samuel, Senior of Lutheran Ministry in Augsburg i

mentioned 172

letter from 178

Verelst, Harman, Trustees accountant, letter to 74

from 222

Vernon, James, Trustee, letter to 75

Vernonburg, Swiss and German village on Vernon River iii, 225, 250

Vigera, Johann, citizen of Strassburg, conductor of 4th transport, distributes food and gifts 2, 5

busy at mill 17

brings money 18

agrees to charity 22

reports good work 25

invited to Frederica 44

attends wedding 50

happy in Ebenezer 75

writes to Strassburg, Vernon, and Verelst 75

balances accounts 79

issues scrip 80

in Savannah 107

building house 185

Vines, see Grapes.

Walbaum, Counselor, benefactor, recommends cure 196

Wallpurger, Mrs., wid in Purysburg

Sept., note 10

War of Jenkins Ear iii

Watkins, Mr., ... , officer, brings letter 182

Watson, Mr.... , alderman in Savannah, inspects plantations 160

returns to Savannah 161

Weekly History, London newspaper, reports on Ebenezer 108

Well, needs repairs 63

Wheat, see crops.

Whitefield, George, English evangelist, collects money in Scotland for Salzburgers 102, 107, 115, 138

Feb., note 4

Williams, Robert, leader of Malcontents 247

Wills, see legacies.

Window panes, in church 232

Winter, Ruprecht, pious Salzburger in Ulm, sends letter 33

Wolves, destructive 42

Wurttemberg, duchy in South Germany, source of gifts iii, 3, 6, 12, 48

Zant, Bartholomus, Swiss, recipient 10

crop report 221

Zettler, Elisabetha Catharina, ne Kieffer, Palatine, w Matthias, recipient 7

returns to parents 47

Zettler (Zedler), Matthias, Salz, shoemaker, recipient 7

builds new house 223

crop report 221

Ziegenhagen, Friedrich Michael, royal chaplain, Reverend Father of Georgia Salzburgers, directs benefactions 13

publishes letter 108

letter from 109, 112

mentioned 209

Zimmerebner, Margaretha, Salz, ne Berenberger, recipient 10

reads catechism 78

Zimmerebner, Ruprecht, Salz, recipient 10

improving 49

crop report 220

Zinzendorf, Count Ludwig von, leader of Moravians, builds church in Philadelphia 231

Zittrauer, Margaretha, Salz, w Paul, reipient 10

Zittrauer, Paul, Salz, recipient 10

crop report 220

Zittrauer, Ruprecht, Salz, recipient 9

ill 40

improves 48

loses son 210

crop report 221

Zittrauer, Samuel, s Paul, dies 17

Zblin (Zbli), Ambrosius, Swiss, recipient 11

he or broher marries Christina Hussler 242

crop report 220

Dec., note 1

Zbli, David, Swiss, bro of Ambrosius, father of Johann Joachim 219, 222, 242

Zbli, Johann Jacob, Swiss, bro Ambrosius (it is not clear which is being mentioned)

Zbli, Johann Joachin, Swiss, s David, Reformed minister 223

Nov., note 2

Zwiffler, Andreas, Silesian apothecary with 1st transport, writes from Philadelphia 230