第52章 Disintegration(9)

In 1753 Ingham withdrew from his close association with the Moravians, and established a new circle of societies, himself ordaining the ministers who served them.These societies flourished for a while, but about 1759 Ingham became imbued with the doctrines of a certain Sandeman, and the result was the almost total wrecking of his societies.

This broke Ingham's heart, and affected his mind, so that his last days were very sad.He passed away in 1772, and his societies gradually merged themselves into other churches.

John Toeltschig, Ingham's friend in Georgia and his co-laborer in Yorkshire, came to England in November, 1739, in company with Hutton, who had been to Germany to form a closer acquaintance with the Moravians.

After the debt to the Trustees was paid, Toeltschig had eagerly planned new things for Georgia, -- extension of work among the Indians, a settlement further up the Savannah River, the strengthening of the Savannah Congregation, from which missionaries could be drawn and by which they should be supported while laboring among the heathen tribes.

He offered to return to America at once, ready for any duty, but requesting that he might not be sole financial manager again, as he had found it most difficult to attend to those duties, and at the same time share in the spiritual work.

The elders of the Church, after carefully weighing all the circumstances, decided not to send him back to Georgia, but that he should go to England, to labor in the Fetter Lane Society, and among its friends.

The first step was a visit to Ingham in Yorkshire, and the reception given him was so cordial and the field so promising that he went again, and yet again.

Boehler and Spangenberg returned to England and traveled hither and thither in response to the calls that came from every side, other members aided as they could, and the societies under their direction grew apace.

Fetter Lane Society was organized into a congregation in November, 1742, and the others followed in due time.The Moravian Church was introduced into Ireland, and took a firm hold there.

In England its successes were paralleled with much opposition, and in 1749, after several years of preparation, an appeal was made to Parliament for recognition as a Protestant Episcopal Church, with full liberty of conscience and worship throughout Great Britain and her colonies.

General Oglethorpe warmly championed their cause, and after a thorough investigation of Moravian history and doctrine, the bill was passed, May 12th, 1749, and the Moravian right to liberty of worship, freedom from military service, and exemption from oath-taking was unreservedly granted.

While not involved in these Parliamentary proceedings, Toeltschig played an important part in the development of the Moravian Church in England and Ireland.Although he had great success as a preacher, his especial talents were as an organizer, and as leader of the "bands", as might be expected of a man with a judicial mind, executive ability, and great tact.He was Elder of the "Pilgrim Congregation"formed at Fetter Lane in May, 1742, a congregation composed exclusively of "laborers" in the Lord's vineyard, and he was also one of the committee charged with the oversight of the general work.

In February, 1748, he went to Ireland, as superintendent of the societies there, some of which had been organized by Wesley, but now wished to unite with the Moravians.In 1752 he conducted a company of colonists to Pennsylvania, but the next year went back to Ireland, where certain troubles had arisen which he could quiet better than any one else.

After Zinzendorf's death in 1760, Toeltschig was one of that company of leading men who met in Herrnhut to provide for the immediate needs of the Moravian Church, whose enemies prophesied disintegration upon the death of the man who had been at its head for more than thirty years.

These predictions failed of fulfillment, and "it was demonstrated that the Lord had further employment for the Unitas Fratrum."Less renowned than many of his confreres, Toeltschig was a type of that class of Moravians who carried their Church through slight and blight into the respect and good-will of the world.

Industrious and scrupulously exact in business affairs, courteous and considerate in his dealings with others, firm and fearless in matters of conscience, bold to declare his faith, and witness for his Master, energetic and "conservatively progressive"in promoting the growth of his church, he took little part in the controversies of his day, but devoted himself unreservedly to preaching the Gospel as it was read by John Hus, by the founders of the ancient Unitas Fratrum, by the renewers of that Church in Herrnhut, "Salvation by faith in Christ and real Christian living according to the precepts of the Bible."The Negro Mission.

John Toeltschig had been the diarist of the Moravian Congregation in Savannah, as well as their treasurer and most able member, and after he left very little record was kept of the daily occurrences.

A few stray letters have been preserved, but little of interest appears therein, beyond the facts that the summer of 1738 was hot and dry, and that the Moravians were not molested, although always conscious of the under-current of antagonism.

Some time during these months Matthias Seybold left for Pennsylvania, where he married, and was one of the company that established the settlement at Bethlehem.He returned to Europe in 1742, and died at Herrnhut in 1787.

In May, the Rev.George Whitefield reached Georgia, "authorized to perform all religious offices as Deacon of the Church of England, in Savannah and Frederica," in the place of John Wesley.