第 2 节
作者:一半儿      更新:2021-02-20 18:38      字数:9322
  the   chief   of   the   nearest   Indian   tribe;   which   was   later   ratified   in   a   full
  Council of the chiefs of all the Lower Creeks。 His fairness and courteous
  treatment won the hearts of all; especially of Tomochichi and his people;
  who for many years remained on the best of terms with the town which
  was now laid out upon the bluff。
  The Salzburgers。
  The Salzburgers; referred to by name in the proposals of the Georgia
  Trustees;     were;   at  this  time;   very   much    upon    the   mind   and    heart  of
  Protestant Europe。 They were Germans; belonging to the Archbishopric of
  Salzburg; then the most eastern district of Bavaria; but now a province of
  Austria。 〃Their ancestors; the Vallenges of Piedmont; had been compelled
  by the barbarities of the Dukes of Savoy to find a shelter from the storms
  of persecution in the Alpine passes and vales of Salzburg and the Tyrol;
  before the Reformation; and frequently since; they had been hunted out by
  the hirelings and soldiery of the Church of Rome; and condemned for their
  faith to tortures of the most cruel and revolting kind。 In 1684…6; they were
  again threatened with an exterminating persecution; but were saved in part
  by  the  intervention   of the  Protestant   States   of  Saxony  and   Brandenburg;
  though   more   than   a   thousand   emigrated   on   account   of   the   dangers   to
  which they were exposed。
  〃But the quietness which they then enjoyed for nearly half a century
  was rudely broken in upon by Leopold; Count of Firmian and Archbishop
  of Salzburg; who determined to reduce them to the Papal faith and power。
  He began in the year 1729; and ere he ended in 1732 not far from thirty
  thousand had been driven from their homes; to seek among the Protestant
  States   of   Europe   that   charity   and   peace   which   were   denied   them   in   the
  glens and fastnesses of their native Alps。
  〃The march of these Salzburgers constitutes an epoch in the history of
  Germany。*       *  *Arriving     at  Augsburg;     the  magistrates     closed   the   gates
  against them; refusing them entrance to that city which; two hundred years
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  before; through Luther and Melancthon and in the presence of Charles V
  and the assembled Princes of Germany; had given birth to the celebrated
  Augsburg   Confession;   for   clinging   to   which   the   Salzburgers   were   now
  driven   from   their   homes;   but   overawed   by   the   Protestants;   the   officers
  reluctantly   admitted   the   emigrants;   who   were   kindly   entertained   by   the
  Lutherans。
  〃The   sympathies   of   Reformed   Christendom   were   awakened   on   their
  behalf;     and    the   most    hospitable     entertainment      and    assistance     were
  everywhere   given   them。〃   Only   a   few   months   after   the   signing   of         the
  Georgia   Colony   Charter;   the   〃Society   for   the   Propagation   of   Christian
  Knowledge〃   requested   the   Trustees   to   include   the   Salzburgers   in   their
  plans。   The   Trustees   expressed       their   willingness   to   grant   lands;   and   to
  manage any money given toward their expenses; but stated that they then
  held no funds which were available for that purpose。
  In May; 1733; the House of Commons appropriated 10;000 Pounds to
  the Trustees of Georgia; 〃to be applied towards defraying the charges of
  carrying   over   and   settling   foreign   and   other   Protestants   in   said   colony;〃
  and     over   3;000    Pounds     additional     having    been    given    privately;    the
  Trustees;   at   the   suggestion   of   Herr   von   Pfeil;   consul   of   Wittenberg   at
  Regensberg;   wrote   to   Senior   Samuel   Urlsperger;   pastor   of   the   Lutheran
  Church of St。 Ann in the city of Augsburg; who had been very kind to the
  Salzburgers on their arrival there; 〃and ever afterward watched over their
  welfare   with   the   solicitude   of   an   affectionate   father。〃On   receipt   of   the
  invitation     from    the  Trustees;     seventy…eight     persons     decided    to  go   to
  Georgia; and left Augsburg on the 21st of October; reaching Rotterdam the
  27th   of   November;   where   they   were   joined   by   two   ministers;   Rev。   Mr。
  Bolzius; deputy superintendent of the Latin Orphan School at Halle; and
  Rev。   Mr。   Gronau;   a   tutor   in   the   same;   who   were   to   accompany   them   to
  their new home。In England they were treated with marked kindness; and
  when     they   sailed;   January    19;   1734;    it  was  with   the   promise     of  free
  transportation to Georgia; and support there until they could reap their first
  harvest from the fifty acres which were to be given to each man among
  them。
  They reached Charlestown; South Carolina; the following March; and
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  met General Oglethorpe; the Governor of Georgia; who was intending an
  immediate return to Europe; but went back to help them select a suitable
  place for their settlement; they preferring not to live in Savannah itself。The
  site chosen was about twenty…five miles from Savannah; on a large stream
  flowing into the Savannah River; and there they laid out their town; calling
  it 〃Ebenezer〃; in grateful remembrance of the Divine help that had brought
  them thither。 Baron von Reck; who had accompanied them as Commissary
  of the Trustees; stayed with them until they had made a good beginning;
  and then returned to Europe; leaving Ebenezer about the middle of May。
  Unitas Fratrum。
  But while the Salzburgers received so much sympathy and kindness in
  Germany on account of their distress; other exiled Protestants; whose story
  was     no   less  touching;     were    being   treated    with   scant   courtesy    and
  consideration。
  On   the   6th   of   July;   1415;   the   Bohemian   Reformer;   John   Hus;   was
  burned at the stake。But those who had silenced him could not unsay his
  message; and at last there drew together a little body of earnest men; who
  agreed to accept the Bible as their only standard of faith and practice; and
  established      a  strict  discipline    which    should    keep    their  lives   in  the
  simplicity; purity; and brotherly love of the early Apostolic Church。 This
  was in 1457; and the movement quickly interested the thoughtful people in
  all   classes   of  society;   many     of  whom     joined    their  ranks。The     formal
  organization of the Unitas Fratrum (the Unity of Brethren) followed; and
  its preaching; theological publications; and educational work soon raised it
  to great influence in Bohemia; Moravia; and Poland; friendly intercourse
  being     established    with   Luther;    Calvin;   and    other   Reformers     as   they
  became prominent。
  Then   came   destruction;   when   the   religious   liberty   of   Bohemia   and
  Moravia   was   extinguished   in   blood;   by   the   Church   of   Rome。The   great
  Comenius went forth; a wanderer on the face of the earth; welcomed and
  honored in courts and universities; introducing new educational principles
  that revolutionized methods of teaching; but ever longing and praying for
  the restoration of his Church; and by his publication of its Doctrine and
  Rules   of   Discipline;   and   by   his   careful   transmission   of   the   Episcopate
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  which   had   been   bestowed   upon   him   and   his   associate   Bishops;   he   did
  contribute largely to that renewal which he was not destined to see。
  In   the   home   lands   there   were   many   who   held   secretly;   tenaciously;
  desperately;   to   the   doctrines   they   loved;   〃in   hope   against   hope〃   that   the
  great    oppression      would     be  lifted。But    the   passing    of   a  hundred     years
  brought   no   relief;   concessions   granted   to   others   were   still   denied   to   the
  children   of   those   who   had   been   the   first   〃protestants〃   against   religious
  slavery and corruption; and in 1722 a small company of descendants of the
  ancient Unitas Fratrum slipped over the borders of Moravia; and went to
  Saxony; Nicholas Lewis; Count Zinzendorf; having given them permission
  to sojourn on his estates until they could find suitable homes elsewhere。
  Hearing that they had reached a place of safety; other Moravians took
  their   lives   in  their   hands    and   followed;     risking   the   imprisonment       and
  torture   which   were   sure   to   follow      an   unsuccessful   att