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ZIN of resisting the advancing tide of infidelity, prevailed at that time in the protestant church of Germany. But a revival of vital religion—originating with Dr. Spener, who laboured for the realization of his idea of an Ecclesiola in Ecclesia, and further developed by Augustus Herman Franke, whose institutions at Halle represented what was termed Pietism—began to move the church; and the ladies who had charge of the training of the young count, cordially approved of this movement, and attached themselves to its promoters. Hence, in his eleventh year, he was placed in the seminary at Halle to pursue his studies under the direction of Professor Franke. Here his religious principles were further developed and firmly established. Having completed his studies at Halle he repaired to Wittenberg, where agreeably to the wish of his relatives he occupied himself chiefly with the study of law, while devoting his spare hours to his favourite study of theology. In 1719 he entered upon his travels, which gave him an opportunity of becoming acquainted in Holland with the state of the reformed church, and in France with that of the Church of Rome, and thus of enlarging his views on ecclesiastical matters. In Paris, where he received marks of favour and distinction from the court, he became acquainted with the archbishop of Paris, Cardinal de Noailles, who was then at the head of the French clergy, and before whom he honestly and frankly maintained his protestant principles, while with much candour and earnestness he dissuaded him from accepting the papal bull Unigenitus as inconsistent with christian truth. Having returned in 1722, he married Erdmuth Dorothy, the sister of Henry Count Reuss of Ebersdorf, and with this excellent lady and faithful consort he lived happily till her departure in 1756. Nine children, of whom only three daughters survived him, were the fruit of this marriage. Contrary to his own inclinations, but in compliance with the wishes of his relatives, and following the steps of his father, he accepted office under the government at Dresden, with the rank and title of counsellor of justice. But true to his principles, he determined to show that he was not ashamed of the gospel of Christ even in his official situation. He, therefore, not only held religious meetings in his own house, but issued a religious periodical entitled the German Socrates, in which he exposed the prevailing vices of the age, and defended the reasonableness of the christian faith. This his first literary work created a great sensation, and the essays, which were written with spirit and originality, found many readers. Meanwhile, in the year 1722, a small number of Moldavian emigrants, who after suffering much persecution on account of their protestant faith, had left their native country, arrived in the neighbourhood of Great Hennersdorf, and applied to be received on his estate of Berthelsdorf in Lusatia. The count replied to this application from Dresden, and gave them permission to form a settlement, which was afterwards called Herrnhut. Two years later they were joined by five other emigrants, genuine descendants of the ancient church of the Brethren, and great sufferers for conscience' sake. Fresh arrivals followed in rapid succession, and within a short time their number amounted to two hundred. Serious persons from the neighbourhood and other places joined them, and very soon conflicting views and opinions on religious topics began to prevail, and to cause no little confusion. This induced the count to take special charge of the community; and for this purpose he sought and obtained first leave of absence, and finally dismission from his office at Dresden, so that he could take up his residence in the manor-house at Berthelsdorf, and devote himself entirely to the care of the Moravian exiles.

The count, who from his youth up had entertained the ardent wish to devote all his energies to the furtherance of the gospel, entered with all his heart upon this labour. He thus became the instrument by which the newly-established congregation not only attained to the unity of internal religious life, but also gained a solid external framework and an ecclesiastical form which was mainly shaped after the model of the constitution of the ancient church of the Brethren in Bohemia and Moravia. The count's object was not only to realize Dr. Spener's idea of uniting together true believers within the borders of the church, but also to extend those borders by missionary operations in foreign parts. In 1731 he went to Copenhagen to attend the coronation of Christian VI. of Denmark, with whose mother-in-law, the Margravine Sophia Christiana of Baireuth, he had for years kept up a correspondence; and on this occasion he became acquainted with a negro from St. Thomas in the West Indies, who was employed as valet in the service of one of the officers of the king's household, and learned from him particulars respecting the wretched condition of the negro slaves. These particulars he communicated on his return with much emotion to the congregation at Herrnhut. The result was, that several members of the congregation offered themselves to go to the West Indies and carry the comfort of the gospel to the poor slaves. On 21st August, 1732, the first two missionaries, Leonard Dober and David Nitschman, were sent forth to commence the missionary work of the Brethren's church, which has now (1863) so widely extended as to number eighty-three central stations in fifteen different fields of operation, and seventy-eight thousand souls, under the care of three hundred and fourteen missionaries of brethren and sisters. Meanwhile complaints were made at the court of Saxony by the Austrian government with respect to the emigration of protestants from Moravia, and to these were added other charges with reference to the count's spiritual activity in the country. A committee of inquiry was appointed by the Saxon government and sent to Herrnhut, whose report was very favourable to the congregation. Nevertheless the enemies of the count persisted in their calumnious charges, and succeeded in procuring an order that he should sell his estates; but these he had already, of his own accord, sold to his consort by a regular contract. In the year 1733 the count proceeded to Tübingen to solicit an examination of the doctrine and constitution of the renewed church, for the purpose of settling her relation to the Lutheran church. The theological faculty of Tübingen, after a careful inquiry, declared in the so-called Tübingen Judgment, "That the doctrine of the congregation was in agreement with the Augsburg Confession, and the constitution not opposed to the symbolical books of the Lutheran church, and hence that the congregation at Herrnhut is to be considered as a part of the protestant church." As the count had now conceived a desire to enter into the ministry, he went to Stralsund in the year 1734 and presented himself for examination to two eminent divines, who conversed with him for several days together, and gave him a written testimonial of orthodoxy. The theological faculty of Tübingen having publicly approved of his resolution to devote himself to the ministry, he entered upon his ministerial functions on 19th December, by a sermon which he preached in the principal church at Tübingen. He then made several journeys, chiefly into Switzerland and Holland, which led to the formation of the first establishment of the Brethren in the latter country. His enemies at the court of Dresden had meantime succeeded in inducing the government to publish a rescript, dated March 20, 1736, which decreed his banishment from Saxony. The count, who humbly submitted to the decree, proceeded to Wetteravia, where for some time he took up his abode in the Ronneburg, and continued unweariedly to labour for the Redeemer's kingdom, and especially to preach the gospel to the poor in the neighbourhood. He then travelled, in pursuance of many invitations, to Livonia, where he laid the foundation of the subsequent extensive operations of the Brethren. On his way back he staid some time at Berlin, and received an invitation from King Frederick William I. of Prussia to an audience in his palace at Wusterhausen; this pious monarch being desirous to make his personal acquaintance. The result was, that the king assured him of his esteem and protection. The way was thus prepared for the establishment of several congregations in the Prussian dominions; and the king, agreeably to his firm and independent character, remained sincerely attached to him from, this period till his death, and kept up a highly interesting correspondence with him. Another result of the king's favour was that, in the following year, the count received consecration as a bishop of the church of the Brethren from D. E. Jablonsky, the first court chaplain at Berlin. Jablonsky was the grandson of the celebrated Moravian bishop, J. Amos Comenius, and senior bishop of that branch of the ancient Brethren's church which had been transplanted into Poland; and he had already, in the year 1735, consecrated David Nitschman as the first bishop of the renewed church of the Brethren. In 1737 the count went to England, by way of Holland, to confer with the directors of the British colonies in London, with reference to the colony of the Brethren in Georgia. The well-known General Oglethorpe, who had become personally acquainted with the Brethren in Georgia, bore a highly favourable testimony to them. On this occasion the question was mooted, whether the Church of England should recognize their ecclesiastical functions—a question which was prompted by the declarations of Dr. John Potter, archbishop of Canterbury, who had assured the