them; and the count during his stay on the island, procured a place for them, where they might assemble and hear the gospel in peace and safety; but before his departure, he was grieved to learn that some drunken people had fallen upon them, and cut and slashed them in the cruellest manner. Indeed, after he left the island, their enemies became so violent and outrageous, that the poor people were obliged to hold their meetings in the woods. In the meanwhile, however, in consequence of the count's representation to his majesty the king of Denmark, and the petition of the negroes themselves, orders were sent to the governor to permit the missionaries to pursue their labours without molestation, and to protect them against the malice of their enemies. But notwithstanding this mandate they were still subjected to much opposition, and to trials of various kinds. By day, they spent their time in hard labour for their own support; by night, they instructed the poor slaves in the principles of the Christian faith. They, at the same time suffered much from sickness; and scarcely a year passed without one or more of them finishing their course. To this, it is probable the distress of their minds on account of the sufferings of the converts, and the frequent maltreatment of their own persons, contributed not a little. One of them, for instance, was so severely beaten on a particular occasion, that he immediately fell sick; and though he recovered at that time, yet he died soon after. As the missionaries, however, were eager to pursue their evangelical labours, notwithstanding the many trials which they suffered, so the negroes, after performing the work of the day, could not be restrained from coming to them by night, to receive instruction, though they were subjected to bonds and stripes on that account. Such, indeed, was the success of their labours among these poor untutored creatures, that they had once the pleasure of baptizing no fewer than ninety of them in one day.*

• Crantz's History of the United Brethren.

In 1747, Frederick Martin made a short visit to Europe, and on presenting a memorial to his majesty the king of Denmark, a new order was given to the West-India Company that they should allow the Brethren to carry on their labours among the negroes without molestation, and under the protection of government. Of late years, the awakening among the slaves had greatly abated; few of them were admitted to baptism; and even some of those who had been baptized fell away. In consequence of these circumstances, the Brethren were in some measure discouraged, and grew remiss in carrying on the work of the mission. But after the return of Frederick Martin, a new awakening began among the negroes. A general concern about their souls was excited among the baptized; this quickly spread among the catechumens, and even among the slaves throughout the island. Every evening, the meetings were attended by between two and three hundred negroes, and on the sabbath, by between eight and nine hundred, besides whom there was a great number of children, of whom the missionaries took some charge. On one occasion, no fewer than three hundred and eighty came and desired their names to be inserted in the list of catechumens; and from this time the number of the converts rapidly increased. The governor of St. Thomas, and most of the planters on the island, were now convinced, by experience, that the instruction of the negroes in the principles of religion, instead of injuring, promoted the interests of their masters; and, therefore, they were pleased to see their slaves attend on the preaching of the gospel.

In the course of a few years, the mission on this island was in a very flourishing condition. The congregations of the Brethren were greatly augmented; and the baptized were generally increased by upwards of a hundred a year. In their settlement called New Herrnhuth, the missionaries had a church, a dwelling-house, a garden, various out-houses, and negro huts. In the town of Tapus, they had also a meeting-house for the benefit of the sick and aged; and a

married couple resided at a place now called Niesky in order to instruct the negroes in that quarter of the island. Besides labouring among the slaves, the Brethren spent all the time they could spare in working with their hands for their own support; and, in fact, they were of great service on the island, particularly in building mills.*

But though the Brethren were no longer exposed to persecution from the white people, they had still many difficulties to encounter, and of these, none of the least arose from the insalubrity of the climate. For the most part, they enjoyed but a poor state of health; and many of them scarcely arrived on the island, when they were attacked by diseases, which in a short time put a period to their labours and their life. From the commencement of the mission to the year 1766, no fewer than sixty-six Brethren and Sisters died in this and the two other Danish islands, St. Croix and St. Jan.† But though the mortality was so great, it is surprising with what cheerfulness others came forward to fill the ranks of those who had so prematurely fallen. Bishop Spangenberg informs us, that, on one occasion, when it was made known to the congregation at Bethlehem in North America, that five persons had died, within a short time on the island of St. Thomas, no fewer than eight Brethren voluntarily offered, that very day, to go thither and replace them!‡

The missionaries had, at first, considerable difficulties with regard to the marriages of those who embraced Christianity. It often happened in this and other of the West India islands, that a man at the time of his conversion had more than one wife. Now, in such cases, What was to be done? In one place the Apostle Paul says: "If any brother hath a wife that believeth not, and she be pleased to dwell with him, let him not put her away." In another place he says, "A bishop must be blameless, the husband of one wife." As nothing further is said in the New Testament on this subject,

Crantz's History of the United Brethren.

† Ibid.

+ Spangenberg's Account of the manner in which the United Brethren carry on their missions among the Heathen, p. 37.

the Brethren laid down the following principles for the regulation of their conduct in cases of this description:

First, That they would not oblige a man who, previous to his conversion, had taken more than one wife, to put the others away without their consent.

Secondly, That, notwithstanding this, they would not appoint such a man a helper in the congregation.

Lastly, That they would allow no one who had already embraced Christianity to take more than one wife; and that he was to be considered as bound to her as long as she lived.

But notwithstanding these regulations, the Brethren had often great difficulties, with regard to the marriages of slaves, even after their baptism. When a planter in the West-Indies, for instance, died in debt, his slaves and other property were sold by auction; and in these cases, part of the negroes were frequently purchased by proprietors from other islands, by which means it often happened, that not only parents and children, but husbands and wives, were for ever parted from each other.* How to act in such circumstances, the Brethren were at first quite at a loss; and they appear for some time to have prohibited the converts from contracting another marriage, apprehending this to be inconsistent with the principles of Christianity.† Now, however, though they do not advise, yet neither do they hinder a regular marriage with another person, especially if a family of children, or other circumstances, seem to render a helpmate necessary.‡

The Brethren have long had two settlements in St. Thomas, called New Herrnhuth and Niesky; and it was stated a few years ago, that though the opposition to them was at first so violent, yet now there is not one manager on the whole island who prohibits his Negroes from attending on their instructions, and not one plantation where there were not

Spangenburg's Account of the manner in which the United Brethren carry on their missions among the Heathen, p. 99.

t Crantz's Hist. Breth.

Period. Acc. vol. i. p. 14.

one or more Christian negroes.* In the year 1812, the two congregations consisted of the following members.

Baptized, &c. Communicants.

The West-India and Guinea Company at Copenhagen having made a purchase of the island of St. Croix, which had been abandoned by the French for the space of forty years, and during that period had again become a perfect wilderness, the lord chamberlaine, De Pless, who had already patronised the missions to Greenland and St. Thomas, thought that the lands he had taken in that island, would be best cultivated, and the negroes at the same time instructed in the Christian faith, if he committed them to the care of some of the Brethren. Having, with this view, applied for two of the Brethren as overseers, for each of the six plantations which he proposed to cultivate, many of the congregation were desirous of engaging in the undertaking, in the hope of being useful to the poor negroes; and of these fourteen were selected for this purpose, four of whom were married. In 1733, they sailed on this important mission, but they were obliged to winter in Norway; and it was not till the following summer that they reached St. Croix. On their arrival, they found the island quite overgrown with trees and brushwood, which gave rise to the most unwholesome vapours; and as they spared no labour in carrying on the necessary works, they all fell sick, and in a short time ten of them died. Others, indeed, were sent to supply their pla

* Period. Acc. vol. i. p. 264.

Ibid. vol. v. p. 368.

St Croix island in the West Indies is S. W. from the Virgin islands, in latitude 17 deg 52 min. N. and longitude from 64 deg 35 min. to 64 deg. 56 min. W.-Malham's Gazetteer.