But Reck had failed to realize the force of the Halle opposition to Herrnhut, and soon weakened under the weight of persuasion and command laid upon him by those whose opinion he felt obliged to respect.On the 4th of November he wrote from Windhausen to Graf Stolberg Wernigerode, "I have hesitated and vexed myself in much uncertainty whether or not I should go with the Herrnhuters to America.And now I know that God has heard our prayer at Halle and Wernigerode, and your letters have decided me to stay in Germany this winter, in the first place because my going would be a grief to my dear Urlsperger, whom I love as a father, secondly because the English will send over a third transport of Salzburgers in the coming spring and wish me to take them, and thirdly because I wish to obey worthy and chosen men of God."He wrote to the same effect to Zinzendorf, and the Count, though doubtless annoyed, replied simply: "Your Highness' resolution to accomodate yourself to your superiors would be known by us all for right.
You will then not blame us if we go our way as it is pointed out to us by the Lord."A few days later Reck received a sharp note from the Trustees of Georgia, reproving him for his temerity in agreeing to take the Moravians with him to Georgia without consulting them, and reiterating the statement that the funds in their hands had been given for the use of the Salzburgers, and could be used for them alone.
The young man must have winced not a little under all this censure, but while he yielded his plan to the wishes of the Halle party, he held firmly to the opinion he had formed of the Moravians.
He wrote to Urlsperger and others in their behalf, declaring that they were a godly people, much misunderstood, that it was a shame to persecute them and try to hinder their going to Georgia, and he felt sure that if their opponents would once meet the Moravians and converse with them freely, confidentially, and without prejudice, they would come to respect them as he did.He also suggested that there were many protestants remaining in Bohemia, who would gladly leave, and who might be secured for Georgia on the terms offered to the Salzburgers.
The next year in fact, an effort was made to obtain permission from the Austrian Government for the emigration of these people, and Reck was authorized by the Trustees to take them to Georgia, but nothing came of it.
Nor did his championship of the Bohemians and Moravians already in Saxony have any result.Urlsperger was offended that the negotiations from Herrnhut with the Trustees were not being carried on through him, "the only one in Germany to whom the Trustees had sent formal authority to receive people persecuted on account of religion, or forced to emigrate,"and the Halle party were unable or unwilling to meet the leaders of the Moravians "without prejudice".The company of Salzburgers therefore sailed for Georgia in November without Baron von Reck, and without the Moravians, Mr.Vat acting as Commissary.
The Moravians, meanwhile, were not waiting idly for matters to turn their way, but even before Reck reached his decision Spangenberg had started for England to arrange personally with the Georgia Trustees for their emigration.
August Gottlieb Spangenberg was born July 15th, 1704, at Klettenberg, Prussia.
In the year 1727, while a student at Jena, he became acquainted with the Moravians through a visit of two of their number, which won them many friends at that institution.Later, when he was Assistant Professor of Theology at Halle, he was required to sever his connection with the Moravians, or leave the University, and choosing the latter he came to Herrnhut in the spring of 1733.
He was one of the strongest, ablest, and wisest leaders that the Unitas Fratrum has ever had, and eventually became a Bishop of the Unity, and a member of its governing board.He was a writer of marked ability, and in his diaries was accustomed to speak of himself as "Brother Joseph", by which name he was also widely known among the Moravians.
Spangenberg left Herrnhut in the late summer or early fall of 1734, bearing with him Zinzendorf's Power of Attorney to receive for him a grant from the Georgia Trustees of five hundred acres of land, and to transact all other necessary business.He stopped for some time in Holland, where he made a number of acquaintances, some of whom gave him letters of introduction to friends in England and in America, and others contributed toward the necessary expenses of the emigrants.
From Rotterdam he wrote to Zinzendorf, saying that he heard no ship would sail for America before February or March, and that he thought it would be best for the colonists to wait until he wrote from London, and then to come by way of Altona, as the Holland route was very expensive.
These suggestions, however, came too late, as the party had left Herrnhut before the arrival of his letter.
