(after university)..and now, as befitted a nobleman born, he was sent on the GRAND TOUR, to give the final polish to his education. he regarded the prospect with horror. he had heard of more than one fine lord whose virtues had been polished away. for him the dazzling sights of utrect and paris had no bewitching charm. he feared the glitter, the glamour and the glare. the one passion, love to Christ, still ruled his heart 'ah, what a poor, miserable thing is the grandeur of the great ones of the earth! what a splendid misery!'
as john milton, on his continental tour, had sought the company of musicians and men of letters, so this young budding christian.., with the figure of the divine redeemer ever present to his mind, sought out the company of men and women who, whatever their sect or creed, maintained communion with the living Son of God.
he went first to frankfurt-on-the-main, where spener had toiled so long, came down the rhine to dusseldorf, spent half a year at utrecht, was introduced to william, prince of orange, paid flying calls at brussels, antwep, amsterdam and rotterdam, and ended the tour by a six months' stay amid the gaieties of paris. at dusseldorf a famous incident occurred. there, in the picture gallery, he saw and admired the beautiful ecce homo of domenico feti; there beneath the picture he read the thrilling appeal: 'all this I did for thee; what doest thou for Me?' ; and there, in response to that appeal, he resolved anew to live for Him who had worn the cruel crown of thorns for all. at paris he attended the court levee and was presented to the duke of orleans, the regent, and his mother, the dowager duchess. the duchess, 'sir count, have you been to the opera today?' your highness, i have no time for the opera'. he would not spend a golden moment except for the golden crown. the duchess, 'i hear that you know the bible by heart'. 'ah, i only wish i did'.
at paris, too, he made the acquaintance of the catholic archbishop, cardinal noailles. it is marvellous how broad in his views the young man was. as he discussed the nature of true religion with the cardinal, who tried in vain to win him for the church of rome, he came to the conclusion that the true church of Jesus Christ consisted of many sects and many forms of belief. he held that the church was still an invisible body; he held that it transcended the bounds of all denominations; he had found good christians among protestants and catholics alike; and he believed, with all his heart and soul, that God had called him to the holy task of enlisting the faithful in all the sects in one grand christian army and was realizing, in visible form, the promise of Christ that all His disciples should be one, he was no bigoted lutheran. for him the cloak of creed or sect was only of minor moment. he desired to break down all sectarian barriers. he desired to draw men from all the churches into one grand fellowship with
Christ. he saw, an lamented, the bigotry of all the sects. 'we protestants are very fond of the word liberty; but in practice we often try to throttle the conscience;. he was asked if he thought a catholic could be saved. 'yes and the man who doubts that, cannot have looked far beyond his own small cottage'. the dutchess of luynes, 'what, then, is the real difference between a lutheran and a catholic?' 'it is the false idea that the bible is so hard to understand that only the church can explain it'. he had, in a work, discovered his vocation.
MARRIAGE Z fell in love with his young cousin, theodora...one evening..he paid a visit to his friend count reuss and during conversation made the disquieting discovery that his friend wished to marry theodora. a beautiful contest followed. each of the claimants to the hand of theodora expressed his desire to retire in favor of the other; and, not being able tosettle the dispute, the 2 young men set out for castell to see what theodora herself would say. young Z's mode of reasoning was certainly original. if his own love for theodora was pure ie. if it was a pure desire to do her good and not a vulgar sensual passion like that with which many love sick swains were afflicted - he could ..fulfill his purpose just as well by handing her over to the care of his christian friend. ' even if it cost me my life to surrender her, if it is more acceptable to my savior, i ought to sacrifice the dearest object in the world'. the 2 friends arrived at castell and soon saw which way the wind was blowing; and Z found, to his great relief, that what had been a painful struggle to him was as easy as changing a dress to theodora.
the young lady gave count reuss her heart and hand. the rejected suitor bore the blow like a stoic. he would conquer such disturbing earthly emotions; why should they be a thicket in the way of his work for Christ? the betrothal was sealed in a religious ceremony. young Z composed a cantata for the occasion; the cantata was sung, with orchestral accompaniment, in the presence of the whoed house of castell; and at the conclusion of the festive scene the young composer offered up on behalf of the happy couple a prayer so tender that all were moved to tears. his self-denial was well rewarded. if the count had married theodora, he would only have had a graceful drawing room queen. about 18 months late he married count reuss's sister, erdmuth dorothea; and in her he found a friend so true that the good folk at herrnhut called her a princess of God, and the fostermother of the Brethren's church in the 18th century.
CALL if the count could now have had his way he would have entered the service of the state church; but in those days the clerical calling was considered to be beneath the dignity of a noble and his grandmother, pious though she was, insisted that he should stick to jurisprudence. he yielded and took a post as king's councillor at dresden, at the court of augustus the strong, king of saxony.
but no man can fly from his shadow and Z could not fly from his hopes of becoming a preacher of the gospel. if he could not preach in the orthodox pulpit, he would teach in some other way; and therefore, he invited the public to a weekly meeting in his own rooms on sunday afternoons from 3 to 7. he had no desire to found a sect and no desire to interfere with the regular work of the church. he was acting..in accordance with ecclesiastical law; and he justified his bold conduct by appealing to a clause in luther's smalkald articles ('in many ways the Gospel offers counsel and help to the sinner..1st..preaching of the word, 2nd..baptism, 3rd..communion, 4th..the power of the keys and lastly, through brotherly discussion and mutual encouragement, according to matt...'where 2 or 3 are gathered together..') he contended that there provision was made for the kind of meeting that he was conducting; and, therefore, he invited men of all classes to meet him on sunday afternoons, read a passage of scripture together and talk in a free and easy fashion on spiritual topics. he became known as rather a curiosity; and valentine loscher, the popular lutheran preacher, mentioned him by name in his sermons and held him up before the people as an example they would all do well to follow.
but Z had not yet reached his goal. he was not content with the work accomplished by spener, franke, and other leading pietists. he was not content with drawing room meetings for people of rnak and $. he said if fellowship was good for lords, it must also be good for peasants. he wished to apply the ideas of spener to folk in humbler life. for this purpose he now bought from his grandmother the little extate of berthelsdorf, which lay about 3 miles from hennersdorf; installed his friend, john andrew rothe, as pastor of the village church; and resolved that he and the pastor together would endeavor to convert the village into a pleasant garden of god. 'i bought this estate because i wanted to spend my life among peasants, and win their souls for Christ.
and here let us note precisely the aim this pious count had in view. he was a loyal and devoted member of the national lutheran church; he was well versed in luther's theology and in luther's practical schemes; and now at berthelsdorf he was making an effort to carry into practical effect the fondest dreams of luther himself. for this, the fellowship of true believers, the great reformer had sighed in vain (in his treatise, 'the german mass' published 1526) and to this great purpose the count would now devote his $ and his life.
he introduced the new pastor to the people; the induction sermon was preached by schafer, the pietist pastor at gorlitz; and the preacher used the prophetic words, 'God will light a candle on these hills which will illuminate the whole land'.
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