Publisher's Synopsis
Excerpt from A Spiritual Springtime in the Garden of Youth, or the Awakening in the Moravian College at Niesky, Germany, on and About November 13, 1841: Portrayed From Oral and Written Communications
Some of the tutors also, who had charge of us outside of class hours and were pious brethren, together with two teachers, quietly gave us good advice. Zbut above all we later learned that a pray ing band among those brethren had been as an hearth from which many sparks of {blessing had been scattered abroad by the Spirit of God. Thus the Lord had made use of many pioneers secretly preparing His way, and many a heart certainly felt that there must be a change, and perhaps desired it, but could not yet decide to open the door at which the Saviour was knocking, while in others' the seeds of an earnest life of prayer were germinating. And yet, when the Saviour himself, came with the direct, quick-working power of His grace, causing such a radical change inthe condition of so many col-d hearts and of the entire Institution it seemed to us that the power of God had suddenly broken forth over a field of the dead, to give them new life. For, until shortly 'before this, notwithstanding so much preparation of the way, the conditions in the College were still of a very sad character. Those who entered the College after being brought up in the fear of God and being directed to the Saviour had to sustain a serious conflict, to which a rboy of that age is not equal, having either to give up the relation in which he had stood to the Saviour and to sin, and to swim with the stream of levity, which was my experience, or to endure mockery and Oppression, as did my brother Theodore. Our teachers, if they knew how to inspire respect, we obeyed as long aswe were under their Observation. The tutors, some of whom were unsophisticated but earnest and pious brethren, we had little respect for, ridiculed them and paid little attention to their requirements. The daily services of the congregation were for the most part at tended with reluctance; some of us at once settled ourselves for a nap; others, instead of the liturgy or hymn-book, took story-books along. Wit that ridiculed sacred things was very common. Even in September, .1841, if not in a malicious, yet in a thoroughly fri volons manner, fun was made of the prayer-meetings of the tutors, which had been observed. The rules of the Institution were broken without scruple, whenever detection seemed improbable. Cheat ing in school-tasks was not infrequent. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
