A Tale of the Kloster

ous man were l

it receives, pour

are not in too

y gifts. How soon

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I shall set out fully, hewing to the line, caring not whither the chips may fall, we were regarded by many who were ignorant of the truth, as disturbers

to our first introduction to it, providing that "those single men whose estates shall not be rated at fifty pounds, they shall be a

ries of the infinite. Hard manual labor marked much of our lives, and I glory to say that this labor was not for ourselves alone. Up to this time, indeed, works of charity had been our chief occupation. Canestogues was then a great wilderness, but a wilderness into which many a poor German settler came to cut out of the deep woods a little clearing for his grain, and to build a log cabin he could ca

ng, sowing, and reaping, that we often were blessed with such rich harvests that out of our bounty we supplied the poor for m

stian to put on them what we should ourselves bear; and thus all our hauling and carrying and plowing was done by our own hands and feet and with our own backs. I recall full well how the Brethren and the Sisters, instead of mules and oxen, pulled the plows through the hard soil of our fields for the planting and sowing. Our life b

these works of charity, yet there was a number of persons who appreciated not o

swollen with the importance of his high office, descended upon us one day, as a chicken hawk swoops down upon some unsuspecting domestic fowl, and with a loud voice and boiste

Brother Martin at first sight of the fat impressiveness of the bloated form of the constable, and on hea

r taxes in our hands and beseeching the collector to accept them and leave us in peace, Brother Beissel, unheeding the constable's commands to hurry up and not delay him, summoned all the Solitary Brethren to the Saal to have our views in the matter. And at once there were formed two opposing parties; one, headed by Brother Weiser-or Brother Enoch as was his cloistral name-arguing that it was just and right to pay unto C?sar his tribute as commanded by Scripture, and counseling that the tax be paid and thus all trouble be avoided. The contrary party, of which I was the chosen head, contended the assessments should not

ubtility, "Brother Jabez, I doubt much whether our constab

admitted to the council; "the Act does set forth the

to thy demands," I said as calmly as I could; "we refuse not to pay this paltry tribute becau

s growl from the depths of the constable. "

further than is necessary for our slender needs. The overflow of our abundance hath ever gone to the poor and needy settlers far and wide. If we came not to the relief of these, then would the province have the burden of thei

u goest to jail, for so the Act d

tly, "and I fear not but I

wered me Brother Elimelech-his secular name being

Philistines," said Brother Jephune, bro

pped over to me and said quietly: "Even if it

surely will, then thou hast all the sons of

cowls at me, whom he regarded as the instigator of all this little rebellion, although in truth there were more than the Eckerlings and myself who thought it not right to pay the taxes. But t

e at once," thundered the constable, choking with wrath, so that I

ged him, so that he rushed from us puffing and wheezing as he floundered across the meadow, the ve

disappeared down the road beyond the meadow, "dost thou know

t Ecclesiastes sayeth there is 'a time of war and a time of peace.' It seemeth my duty to oppose this unj

rother Martin-Martin Br?mer being his secular name-our tailor. I as

, still with the image of the king in his eye, looking first a

Enoch," said I, turning to him, "thou art learned in

to pay the taxes," said our learned brother, who a

t the levies, then must we abide in jail for all our days," sigh

roke in with some impatience. "'Suffici

that not only the whole Brotherhood but even the Sisters were united in their determination to oppose the tax. And so when the constable and his eager minions came rushing across the meadow as though they were about to storm some walled city, they found us quietly gathered at the fo

le: "'Are ye come out as against a thief with swords and staves to take us?' Ye need not come in such haste and violence; our good neighbors, though they seem overly

y together they held such a lively conference, in which each seemed bent on out-talking the others, that it was no great difficulty for us to hear everything that passed between them. The constable was for taking me alone, because he regarded me as the ringleader; another argued just as violently that our

rth, that we were arrested, and that we must go with him to Lancaster to be heard before the justices. It was with great difficulty that we prevailed upon Brother Beissel and the remaining Brothers and Sisters that they could not accompany us, for they were all determined that in this we must make common cause. Finally, howeve

o Lancaster. This also we said we could not do because it was our custom never to ride but always to walk, with staff in hand like the early pilgrims. When this conclusion was made known to the constable I thought, in all truth, he would now surely die in a fit; for he howled and stormed and raged like some one possessed with a thousand devils; but we merely stood quiet, saying not a word until the storm had somewh

ekly, as was our custom to bear all insult and indignity. Uphill and down again, through dale and valley, long stretches of forest broken only at rare intervals by some little clearing with its humble log cabin, we trudged along patiently and uncomplainingly only that the constable and his deputies who at first set out with such a high pace as though they intended to devour the way in a few steps soon fo

heir taste. It finally came to such a pass, while we were yet some miles from Lancaster that the constable announced savagely, looking at us as though he would have liked to hang us from the branches of the nearest tree, that he could not walk any farther. A short consultation with the rest of the Brethren, and I stepped up to him sitting at the foot of a tree, puffing, and mopping

it gives ye great pleasure to see what a sorry st

e press on, and thou canst ride the rest o

wled: "I know no place between here and the justices

e there, we and our kind neighbor

can carry me, or do you intend to take me on your backs one

ormed in our minds thou wilt perhaps have more

s this great

's bidding him go on our fool's quest, the deputy left us. While he was gone, my brethren and I made search in the forest about us for such timber as we could make into a litter and when the deputy returned, scornfully handing me the hatchet and some strong cord, we cut down a number of saplings suitable to the constable's weight, and with these formed a sort

"Now what good is all this litter; who shall carry me? My deputies, w

of the poles and carry thee as far as we are able, after which thy deputies may re

still doubtfully: "Do ye mean

gh thou hast not treated us over kindly it is not in

ot up to s

n of our word," I replied somewhat stiffly

t that we departed not from our proper course, which none of us had the slightest intention of doing. Yet I must record that the human heart, as the Holy Book sayeth in its omniscient wisdom, is a deceitful thing, even in the best of us; for we had not gone far with our rude conveyance when we came to a most foul and dirty pool directly in our way. Brother Martin, being

ward the constable; for it grieves me to say that as we came to this filthy pool and were about to step over it, Brother Martin turned his head about and gave me a sly look and made a motion of his body as of dropping our end of the lifter, which foul deed, had we done it at this juncture would most surely have dropped the majesty of the law into this slimy p

apprehension-and proceeded thoughtfully on our way, very seldom relieved by the deputies-for whom the farther we had come the more the heat