Editorial by W. A. S.

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Aug 18, 1910

Editorial

By W. A. S.

Zinzendorf and the Assassins

COUNT ZINZENDORF, the leader of the Moravians, is said to have been the first white man to set foot in the Wyoming Valley of Pennsylvania. While on a visit to America in 1742, he penetrated this region with his daughter and a few companions, to open mission work among the Shawanese. Conrad Weiser, the colonial Indian interpreter, and, like Count Zinzendorf himself, an observer of the Sabbath, had piloted the party to the Indian village, near the present Plymouth, and then returned, leaving them in the wilds. After a time, the Indians, suspicious and covetous, laid a plan to assassinate the missionary party. Of the manner in which their plan was frustrated, Charles Miner, in his “History of Wyoming” (Wyoming Valley), speaks as follows:—

Zinzendorf was alone in his tent, seated upon a bundle of dry weeds, which composed his bed, and engaged in writing, when the assassins approached to execute their bloody commission. It was night, and the cool air of September had rendered a small fire necessary to his comfort and convenience. A curtain, formed of a blanket, and hung upon pins, was the only guard to the entrance of his tent.

The heat of his fire had aroused a large rattlesnake, which lay in the weeds not far from it, and the reptile, to enjoy it more effectually, crawled slowly into the tent, and passed over one of his legs, undiscovered. Without, all was still and quiet, except the gentle murmur of the river at the rapids about a mile below. At this moment the Indians softly approached the door of his tent, and slightly removing the curtain, contemplated the venerable man, too deeply engaged in the subject of his thoughts to notice either their approach or the snake which lay extended before him.

At a sight like this, even the heart of the savages shrunk from the idea of committing so horrid an act, and quitting the spot, they hastily returned to the town, and informed their companions that the Great Spirit protected the white man; for they had found him with no door but a blanket, and had seen a large rattlesnake crawl over his legs without attempting to injure him. This circumstance, together with the arrival soon afterward of Conrad Weiser, procured the friendship and confidence of the Indians.

Conrad Weiser’s timely arrival was also a direct intervention of Providence, being due to the fact that, although he was far away, attending to other duties, he was seized with the conviction that Zinzendorf was in danger. So impressed was he with the impending calamity for the missionary party, that he hastened back, and arrived just in time to assist the missionary in the crisis.

W. A. S.