第54章 Disintegration(11)

Ten days after Boehler reached London he accepted an invitation from the two Wesleys, and went with them to Oxford.

There he was most kindly received, preached in Latin once or twice each day, and had many private conversations with inquirers.

Among those with whom he became acquainted was the Rev.John Gambold, who later became a bishop in the Moravian Church, and many others were mightily stirred to seek the salvation of their souls.

Noting how little English Boehler and Schulius knew, Gen.Oglethorpe offered them a boy who was bright and intelligent, could speak both English and German, and understood some French, and they found him so serviceable that they asked and obtained permission to take him with them to Carolina.

Through Wesley, Boehler heard that Gen.Oglethorpe was much surprised at the speed with which he acquired English, and that he had asked whether Boehler would consent to serve as Minister of the Church of England in Savannah, if that Congregation remained without a pastor.

Boehler expressed his willingness to preach at any time, but declined to administer the Sacraments for any denomination except his own, so the appointment was not made.

On the 28th of April, the baggage of the Missionaries was put aboard the `Union Galley', Capt.Moberley, with instructions that Boehler and his companions should join her at Portsmouth.

Neisser was to go with them to Georgia, and from there, as opportunity offered, to St.Thomas, but while the ship lay at Portsmouth other instructions reached him, and Oglethorpe kindly made no objection to his withdrawing his box and staying behind, though he did not quite understand it.

On the 15th of May, Peter Boehler, George Schulius, and the lad Simon Peter Harper, left London, but finding the ship not yet ready to sail, they, by Oglethorpe's instructions, went to Southampton where some of the vessels were lying.

Returning to Portsmouth they embarked on May 22nd, and soon found they were "to dwell in Sodom and Gomorrah" during their voyage.

On the 30th the fleet sailed to Southampton for the soldiers, and when they came aboard four days later "Sodom and Gomorrah were fully reproduced." As the ships lay off Spithead a conspiracy was discovered, -- the soldiers on one vessel had planned to kill their officers, take what money they could find, and escape to France.During the voyage there were several fights among the soldiers, or between them and the sailors, and in one drunken riot a soldier cut off a young girl's hand."The Lord was our defense and shield, and we were among them like Daniel in the midst of the lions," wrote Boehler, for the quiet, Bible-reading Moravians found little to like in their rough associates, who cared for them just as little, and wished they could be thrown overboard.

The ships put to sea July 16th and reached the Madeiras on the 29th, where they were detained until the 8th of August.Boehler and Schulius went on shore a number of times, were courteously treated by the most prominent Catholic priest there, climbed a mountain for the exercise, and particularly enjoyed their escape from turmoil and confusion.The captain, who had taken a dislike to them, tried to prevent their leaving the ship, but Oglethorpe stood their friend, and ordered that they should have entire liberty.For Boehler, as for many who had preceded him, Georgia and Carolina were to be a school where great life lessons would be learned.Fresh from the University halls of Jena, he had met the students of Oxford on equal footing, quickly winning their respect and admiration, but these soldiers and sailors, restless, eager for excitement, rude and unlettered, were a new thing to him, a book written in a language to which he had no key.Later he would learn to find some point of contact with the unlearned as well as the learned, with the negro slave and the Yorkshire collier as well as the student of theology, but just now his impulse was to hold himself aloof and let their wild spirits dash against him like waves about the base of a lighthouse which sends a clear, strong beam across the deep, but has few rays for the tossing billows just beneath.

On the 18th of September land was sighted, and on the 29th the fleet anchored in the harbor of St.Simon's Island, and with grateful hearts the Moravians watched the landing of the soldiers.

On the 4th of October they transferred their baggage to a sloop bound for Savannah, which sailed the 6th, but on account of head winds did not reach Savannah until the 16th.

The Moravians still at Savannah came in a boat to welcome them, and take them to their house, but Boehler was anxious to see the scene of his future labors, and stayed in town only a few days, leaving on the 21st for a tour through Carolina.Schulius accompanied him all the way, and several others as far as the Indian town where Rose was living with his wife and child.Here they talked of many things regarding the Savannah Congregation, but on the following afternoon the missionaries went on their way, Zeisberger, Haberland, Boehner and Regnier accompanying them to Purisburg.

There Boehler and Schulius lodged with one of the Swiss who had come to Georgia with Spangenberg and the first company.

His wife expressed the wish that the Moravians in Savannah would take her thirteen-year-old daughter the following winter, and give her instruction, for which she would gladly pay.

Boehler took occasion to speak to the couple about salvation and the Saviour, and they appeared to be moved.Indeed this was the main theme of all his conversations.To the owners of the plantations visited, he spoke of their personal needs, and their responsibility for the souls of their slaves; while to the slaves he told the love of God, filling them with wonder, for most of them were newly imported from the wilds of Africa, and suspicious even of kindness.