7 "The fatal rattle-snake."
"Zinzendorff was alone in his tent, seated upon a bundle of dry weeds that composed his bed, and engaged in writing, when the Indians, who had determined to murder him, approached to execute their bloody commission. It was night, and the cool air of September rendered a small fire necessary to his comfort. A curtain formed of a blanket, and hung upon pins, was the only guard to the entrance of his tent. The heat of the fire aroused a large rattle-snake, which crawled slowly into the tent, and passed over his feet undiscovered. At this moment, the assassins softly approached the door of his tent, and slightly removing the curtain, contemplated the venerable man, too deeply absorbed in meditation to notice either their approach, or the venomous snake that lay extended before him. At this sight, even savage hearts shrank from their deadly purpose, and suddenly quitting the spot, they bore tidings that the white man was in league with the Great Spirit.—Chapman's History of Wyoming.
8 "Fair Bethlehem."
Zinzendorff, during his second voyage to America, founded the colony of Bethlehem,—a spot celebrated both for its beauty of scenery, and its school, where the elements of piety are blended with the whole process of education, and presented to the young mind, as the source of daily serenity and joy, as well as of future felicity.
9 "Of her whose cheek was pallid for his sake."
His wife, the sister of the Prince of Reuss, was distinguished for every excellence, and during his absence, took charge of his estates, and devoted their surplus income to the works of benevolence in which he delighted.
And deem'd them demi-gods."
When the victorious Gauls, under Brennus, entered Rome, they found the ancient Senators sitting in their order, in the Forum, undaunted and unmoved. Their splendid habits, their majestic gravity, and venerable countenances, awed the barbarians into reverence, and they offered them adoration, as tutelar deities.
To spread a banner o'er the sect he lov'd."
Zinzendorff's estate of Bertholsdorf, in Lusatia, was a refuge for the persecuted Moravians. He, with the Countess, continually extended to them patronage and assistance. By them, the settlement of Hernnhut was protected and cherished, from whence the first missionaries went forth, to the West Indies and to Greenland, somewhat more than a century since.
12 "That the poor Greenlander might taste its fruits."
