# Der Lutheraner_St. Louis Missouri_1852 03 16_S119
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

119

guage: the whole English school instruction leaves them very few lasting fruits. This has brought us to the insight that it would be much more fruitful first to teach these children, whose mostly heathen parents will in any case be a long way from allowing them a full education in the school, to read their own language. To be sure, an Indian spelling-book would have to be prepared and printed for this. The alphabet and the whole method of spelling would have to be, not English, but Latin (German), because the former is quite unsuited to our Indian language. The proofs would lead too far from the report here, but they are plain to anyone who has a knowledge of the Indian language. We have also already made trials, in that we wrote little words on the board, named the letters in the Latin way, and then had the children spell. They grasped it with ease, and it gave them pleasure to understand the word spelled; whereas it must indeed be wearisome to spell continually, etc., especially so unnaturally as English orthography is, without understanding anything of it. I intend to express myself more fully on this orally at the conference at Frankenhilf. And should this proposal, as I hope, receive the approval of the honorable Commission and be carried out soon, I hope for much from it for young and old in Bethany and Sheboygan.

Surely you, reverend brethren, will praise the grace of God together with me when I now further inform you that also in the time last past several souls, 15 in number, were incorporated into the Church of God: 10 of them are little children (three of Christian and seven of heathen parents) and five are adults, or at least such as could be instructed beforehand. *) And among these there has come to us, to our special joy, the widow of the deceased chief Bemassike. Not long ago she brought us her youngest little child to baptism, which was born after her husband's death, and to which she clung with her whole soul. The little child was already ill, and died on the second day after the baptism. Our fright was great; for we had to fear that she would imagine, in her heathen blindness and superstition, that the child had died in consequence of the baptism. And in truth the Tempter drew near to her with this, namely in the person of a Methodist woman. — But the gracious God has heard our poor supplication; yea, He has done above all that we ask or think. At first, indeed, the grief of the bowed mother was so great that she remained for days without food and wanted to starve herself to death. But God knew how to turn her heart, so that she began to seek comfort in the Word of God, and accordingly to come regularly to church, which she had never done before. Shortly before Christmas she then declared her resolve to become a Christian; "but," she said, "only after the holidays, for otherwise it might be said that I became a Christian for the sake of the gift." — (We have, namely, this year also prepared for all the Indians baptized by us a little Christmas joy and distribution of gifts, for which we received some things from Germany; their number amounted this time to forty persons. On the Sunday after Christmas she was then also baptized, to our joy and that of her children, who are all Christians, and named Salome. God bless and preserve her in His grace and make her like Hannah of Jerusalem, who served God so faithfully day and night, and knew so blessedly how to speak of the Saviour. — Also the eldest son and successor of the chief Bemassike, whom the Methodists, as he himself says, deceived and baptized in complete drunkenness, declared on the day of the baptism of his (step-)mother, Salome, that he had already broken with the Methodists and would henceforth belong to us. He has also attended the divine service regularly for some weeks, which he formerly did not do, and has decidedly declined the invitation to the Methodist meeting. May God strengthen him also in his resolve and increase his knowledge. — Our old hundred-year-old Sarah, of whom my last report told, is still living, and is still hungry for the pure milk of the Gospel, however much she too was at times molested by the impudent Methodists. May God grant her abundantly an entrance into His eternal rest and joy. Amen.

*) Fifteen since my last report; seventeen in the whole of the year just past. Forty-odd is now the number of souls of the little congregation gathered. Two couples were married in Christian fashion; two little children were born within the congregation (the first), two died and were buried as Christians. Of the heathen also two died and were buried in heathen fashion.

Finally I have still to bring you the glad tidings that Herr Missionary Mießler, whose departure was already reported to you from Leipzig, arrived here happily on the 8th of November. May the merciful God now give His blessing abundantly to our united labors, and strengthen us also especially for the speedy and complete learning of the so inaccessible language, which we earnestly desire.

From all this you, dear brethren, will have seen that our God still lets His countenance of grace shine over Bethany. Therefore do not you also grow weary of praising Him with us for all grace, of further beseeching Him with us that He would continue to acknowledge the work which we carry on in His name, that He would gather more and more also from this people for His Word and His Cross, and keep the gathered with strong arms near Himself, until He Himself, the Chief Shepherd, shall appear, to make an end of all seduction and of all sin. "Even so, come, Lord Jesus!" Amen.

In hearty love and with the greeting of peace

yours,

Baierlein.

Estimate.

The needs of the station I hope to be able to meet this half year with $75,00.
The interpreter's salary amounts, as is known, to 60,00
My personal and domestic needs will amount to about 100,00.
Lastly I would ask the honorable Commission to pay to the man who has hitherto filled Herr Eisfeldt's place, for the last five months, 30,00.
Total $265,00,

To an Unbelieving Soul.

You say "that you wallow for knowledge in the filth of the earth,"
Wherein, as it seems, you feel quite comfortable;
And "that the sense of God is vanishing from you more and more,"
Which yet is found among all peoples at all times;
It is your pleasure to mock the Bible,
And to blaspheme God the LORD, the source of all that is fair: —
All that is natural; you are indeed already brutified,
Have stripped off all that otherwise adorns men;
Have killed reason, hardened your conscience:
Thus you have torn asunder all the bonds of humanity,
And extinguished in yourself the holy spark of God.
Now you are, poor soul, sunk down to the beast,
And serve faithfully the devil, who possesses you wholly;
Of whose lying filth you have eaten with delight.
At which the very devils still have a loathing:
In the filth of the denial of God you want only to refresh yourself.
In this filth you wallow with true joy of heart,
And praise it to the Germans as true pasture for the soul.
Yet one day your conscience, which you have now indeed slain,
Will awake and tell you yourself the whole truth:
"Accursed denier of God, you have lied to yourself,
Wantonly cheated yourself and others of eternal salvation!"
You know indeed yourself best that all is invented
That you ever directed against God and the Bible.
Therefore become a man again and be reasonable henceforth,
And cease to blaspheme and amend yourself hereafter.

Where Is It Written?

The Church Father Jerome writes: "What has not its authority from Scripture is rejected with the same ease with which it is proved." (Quod de scripturis sacris non habet auctoritatem, eadem facilitate contemnitur, qua comprobatur.) From this the Papists can see how firmly, according to the saying of their own Church Father, much stands which they hold fast; for they themselves admit that much that belongs to their faith cannot be proved from Scripture, but from tradition. Yes, since the Papists maintain that no one can interpret Holy Scripture but the Church, which with them means as much as: the Pope and perhaps the bishops besides: so, among the Papists, according to their own admission, really only the Pope and the bishops found their faith upon Scripture; the others believe only in Pope and bishops. But since, as is well known, these also do not take their faith from Scripture, no one in the papistical sect really takes it from Scripture. We Lutherans indeed also believe that no one but the Church the