Hearing that they had reached a place of safety, other Moravians
took their lives in their hands and followed, risking the imprisonment
and torture which were sure to follow an unsuccessful attempt
to leave a province, the Government of which would neither allow them
to be happy at home nor to sacrifice everything and go away.
Among these emigrants were five young men, who went in May, 1724,
with the avowed intention of trying to resuscitate the Unitas Fratrum.
They intended to go into Poland, where the organization of the Unitas Fratrum
had lasted for a considerable time after its ruin in Bohemia,
but, almost by accident, they decided to first visit Christian David,
who had led the first company to Herrnhut, Saxony, and while there
they became convinced that God meant them to throw in their lot
with these refugees, and so remained, coming to be strong leaders
in the renewed Unity.
Several years, however, elapsed before the church was re-established.
One hundred years of persecution had left the Moravians only traditions
of the usages of the fathers, members of other sects who were in trouble
came and settled among them, bringing diverse views, and things
were threatening to become very much involved, when Count Zinzendorf,
who had hitherto paid little attention to them, awoke to the realization
of their danger, and at once set to work to help them.
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