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SOME REMARKABLE PASSAGES 
 
 IN THE LIFE OF 
 
 DR. GEORGE DE BENNEVILLE, 
 
 LATE OF GERMANTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA, 
 
 Who departed, this life in March, 1793, in 
 the ninetieth year of his age, 
 
 INCLUDING WHAT HE SAW AND HEARD IN A TRANCE OF FORTY-TWO HOURS 
 DURATION, BOTH IN THE REGIONS OF HAPPINESS AND MISERY; 
 TOGETHER WITH A BRIEF ACCOUNT OF HIS CRUEL 
 PERSECUTION IN FRANCE FOR' PREACH- 
 ING THE GOSPEL. 
 
 TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH OF HIS OWN MANUSCRIPT. 
 
 TO WHICH IS PREFIXED A RECOMMENDATORY PREFACE BY THI 
 TRANSLATOR, 
 
 REV. ELHANAN WINCHESTER. 
 
 A Reprint from the American Edition of 1800. Revised and Corrected. 
 With Notes and Addenda not hitherto Published. 
 
 GERMANTOWN, PA.: 
 
 CONVERSE CLEAVES, PUBLISHER. 
 1890. 
 
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 -$* 
 
 * 
 
TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE. 
 
 I bless God that I was ever acquainted with Dr. 
 George de Benneville, for such an humble, pious, 
 loving man I have scarcely ever seen in my pil- 
 grimage through life. To such as consider this ac- 
 count romantic, absurd, and inconsistent, I shall only 
 say, " That if they had known the author as well as 
 I did, I doubt not they would have thought of him 
 in a good measure as I do." I think it impossible 
 that a man of his piety, humility, benevolence, and 
 universal good character should have been guilty of 
 deliberately imposing upon mankind ; and from the 
 very nature and circumstances of the case, I cannot 
 see how it is possible that he should be imposed 
 upon himself. I have no doubt of the truth of this 
 relation myself, and have delivered it faithfully as I 
 received it. I consider myself hastening to the bar 
 of God, where I expect very shortly to give up my 
 account to the Judge of all the earth, and therefore 
 
 3 
 
Translator s Preft 
 
 ace. 
 
 God forbid that I should ever practice deception or 
 imposition on my fellow-creatures. 
 
 Elhanan Winchester.* 
 
 * An American clergyman and theological writer of note, and 
 native of Brookline, Massachusetts. Born in 1751, and was first 
 minister of the Baptist Church in Newton, Massachusetts; subse- 
 quently preached Calvinism in South Carolina, but in 1781 was 
 converted to the doctrines of the Restorationists, and his ripest and 
 best years were given to promulgating that faith in Philadelphia and 
 England. He was an industrious writer, and among his productions, 
 " Four Dialogues on Universal Restoration" is perhaps best known. 
 He died in Hartford, Connecticut, in April, 1797- His first biog- 
 rapher was "William Vidler, who published " A Sketch of His Life 
 and a Review of His Writings" in 1797. Another biography, by 
 Edwin M. Stone, was published in 1836. 
 
PUBLISHER'S PREFACE. 
 
 " 'Tis strange, but true ; for truth is always strange ; 
 Stranger than fiction." 
 
 The extraordinary narrative of which the present 
 publication is a revised reproduction, was put into 
 MS. form by the author a little more than one hun- 
 dred years ago, and soon after given to the American 
 public by the translator ; followed by an edition in 
 England, in 1791. Within the century successive 
 reprints have appeared, but the last edition passed 
 out of print many years since. It is simply a plain, 
 unadorned recital of a series of remarkable occur- 
 rences in the career of an humble and devout 
 Christian, who in his day and generation, as preacher 
 and physician, — ministering to the spiritual and phys- 
 ical needs of mankind, — was practically a public 
 benefactor, and the potential influence he wielded 
 through life still endures. In the present edition a 
 few historical notes have been introduced to lend 
 
 1* 5 
 
Publisher's Preface. 
 
 additional interest to the narrative, and, as Dr. de 
 Benneville's narration closes with his arrival in 
 America, a biographical supplement has been in- 
 cluded, briefly referring to a few important events 
 connected with his half-century of life in America. 
 Material from the most authentic sources has been 
 laid under contribution in preparing the addenda, 
 and grateful acknowledgments are especially due 
 his grand-daughter and oldest living descendant, the 
 venerable Mrs. Harriet de Benneville Keim, and also 
 his great-grand-daughter, Mrs. Anna de Benneville 
 Michener, for original MSS. and other valuable 
 
 biographical data. 
 
 C. C. 
 Germantown, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 
 December, i88q. 
 
Some Remarkable Passages 
 
 IN THE LIFE OF 
 
 Dr. GEORGE de BENNEVILLE 
 
 I, George de Benneville, was born in London, 
 England, on the twenty-sixth of July, 1703. My 
 father, George de Benneville, was a French refugee, 
 persecuted for his religion. He retired with his 
 family and connections into England upon the in- 
 vitation of his Majesty King William III., who took 
 a tender care of them, and employed them at his 
 Court. 
 
 My mother was of the Granville family ; she had 
 nine children in five years after marriage, having 
 twins four years successively, and I being the last, 
 she died as soon as I was born. She believed that 
 she would die at that time, and therefore was very 
 often drawn, whilst she was pregnant, to pray for 
 me, and it appears that the Lord had heard her 
 prayers and answered them. 
 
 7 
 
8 Some Remarkable Passages in the Life of 
 
 I was also very young when my father died, and 
 was brought up by one of my uncles. After the 
 death of my mother, Queen Anne* herself provided 
 me a nurse, and had the care of my early years. 
 
 When arrived at the age of twelve years I was 
 very wild, believing myself to belong to a different 
 class from mankind in general ; by this fond imagi- 
 nation I was self-exalted, and thought myself above 
 other men ; but God soon convinced me to the con- 
 trary. As it was designed that I should learn navi- 
 gation, I was sent to sea in a vessel of war attached 
 to a small fleet bound to the coast of Barbary with 
 presents, and to renew the peace with Algiers, Tunis, 
 and Tripolis. Being arrived at Algiers, as I walked 
 upon deck, I saw some Moors who brought refresh- 
 ments to sell ; one of them fell and injured one of 
 his legs ; two of his companions having laid him on 
 deck, kissed the wound and shed tears upon it ; then 
 turning towards the rising of the sun, they cried in 
 such a manner that I was moved with much anger, 
 
 * The Queen was his godmother, and as the narrative states, he 
 was educated under her care, and placed in the royal navy. A 
 piece of plate presented to him by the Queen, and decorated with 
 the royal arms, is still in the possession of one of his descendants. 
 
Dr. George de Benneville. 
 
 and ordered my servant to bring them before me. 
 Upon demanding the reason of their outcry, they, 
 perceiving that I was angry, implored my pardon, 
 and told me the cause was owing to one of their 
 brothers having hurt his leg by a fall, and that they 
 kissed the wound in order to sympathize with him, 
 and likewise shed tears upon it, and as tears were 
 saltish, they were a good remedy for the hurt ; and 
 the reason for their turning towards the rising sun 
 was to invoke him who created the sun to have 
 compassion upon their poor brother and be pleased 
 to heal him. Upon that I was so convinced and 
 moved within that I thought my heart would break, 
 and that my life was about to leave me ; my eyes 
 were filled with tears, and I felt such an internal 
 condemnation that I was forced to cry out and 
 say, " Are these men Heathens ? No ; I confess 
 before God they are Christians, and I myself am 
 a Heathen!" Behold the first conviction that the 
 grace of our Sovereign Good employed : he was 
 pleased to convince a white person by blacks, one 
 who carried the name of a Christian, by a Pagan, 
 and who was obliged to confess himself a Heathen. 
 Still that was soon overcome and forgotten. But 
 
io Some Remarkable Passages i7i the Life of 
 
 God, who always seeks to convince and save his 
 poor creatures, did not forsake his poor wandering 
 sheep, for, some time after my return home, being 
 present by invitation at a ball, and having overheated 
 myself, I ordered my servant to prepare a change of 
 linen for me, and as I was putting it on I fell in a 
 faint, and had a vision of myself burning as a fire- 
 brand in Hell, and, returning to consciousness, I cried 
 out, " I am damned !" Prayers were desired in the 
 French churches for one who had lost his senses and 
 was melancholy. . . . The ministers often visited me, 
 and would fain have made me believe that I had not 
 committed any very great sins, and had only behaved 
 according to my rank and station. Then I was con- 
 strained to answer them, that if they had no other 
 things than those to tell me, they could serve no 
 other purpose than fig-leaves to cover my shame 
 and my damnable estate ; that it was in vain to offer 
 me that kind of comfort, for I felt myself con- 
 demned. Then they answered me in another man- 
 ner than before, saying that, since I would not 
 receive their remonstrances, it might be considered 
 as evidence that peradventure I was destined from 
 the beginning to condemnation. 
 
Dr. George de Benneville. 
 
 Then they gave me up and came no more to visit 
 me. I continued in a state of condemnation during 
 the space of fifteen months, believing that all the 
 world but myself might be saved, because my sins, 
 as I thought, were too many and too great to be 
 forgiven. At length, having passed through many 
 temptations, having laid myself down to repose one 
 day, it happened that I was awakened out of my 
 sleep by a voice within me, which pronounced the 
 sentence of my condemnation and left me with no 
 room for hope. I then discovered the root of all 
 my sins and iniquities to be within my heart : that 
 discovery brought me into an extreme agony, and 
 despair took possession of my soul, which was now 
 pressed on all sides with misery, caused especially 
 by great unbelief and hardness of heart. I could 
 discover no remedy for my troubles, which had now 
 become almost insupportable, but thought that my 
 sentence of damnation was going to be executed : the 
 sorrow of my soul was even unto death ; I desired 
 to die, but death fled from me : I could find no 
 remedy but to submit to the justice of my Judge, 
 because I knew that his judgments were just, and I 
 had merited even more than I suffered. 
 
12 Some Remarkable Passages in the Life of 
 
 Thus abandoning myself to the mercy of my 
 Judge, and waiting for its accomplishment, I dis- 
 covered between Justice and myself — the criminal — 
 One of a most majestic appearance, whose beauty, 
 brightness, and grandeur can never be described : 
 he looked upon me with grace and mercy, and with 
 a penetrating look of love, the fire of which so 
 embraced my soul that I loved him in return. He 
 persuaded me in my heart that he was my Saviour, 
 Mediator, and Reconciliator, and while I thought 
 thereon, he began to intercede for me in the follow- 
 ing manner, saying, " My Father, behold me with 
 thy paternal regard : I have made expiation for this 
 sinner, who hath received in himself the sentence of 
 condemnation. I have taken human nature for him. 
 I have suffered all kinds of ignominy for him. I 
 have suffered the shameful death of the cross for 
 him. I have shed my blood even to the last drop 
 for him. I have descended into the abyss of Hell 
 for him, that I might deliver him. I have been put 
 to death for his offences, and raised again for his 
 justification, and where his sins abound, our grace 
 abounds much more. O my Heavenly Father, 
 pardon this poor sinner, and cause thy mercy to 
 
Dr. George de Benneville. 13 
 
 descend upon him." The Judge or Justice had 
 nothing more to say. The sentence disappeared. 
 Then I heard his eternal, universal voice, which 
 penetrated me with divine power, saying, " Take 
 courage, my son, thy sins are forgiven thee." Im- 
 mediately all the burthen of my sins and iniquities 
 was removed, all the stings and reproaches ceased, 
 a living faith came in their stead, and the tears of 
 sorrow were all wiped from my eyes ; I cast myself 
 at the feet of my Mediator, Reconciler, Intercessor, 
 and Saviour, and embraced him with an enlivening 
 faith, melting into tears of love, humility, and 
 nothingness. 
 
 O my Lord, and my God, thou hast saved me 
 through pure grace; what shall I render to thee 
 for all thy benefits ? O my Divine Love, whom I 
 honor and adore, give me a pure and holy heart, 
 filled with thy virtues and thy love, even such as 
 thou wouldst that I should have; and renew a 
 right spirit within my breast. Now I know that 
 thy marvellous mercy had provided me a Saviour 
 before I was conscious of my danger; a Physician 
 who had the care of my disease before I knew of 
 its existence ; a Redeemer who undertook to dis- 
 
14 Some Remarkable Passages in the Life of 
 
 charge the debt that I was neither willing nor able 
 to pay. O my Benefactor, guide me by the efficacy 
 of thy spirit to walk in the way of thy truth and 
 universal love. Teach me thy eternal word ; speak, 
 my Lord, and my God, for thy servant heareth. 
 Give me thy grace, O my Divine Love, that I may 
 have the eyes of my faith fixed constantly upon 
 thee, that I may follow thee withersoever thou 
 leadest me, that thy holy will may be accomplished 
 in time and eternity, to the praise of thy glory, and 
 my complete salvation. 
 
 O my dear soul ! sink thyself into nothingness 
 and the deepest humiliation, and adore in spirit and 
 in truth the ocean of love, and the great wonders of 
 the wisdom and power of thy God, who hath em- 
 ployed all these boundless, incomprehensible miracles 
 to restore and to save thee, and not thee only, but 
 all the human species, through Jesus Christ our 
 Lord. Oh, the depth of the riches, both of the 
 wisdom and power of God, how unsearchable are 
 his judgments, and his ways past finding out; for 
 of him, and through him, and for him, are all things. 
 To him be glory eternal. 
 
 In my case his goodness shines. He loved me 
 
Dr. George de Benne ville. 15 
 
 before I was born. Oh, what grace ! He loved me 
 in my fallen estate when I was wholly lost. Oh, 
 what mercy ! He even loved me when I was alto 
 gether unworthy, and freely too. Oh, what love ! 
 
 He hath given me his well-beloved Son, and in 
 giving his beloved Son, he hath given me his pater- 
 nal heart ; and at the time he took human nature, 
 he became my parent, that by his parentage he 
 might have a right to love and care for me. I saw 
 him, the Just, suffer for my offences and wickedness, 
 which he had taken to bear as his own, brought 
 before the most righteous judgment seat, where he 
 alone paid the last farthing of the dreadful debt of 
 all the world. I beheld him on the Cross deface and 
 destroy the obligation that was against me, and then 
 enter once for all into the holy place by his own 
 blood, having obtained eternal redemption for me. 
 Approach, then, O my soul ! to the throne of grace, 
 and adore this unspeakable love which hath loved 
 thee from the first. Love him eternally, with all thy 
 heart, with all thy soul, and with all thy might, who 
 hath made thee to know by experience the great 
 mysteries of his holy love for all his creatures. 
 Hallelujah ! Amen. 
 
1 6 Some Remarkable Passages in the Life of 
 
 Oh, what an alteration, from being a child of dark- 
 ness to a child of light ! Now I know in whom I 
 have believed, and desire to consecrate myself to 
 my Lord, my Sovereign Good, the remainder of my 
 days. 
 
 My conversion made a great stir among the peo- 
 ple, for they saw me adoring my divine Saviour on 
 all occasions, and before all company without excep- 
 tion ; calling upon and exhorting each one to submit 
 to the love of God, just as they found themselves, 
 and although their sins were many and great, his 
 grace was greater to receive and pardon, but that we 
 must come as we are, for he is the beginning and 
 the end of the conversion of all the human species, 
 and whosoever is not converted by him and to him 
 is not converted at all. 
 
 The French ministers were very uneasy at what 
 they heard concerning me, doubting that I was a 
 true Protestant, and therefore demanded a written 
 confession of my faith; I told them paper would 
 suffer anything to be written upon it, truth or false- 
 hood, but that I was not ashamed to confess with 
 my mouth what I believed in my heart, and if they 
 would let me know when they would meet together, 
 
Dr. George de Benneville. ij 
 
 I would be ready to appear before them, and give an 
 account of my faith, and the wonders which the 
 most Holy Trinity had wrought within me. 
 
 The time was fixed, and I appeared before them. 
 They asked me many questions, but we could not 
 agree, for they held predestination, and I held the 
 restoration of all souls ; because having myself been 
 the chief of sinners, and God through Jesus Christ, 
 by the efficacy of his Holy Spirit, had granted me 
 mercy and the pardon of all my sins, and plucked 
 me as a brand out of Hell, I could not have a doubt 
 but the whole world would be saved by the same 
 power. They answered me that I must not take 
 it ill that they could not own me as a member 
 of their church. I replied, that I was very well 
 satisfied to be cast out, and my consolation was, 
 they were unable to blot my name out of the Book 
 of Life. 
 
 Soon after, I became acquainted with some per- 
 sons who led a very retired life, having received a 
 deep knowledge of themselves through grace ; we 
 sometimes met together, but we were soon perse- 
 cuted with reproach. 
 
 After that, I received a voice of grace inwardly to 
 
 2* 
 
1 8 Some Remarkable Passages in the Life of 
 
 go and preach the Gospel in France; I resisted it 
 more than once or twice, fearing persecution, but I 
 was struck with a sickness and had pain like the 
 agony of death, was ready to die, and, believing it 
 was because I had not obeyed the voice that called 
 me to bear witness to the truth in France, I humbled 
 myself before my God through Jesus Christ, my 
 Lord, asking pardon for my offences, and promising 
 to submit myself and follow his divine command ; 
 upon which I was immediately healed, and grew 
 more robust than I had ever been before. Then I 
 heard his voice once more, calling me to preach the 
 Gospel in France, and I was obliged in my soul to 
 obey the voice, though with fear and trembling. 
 
 I therefore took passage at Dover for Calais, and 
 immediately upon my arrival I began to preach and 
 proclaim the good news in the market-place, even 
 the eternal salvation by Jesus Christ within us, that 
 we all might be saved by pure grace, for whosoever 
 knowing himself, feeling the burthen of his iniqui- 
 ties, having recourse to Jesus Christ, and resigning 
 himself without reserve, with all his sins, even had 
 he found himself in his damnable estate, should be 
 delivered and receive full pardon for all his sins. 
 
Dr. George de Benneville. 19 
 
 As soon as I had finished, I was taken before a 
 magistrate, and made to understand that my conduct 
 was contrary to the statute of the King. I was then 
 conducted to prison, where I was no sooner arrived 
 than all fear of persecution vanished ; my soul was 
 strengthened in the Lord Jesus ; I felt the love of 
 my divine Saviour very near, accompanied with his 
 divine light. After some days had passed, I was 
 brought before the justice, and examined as to who 
 I was, and by what authority I preached ; I told him 
 who I was, and that I was drawn by the special 
 grace of God in Jesus Christ, by the power of his 
 Holy Spirit, to teach the different nations, and that 
 for refusing to follow the voice of my God I was 
 taken very sick. While they were examining me 
 there came in an old man with a white beard ; I 
 noticed that all the justices saluted him ; he said to 
 them, " Have nothing to do with this person, for I 
 have suffered much the past night on his account," 
 and immediately withdrew. 
 
 I was then sentenced to eight days' imprisonment, 
 — as it was the first offence, — and to be conducted by 
 the servant of the magistrate beyond the bounds of 
 the city, letting me know that if I was found em- 
 
20 Some Remarkable Passages in the Life of 
 
 ployed in the same manner a second time, my life 
 would be in peril. 
 
 I was seventeen years of age when I began to 
 preach in France, and was thus employed in that 
 kingdom for two years, preaching the Gospel in high 
 and low Normandy, the country of my father, for 
 he was born in the city of Rouen.* 
 
 There were many ministers of us together ; M. 
 Durant, de la Chevrette, Dumoulin, L'Achar, etc. 
 We met together in mountains and woods, to the 
 number of four hundred, where God very often 
 wrought great wonders by the power of the Gospel, 
 among men and women, and even boys and girls 
 of the age of twelve or fifteen years, unable to read 
 or write. They were convinced by the power of 
 grace, and began to proclaim the Gospel with a 
 most marvellous strength of spirit, without fear, 
 being embraced by divine love. 
 
 We were many times taken prisoners, and some- 
 times betrayed by our own brothers, who would 
 inform the soldiers in the marshalsey where we were 
 met together. 
 
 * The family still retains its prominence in France. 
 
Dr. George de Bcnneville. 21 
 
 Many were hanged, others whipped by the hands 
 of the hangman and branded with a hot iron, all of 
 their property confiscated, and they sent on board 
 of the galleys ; yet this did not terrify or weaken us, 
 but, on the contrary, the grace of our Divine Love 
 strengthened us to a marvellous degree. 
 
 We were finally surrounded by a party of soldiers 
 one day when we were assembled by the side of 
 Dieppe, and many were taken prisoners, among 
 whom was myself and M. Durant, a young man 
 about twenty-four years of age, from Genoa. 
 
 After a month of imprisonment we were con- 
 demned to die, M. Durant to be hanged, and I to 
 be beheaded. We were conducted together to the 
 place of execution; M. Durant sung the u 6th 
 Psalm when on the ladder, and died joyfully. 
 
 I was then conducted to the scaffold, my eyes 
 were ordered to be bound, but at my earnest request 
 that was omitted ; I then fell upon my knees, and, 
 praying the Lord that he would not require my 
 blood at their hands, as they knew not what they 
 did, my soul was filled with exceeding joy. The 
 executioner bound my hands, and while he was em- 
 ployed in so doing, a courier arrived from Louis 
 
22 Some Remarkable Passages in the Life of 
 
 XV., the King, with a reprieve for me. Immediately 
 the joy of my heart was gone and darkness entered 
 into my soul. I was then reconducted to prison at 
 Paris, where I was confined some time, and finally 
 liberated through the intercession of the Queen. 
 
 Many things happened to me during my exile in 
 France, and the term of my confinement. One may 
 easily discover here that the grace of God never 
 leaves those who put their trust in him and are 
 faithful until death. 
 
 After my release I retired into Germany, where I 
 began to learn the language with great difficulty. I 
 discovered many souls who were convinced by grace, 
 and who led a very retired life among the French 
 refugees at Berlin, Magdeburg, Brandenburg, Bruns- 
 wick in the Palatinate, Hamburg, Altona, Stade, 
 Gluckstadt, Bremen, the country of Hanover in 
 Flanders, Brabant, the low-land of Holland, the 
 country of the Waldenses, and many other places. 
 
 I found work all around, souls who desired salva- 
 tion. I had also a large acquaintance among the 
 nobility in Germany and Holland, and we had a 
 large communion of brethren and sisters in Jesus 
 Christ our Lord. 
 
Dr. George de Benneville. 23 
 
 I was actively employed in travelling from place 
 to place, in visiting the brethren, and preaching in 
 the German, French, and Dutch languages. There 
 were many different assemblies of the brethren ; in 
 some places we had liberty, and where that could 
 not be had publicly, we met secretly in particular 
 families ; nevertheless grace wrought wonders in con- 
 vincing souls and leading them to a real deep knowl- 
 edge of themselves, and of the damnable estate into 
 which all men are plunged by nature, for none can 
 obtain salvation without first being condemned in 
 themselves. 
 
 I was much concerned about the salvation of souls, 
 
 and their estate deeply affected me. I also had an 
 
 acquaintance with a company of gentry, who dwelt 
 
 together near Siegen : some of them were married, 
 
 but only lived with each other as brethren and 
 
 sisters : the Baron of Peuchink, the Lords of 
 
 f 
 Fleishbein, and the Count of Marsey — who was 
 
 employed in writing books which were printed in 
 
 both French and German. 
 
 They led very retired lives, filled with friendship 
 
 and love for all the world, and were very charitable 
 
 alike to all. Our acquaintance with each other was 
 
24 Some Remarkable Passages in the Life of 
 
 brought about in a wonderful manner. One day 
 brother Marsey had a vision concerning me. I had 
 arrived in the Palatinate, about twenty leagues dis- 
 tant from him, and was drawn by grace to prostrate 
 myself in spirit before the presence of the most Holy 
 Trinity, when in a vision I beheld a marvellous 
 throne with seven foot-stools ; upon each foot-stool 
 were two candlesticks of gold, and upon the throne 
 I saw a great table with seven other candlesticks, 
 also of gold, placed in a circle upon it ; then I saw 
 many angelic beings, with robes whiter than snow, 
 who stood near the candlesticks of gold, on either 
 side of the foot-stools and around the table. Im- 
 mediately the candles were lighted, and they began 
 to sing praise, honor, and glory to the Most High, 
 so that my soul was lost in admiration ; then the 
 entire company on bended knees adored the Holy 
 Trinity. The vision vanished in an instant and I 
 came to myself. 
 
 A short time after this I received a letter from 
 brother Marsey written after the following manner : 
 
 " My well-beloved and dear brother in Jesus Christ our Lord : 
 
 "The most Holy Trinity discovers many wonders to his 
 children, who are rooted upon the rock of deliverance, and 
 
Dr. George de Benneville. 25 
 
 have their eyes of faith fixed upon their Sovereign Good, who 
 honors them with his universal presence, and embraces them 
 with the fire of heavenly love ; as I have been favored with 
 the consolation of seeing you in his holy presence, I hope you 
 will not deny that communion in the body which we have had 
 together in spirit, to the praise and glory of our God, through 
 Jesus Christ, our Lord, by the efficacy of his Holy Spirit. 
 " Thus wishes and dwells forever 
 
 " Marsey, Your Brother. 
 " United by the grace of God, Amen." 
 
 After I had passed about eighteen years in Ger- 
 many and Holland, I became sickly, and had a con- 
 sumptive disorder, occasioned by my deep concern 
 for the salvation of souls. I was much disquieted, 
 because the greater portion of them walked in the 
 ways of perverseness and neglected their conversion. 
 This caused me great trouble, and I took it so to 
 heart that I believed my happiness would be incom- 
 plete while one creature remained miserable. At 
 times, by grace within me, I felt a little comforted, 
 but that state of mind did not endure long. 
 
 At that time I dwelt with the brethren in the 
 country, near the city of Mons and Haguenau, near 
 the borders of France, in the Emperor's dominions. 
 
 My fever increased, and reduced me almost to a 
 3 
 
20 Some Remarkable Passages in the Life of 
 
 skeleton, so that they were obliged to feed me as an 
 infant. While I lay in this weak state, I was favored 
 through grace with many visions. In one of them 
 it appeared to me that I was conducted into a fine 
 plain, filled with all kinds of trees, agreeable both to 
 the sight and smell, and loaded with the most de- 
 licious fruits, which came to my mouth and satisfied 
 me as with a river of pleasure; at the same time I 
 beheld the inhabitants, who were beautiful beyond 
 expression, clothed in garments white as snow. 
 They were filled with humility and divine love ; they 
 saluted me with profound reverence, saying, with 
 a voice of love which penetrated me, " Dear soul, 
 take courage, be comforted, and in a little time 
 you shall behold the wonders of God, in the res- 
 toration, without exception, of all the human 
 species." 
 
 The weakness .of my body so increased that I 
 believed I was dying. I exhorted my dear brethren 
 to be steadfast, immovable, turning inward with a 
 lively faith, to behold the Lamb of God with be- 
 lieving eyes, and to listen to his eternal word within 
 them, and then they should receive the fulness of 
 Christ, grace upon grace, by which they would be 
 
Dr. George de Beiineville. 27 
 
 strengthened to abide steadfast unto the end ; faithful 
 unto death. 
 
 As I had communion with many assemblies of the 
 brethren, but particularly that with which my dear 
 brother Marsey was connected ; they had a vision of 
 my death, and sent brother Marsey to visit me. 
 When he arrived he found me in the agonies of 
 death. He embraced me with a kiss of love and 
 peace, saluting me in the name of the brethren, who 
 commended themselves to me, and desired to be 
 remembered before the throne of God and the Lamb. 
 
 He then took leave of me, and I felt myself die by 
 degrees. Exactly at midnight my soul was separated 
 from my body, and I saw the people occupied in 
 washing it, according to the custom of the country. 
 I had a strong desire to be freed from the sight of 
 my bod}-, and immediately I was drawn upward as 
 in a cloud, and beheld great wonders beyond my 
 power to describe. 
 
 I quickly arrived at a place which to my eyes 
 appeared like a level plain, so extensive that my 
 sight was unable to reach its limits, filled with many 
 kinds of delisrhtful fruit-trees, agreeable to behold, 
 sending forth such fragrant odors that the air was 
 
28 Some Remarkable Passages in the Life of 
 
 filled with incense. In this place I found that I had 
 two guardians, one at my right hand, and the other 
 at my left, beautiful beyond expression, whose bound- 
 less love and tenderness profoundly affected me. . . . 
 They had wings, and resembled angels, having shining 
 bodies and white garments. He at my right hand 
 came before me and said, " My dear soul and 
 my dear brother, take courage : the most Holy 
 Trinity hath favored you to be comforted with an 
 everlasting and universal consolation, by discovering 
 to you in what manner he will restore all his creat- 
 ures, without exception, to the praise of his glory 
 and their eternal salvation; and you shall be wit- 
 ness of this, and shall rejoice in singing trium- 
 phantly with all the children of God. Therefore, 
 as a reward for the love you have borne for your 
 neighbors, on whose account you have been deeply 
 grieved, and shed many tears, which shall now be 
 wiped away from your eyes, God himself will 
 change your sorrows into great joy and gladness." 
 Then he returned to his place at my right hand. 
 After that, the second guardian, who was at my 
 left hand, appeared before me and spoke thus : 
 " My dear soul, my dear brother, be of good cheer. 
 
Dr. George de Bennevillc. 29 
 
 for after all your sorrow thou shalt be strengthened 
 and comforted with an universal and eternal con- 
 solation. . . . You must be prepared to pass through 
 the seven habitations of the damned; be of good 
 courage, for you will feel something of their suffer- 
 ings ; let your mind be turned inward deeply during 
 the time, and you shall thereby be preserved." He 
 then took his place at my left hand. Immediately 
 we were lifted up in the air, and after a time arrived 
 in a dark, obscure place, where nothing but weeping, 
 lamentation, and gnashing of teeth could be heard, — 
 a dreadful place, being a repository of all souls under 
 condemnation with the torments, griefs, pains, and 
 sufferings which their sins had merited, for the works 
 of each followed him in death. 
 
 All iniquities and sins were reduced to seven 
 classes or habitations, in which great confusion 
 reigned; that which one created another destroyed. 
 The duellist, in the fire of his anger, burns against 
 his enemy, and they pass as a flame and firebrand 
 of Hell, one through the other. 
 
 There were fornicators, adulterers, ravishers, the 
 covetous, thieves, drunkards, and slanderers, each 
 laboring and employed with his own sins and ini- 
 
30 Some Remarkable Passages in the Life of 
 
 quities. There were also all kinds and conditions 
 of men there, — divines, deputies, controverters, ad- 
 vocates, judges, and lawyers. In a word, one might 
 quickly discover what each of them had done upon 
 earth. 
 
 In each habitation, I observed that those who 
 were abased, and appeared sorrowful for their sins, 
 were separated from the others who were not so. 
 
 I was then conducted into each of the seven habi- 
 tations of the damned > where I saw one whom I had 
 known upon earth. They were able to see the elect 
 from this habitation, but were unable to pass over 
 to them, because there was a great gulf between 
 them, so that all were obliged to dwell in their 
 own habitations. It is impossible to describe my 
 own condition, as I had great compassion to- 
 wards these sufferers, inasmuch as I suffered with 
 them. 
 
 We were then lifted up some distance above and 
 out of this place, and were in repose, when a mes- 
 senger came who gave us water, and refreshed us as 
 with a river of pleasure, saying, "Eat, my beloved, 
 and drink, my friends, to refresh yourselves after all 
 your toils and pains. My dear soul, and my dear 
 
Dr. George de Benneville. 31 
 
 brother (addressing himself to me), the most Holy 
 Trinity always works wonders in all times within 
 his poor creatures, and he will order, for a time and 
 a half time, that you shall return to your earthly 
 tabernacle, to proclaim and publish to the people of 
 the world an universal Gospel, that shall restore, in 
 time, all the human species, without exception, to 
 the honor and glory of the most Holy Trinity. Hal- 
 lelujah !" Beholding the messenger attentively, I dis- 
 covered that he had a most glorious body, clad in 
 robes whiter than snow ; he was filled with the most 
 exalted love and friendship, united with the deepest 
 humility, which again penetrated my whole being. 
 Suddenly I heard a great multitude of the heavenly 
 host, and the messenger said, with a sweet voice, — as 
 he flew away to join them, — "Holy, holy, holy is the 
 Lord God Almighty ! who was, and is, and who is to 
 come." 
 
 The multitude was innumerable ; One there was 
 who surpassed in beauty, grandeur, magnificence, 
 majesty, and excellence all others ; he was the Son 
 of the living God, having the brightness of his 
 glory and the express image of his person, uphold- 
 ing all things by the word of his power, who, having 
 
32 Some Remarkable Passages in the Life of 
 
 by himself purged our sins, sitteth at the right hand 
 of the Majesty on high. 
 
 As the multitude approached, the glory caused us 
 to fall down and adore in spirit and in truth the Son 
 of the living God, who walked in their midst. 
 
 After they had passed us we were lifted up and 
 made to follow them, for the air, in a different man- 
 ner than before, carried us the way they went. Oh, 
 the wonders of our God ! Arrived at the place of 
 the seven habitations of the damned, we could per- 
 ceive no more darkness, obscurity, pains, torments, af- 
 flictions, lamentations, or gnashing of teeth ; all were 
 quiet, and an agreeable serenity pervaded the whole. 
 Then all the heavenly host shouted as with one voice 
 and said, " An eternal and everlasting deliverance, 
 an eternal and everlasting restoration, universal and 
 everlasting restitution of all things !" Then all the 
 multitude adored the most Holy Trinity, and sang, 
 in the most harmonious manner, the song of the 
 Lamb, even the song of triumph for the victory 
 gained by him, and at the end all the multitude, 
 being upon their knees, cried with a loud voice, 
 " Great and marvellous are thy works, O Lord, God 
 Almighty, just and true are thy ways, O King of 
 
Dr. George de Benneviile. 33 
 
 Saints !" Then they passed through the seven habi- 
 tations of the damned, and numbers were delivered 
 from each, and being clothed in white robes, they 
 followed the heavenly host, praising and gloryifying 
 the Most High for their deliverance ; one might dis- 
 tinguish them from among the others ; they all re- 
 tired by a different way from that in which they 
 came. 
 
 The messenger then appeared and led us into a 
 most wonderful place, and commanded my two 
 guardians to conduct me into five celestial mansions, 
 where the Lord's elect abide ; then reconduct me 
 to dwell yet a time and a half time in my earthly 
 habitation, and to preach to the lower world the uni- 
 versal and everlasting Gospel, — that the most Holy 
 Trinity hath a boundless, universal love towards all 
 the human race, without exception, and for each one 
 in particular ; then turning towards me, he said, " My 
 dear soul, my dear brother, thou shalt be favored of 
 the most Holy Trinity to be conducted by thy 
 guardians, who shall never leave thee ; when thou 
 shalt need their counsel, thou hast only to call them, 
 and they shall be present, day and night, at thy ser- 
 vice. They shall now conduct thee into five of the 
 
34 Some Remarkable Passages in the Life of 
 
 heavenly mansions, where thou shalt partake in a 
 certain degree of the celestial glory as much as thy 
 spirit shall be able to receive, not being yet suf- 
 ficiently punned and sanctified ; then thou shalt be 
 reconducted into thine earthly tabernacle for a time 
 and a half time, and shall preach to the lower world 
 the universal Gospel, — that the most Holy Trinity 
 hath a boundless, universal love towards all the 
 human race, and for each one in particular. The 
 Fountain of Grace bless and preserve thee, and cause 
 his face to shine upon thee and enlighten thine un- 
 derstanding, both in time and eternity. Amen." 
 Our knees bending of their own accord, he laid his 
 hand upon my head and blessed me, and immediately 
 and swiftly fled away. 
 
 After that, my guardians conducted me into five 
 celestial habitations, where I discovered many won- 
 ders. Some had greater brightness, glory, and 
 majesty than others, and as the places were, so were 
 the inhabitants ; some were clothed in garments 
 whiter than snow; others had transparent bodies, 
 and others again had white bodies resembling crys- 
 tal. It is impossible to describe these things. They 
 were moved by boundless, burning love, rising, and 
 
Dr. George de Benneville. 35 
 
 then plunging themselves into the deepest humility ; 
 all their motions were filled with love and friend- 
 ship. . . . Their actions and manners were animated 
 with brightness, being filled with light as with the 
 sun's rays ; it was the fire of divine love, which by 
 inflaming their hearts animated them with the same 
 spirit. 
 
 They have no need of any speech there. The 
 language of eternal and universal love is expressed 
 in all their actions ; their motions speak more than 
 all words. 
 
 • I was then conducted into five habitations of the 
 elect. At the first, a great multitude came before 
 us, with songs to the honor and glory of the Most 
 High, and of victory gained over the damned. 
 They received us with triumph, friendship, and 
 love, saluting us with profound humility, conduct- 
 ing us into a large room, in which there was a 
 great table covered with all kinds of fruit, not 
 only pleasant to behold, but exceedingly delicious 
 to the taste. 
 
 In the mean time, while we were taking our repast, 
 the celestial multitude sang psalms of praise and 
 thanksgiving to the most Holy Trinity. After that, 
 
36 Some Remarkable Passages in the Life of 
 
 we were conducted into all the five celestial habita- 
 tions (that I was to see), where I beheld many other 
 wonders, impossible to describe. First, many ele- 
 vated thrones of surpassing beauty and magnifi- 
 cence ; upon one of the thrones I saw the Royal 
 High Priest, surrounded with exceeding great bright- 
 ness, and clothed with most excellent majesty, who 
 was employed in kind intercession before his Father, 
 for all the human race, pleading that his blood- 
 shedding was sufficient to sanctify and deliver a thou- 
 sand such worlds as ours. All the elect, with the 
 heavenly spirits, united their intercession with that 
 of their Royal High Priest, the only Chief King, and 
 were reconcilers, saviours, and restorers in the same 
 spirit. 
 
 This mutual intercession appeared like incense 
 ascending on high into the sanctuary of the Lord. 
 Over against the throne I saw Adam, with Eve, 
 rejoicing in the only Mediator between God and 
 man, and adoring the most Holy Trinity for the 
 deliverance of their children out of the great mis- 
 eries and eternal condemnation into which their 
 sin and fall had cast them, adoring him upon their 
 bended knees for his intercessions in behalf of man- 
 
Dr. George de Benneville. 37 
 
 kind. I also beheld a multitude of spirits all aglow 
 with the fire of divine love, while we adored, hum- 
 bled in nothingness, the Most High, for his interces- 
 sion and deliverance of all mankind. Then my 
 guardian who was at my right hand, coming before 
 me, addressed me after this manner: "Dear soul, 
 my dear brother, do you see this multitude of spirits, 
 who are ravished in the spirit of love and gratitude, 
 humbled and self-annihilated, as it were, in their 
 adoration of the Saviour before the throne of grace 
 for the intercessions he hath made for them ? These 
 were lately released from the infernal prisons ; they 
 had dwelt a long time in the place of the damned, 
 under the power of the second death, and passed 
 through many agonies, pains, and tribulations ; for 
 them the tincture of the blood of Jesus Christ was 
 shed even to the last drop." . . . Then Adam and 
 Eve approached, and Adam spoke to me after this 
 manner : " My dear brother, rejoice with universal 
 and eternal joy, since you are favored with the 
 heavenly visions ; in this manner our adorable Royal 
 High Priest, Mediator, and Intercessor, shall restore 
 all my descendants to the glory of our God, and 
 their eternal and universal salvation, for the kingdom 
 
 4 
 
38 Some Remarkable Passages in the Life of 
 
 of eternal love hath sufficient power to deliver all 
 mankind from their bondage, and they shall say, O 
 death, where is thy sting? But, my dear brother, 
 this love of our God in Jesus Christ, by the power 
 of his Holy Spirit, shall not only gain the victory 
 over all the human race, but also surmount and over- 
 throw the kingdom of Satan entirely, with all the 
 principalities of the fallen angels, and restore them 
 to their first glory, which they had in the beginning. 
 I will make all things new, saith the Lord of Hosts, 
 and the end shall return unto its beginning." O my 
 Lord, and my God, what great wonders hast thou 
 caused to pass before mine eyes ! Who am I, O my 
 God ? dust and ashes ; an ungrateful and rebellious 
 creature. I would not dare to lift mine eyes towards 
 the heavens if the blood of Jesus Christ, thy Son, 
 did not plead for me. My soul rejoices and is glad, 
 and shouts with joy: O my God, whom I reverence, 
 love, and adore ; before whom I desire to be always, 
 and at thy feet, self-annihilated ! O my Lord, and 
 my God, the seraphim and cherubim, burning with 
 the fire of thy heavenly love, adore and honor 
 thee ! Give me thy grace also, O my God, that I 
 may be consumed before thee, while I sing praises 
 
Dr. George de Benneville. 39 
 
 to thy majesty and glory for my creation and re- 
 demption. I would praise him incessantly, not 
 in shadow or figure, but in reality and truth. I 
 would continue faithful to thee, and be swallowed 
 up in the ocean of thy love, without a desire to 
 leave it. 
 
 Being in this manner conducted through five ce- 
 lestial habitations, I discovered many mysteries, saw 
 many miracles, and beheld the wonders of the most 
 Holy Trinity among the children, the elect, and the 
 heavenly inhabitants, and perceived how some sur- 
 passed others in brightness, light, splendor, and 
 majesty ; in friendship, love, humiliation, and self- 
 abasement, concerning which things my tongue is 
 too feeble to speak, and my pen to write. I adore 
 the marvellous ways of my God, with all the happy 
 spirits. 
 
 I saw many thrones, palaces, temples, edifices, 
 and buildings, and fruit-trees, with rivers of pleasure 
 flowing along through the celestial land, which ap- 
 peared like a garden of Heaven, even the Paradise 
 of God. It is the Court of the King of Kings, and 
 Lord of Lords. ... It is the Celestial World, where 
 the New Jerusalem, or Mount Zion, is placed, where 
 
40 Some Remarkable Passages in the Life of 
 
 the bosom of Abraham is ; where the sufferers who 
 came out of their tribulations are refreshed and, for- 
 getting all their past miseries, made to rejoice in 
 Zion ; O magnificent city ! O thou city of the 
 Great God ! . . . Where shall a mortal find suitable 
 phrases to lisp out a little of thy glory and splendor, 
 the glory and magnificence of the most Holy Trinity, 
 where thou art pleased to manifest thyself in thy 
 pomp and beauty ? There the blessed angels find 
 their employment in serving God ; they compose the 
 Court of the Great King ; O my God, I am not able 
 to express that which penetrates me ; my tongue is 
 too feeble to describe the grandeur, magnificence, 
 splendor, and pomp of thy dwellings, or the majesty 
 of their inhabitants. Hallelujah and victory forever. 
 Amen. 
 
 Then my guardians took me up, and reconducted 
 me to the house from whence I came, where I be- 
 held the people assembled, and saw my body in the 
 coffin, with which I was reunited, and lodged with- 
 in my earthly tabernacle. Upon gaining conscious- 
 ness I recognized my dear brother Marsey, and many 
 others, who told me that I was twenty-five hours 
 in the coffin, and seventeen hours out of it, which 
 
Dr. George de Benneville. 41 
 
 altogether made forty-two hours ; but to me they 
 seemed as many years.* 
 
 Then I began to preach the universal Gospel, and 
 was again put in prison, but soon set at liberty. My 
 Lord and my God having called me to preach the 
 Gospel in America,! I visited and took leave of all 
 
 * Extraordinary as was this event in Dr. de Benneville's life, 
 some parallel experiences, particularly in the lives of pious and de- 
 vout persons, can be found in biographical history. Those who 
 care to pursue the subject further are referred to the case of Rev. 
 William Tennent [1705-177 7], a Presbyterian clergyman of Free- 
 hold, New Jersey, who was three days in a trance. His narrative 
 of what he saw in the celestial world was published by Elias Boudi- 
 not, a Philadelphia philanthropist and author. 
 
 f Who was the founder of Universalism in America? is a ques- 
 tion upon which some diversity of opinion still prevails. As far as 
 our research extends, we find the popular belief, that John Murray 
 [174*1-1815] was the first preacher and defender of "Restoration- 
 ism," to be erroneous. There is incontrovertible evidence that Dr. 
 de Benneville antedated Murray as a preacher of Universal Resto- 
 ration many years, both in Europe and America. As early as 1745, 
 while a practicing physician in Oley, near Reading, Berks County, 
 Pennsylvania, he was a zealous and fearless advocate of its tenets, 
 and preached in his own house, — in a room devoutly set apart for 
 the purpose, — " without money and without price," twenty-five years 
 prior to John Murray's emigration to America and when that cele- 
 brated expounder of Universalism was bztt fotir years of age. 
 
 4* 
 
42 Passages in the Life of Dr. de Benneville. 
 
 my brethren, and took my departure for America in 
 the thirty-eighth year of my age, and it is forty-one 
 years since my arrival here. The twenty-sixth of 
 July next, 1782, I shall be seventy-nine years of age. 
 Blessed be the name of the Lord forever ! 
 
 It should be understood by the non-Universalist reader, that the 
 modern definition and acceptation of Universalism differs materially 
 from the earlier doctrines of that denomination of Christians, as 
 promulgated by de Benneville, Murray, and others, they, the Eigh- 
 teenth Century Fathers, teaching the ultimate salvation of all souls, — 
 i.e., after passing through a temporary form of punishment, designed 
 to purify and prepare them for a state of happiness, — while the 
 Moderns preach Universal Salvation, and no retributive punishment 
 whatever in the future life, believing that the wicked receive their 
 full measure of retribution on earth. 
 
 THE END. 
 
EXPLANATION. 
 
 The last clause in the note on page 42 refers more par- 
 ticularly to the followers of Hosea Ballon. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 Dr. de Benneville, as his narrative states, was 
 born in London, England, early in the last century. 
 He came of French Huguenot stock, and was the 
 son of George de Benneville and Marie Granville, 
 of Rouen, in Normandy, France. His father was a 
 French nobleman and Protestant refugee ; some men- 
 tion of his paternal grandfather, François de Benne- 
 ville, may be found in M. Charles Weiss's " History 
 of the Protestant Refugees," Vol. L, Book II. His 
 parents, to escape religious persecution, fled to Eng- 
 land in 1697, and were attached to the Court of 
 King William III. His only sister, Marie de Benne- 
 ville, became the wife of the Earl of Limerick. 
 
 In Dr. de Benneville's story of his life no refer- 
 ence is made to his scientific studies in Germany. 
 It was during his eighteen years of residence there 
 that the religious part of his character received, 
 apparently, its greatest development, culminating in 
 the most extraordinary experience of his life. Yet 
 
 45 
 
4.6 Appendix. 
 
 apart from his religious activities, he was zealously 
 devoted to scientific study, including the branch of 
 medicine. 
 
 Following divine direction, he emigrated to 
 America in 1741. The first person to greet him 
 upon his arrival in the country of his adoption 
 was Christopher Sauer, known in Germantown 
 annals as a printer and publisher, contemporane- 
 ously with Benjamin Franklin, and credited with 
 having first published in America a quarto Bible 
 in German. The marvellous manner in which their 
 meeting was brought about is thus referred to by 
 Rev. Abel C. Thomas, in his " Autobiography," p. 89 : 
 
 ■" Christopher Sauer was a well-known printer 
 in Germantown as far back as the early part of 
 the eighteenth century. In the year 1741 he in- 
 formed his wife one morning that he had received 
 commandment in a dream to hitch his horses to 
 his carriage, proceed to a certain wharf in Phila- 
 delphia, distant seven miles, inquire on board a 
 ship, just arrived, for a man who was ill, convey 
 him to Germantown, and take a special care of 
 him. 
 
 " Pursuing his instructions, Mr. Sauer found 
 
Appendix. 47 
 
 everything as described, and brought the sick man 
 to his own house. That man was Dr. George de 
 Benneville." 
 
 Not long after his convalescence, Dr. de Benne- 
 ville settled in Oley, Berks County, Pennsylvania, 
 established himself as a physician, and began to 
 preach the doctrines of Universal Restoration. Here 
 he intermarried with the Bertolette family* (also 
 French Huguenots and Protestant refugees), on the 
 twenty-fourth of February, 1745. About this time 
 he built a large and substantial dwelling, in which a 
 room was set apart for Christian worship ; here, until 
 his removal to Germantown, Pennsylvania, he lived 
 and preached, with unabated fervor, the hopeful tenets 
 of Universalism. The house is still standing, in a fair 
 state of preservation, and, being regarded by many 
 as the cradle of Universalism in America, it should 
 
 *He married Esther Bertolette, daughter to Jean and Susanna 
 Bertolette, who was born in Germany (where her parents had fled 
 from religious persecution), the twelfth of August, 1 720. Her mother 
 was grand-daughter of the noble family of de Harcourt in France. 
 The Bertolette family were originally from La Rochelle, France. 
 They came to America in 1724, and settled at New Rochelle, New 
 York, and subsequently moved to Oley, Pennsylvania, in 1726. 
 
48 Appendix. 
 
 have an historical and sacred interest for all devout 
 Universalists. 
 
 Dr. de Benneville preached the Gospel and prac- 
 ticed medicine, not only in Pennsylvania, in which 
 he travelled extensively among the Indian tribes, but 
 his active ministrations extended into Delaware, 
 Maryland, and Virginia. About 1757 he removed 
 to Germantown, and subsequently to Milestown,* 
 Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania. 
 
 That Dr. de Benneville was pre-eminently a pious 
 man, all who knew him intimately in life, and his 
 writings in English, French, and German, abun- 
 dantly attest. The following letter, translated from 
 the German by E. A. Atlee, is taken from his cor- 
 respondence ; it is addressed to one of the Christian 
 brethren in Ephrata, Pennsylvania, and written in the 
 devoutly religious vein characteristic of the writer : 
 
 " To the Beloved Brother, Ezekiel Sangsmeister, in Ephrata. 
 
 Immanuel. 
 
 "In the Grace of the Lord Jesus. Beloved Brother Ezekiel, 
 
 — I cannot forbear saluting thee with a few lines, in and from 
 
 true, impartial love ; well knowing that our acquaintance and 
 
 * Or Milestone. 
 
Appendix. 49 
 
 fellowship have not their origin in perishable things, such as 
 are of no account, even though in outward appearance most 
 specious, and apparently spiritual. These, at best, endure no 
 longer than to the close of this miserable life. If it is to con- 
 tinue beyond this, and reach into eternity, its foundation in us 
 must be from an eternal origin, either blessed or miserable. 
 For every tree is known by its fruits, whether it be corporeal, 
 natural, hypocritical, anti-Christian, or godly, spiritual, true, 
 and substantial. Thus is the source manifest even in this life. 
 Oh, that this last may, in us and in all mankind, bear rule 
 and have dominion ! Then shall Heaven again exist on 
 earth : then shall there be, between Time and Eternity, no 
 difference. This is my inmost desire. So that, not of myself, 
 but through the grace of God in Christ Jesus, was our fellow- 
 ship commenced. Where this is there is true communion, 
 blessed acquaintance, spiritual remembrance, prayer in spirit 
 and in truth, without image or form. There the everlasting, 
 unlimited love of God in Christ Jesus, in the power of the 
 Holy Spirit, is manifested in our midst, unto fellowship in him 
 and us. There do we reciprocally offer up, inwardly to the 
 Lord our God, what flows into us from him, or what the spirit 
 of his grace operates in our inward man. This is spiritual and 
 divine life ; for nothing can ascend unto him but what de- 
 scends from him. In this ground do I embrace thee, do I 
 kiss thee in spirit, and write unto thee and all thy household, 
 who submit unto the inward operation of this unmerited grace. 
 May it continue in time and in eternity. Amen. 
 
 " For this cause am I, now in my seventy-sixth year, con- 
 5 
 
50 Appendix. 
 
 trary to my own expectation and that of my friends, encom- 
 passed with many bodily infirmities, prepared and strengthened 
 once more to move my stammering tongue and utter my 
 unworthy voice ; if happily there may yet be found any 
 that have the true wisdom from above, who are no longer 
 turning outward, but inward ; no more to their own likeness 
 as creatures, but unto the living God, in the ground of their 
 own hearts, waiting in quiet introversion until God in Christ 
 through the Holy Spirit shall come, and work that which is 
 well pleasing to himself, unto his own glory, and our true 
 salvation. 
 
 " This was the attraction, the power, which inwardly affected 
 me, to desire reward for my preaching, in these last days of 
 great tribulation. And my reward is this : that each father 
 and mother of a family, with all the children and domestics, 
 may devote an hour of every day to the Lord our God, in as- 
 sembling in stillness, side by side, as in the presence of God, 
 and in humility waiting on the inward illumination of the 
 spirit of grace in their hearts. 
 
 "The Lord will grant this in the quiet gathering of your 
 hearts, and cause instruction to flow from one to another ; 
 only let his divine aid be sought in prayer, or the reading of a 
 chapter, or singing of a psalm or hymn ; so co-operating with 
 him as that the tongue may be a member of righteousness, 
 and out of the fulness of the heart, by the Holy Spirit, attune 
 itself to the love and praise of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. 
 And also that every house may be a meeting-house, and every 
 father and mother, by a godly life and conversation, may be 
 
Appendix. 5 
 
 an example to the children and domestics. This is the reward 
 to which I aspire. Yea. Amen. Hallelujah ! 
 
 " It would be very satisfactory to me could I, after some 
 time in stillness, be favored with a glimpse of the countenance 
 of my God, in order to the bringing all into unity. I must, 
 however, submit in patience to his divine will, and only send 
 up continued aspirations, that the Lord may bring me, worn 
 out as I am, into my allotted place. Amen. 
 
 "Present our united salutation of friendship to all your 
 brethren and kindred without exception. 
 
 "G. DE B. 
 
 " Think of me, as I do of thee, before the Lord. 
 
 Vale, mi Frater. 
 "Bristol, Pennsylvania, November i, 1779." 
 
 Few men possessed a livelier faith in the efficacy 
 of prayer, or offered up their supplications to the 
 Mercy Seat- with a more profound sense of their 
 own unworthiness and absolute dependence on Al- 
 mighty God, than the subject of these comments, 
 so that Dr. de Benneville was in the fullest sense a 
 prayerful man. 
 
 Saint Augustine says, " Should any ask me, What 
 is the first thing in religion ? I would reply, The 
 first, second, and third thing therein, nay, all, is 
 humility." If there was one Christian attribute that 
 
5 2 Appendix. 
 
 transcended all others in Dr. de Benneville's char- 
 acter, it was humility. One of his first acts after 
 his settlement in America was the voluntary de- 
 struction of all insignia of rank. During his long 
 and useful career in this country he was often hon- 
 ored with visits from men of rank and distinction 
 from abroad, and such was his aversion to all forms 
 of ostentation and display, his titled visitors were 
 received apart from his children, knowing that their 
 conversation and manner would betray his own rank 
 and station, and thereby foster vanity and pride in 
 them. When in the eighty-first year of his age, his 
 services and influence were solicited by Louis XVI., 
 through a royal commission, who visited and re- 
 quested him to return to France and "assist the 
 government in quieting the dissensions which at that 
 time menaced the kingdom, but his advanced years 
 and physical infirmities precluded such a possibility. 
 
 The following extract from his own MS. dated 
 Bristol Township, Philadelphia County, Pennsyl- 
 vania, the fifth of March, 1773, is interesting as a. 
 preface to some of his last wishes : 
 
 " In the name of our great High Priest, Jesus 
 Christ, who prepared man to be his outward court, 
 
Appendix. 5 3 
 
 our soul to be his holy place, and our ghost to be 
 the holy of holies, of him let us lay hold in faith, 
 and take out of the overflowing plenitude of his 
 God-head the daily blessing we want, in order to 
 pass with faith, earnestness, and love, through this 
 dangerous wilderness, until, through the vale of 
 humility and annihilation, we arrive with peace and 
 blessing at the Sabbath Rest, which is reserved for 
 the children of God. Amen. Hallelujah." 
 
 In this characteristic paper he admonishes his 
 children, in a profoundly reverential and solemn 
 manner, on the subject of their spiritual and tem- 
 poral welfare, and, referring to his dissolution as 
 likely to occur suddenly, gives most explicit direc- 
 tions as to the disposition Of his body after that 
 event ; desiring that all preliminary preparations 
 for the grave be of the severest simplicity, and that 
 the interment take place at sunset, " in the dusk of 
 the evening, in quietness and simplicity,", without 
 pomp, noise, or parade. 
 
 He commends his immortal soul, in the name of 
 Jesus Christ, to his Heavenly Father, and, referring 
 to his conversion, and the religious life that followed, 
 says, " To him my Lord is due all glory, praise, 
 
54 Appendix. 
 
 thanks, and adoration for it," and declares " that all 
 discourses which I delivered from time to time, either 
 abroad or in America, verbally or in writing, are 
 conformable to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and 
 founded on the Holy Scriptures, nor do I feel any 
 accusation or scruple about it," and ends his declara- 
 tion with, " I remain fixed in the faith that he will 
 make all new and good in time and in all eternity." 
 In his own remarkable narrative, Dr. de Benneville 
 has related how he came to preach the Gospel. 
 
 While he was noted both as preacher and physi- 
 cian, it is for the active and large part he had in 
 propagating in Europe and America the hopeful 
 doctrines of Universal Restoration — braving perse- 
 cution and preaching a reformed religion in an era 
 of superstition and bigotry — that his memory should 
 be revered by all liberal Christians, but especially 
 by that branch of the Christian Church that is the 
 exponent of a Universalist faith. 
 
 Dr. de Benneville departed this life, after a few 
 hours' illness, at Branchtown, — now Philadelphia, — 
 Pennsylvania, on the nineteenth of March, 1793, in the 
 ninetieth year of his age. From a conversation he 
 had with his daughter, who visited him a few hours 
 
Appendix. 5 5 
 
 previous to his last illness, he appears to have had a 
 premonition of his death. The house in which he 
 died is still standing, and is occupied by one of his 
 descendants. He was buried in the de Benneville- 
 Keim burial-ground, corner of Green Lane and Old 
 York Road, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 
 
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