office, and among them these two: "III. To teach nothing else, publicly
or privately, in my congregation, except what accords with the Word of
God and the Symbolical Books of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, and to
this end diligently study the same. IV. To introduce no other
ceremonies in public worship and the administration of the sacraments
than those which have been introduced by the collegio pastorum of the
united congregations, and to make use of no other formulary than that
which they appoint for me." The declaration of the Tulpehocken Church,
when it applied for reception, is given in full in Halle Records, new
edition, pp. 139-141, and shows the conditions on which congregations
were received, because the paper had been prepared for that purpose and
exhibits "the steadfast adherence of the united ministers to the
confession and doctrine of the unaltered Augsburg confession, which had
here been attacked by false brethren, by fanatical sects, by epicureans
and by divers others, in which assaults they had not only themselves
continued steadfast, but had held firm the Evangelical Lutheran Church
members, and had gathered them and increased their number, be it said to
the glory of God, who had stood by them." The doctrinal foundation on
which Muhlenberg [tr. note: sic] placed the congregations in their
constitutions may be seen in that of the Augustus Church, 1750,
hereinafter given. In 1762 it was deemed better to limit the
congregational obligation to the Augsburg Confession; I have no doubt
that it was done because an acquaintance with the whole symbols could
scarcely then be expected of the congregation, while they continued to
demand an obligation to the whole symbols of the ministers. As to the
doctrinal basis in the constitution of the ministerium, nothing was
formally established, there was no written constitution until after the
separation of the missions in this country from the patronage and
government of the Old World after the independence of the States, in
1781.

But the charges made by Lucas Raus afforded Muehlenberg occasion to make
his position very clear. These charges were referred to the Swedish
pastors Provost Wrangel and Borell, to whom the written evidence was to
be submitted, all of which they sent to Muehlenberg so as to enable him
to make his answer. That answer shows that under what he deemed unjust
assault and provocation, he was capable of vigorous indignation. The
charge seems to hav