THE sight-seer driving through the magnificent park system around Philadelphia, in passing through the beautiful Wissahickon Park, usually has his attention called to the "Monastery," a massive stone building erected in 1738, now occupied as a farm house. Its historical interest arises from the fact that it served as the place of worship of a peculiar sect which came from Germany in the early history of the Province of Pennsylvania, known as German Pietists, but more especially designated by the denizens of the neighborhood as the "Hermits of the Ridge." These men were forty in number, and were under the leadership of Johannes Kelpius, a young scholar and mystic, of great piety and spirituality, who was drawn to the New World by his religious faith. The ''Monastery" was not, however, the original place of worship, nor was it erected until after Kelpius' death. The original structure was of logs, forty feet square and true to the cardinal points of the compass, called the "Tabernacle," and stood near where the "Monastery" now stands.
Kelpius and his followers were earnest and enthusiastic students of the Bible, but more particularly of the Gospels and the Apocalypse. They were rigid moralists, having turned their back's upon the world and its allurements, pursuing in their wilderness retreat a systematic study of the sacred Word. They seem to have had some mystical rites, and to have made somewhat of a study of the "celestial signs," but throughout it all, they were manifestly governed only by a deep and serious purpose to learn and live the spiritual teachings of the Bible. By their piety, meekness, and simplicity, they made a deep impression upon the religious life of Pennsylvania, many traces of which are yet seen.
Kelpius taught that death should be overcome, and until a short time before his own death, he firmly believed that he would be translated as were Enoch and Elijah. The following account of his last days appears in a history of these German Pietists written by Mr. Julius Fredrich Sachse, of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania:—
