Page:Schwenkfelder Hymnology.djvu/26

work of his predecessor as a basis. The series of collections comprising the extent of this activity consists therefore, essentially of four compilations of hymns, each regularly edited, although the first three collections of the series were never issued in printed form. Moreover, and singularly enough, the effort represented by this activity was confined to four families of the sect: Caspar Weiss of Harpersdorf, in Silesia, and the Rev. George Weiss, his son; the Rev. Balthaser Hoffmann and his son, the Rev. Christopher Hoffmann; Hans Christoph Huebner, and the Rev. Christopher Schultz. With the exception of Caspar Weiss, who died in Silesia before the emigration to Saxony, all were immigrants to America. George Weiss, Balthaser Hoffmann and Christopher Schultz were writers of hymns. And not only to Rev. Christopher Schultz as editor, but to each one of these compilers must be conceded a share in the credit for the ultimate product, the Neu-eingerichtetes Gesangbuch of 1762.