I Nited Brethren, Or The Vnitas Fratum Morivians, a church of evangelical Christians, historically and ecclesiastically distinct from the society of the "United Brethren in Christ," with whom they are often confounded. Their history proper begins with the year 1457; but their preparatory history extends back as far as the:»th century, when Christianity was introduced into Bohemia and Moravia by Cyril and Methodius, who gave the people a Slavic version of the Bible, and built up a national church. (See Cyril and Methodius.) Hence for several centuries the people of Bohemia and Moravia manifested the spirit of what was afterward Protestantism, holding fast to ecclesiastical principles opposed to the injunctions of the Roman Catholic church, and submitting to the Bible as the only rule of faith and practice. Eventually, however, they were brought under the sway of the papal see. The most celebrated of their reformers was John Huss, who was burned at the stake in 1415, As soon the news of his death reached his native country, tierce disturbances broke out. A powerful party arose, called the Hussites, who waged war for several years with great fury against the imperialists. After a time the Hussites separated into two factions: the Calixtines, who insisted principally on the restoration of the cup to the laity in the.

Lord's supper; and the Taborites, whose aim was a general reformation of the whole church. In 1433 the council of Basel granted the celebrated "compacts" to the Bohemians, by which the most essential of their demands were nominally conceded. The Taborites refused to receive these compacts; whereupon the Calixtines turned their arms against them, and totally defeated them in 1434. The Calixtines now became the national church of Bohemia, and hostilities ceased. But a party among the remnant of the Taborites, dissatisfied with what they regarded as corrupt practices in this church also, withdrew more and more from the communion of the Calixtines, and through the instrumentality of Rokitzana or Rokyzan, the Calixtine candidate for the archbishopric, who at first favored the movement, received permission from George Podiebrad, then regent and subsequently king of Bohemia, to settle on one of his estates, known as the barony of Litiz or Liticz. This was in 1450. A considerable number of persons under the leadership of Gregory, a nephew of Rokitzana, took up their abode on this estate. In 1457 they organized a religious society, elected 28 elders, and took the name of -Brethren and Sisters of the Law of Chrisst, which was afterward changed to the simpler one of.

Brethren." At a later period the title Uniitas Fratrum or "Unity of the Brethren" was adopted. Their pastors were priests who entertained evangelical views and who had joined the society. Such was the beginning of the Moravian church. In 1464 at the instigation of Rokitzana, who had become their inveterate enemy, a tierce persecution burst upon the Brethren, many of whom suffered martyrdom. This persecution only served to increase their number, and in 1467 a synod was held at Lhota, on the estate of Litiz, to effect a more complete organization. After protracted deliberations the Brethren resolved to separate entirely from the national establishment, and to change their society into an independent church. Being anxious to secure a ministry whose validity the Calixtines and Roman Catholics would be compelled to acknowledge, they sought the episcopal succession from a colony of Waldenses, settled on the confines of Bohemia and Austria, who had obtained this succession. The Waldensian bishop Stephen, and his assistants, consecrated three men sent to him by the synod of Lhota to the office of bishop. As soon as these events became known, new persecutions broke out, but the Brethren continued to increase.

Toward the close of the 15th century they had more than 400 churches in Moravia and Bohemia, had published several confessions of faith, owned two printing establishments, and were preparing a catechism and hymn book for publication. In the 16th century they sent several deputations to Luther, but there were differences of opinion between them and him in respect to discipline, on which the Brethren insisted very strongly. They established churches in Poland, and at length the Unitas Fratrum was composed of three provinces, the Bohemian, Moravian, and Polish, each governed by its own bishops, but all confederated as one church, holding general synods in common. In the beginning of the 17th century the Unitas Fratrum became one of the legally acknowledged churches of the land. A remarkable work, completed some time before, was the celebrated Bohemian Bible of Kralitz, translated from the original by a committee of bishops, after a labor of 15 years. In 1621 Ferdinand II. began a series of persecutions directed against all the Protestant denominations in Bohemia and Moravia, and known as the anti-reformation. His plans were successful. Protestantism was totally overthrown in these countries, more than 50,-000 of whose inhabitants emigrated.

The Brethren's church ceased to exist in Bohemia and Moravia, but continued in Poland about 30 years longer, as a church in exile. This church, too, was destroyed in the war with Sweden (1656), the remnant uniting with the Reformed denomination. In this way the Unitas Fratrum, as a distinct organization, disappeared for 66 years. But John Amos Comenius, the last bishop of the Moravian line, not only published several works by which the history, doctrines, and discipline of the Brethren were preserved, but also provided for the continuance of the episcopate. (See Bohemian Brethren.) Many families in Moravia still secretly entertained the views of their fathers. Among these an awakening took place in the first quarter of the 18th century, through the instrumentality of a Moravian exile named Christian David. In consequence of this awakening, the desire to live in a Protestant country was felt more and more; Fifty years after the death of Comenius, in the night of May 27, 1722, two families of Moravians escaped from their native country, and reached Berthelsdorf, an estate in Saxony belonging to Count Zinzendorf, who had offered them a refuge. Other Moravians soon joined them, and in five years a colony of 300 persons lived on Count Zinzendorf's estate.

They built a town, and called it Herrnhut; introduced the discipline of their fathers, preserved by the publications of Comenius; and in 1735 obtained the episcopal succession of the Unitas Fratrum. Zinzendorf soon became a bishop of the Brethren, and devoted himself entirely to their service. Churches were established in various parts of the continent, in North America, and in Great Britain. In 1749 the British parliament acknowledged the Moravian Brethren as an episcopal church, and passed an act encouraging them to settle in the North American colonies. They devoted themselves to missions among the Indians with great success, one of their most celebrated stations being at Gnadenhutten ("tents of grace ") in what is now Tuscarawas co., Ohio, where 100 Moravian Indians were treacherously massacred by whites, March 8, 1782, on a groundless suspicion of having been concerned in certain outrages in Pennsylvania. The numbers of the Brethren, both in America and in Europe, never increased as did those of many other denominations of Christians. This was owing to two causes. First, almost the entire strength of the renewed Moravian church was concentrated on the foreign mission field.

Secondly, the fundamental principle underlying the efforts of Zinzendorf and his coadjutors, on behalf of the church at home, was Spener's idea of ecclesiolm in ecclesia, little churches within the church, households of faith whose members should be separated as much as possible from the world, and which should constitute retreats where men could hold undisturbed communion with God. This idea, carried out consistently, resulted in the establishment of Moravian settlements, that is, towns founded by the church, where no one who was not a member was permitted to own real estate, although strangers, complying with the rules of the community, were allowed to lease houses. A system so exclusive necessarily kept the church numerically small, although it undoubtedly was of great advantage in other respects, and served to foster the missionary zeal which has distinguished the Moravians. During the last 40 years great changes have taken place in the United States in respect to this system, and also in regard to the constitution of the church generally.

The last general synod, held at Herrnhut in 1857, remodelled the constitution, and opened the way for a more general development of the resources of the church in the home field. - The Unitas Fratrum now consists of three provinces, the American, continental, and British, which govern themselves in all provincial matters, but are confederated as one church in respect to general principles of doctrine and practice, and the prosecution of the foreign mission work. Each province has a provincial synod, whose executive is an elective board of bishops and elders, styled the "Provincial Elders' Conference," to which the entire management of the church in provincial things, including the appointment of pastors, is intrusted in the interval between two synods. For the general government of the three provinces and the foreign missions, there is a general synod, which meets every 10 or 12 years, and to which each province sends the same number of delegates. The executive board of the general synod is called the "Unity's Elders' Conference," and is the highest judicatory for the whole Unitas Fratrum, when that synod is not in session. In the American province there are two districts, the northern and the southern, each having a synod and a provincial elders' conference.

The seat of government for the northern district is at Bethlehem, Northampton co., Pa.; and for the southern, at Salem, Forsyth co., N. C. The Moravian churches in these two districts, without exception, are now like those of other Christian denominations, the exclusive svstem having been given up entirely. The establishments formerly found in the settlements, and known as brethren's, sisters', and widows' houses, have likewise passed away. In the British province, the seat of government is at Ockbrook, Derbyshire. Only four of the churches of this province are settlements, and even these are gradually undergoing modification. In the continental province, the old system was strictly kept up till quite recently, when several important changes were introduced, which before long will practically do away with the exclusive polity altogether. The governing board, which is at the same time the general board for the whole " Unity " (the name by which the Unitas Fratrum is generally known in Moravian phraseology), has its seat at Berthelsdorf, a village on the estate of the same name, in Saxony, about a mile from Herrnhut; it assembles for business in the castle formerly inhabited by Count Zinzendorf, who devoted his entire property to the good of the church.

On the continent of Europe a Moravian settlement still has brethren's, sisters', and widows' houses. In a brethren's house unmarried men live together, and engage in various trades and professions, the profits of which go to the church; in a sisters' house unmarried women reside, and have an opportunity of earning a livelihood by different kinds of work; a widows' house is a home for indigent or other widows, where they live comfortably at a very cheap rate. Each house has a spiritual and temporal superintendent, a common refectory and dormitory (except in the case of widows' houses), 75 churches, 8,315 communicants, and 14,737 souls; in the continental, 28 churches, 5,872 communicants, and 7,345 souls; in the British province, 40 churches, 3,249 communicants, and 5,548 souls. The whole number of communicants in the three provinces is 17,436, and of souls 27,630. Although the church is so small, it is engaged in very extensive operations. There are 5 church hoarding schools in the American province (at Nazareth, Bethlehem, and Litiz, Pa., Hope, Ind., and Salem, N. C.), at which more than 600 pupils are annually educated; 15 in the British province, educating about 400 pupils every year; and 25 in the continental province, with about 1,000 pupils.

Nearly all the scholars come from beyond the pale of the church. At Bethlehem, Pa., there is a college, and in connection with it a theological seminary. Similar institutions belong to the continental province. The next enterprise is that of domestic missions. These, in the United States, were commenced very recently among the German immigrants. On the continent of Europe the enterprise is extensive, and peculiarly interesting. It is called the work of the Diaspora, from the original Greek of 1 Peter i. 1, and has for its object the evangelization of the state churches, without proselyting their members. Hence societies within these churches are formed and regulated by the missionaries, who hold meetings for prayer and exhortation, and visit from house to house, but never administer the sacraments. There are 120 missionaries, male and female, engaged in this enterprise. It extends over Saxony, Prussia, and other German countries, Switzerland, parts of France, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and the Russian empire. In the Russian provinces of Livonia and Esthonia the cause prospers very much, there being more than 250 chapels, and more than 60,000 members.

The whole number of Diaspora members, as they are called, on the continent, is about 80,000. But the great work which chiefly engages the energies of the church, and in which all the provinces unite, is that of foreign missions. It was commenced in 1732, when Herrnhut constituted the only Moravian church, numbering about 600 souls. Since then about 2,300 missionaries, male and female, not counting the native assistants, have labored in this field. Unsuccessful missions were commenced in Lapland, among the Samoyeds, in Algeria, Ceylon, China, Persia the East Indies, the Caucasus, Guiana, Guinea, among the Calmucks, in Abyssinia, and in Tranquebar. At present the church has missions in Greenland, Labrador, North America (among the Indians), on the Mosquito coast, in the islands of St. Thomas, St. Croix, St. John, Jamaica, Antigua, St. Christopher, Bar-badoes, and Tobago, in Surinam, S. Africa, Thibet, and Australia. There are 333 missionaries in the field, not counting the native assist ants; 92 regular stations, not counting the out stations; and 69,322 converts under and a prayer hall, where religious services are daily held.

There is nothing monastic in the regulations by which these establishments are Governed. The inmates remain in them en-tirelv at their own option, and are almost invariably such as have no other home. A community of goods never existed at any time in a Moravian church or Moravian institution. During the Indian wars the system of "common housekeeping," as it was called, was in-trodueed; hut each person retained his own private property, and when the wars were over and the settlements secure, the system was given up. It continued only for about 20 years. - The Moravians are an evangelical church, in the fullest sense of the term, as it is commonly used in the United States. They have no confession of faith, as such; but the doctrines which they uphold are embodied in a catechism and a special litany, called the Easter morning litany, and used on Easter Sunday. Catholicity eminently marks the church, in a doctrinal point of view. Its motto may he said to be that of Augustine: "In essentials unity, in non-essentials liberty, in all things charity." The distinguishing feature of Moravian theology is the prominence given to the person and atonement of Christ. He is regarded as the centre of Christian doctrine, '"in whom all the promises of God are yea and amen, and in whom we have the grace of the Son, the love of the Father, and the communion of the Holy Ghost." The Moravian ministry embraces bishops, presbyters, and deacons.

Bishops only have the right to ordain. They are usually appointed by lot, in imitation of the mode of appointing the apostle Matthias. The Moravian episcopacy is not dioeesan; the bishops are bishops of the whole Unitas Fratrum, have an official seat in the general synod, and can he appointed only by this body, or by its executive board. They do not govern the church in virtue of their office, but only when elected to the governing boards. However, they are almost invariably members of these hoards by election. In other respects, their duties relate to the spiritual concerns of the church. The Moravian episcopal succession from 1467to 1874 embraces 174 bishops. There are 17 bishops in office at present. Of these, 6 reside in Germany, 4 in England, 6 in the United States, and 1 in the West Indies The ritual of the church is similar to that of the Protestant Episcopal. A litany is used, in several languages, in all the different parts of the Unity; and there are regular forms for infant and adult baptism, the sacrament of the Lords supper, the rites of confirmation and ordination, burial, and marriage. Love feasts in imitation of the apostolical agapte, are celebrated; and liturgical services, particularly on occasion of church festivals, are held in manv churches.

The Moravians are distinguished for their church music - The present numeri-cal strength of the home church is as follows (1875);in the American province there are religious instruction, of whom 59,843 are in church fellowship, including baptized children, and the rest candidates for admission. The total number of souls connected with the Unitas Fratrum, not counting the Diaspora members, is 96,952. - See "The Moravian Manual" (Bethlehem, Pa., 1869).