Just  a  month  later,  a  high-handed  instance  of  the  kind  of  vexation
from  which  the  Bethlehem  people  sought  to  escape  by  having  a
magistrate  with  their  domain  as  his  jurisdiction,  independent  of
others,  occurred  in  an  unwarranted  use  of  civil  ofifice  by  a  neighbor-
ing justice,  to  worry  them  and  bring  odium  upon  them  before  the
public,  under  the  pretense  of  zeal  for  law  and  religion.  The  precious
harvest  of  1746,  on  which  so  much  depended,  was  imperiled  by  con-
tinual rain  to  such  an  extent  that,  at  the  end  of  July,  the  situation
was  becoming  desperate.  On  Sunday,  July  31,  the  first  clear,  dry
day  for  more  than  a  week,  the  men  who  lived  on  the  Nazareth  tract
determined,  after  the  morning  service,  to  get  in  the  cut  grain,  much
of  which  was  perishing  in  the  field.  They  concluded  that,  under  the
circumstances,  this  rescue  of  their  bread  for  the  coming  winter  would
be  a  justifiable  "work  of  necessity,"  within  the  meaning  of  the  law.
A  spy  hastened  to  inform  the  constable  of  the  "Irish  Settlement"
who,  towards  evening,  came  upon  the  scene  with  some  others  and
demanded  their  names,  with  a  view  to  lodging  complaint  against
them,  as  "Sabbath  breakers,"  before  the  justice  of  that  settlement.
The  grain  was  safely  housed  and  they  closed  the  day  with  a  service
of  thanksgiving  and  a  meal  together  of  bread  and  milk.  On  August
3,  that  constable,  armed  with  a  warrant  from  the  said  justice,  went
to  Gnadenthal  to  make  arrests.     Antes,  who  had  to  be  away  from


2  12  A    HISTORY    OF    BETHLEHEM,    PENNSYLVANIA.
