DOBER, Leonard

[s. 231] : The first mi ionary of the Moravians to the Danish West Indies. He was His attention was called to a potter by trade. this field through a conversation in 1731 with a servant of Count Zinzendorf, who stated that he had a sister in St. Thomas, W. I., and desired some one sent to instruct the slaves in Christianity. Whoever went to these poor people on the island of St. Thomas must become a laborer to work among them, and Leonard Dober offered himself to be sold as a slave, if nece ary, in order to reach them. It was a year before anything was done. When it was determined by lot, in 1732, Dober was selected, and Nitschman, who was to go with him to St. Thomas and then return to Herrnhut. The Moravians at this time knew very little of mi ionary undertakings, and gave them only these instructions: “In all things follow the guidance of the Spirit of Christ.” They set out for Copenliagen, with only their staves in their hands and only six dollars in their pockets. They were told at Copenhagen that it would be impo ible to get a ve el to go to St. Thomas, but their stedfastne of purpose raised up some influential friends for them among the royal family, councilors of state, and her majesty’s chaplains. They arrived in St. Thomas, December 13, 1732, and immediately found the servant’s sister, who, with her companions, rejoiced to see them. For four months Dober and Nitschman worked happily together, when Nitschman had to return to Europe. Dober was left destitute, for there was no clay on the island suitable for the making of pottery. He was for a time tutor to the governor’s son, but this interfered with his mi ionary work among the negroes, and he went to Tappus, a small village, where he lived in great poverty. In 1733 helpers came from England to take his place. Two months later Dober returned to Europe, to fill the office of superintending elder in the Moravian congregation at Herrnhut. DOBRUDJA The portion of the Balkan Peninsula on the right side of the Danube, extending from Silistria and Varna to the mouth of that river, offering the most acce ible military route from the north to Constantinople. The country is flat, containing several large swamps and lakes on the coast. Some parts are very fertile, and produce good crops of grain; others are covered with gra es. The population is made up of Greeks, Bulgarians, Wallachs and Tatars. Under the treaty of Berlin (1878) this district was taken from Turkey and added to Rumania, of which it is now a part. 231