the older people. I judge by the words I have heard in their meetings
that the younger members have occasion to wish for improvement, and do
discover faults in themselves. One of the older Shakers, a man of
seventy-two years, and of more than the average intelligence, said to
me, in answer to a direct question, that he had for years lived a
sinless life. "I say to any who know me, as Jesus said to the Pharisees,
'which of you convicteth me of sin.'" Where faults are committed, it is
held to be the duty of the offender to confess to the elder, or, if it
is a woman, to the eldress; and it is for these, too, to administer
reproof. "For instance, suppose one of the members to possess a hasty
temper, not yet under proper curb; suppose he or she breaks out into
violent words or impatience, in a shop or elsewhere; the rest ought to
and do tell the elder, who will thereupon administer reproof. But also
the offending member ought not to come to meeting before having made
confession of his sin to the elder, and asked pardon of those who were
the subjects and witnesses of the offense."
As to books and literature in general, they are not a reading people.
"Though a man should gain all the natural knowledge in the universe, he
could not thereby gain either the knowledge or power of salvation from
sin, nor redemption from a sinful nature." [Footnote: "Christ's First
and Second Appearing"] Elder Frederick's library is of extremely limited
range, and contains but a few books, mostly concerning social problems
and physiological laws. The Swedish brother, who had been a student,
said in answer to my question, that it did not take him long to wean
himself from the habit of books; and that now, when he felt a temptation
in that direction, he knew he must examine himself, because he felt
there was something wrong about him, dragging him down from his higher
spiritual estate. He did not regret his books at all. An intelligent,
thoughtful old Scotchman said on the same subject that he, while still
of the world, had had a hobby for chemical research, to which he would
probably have devoted his life; that he still read much of the newest
investigations, but that he had found it better to turn his attention to
higher matters; and to bring the faculties which led him naturally
toward chemical studies to the examination of social problems, and to
use his knowledge for the benefit of the society.
The same old Scotchman, now seventy-three years old, and a cheery old
fellow, who had known the elder Owen, and has lived as a Shaker forty
years, I asked, "Well, on the whole, reviewing your life, do you think
it a success?" He replied, clearly with the utmost sincerity:
"Certainly; I have been living out the highest aspirations my mind was
capable of. The best I knew has been realized for and around me here.
With my ideas of society I should have been unfit for any thing in the
world, and unhappy because every thing around me would have worked
contrary to my belief in the right and the best. Here I found my place
and my work, and have been happy and content, seeing the realization of
the highest I had dreamed of."
Considering the homeliness of the buildings, which mostly have the
appearance of mere factories or human hives, I asked Elder Frederick
whether, if they were to build anew, they would not aim at some
architectural effect, some beauty of design. He replied with great
positiveness, "No, the beautiful, as you call it, is absurd and
abnormal. It has no business with us. The divine man has no right to
waste money upon what you would call beauty, in his house or his daily
life, while there are people living in misery." In building anew, he
would take care to have more light, a more equal distribution of heat,
and a more general care for protection and comfort, because these things
tend to health and long life. But no beauty. He described to me
amusingly the disgust he had experienced in a costly New York dwelling,
where he saw carpets nailed down on the floor, "of course with piles of
dust beneath, never swept away, and of which I had to breathe;" and with
heavy picture-frames hung against the walls, also the receptacles of
dust. "You people in the world are not clean according to our Shaker
notions. And what is the use of pictures?" he added scornfully.
[Illustration: A SHAKER ELDER.]
They have paid much attention to the early Jewish policy in Palestine,
and the laws concerning the distribution of land, the Sabbatical year,
service, and the collection of debts, are praised by them as
establishing a far better order of things for the world in general than
that which obtains in the civilized world to-day.
They hold strongly to the equality of women with men, and look forward
to the day when women shall, in the outer world as in their own
societies, hold office as well as men. "Here we find the women just as
able as men in all business affairs, and far more spiritual." "Suppose a
woman wanted, in your family, to be a blacksmith, would you consent?" I
asked; and he replied, "No, because this would bring men and women into
relations which we do not think wise." In fact, while they call men and
women equally to the rulership, they very sensibly hold that in general
life the woman's work is in the house, the man's out of doors; and there
is no offer to confuse the two.
Moreover, being celibates, they use proper precautions in the
intercourse of the sexes. Thus Shaker men and women do not shake hands
with each other; their lives have almost no privacy, even to the elders,
of whom two always room together; the sexes even eat apart; they labor
apart; they worship, standing and marching, apart; they visit each other
only at stated intervals and according to a prescribed order; and in all
things the sexes maintain a certain distance and reserve toward each
other. "We have no scandal, no tea-parties, no gossip."
Moreover, they mortify the body by early rising and by very plain
living. Few, as I said before, eat meat; and I was assured that a
complete and long-continued experience had proved to them that young
people maintain their health and strength fully without meat. They wear
a very plain and simple dress, without ornament of any kind; and the
costume of the women does not increase their attractiveness, and makes
it difficult to distinguish between youth and age. They keep no pet
animals, except cats, which are maintained to destroy rats and mice.
They have, of course, none of the usual relations to children--and the
boys and girls whom they take in are in each family put under charge of
a special "care-taker," and live in separate houses, each sex by itself.
Smoking tobacco is by general consent strictly prohibited. A few chew
tobacco, but this is thought a weakness, to be left off as standing in
the way of a perfect life.
[Illustration: A GROUP OF SHAKER CHILDREN]
[Illustration: SHAKER DINING HALL]
The following notice in the _Shaker_ shows that even some very old
sinners in this respect reform:
OBITUARY.
On Tuesday, Feb. 20th, 1873, _Died,_ by the power of truth, and for
the cause of Human Redemption, at the Young Believers' Order, Mt. Lebanon,
in the following much-beloved Brethren, the aged respectively.
No funeral ceremonies, no mourners, no grave-yard; but an honorable
RECORD thereof made in the Court above. Ed.
In D.S. .............. 51 years' duration.
In C.M. .............. 57 "
In A.G. .............. 15 "
In T.S. .............. 36 "
In OLIVER PRENTISS ... 71 "
In L.S. .............. 45 "
In H.C. .............. 53 "
In O.K. .............. 12 "
Reviewing all these details, it did not surprise me when Elder Frederick
remarked, "Every body is not called to the divine life." To a man or
woman not thoroughly and earnestly in love with an ascetic life and
deeply disgusted with the world, Shakerism would be unendurable; and I
believe insincerity to be rare among them. It is not a comfortable place
for hypocrites or pretenders.
The housekeeping of a Shaker family is very thoroughly and effectively
done. The North Family at Mount Lebanon consists of sixty persons; six
sisters suffice to do the cooking and baking, and to manage the
dining-hall; six other sisters in half a day do the washing of the whole
family. The deaconesses give out the supplies. The men milk in bad
weather, the women when it is warm. The Swedish brother told me that he
was this winter taking a turn at milking--to mortify the flesh, I
imagine, for he had never done this in his own home; and he used neither
milk nor butter. Many of the brethren have not tasted meat in from
twenty-five to thirty-five years. Tea and coffee are used, but very
moderately.
There is no servant class.
"In a community, it is necessary that some one person shall always know
where every body is," and it is the elder's office to have this
knowledge; thus if one does not attend a meeting, he tells the elder the
reason why.
Obedience to superiors is an important part of the life of the order.
Living as they do in large families compactly stowed, they have become
very careful against fires, and "a real Shaker always, when he has gone
out of a room, returns and takes a look around to see that all is
right."
The floor of the assembly room was astonishingly bright and clean, so
that I imagined it had been recently laid. It had, in fact, been used
twenty-nine years; and in that time had been but twice scrubbed with
water. But it was swept and polished daily; and the brethren wear to the
meetings shoes made particularly for those occasions, which are without
nails or pegs in the soles, and of soft leather. They have invented many
such tricks of housekeeping, and I could see that they acted just as a
parcel of old bachelors and old maids would, any where else, in these
particulars--setting much store by personal comfort, neatness, and
order; and no doubt thinking much of such minor morals. For instance, on
the opposite page is a copy of verses which I found in the visitors'
room in one of the Shaker families--a silent but sufficient hint to the
careless and wasteful.
Like the old monasteries, they are the prey of beggars, who always
receive a dole of food, and often money enough to pay for a night's
lodging in the neighboring village; for they do not like to take in
strangers.
The visiting which is done on Sunday evenings is perhaps as curious as
any part of their ceremonial. Like all else in their lives, these visits
are prearranged for them--a certain group of sisters visiting a certain
group of brethren. The sisters, from four to eight in number, sit in a
row on one side, in straight-backed chairs, each with her neat hood or
cap, and each with a clean white handkerchief spread stiffly across her
lap. The brethren, of equal number, sit opposite them, in another row,
also in stiff-backed chairs, and also each with a white handkerchief
smoothly laid over his knees. Thus arranged, they converse upon the news
of the week, events in the outer world, the farm operations, and the
weather; they sing, and in general have a pleasant reunion, not without
gentle laughter and mild amusement. They meet at an appointed time, and
at another set hour they part; and no doubt they find great satisfaction
in this--the only meeting in which they fall into sets which do not
include the whole family.
TABLE MONITOR.
GATHER UP THE FRAGMENTS THAT REMAIN, THAT NOTHING BE LOST.--Christ.
Here then is the pattern
Which Jesus has set;
And his good example
We cannot forget:
With thanks for his blessings
His word we'll obey;
But on this occasion
We've somewhat to say.
We wish to speak plainly
And use no deceit;
We like to see fragments
Left wholesome and neat:
To customs and fashions
We make no pretense;
Yet think we can tell
What belongs to good sense.
What we deem good order,
We're willing to state--
Eat hearty and decent,
And clear out our plate--
Be thankful to Heaven
For what we receive,
And not make a mixture
Or compound to leave.
We find of those bounties
Which Heaven does give,
That some live to eat,
And that some eat to live--
That some think of nothing
But pleasing the taste,
And care very little
How much they do waste.
Tho' Heaven has bless'd us
With plenty of food:
Bread, butter, and honey,
And all that is good;
We loathe to see mixtures
Where gentle folks dine,
Which scarcely look fit
For the poultry or swine.
We often find left,
On the same china dish,
Meat, apple-sauce, pickle,
Brown bread and minc'd fish;
Another's replenish'd
With butter and cheese;
With pie, cake, and toast,
Perhaps, added to these.
Now if any virtue
In this can be shown,
By peasant, by lawyer,
Or king on the throne,
We freely will forfeit
Whatever we've said,
And call it a virtue
To waste meat and bread.
Let none be offended
At what we here say;
We candidly ask you,
Is that the best way?
If not--lay such customs
And fashions aside,
And take this Monitor
Henceforth for your guide.
[VISITORS' EATING-ROOM, SHAKER VILLAGE.]
Since these chapters were written, Hervey Elkins's pamphlet, "Fifteen
Years in the Senior Order of the Shakers," printed at Hanover, New
Hampshire, in 1853, has come into my hands. Elkins gives some details
out of his own experience of Shaker life which I believe to be generally
correct, and which I quote here, as filling up some parts of the picture
I have tried to give of the Shaker polity and life:
"The spiritual orders, laws, and statutes, never to be revoked, are in
substance as follows: None are admitted within the walls of Zion, as
they denominate their religious sphere, but by a confession to one or
more incarnate witnesses of every debasing and immoral act perpetrated
by the confessor within his remembrance; also every act which, though
the laws of men may sanction, may be deemed sinful in the view of that
new and sublimer divinity which he has adopted. The time, the place, the
motive which produced and pervaded the act, the circumstances which
aggravated the case, are all to be disclosed. No stone is to be left
unturned--no filth is suffered to remain. The temple of God, or the
soul, must be carefully swept and garnished, before the new man can
enter it and there make his abode. (Christ, or the Divine Intelligence
which emanated from God the Father, transforms the soul into the new man
spoken of in the Scriptures.)
"Those who have committed deeds cognizable by the laws of the land,
shall never be admitted, until those laws have dealt with their
transgressions and acquitted them.
"Those who have in any way morally wronged a fellow-creature, shall make
restitution to the satisfaction of the person injured.
"Wives who have unbelieving husbands must not be admitted without their
husbands' consent, or until they are lawfully released from the marriage
contract, and vice versa. They may confess their sins, but cannot enter
the sacred compact.
"All children admitted shall be bound by legal indentures, and shall, if
refractory, be returned to their parents.
"There shall exist three Orders, or degrees of progression, viz.: The
Novitiate, the Junior, and the Senior.
"All adults may enter the Novitiate Order, and then may progress to a
higher, by faithfulness in supporting the Gospel requirements.
"When at the age of twenty-one, the Church Covenant is presented to all
the young members to peruse, and to deliberate and decide whether or not
they will maintain the conditions therein expressed. To older members it
is presented after all legal embarrassments upon their estates are
settled, and they desire to be admitted to full fellowship with those
who have consecrated _all._ And whoever, after having escaped the
servility of Egypt, shall again desire its taskmasters and flesh-pots,
are unfit for the kingdom of God; and in case of secession or apostasy
shall, by their own deliberate and matured act (that of placing their
signatures and seals upon this instrument when in the full possession of
all their mental powers), be debarred from legally demanding any
compensation whatever for the property or services which they had
dedicated to a holy purpose.
"This instrument is legally and skillfully formed, and none are
permitted to sign it until they have counted well the cost; or, at
least, pondered for a time upon its requirements.
"Members also stipulate themselves by this signature to yield implicit
obedience to the ministry, elders, deacons, and trustees, each in their
respective departments of authority and duty.
"The Shaker government, in many points, resembles that of the military.
All shall look for counsel and guidance to those immediately before
them, and shall receive nothing from, nor make application for any thing
to those but their immediate advisers. For instance: No elder in either
of the subordinate bishoprics can make application for any amendment,
any innovation, any introduction of a new system, of however trivial a
nature, to the ministry of the first bishopric; but he may desire and
ask of his own ministry, and, if his proposal meet their concurrence,
they will seek its sanction of those next higher. All are to regard
their spiritual leaders as mediators between God and their own souls;
and these links of divine communication, successively descending from
Power and Wisdom, who constitute the dual God, to their Son and
Daughter, Jesus and Ann, and from them to Ann's successors of the Zion
of God on earth, down to the prattling infant who may have been gathered
within this ark of safety--this concatenated system of spiritual
delegation is the river of life, whose salutary waters flow through the
celestial sphere for the cleansing and redemption of souls.
"Great humility and simplicity of life is practiced by the first
ministry--two of each sex--upon whom devolves the charge of subordinate
bishoprics, besides that of their own immediate care, the societies of
Niskeyuna and Mount Lebanon. They will not even (and this is good
policy) allow themselves those expensive conveniences of life which are
so common among the laity of their sect. But extreme neatness is the
most prominent characteristic of both them and their subordinates. They
speak much of the model enjoined by Jesus, that whosoever would be the
greatest should be the servant of all.
"A simple song, of a beautiful tune, inculcating this spirit, is often
sung in their assemblies. The words are these:
"'Whoever wants to be the highest
Must first come down to be the lowest;
And then ascend to be the highest
By keeping down to be the lowest.'
"It is common for the leaders to crowd down, by humiliation, and
withdraw patronage and attention from those whom they intend to
ultimately promote to an official station. That such may learn how it
seems to be slighted and humiliated, and how to stand upon their own
basis, work spiritually for their own food without being dandled upon
the soft lap of affection, or fed with the milk designed for babes. That
also they be not deceived by the phantoms of self-wisdom; and that they
martyr not in themselves the meek spirit of the lowly Jesus. Thus, while
holding one in contemplation for an office of care and trust, they first
prove him--the cause unknown to himself--to see how much he can bear,
without exploding by impatience or faltering under trial.
"Virtually for this purpose, but ostensibly for some other, have I known
many promising young people moved to a back order, or lower grade of
fellowship. By such trials the leaders think to try their souls in the
furnace of affliction, withdraw them from earthly attachments, and imbue
them with reliance upon God. In fact, to destroy terrestrial idols of
every kind, to dispel the clouds of inordinate affection and
concentrative love, which fascinatingly float around the mind and screen
from its view the radiant brightness of heaven and heavenly things, is
the great object of Shakerism.
"Whoever yields enough to the evil tempter to gratify in the least the
sensual passions--either in deed, word, or thought--shall confess
honestly the same to his elders ere the sun of another day shall set to
announce a day of condemnation and wrath against the guilty soul. These
vile passions are--fleshly lusts in every form, idolatry, selfishness,
envy, wrath, malice, evil-speaking, and their kindred evils.
"The Sabbath shall be kept pure and holy to that degree that no books
shall be read on that day which originated among the world's people,
save those scientific books which treat of propriety of diction. No idle
or vain stories shall be rehearsed, no unnecessary labor shall be
performed--not even the cooking of food, the ablution of the body, the
cutting of the hair, beard, or nails, the blacking and polishing of
shoes or boots. All these things must be performed on Saturday, or
postponed till the subsequent week. All fruit, eaten upon the Sabbath,
must be earned to the dwelling-house on Saturday. But the dormitories
may be arranged, the cows milked, all domestic animals fed, and food and
drink warmed on Sunday. No one is allowed to go to his workshop, to walk
in the gardens, the orchards, or on the farms, unless immediate duty
requires; and those who of necessity go to their workshops, shall not
tarry over fifteen minutes but by the direct liberty of the elders. The
dwelling-house is the place for all to spend the Sabbath; and thither
all concentrate--elders, deacons, brethren, and sisters. If any property
is likely to incur loss--as hay and grain that is cut and remaining in
the field, and is liable to be wet before Monday, it may be secured upon
the Sabbath.
"All shall rise simultaneously every morning at the signal of the bell,
and those of each room shall kneel together in silent prayer, strip from
the beds the coverlets and blankets, lighten the feathers, open the
windows to ventilate the rooms, and repair to their places of vocation.
Fifteen minutes are allowed for all to leave their sleeping apartments.
In the summer the signal for rising is heard at half-past four, in the
winter at half-past five. Breakfast is invariably one and a half hours
after rising--in the summer at six, in the winter at seven; dinner
always at twelve; supper at six. These rules are, however, slightly
modified upon the Sabbath. They rise and breakfast on this day half an
hour later, dine lightly at twelve, and sup at four. Every order
maintains the same regularity in regard to their meals.
"In the Senior Order, at the ringing of a large bell, ten minutes before
meal-time, all may gather into the saloons, and retire the ten minutes
before the dining-hall alarm summons them to the table. All enter four
doors and gently arrange themselves at their respective places at the
table, then all simultaneously kneel in silent thanks for nearly a
minute, then rise and seat themselves almost inaudibly at the table. No
talking, laughing, whispering, or blinking are allowed while thus
partaking of God's blessings. After eating, all rise together at the
signal of the first elder, kneel as before, and gently retire to their
places of vocation, without stopping in the dining-hall, loitering in
the corridors and vestibules, or lounging upon the balustrades,
doorways, and stairs.
"The tables are long, three feet in width, highly polished, without
cloth, and furnished with white ware and no tumblers. The interdict
which excludes glass-ware from the table must be attributed to
conservatism rather than parsimony, for in _most_ useful
improvements the Shakers strive to excel. They tremble at adopting the
_customs_ of the world. At the tables, each four have all the
varieties of food served for themselves, which precludes the necessity of
continual passing and reaching.
"At half-past seven P.M. in the summer, and at eight in the winter, the
large bell summons all of every order to their respective dwellings,
there to retire, each individual in his own room, half an hour before
evening worship. To retire is for the inmates of every room--generally
from four to eight individuals--to dispose themselves in either one or
two ranks, and sit erect, with their hands folded upon their laps,
without leaning back or falling asleep; and in that position labor for a
true sense of their privilege in the Zion of God--of the fact that God
has prescribed a law which humbles and keeps them within the hollow of
his hand, and has favored them with the blessing of worshiping him, with
soul and body, unmolested, and according to the dictation of an
enlightened mind and a tender and good conscience. If any chance to fall
asleep while thus mentally employed, they may rise and bow four times,
or gently shake, and then resume their seats.