By Joseph Meacham mid Lucy Wright, the successors of ".Mother ADD," the Shak. ors were gathered into settlements, ten in number; and a covenant was drawn op embracing the chief points of their creed, and of tile social system since associated with it. Their head was. of course, " Mother Ann"—that is. Christ—of whom Joseph and Lucy were temporarily the representatives; elders and deacons, mile and female were appointed; the institution of celibacy was confirmed; and a community of go:xls was introduced. On the death of Joseph Meacham in 1.793, "Mother Lucy" became the sole head of the society, and she governed it with ample powers for 25 years. She named a female successor with the title of elderess; and the name of " mother" has not, since that time, been applied to the female head of the community. Eleven societies were formed between 1787 and 1792. Early i the present century a remarkable religious excitement took place iu Kentucky. The Shakers, taking advantage of this movement, sent three representatives thither, and received sufficient additions to found five new societies. (See Nordotts Cummanistic Societies of the United States, 1875.) The Shakers were, at the census of 1870, about 2,500 in number, included in 18 societies; of which three are in the state of New York, four in Massachusetts, two in New Ilnmpshire. two in Maine, one in Connecticut, four in Ohio, anti two in Kentucky. Their numbers have incrersed since 1870; the influence of their opinions has extended: and 'the 18 separate settlements continue to form a united and peaceful society.
Their doctrine has been to some extent developed as well as systematized since the death of "Mother Ann." They believe that the kingdom of heaven has come; that Christ has come upon earth a second time, in the form of "Mother Ann." and that the personal rule of God has been restored. Then they hold that the old law has been abolished, and a new dispensation begun; that Adam's sin has been atoned; that man has been made free of all errors except his own: that the curse has been taken away from labor; that the earth and all that is on it will be redeemed. Believers, on going union," die to die, world, and enter upon a' new life, which is not a mere change of life, but a new order of being. For them; there is neither death nor marriage; what seems death is only a change of form, a transfiguration which does not hide them from the purified eyes of the saints; and in union, as in heaven• there is no marrying or giv ing in marriage—the believer owes love to all the saints, but his love must be celibate in spirit and in fact. The believer, living in union, is in heaven. The Shakers believe that the earth, now freed from the curse of Adam, is heaven; they look for no resurrec tion besides that involved in living with them in "resurrection order." The believer, upon entering into union, leaves behind all his earthly relationships and interests, just as if lie had been severed from them by death. And since to be in union is heaven, the Shakers hold that no attempts should be made by them to draw men into union: God, they say, will draw to them those whom lie has chosen at his own time. Those who have " passed out of sight '• are still in union; and the Shakers live in daily communion with the spirits of the departed believers. The belief in a corumemion with angels and spirits is no mere theory; it has a most important influence upon their lives; they pro fess to familiar with the deed than with the living. It being the work of the saints to redeem tile earth front the effects of the curse, labor is a sacred and priestly function", especially when bestowed in makieg the earth yield her increase, and in devel oping her beauty. It should be gone in a spirit of love; the earth, they say, yields most to those who love it; and love and labor will in time restore it to its primitive state. According to Mr. Dixon; they bestow upon their gardens and fields the affections which other men bestow upon family or worldly goods. Their country they regard only as it
is a part of the earth, which they love, and as the favored land in which God's kingdom is first to he established. Ili its politics and its fortunes, they take no interest; and, indeed, their whole system is a protest against the existing constitudon of society, as well as against the ordinary lives of men. Consistently with their belief in the second appearance of Christ in the form of a woman, the Shakers seem to believe that there is a female as well as a male essence in the Godhead—in the motherhood as well as the father:thod of God.
A Shaker settlement is, for divided into families, consisting of the brothers and sisters, who live in the same houses, each governed by an elder and an elderess. There are two orders of members, probationers and covenanters—that is, novices and full members. It is on becoming a covenanter that the Shaker puts his property into the common stock. On entering, upon residence, he becomes subject to all the rules of the society; but he is free—whether' a covenanter or a probationer—to leave the body whenever he pleases. "Both men and women wear a prescribed dress. The men wear a sort of Arab sack, with a linen collar and no tie; an under-vest buttoned to the throat, and falling below the thighs; loose trousers,. rather short; and a broad brimmed hat, usually of straw. The women wear a small muslin cap, a white kerchief round the chest and shoulders, a skirt dropping in a strAight line from the waist to the ankle, white socks, and shoes. -Some latitude is allowed as to the maierials of the dress. Men and women, it is said, have the look of persons at peace with earth and heaven. "Apart front a costume," says Mr. Hepworth Dixon, "neither rich in color nor comely in make, the sisters have an air of sweetness andrepose, which falls upon the spirit like music shaken out from our village bells." [Netc Americo, by W. Hepworth Dixon (Lend. 1867), froth which the materials of this sketch 'have in a great measure been derived All labor with their hands, both men anti women; but the latter do only indoor work. Every man, whatever his rank in the church, follows some manual occu pation, and most of them have more than one. Working not for gain, but with loving care, and with the sense that they are exercising a priestly function, the Shakers are unrivaled among their neighbors in the arts to which they apply themselves, especially the culture of their land, and the production of fruits and flowers. They pay great attention to ventilation and to all sanitary conditions; they live almost entirely upon the produce of the soil, and drink only water; they employ no doctors and lake no drugs. and' are. nevertheless, among the healthiest of communities. Their society is recruited ,mostly by young men and girls; but, occasionally, married persons with their children come " into onion." and make, it is aaid. " very-pretty Shakers." Husbands and wives, when they have come " into union," become as brothers and sisters: it would he thought a weakness, says Mr. Dixon, and almost at sin, for them to feel any personal happiness in each other's company—they live for God alone, and their love ought to lie shed of all the'saints alike. The education of the children attached to the society is the work of the sisters, and they do it exceedingly well. The brothers and sisters take their meals in ,a common room, eating at six in the inore'l,g, aat noon, and at six in the after noon. Their meals are taken in silence, any direction that has to be given being given by a gesture or in a whisper. In their church-service, music la ars it prominent-.part: the hymns and chants which are used being all of Shaker origin, communicated tk, believers in dreams and reveries by the spirits with whom they have communion. A deputation of Shakers visited England in 1871, and made many converts.