SHAKERS, a religious sect which arose in Lancashire about the year 1747. Aa the individuals of whom it at first consisted had pre viously been Quakers, they were sometimes called Shaking Quakers, but more commonly Shakers, from the violent shaking of their bodies in their religious exercises. In 1758 they were joined by Ann Lee, a native of Manchester, whose reputation gradually increased, together with the numbers of the sect, till, in 1770, she laid claim to divine inspiration, and called herself Ann the Word. In 1774, in conse quence of the persecution to which they were subjected, she and some of her followers set sail from Liverpool for New York, where they arrived in safety. Ann Leo fixed her residence at Watervliet, on the Hudson, not far from Albany, and died at Watervliet in 1784. Their conimunitlea are called families. The property of each family' is held in common ; and as the members, who are bpth males and females, are all single persons, celibacy being strictly enjoined, the numbers can only be kept up by converts. They are generally dis
tinguished for good conduct in the common business of life. They agree with the Quakers In their abhorrence of war, their objection to take oaths, and in the belief of the direct influence of the Holy Spirit. Instead of the original violent shaking, they now more round their hall of worship in a regular and uniform dance to the singing of a hymn, clapping their hands in unison. There are some of the sect yet in Great Britain. No statement of the numbers of Shakers is given in the last census reports of either Great Britain or the United Stated ; but several years ago there were said to be 6000 Shakers in the United States, comprised in fifteen families,'