Chapter I (6)

The _Shaker and Shakeress_, a monthly journal, edited by Elder Frederick Evans and Eldress Antoinette Doolittle, is the organ of the society; and in its pages their views are set forth with much shrewdness and ability. It is not so generally interesting a journal as the _Oneida Circular_, the organ of the Perfectionists, because the Shakers concern themselves almost exclusively with religious matters, and give in their paper but few details of their daily and practical life.

POPULATION RETURNS OF THE SHAKER SOCIETIES.

I give here, in a convenient tabular form, figures showing the present and past numbers of the different Shaker Societies--males, females, and children--the amount of land each society owns, and the number of laborers, not members, it employs:

______________________________________________________________________ | |No. of Families| Adults. |Youth Under 11.| | Society. | or Separate |______|________|_______|_______| | | Communities. | Male.| Female.| Male. |Female.| |____________________|_______________|______|___ ____|_______|_______| | Alfred, Me.........| 2 | 20 | 30 | 8 | 12 | | New Gloucester, Me.| 2 | 20 | 36 | 4 | 10 | | Canterbury, N.H....| 3 | 35 | 70 | 14 | 26 | | Enfield, N.H.......| 3 | 29 | 76 | 8 | 27 | | Enfield, Conn......| 4 | 24 | 48 | 18 | 25 | | Harvard, Mass......| 4 | 17 | 57 | 4 | 12 | | Shirley, Mass......| 2 | 6 | 30 | 4 | 8 | | Hancock, Mass......| 3 | 23 | 42 | 13 | 20 | | Tyringham, Mass....| 1 | 6 | 11 | 0 | 0 | | Mount Lebanon, N.Y.| 7 | 115 | 221 | 21 | 26 | | Watervliet, N.Y....| 4 | 75 | 100 | 20 | 40 | | Groveland, N.Y.....| 2 | 18 | 30 | 3 | 6 | | North Union, O.....| 3 | 41 | 44 | 6 | 11 | | Union Village, O...| 4 | 75 | 92 | 20 | 28 | | Watervliet, O......| 2 | 16 | 32 | 3 | 4 | | White Water, O.....| 3 | 34 | 51 | 6 | 9 | | Pleasant Hill, Ky..| 5 | 56 | 114 | 25 | 50 | | South Union, Ky....| 4 | 85 | 105 | 15 | 25 | |____________________|_______________|______|_______ |_______|_______| | | | | | | | Eighteen Societies.| 58 | 695 | 1189 | 192 | 339 | |____________________|_______________|______|________|_______|_______|

______________________________________________________________________ | | | | Acres | | | Society. |Total Population,| Greatest | of | Hired | | |1874.| 1823. |Population.| Land. |Laborers.| |____________________|_____|___________|___________|________|_________| | | | | | | | | Alfred, Me.........| 70 | 200 | 200 | 1100 | 15-20 | | New Gloucester, Me.| 70 | 150 | 150 | 2000 | 15-20 | | Canterbury, N.H....| 145 | 200 | 300 | 3000 | 6 | | Enfield, N.H.......| 140 | 200 | 330 | 3000 | 20-35 | | Enfield, Conn......| 115 | 200 | 200 | 3300 | 15 | | Harvard, Mass......| 90 | 200 | 200 | 1800 | 16 | | Shirley, Mass......| 48 | 150 | 150 | 2000 | 10 | | Hancock, Mass......| 98 | -- | 300 | 3500 | 25 | | Tyringham, Mass....| 17 | -- | -- | 1000 | 6 | | Mount Lebanon, N.Y.| 383 | 500-600 | 600 | 3000 | -- | | Watervliet, N.Y....| 235 | 200 | 350 | 4500 | 75 | | Groveland, N.Y.....| 57 | 150 in | 200 | 2280 | 8 | | | | 1836. | | | | | North Union, O.....| 102 | -- | 200 | 1335 | 9 | | Union Village, O...| 215 | 600 | 600 | 4500 | 70 | | Watervliet, O......| 55 | 100 | 100 | 1300 | 10 | | White Water, O.....| 100 | 150 | 150 | 1500 | 10 | | Pleasant Hill, Ky..| 245 | 450 | 490 | 4200 | 20 | | South Union, Ky....| 230 | 349 | 349 | 6000 | 15 | |____________________|_____|___________|___________|________|_________| | | | | | | | | Eighteen Societies.|2415 | -- | -- | 49,335 | -- | |____________________|_____|___________|___________|________|_________|

The returns of land include, for the most part, only the home farms; and several of the societies own considerable quantities of real estate in distant states, of which I could get no precise returns.

THE PERFECTIONISTS OF ONEIDA AND WALLINGFORD.

THE PERFECTIONISTS OF ONEIDA AND WALLINGFORD

I.--HISTORICAL.

The Oneida and Wallingford Communists are of American origin, and their membership is almost entirely American.

Their founder, who is still their head, John Humphrey Noyes, was born in Brattleboro, Vermont, in 1811, of respectable parentage. He graduated from Dartmouth College, began the study of the law, but turned shortly to theology; and studied first at Andover, with the intention of fitting himself to become a foreign missionary, and later in the Yale theological school. At New Haven he came under the influence of a zealous revival preacher, and during his residence there he "landed in a new experience and new views of the way of salvation, which took the name of Perfectionism."

This was in 1834. He soon returned to Putney, in Vermont, where his father's family then lived, and where his father was a banker. There he preached and printed; and in 1838 married Harriet A. Holton, the granddaughter of a member of Congress, and a convert to his doctrines.

He slowly gathered about him a small company of believers, drawn from different parts of the country, and with their help made known his new faith in various publications, with such effect that though in 1847 he had only about forty persons in his own congregation, there appear to have been small gatherings of "Perfectionists" in other states, in correspondence with Noyes, and inclined to take him as their leader. Originally Noyes was not a Communist, but when his thoughts turned in that direction he began to prepare his followers for communal life; in 1845 he made known to them his peculiar views of the relations of the sexes, and in 1846 the society at Putney began cautiously an experiment in communal living.

Their views, which they never concealed, excited the hostility of the people to such a degree that they were mobbed and driven out of the place; and in the spring of 1848 they joined some persons of like faith and practice at Oneida, in Madison County, New York. Here they began community life anew, on forty acres of land, on which stood an unpainted frame dwelling-house, an abandoned Indian hut, and an old Indian saw-mill. They owed for this property two thousand dollars. The place was neglected, without cultivation, and the people were so poor that for some time they had to sleep on the floor in the garret which was their principal sleeping-chamber.

The gathering at Oneida appears to have been the signal for several attempts by followers of Noyes to establish themselves in communes. In 1849 a small society was formed in Brooklyn, N.Y., to which later the printing for all the societies was entrusted. In 1850 another community was begun at Wallingford, in Connecticut. There were others, of which I find no account; but all regarded Oneida as their centre and leader; and in the course of time, and after various struggles, all were drawn into the common centre, except that at Wallingford, which still exists in a flourishing condition, having its property and other interests in common with Oneida.

The early followers of Noyes were chiefly New England farmers, the greater part of whom brought with them some means, though not in any single case a large amount. Noyes himself and several other members contributed several thousand dollars each, and a "Property Register" kept from the beginning of the community experiment showed that up to the first of January, 1857, the members of all the associated communes had brought in the considerable amount of one hundred and seven thousand seven hundred and six dollars. I understand, however, that this sum was not at any one time in hand, and that much of it came in several years after the settlement at Oneida in 1848; and it is certain that in the early days, while they were still seeking for some business which should be at the same time agreeable to them and profitable, they had sometimes short commons. They showed great courage and perseverance, for through all their early difficulties they maintained a printing-office and circulated a free paper.

At first they looked toward agriculture and horticulture as their main-stays for income; but they began soon to unite other trades with these. Their saw-mill sawed lumber for the neighboring farmers; they set up a blacksmith shop, and here, besides other work, they began to make traps by hand, having at first no means to buy machinery, and indeed having to invent most of that which they now use in their extensive trap shop.

Like the Shakers with their garden seeds, and all other successful communities with their products, the Perfectionists got their start by the excellence of their workmanship. Their traps attracted attention because they were more uniformly well made than others; and thus they built up a trade which has become very large. They raised small fruits, made rustic furniture, raised farm crops, sold cattle, had at one time a sloop on the Hudson; and Noyes himself labored as a blacksmith, farmer, and in many other employments.

Working thus under difficulties, they had sunk, by January, 1857, over forty thousand dollars of their capital, but had gained valuable experience in the mean time. They had concentrated all their people at Oneida and Wallingford; and had set up some machinery at the former place. In January, 1857, they took their first annual inventory, and found themselves worth a little over sixty-seven thousand dollars. Their perseverance had conquered fortune, for in the next ten years the net profit of the two societies amounted to one hundred and eighty thousand five hundred and eighty dollars, according to this statement:

Net earnings in 1857.....$5,470.11
" " 1858..... 1,763.60
" " 1859.....10,278.38
" " 1860.....15,611.03
" " 1861..... 5,877.89

Net earnings in 1862....$9,859 78
" " 1863....44,755.30
" " 1864....61,382.62
" " 1865....12,382.81
" " 1866....13,198.74

During this time they made traps, traveling-bags and satchels, mop-holders, and various other small articles, and put up preserved fruits in glass and tin. They began at Wallingford, in 1851, making match-boxes, and the manufacture of traveling-bags was begun in Brooklyn, and later transferred to Oneida. Trap-making was begun at Oneida in 1855; fruit-preserving in 1858, and in 1866 the silk manufacture was established.

Meantime they bought land, until they have in 1874, near Oneida, six hundred and fifty-four acres, laid out in orchards, vineyards, meadows, pasture and wood land, and including several valuable water-powers; and at Wallingford two hundred and forty acres, mainly devoted to grazing and the production of small fruits. They have erected in both places commodious and substantial dwellings and shops, and carry on at this time a number of industries, of which some account will be found further on.

The two communities, whose members are interchangeable at will and whenever necessity arises, must be counted as one. At Oneida they have founded a third, on a part of their land, called Willow Place, but this too is but an offshoot of the central family. In February, 1874, they numbered two hundred and eighty-three persons, of whom two hundred and thirty-eight were at Oneida and Willow Place, and forty-five at Wallingford. Of these one hundred and thirty-one were males, and one hundred and fifty-two females. Of the whole number, sixty-four were children and youth under twenty-one--thirty-three males and thirty-one females. Of the two hundred and nineteen adults, one hundred and five were over forty-five years of age--forty-four men and sixty-one women.

They employ in both places from twenty to thirty-five farm laborers, according to the season, and a number of fruit-pickers in the time of small fruits. Besides, at Oneida they employ constantly two hundred and one hired laborers, of whom one hundred and three are women, seventy-five of whom work in the silk factory; sixty-seven of the men being engaged in the trap works, foundry, and machine shops. At Wallingford the silk works give employment to thirty-five hired women and girls.

Originally, and for many years, these Communists employed no outside labor in their houses; but with increasing prosperity they have begun to hire servants and helpers in many branches. Thus at Oneida there are in the laundry two men and five women; in the kitchen three men and seven women; in the heating or furnace room two men; in the shoemaker's shop two; and in the tailor's shop two--all hired people. At Wallingford they hire three women and one man for their laundry.

These hired people are the country neighbors of the commune; and, as with the Shakers and the Harmonists, they like their employers. These pay good wages, and treat their servants kindly; looking after their physical and intellectual well-being, building houses for such of them as have families and need to be near at hand, and in many ways showing interest in their welfare.

The members of the two societies are for the most part Americans, though there are a few English and Canadians. There are among them lawyers, clergymen, merchants, physicians, teachers; but the greater part were New England farmers and mechanics. Former Congregationalists and Presbyterians Episcopalians, Methodists, and Baptists are among them--but no Catholics.

They have a great number of applications from persons desirous to become members. During 1873 they received over one hundred such by letter, besides a nearly equal number made in person. They are not willing now to accept new members; but I believe they are looking about for a place suitable for a new settlement, and would not be unwilling, if a number of persons with sufficient means for another colony should present themselves, to help them with teachers and guides.

In the year 1873 the Oneida Community produced and sold preserved fruits to the value of $27,417; machine and sewing silk and woven goods worth $203,784; hardware, including traps, chucks, silk-measuring machines and silk-strength testers (the last two of their own invention), gate-hinges and foundry castings, $90,447. They raised twenty-five acres of sweet corn, six acres of tomatoes, two acres of strawberries, two of raspberries; half an acre of currants, half an acre of grapes, twenty-two acres of apples, and three and a half acres of pears.

Silk-weaving has been abandoned, as not suitable to them.

At the beginning of 1874 they were worth over half a million of dollars.

From the beginning, Noyes and his followers have made great use of the press. Up to the time of their settlement at Oneida they had published "Paul not Carnal;" two series of _Perfectionist; The Way of Holiness_, the _Berean_, and _The Witness_. From Oneida they began at once to issue the _Spiritual Magazine_, and, later, the _Free Church Circular_, which was the beginning of their present journal, the _Oneida Circular_. "Bible Communism" also was published at Oneida during the first year of their settlement there. They did not aim to make money by their publications, and the _Circular_ was from the first published on terms probably unlike those of any other newspaper in the world. I take from an old number, of the year 1853, the following announcement, standing at the head of the first column:

"The _Circular_ is published by Communists, and for Communists. Its main object is to help the education of several confederated associations, who are practically devoted to the Pentecost principle of community of property. Nearly all of its readers outside of those associations are Communists in principle. It is supported almost entirely by the free contributions of this Communist constituency. A paper with such objects and such resources cannot properly be offered for sale. Freely we receive, and we freely give. Whoever wishes to read the _Circular_ can have it WITHOUT PAYING, OR PROMISING TO PAY, by applying through the mail, or at 43 Willow Place, Brooklyn. If any one chooses to pay, he may send TWO DOLLARS for the yearly volume; but he must not require us to keep his accounts. We rely on the free gifts of the family circle for which we labor."

This paper was published on these terms, at one time semi-weekly, and at another three times a week. For some years past it has appeared weekly, printed on extremely good paper, and an admirable specimen of typography; and it has now at the head of its columns the following notice:

"The Circular is sent to all applicants, whether they pay or not. It costs and is worth at least two dollars per volume. Those who want it and ought to have it are divisible into three classes, viz.: 1, those who can not afford to pay two dollars; 2, those who can afford to pay _only_ two dollars; and, 3, those who can afford to pay _more_ than two dollars. The first ought to have it free; the second ought to pay the cost of it; and the third ought to pay enough more than the cost to make up the deficiencies of the first. This is the law of Communism. We have no means of enforcing it, and no wish to do so, except by stating it and leaving it to the good sense of those concerned. We take the risk of offering the _Circular_ to all without price; but free subscriptions will be received only from persons making application for themselves, either directly or by giving express authority to those who apply for them.

"Foreign subscribers, except those residing in Canada, must remit with their subscriptions money to prepay the postage."

They print now about two thousand copies per week, and lost last year six hundred dollars in the enterprise, without reckoning what would have had to be paid in any other work of the kind for literary labor.

A list of the works they have issued will be found, with the titles of works issued by other communistic societies, at the end of the volume.

Aside from its religious and communistic teachings, the _Circular_ has a general interest, by reason of articles it often contains relating to natural history and natural scenery, which, from different pens, show that there are in the society some close observers of nature, who have also the ability to relate their observations and experiences in excellent English. In general, the style of the paper is uncommonly good, and shows that there is a degree of culture among the Oneida people which preserves them from the too common newspaper vice of fine English.

Their publications deal with the utmost frankness with their own religious and social theories and practices, and I suppose it may be said that they aim to keep themselves and their doctrines before the public. In this respect they differ from all the other Communistic societies now existing in this country. That they are not without a sense of humor in these efforts, the following, printed as advertisements in the _Circular,_ will show:

GRAND FIRE ANNIHILATOR!--AN INVENTION for overcoming Evil with Good MEEK & LOWLY.

* * * * *

TO JEWELERS.--A SINGLE PEARL OF GREAT PRICE! This inestimable Jewel may be obtained by application to Jesus Christ, at the extremely low price of "all that a man hath!"

* * * * *

TO BROKERS.

WANTED.--Any amount of SHARES OF SECOND-COMING STOCK, bearing date A.D. 70, or thereabouts, will find a ready market and command a high premium at this office.

* * * * *

ATTENTION!

SOLDIERS who claim to have "fought the fight of faith" will find it for their advantage to have their claims investigated. All who can establish said claim are entitled to a bounty land-warrant in the kingdom of Heaven, and a pension for eternity.

* * * * *

ROOMS TO LET in the "Many Mansions" that Christ has prepared for those that love him.

* * * * *

DIRECTIONS for cultivating the fruits of the Spirit may be obtained _gratis_, at MEEK & LOWLY'S, No. 1 Grace Court.

Practical Reflections on CHRIST'S SERMON ON THE MOUNT may be had also as above.

* * * * *

LEGAL NOTICE.--Notice is hereby given that all claims issued by the old firm of Moses and Law were canceled 1800 years ago. Any requirement, therefore, to observe as a means of righteousness legal enactments bearing date prior to A.D. 70, is pronounced by us, on the authority of the New Testament, a fraud and imposition.

* * * * *

THE EYES! THE EYES!!--It is known that many persons with two eyes habitually "see double." To prevent stumbling and worse liabilities in such circumstances, an ingenious contrivance has been invented by which the WHOLE BODY is filled with light. It is called the "SINGLE EYE," and may be obtained by applying to Jesus Christ.

* * * * *

WATER-CURE ESTABLISHMENT.--I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh.--Ezekiel xxxvi., 25, 26.

* * * * *

PATENT SIEVES.--The series of sieves for CRITICISM having been thoroughly tested, are now offered to the public for general use. They are warranted to sift the tares from the wheat, and in all cases to discriminate between good and evil. A person, after having passed through this series, comes out free from the encumbrances of egotism, pride, etc., etc. All persons are invited to test them gratuitously.

* * * * *

MAGNIFICENT RESTAURANT!--In Mount Zion will the Lord of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees; of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined. And he will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over all people, and the veil that is spread over all nations. He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall be taken away from off all the earth: for the Lord hath spoken it.--Isaiah xxv., 6-8.

* * * * *

PATENT SALAMANDER SAFES.--Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal.--Matt, vi., 19, 20. This safe, having been submitted for 1800 years to the hottest fire of judgment, and having been through that time subject to constant attacks from the fiery shafts of the devil, is now offered to the public, with full confidence that it will meet with general approbation. Articles enclosed in this safe are warranted free from danger under any circumstances.

* * * * *

TO THE AFFLICTED!--WINE and MILK for the hungry, REST for the weary and heavy-laden, CONSOLATION and BALM for the wounded and invalids of every description--may be had _gratis,_ on application to the storehouse of the Son of God.

* * * * *

The _Circular_ contains each week extracts from journals kept in the two communities, and "Talks" by Noyes and others, with a variety of other matter relating to their belief and daily lives.

II.--RELIGIOUS BELIEF AND FAITH-CURES.

They call themselves "Perfectionists."

They hold to the Bible as the "text-book of the Spirit of truth;" to "Jesus Christ as the eternal Son of God;" to "the apostles and Primitive Church as the exponents of the everlasting Gospel." They believe that "the second advent of Christ took place at the period of the destruction of Jerusalem;" that "at that time there was a primary resurrection and judgment in the spirit world;" and "that the final kingdom of God then began in the heavens; that the manifestation of that kingdom in the visible world is now approaching; that its approach is ushering in the second and final resurrection and judgment; that a Church on earth is now rising to meet the approaching kingdom in the heavens, and to become its duplicate and representative; that inspiration, or open communication with God and the heavens, involving perfect holiness, is the element of connection between the Church on earth and the Church in the heavens, and the power by which the kingdom of God is to be established and reign in the world." [Footnote: Statement in the _Circular_.]

They assert, further, that "the Gospel provides for complete salvation from sin"--hence the name they assume of "Perfectionists." "Salvation from sin," they say, "is the foundation needed by all other reforms."

"Do you, then, claim to live sinless lives?" I asked; and received this answer:

"We consider the community to be a Church, and our theory of a Christian Church, as constituted in the apostolic age, is that it is a school, consisting of many classes, from those who are in the lowest degree of faith to those who have attained the condition of certain and eternal salvation from sin. The only direct answer, therefore, that we can give to your question is that some of us claim to live sinless lives, and some do not. A sinless life is the _standard_ of the community, which all believe to be practicable, and to which all are taught to aspire. Yet we recognize the two general classes, which were characterized by Paul as the "nepiou" and the "teleioi." Our belief is that a Christian Church can exist only when the "teleioi" are in the ascendant and have control."

In compliance with my request, the following definition of "Perfectionism" was written out for me as authoritative:

"The bare doctrine of Perfectionism might be presented in a single sentence thus:

"As the doctrine of temperance is total abstinence from alcoholic drinks, and the doctrine of anti-slavery is immediate abolition of human bondage, so the doctrine of Perfectionism is immediate and total cessation from sin.

"But the analogy thus suggested between Perfectionism and two popular reforms is by no means to be regarded as defining the character and methods of Perfectionism. Salvation from sin, as we understand it, is not a system of duty-doing under a code of dry laws, Scriptural or natural; but is a special phase of _religious experience_, having for its basis spiritual intercourse with God. All religionists of the positive sort believe in a personal God, and assume that he is a sociable being. This faith leads them to seek intercourse with him, to approach him by prayer, to give him their hearts, to live in communion with him. These exercises and the various states and changes of the _inner_ life connected with them constitute the staple of what is commonly called _religious experience_. Such experience, of course, has more or less effect on the character and external conduct. We cannot live in familiar intercourse with human beings without becoming better or worse under their influence; and certainly fellowship with God must affect still more powerfully all the springs of action. Perfectionists hold that intercourse with God may proceed so far as to destroy selfishness in the heart, and so make an end of sin. This is the special phase of religious experience which we profess, and for which we are called Perfectionists."

Among other matters, they hold that "the Jews are, by God's perpetual covenant, the royal nation;" that the obligation to observe the Sabbath passed away with the Jewish dispensation, and is "adverse to the advance of man into new and true arrangements;" that "the original organization instituted by Christ [the Primitive Church] is accessible to us, and that our main business as reformers is to open communication with that heavenly body;" and they "refer all their experience to the invisible hosts who are contending over them."

I must add, to explain the last sentence, that they are not Spiritualists in the sense in which that word is nowadays usually employed, and in which the Shakers are Spiritualists; but they hold that they are in a peculiar and direct manner under the guidance of God and good spirits. "Saving faith, according to the Bible, places man in such a relation to God that he is authorized to ask favors of him as a child asks favors of his father. Prayer without expectation of an answer is a performance not sanctioned by Scripture nor by common-sense. But prayer with expectation of an answer (that is, the prayer of faith) is impossible, on the supposition that 'the age of miracles is past,' and that God no longer interferes with the regular routine of nature." Hence their belief in what they call "Faith-cures," of which I shall speak further on.

Community of goods and of persons they hold to have been taught and commanded by Jesus: "Jesus Christ offers to save men from all evil--from sin and death itself; but he always states it as a necessary condition of their accepting his help that they shall forsake all other; and particularly that they shall get rid of their private property." Communism they hold therefore to be "the social state of the resurrection." The account on the sides of life and death arranges itself thus:

APOSTASY,

UNBELIEF

Obedience to

_Mammon,_

PRIVATE PROPERTY,

DEATH.

RESTORATION,

FAITH,

Obedience to

_Christ,_

COMMUNISM,

IMMORTALITY.

The community system, which they thus hold to have been divinely commanded, they extend beyond property--to persons; and thus they justify their extraordinary social system, in which there is no marriage; or, as they put it, "complex marriage takes the place of simple." They surround this singular and, so far as I know, unprecedented combination of polygamy and polyandry with certain religious and social restraints; but affirm that there is "no intrinsic difference between property in persons and property in things; and that the same spirit which abolished exclusiveness in regard to money would abolish, if circumstances allowed full scope to it, exclusiveness in regard to women and children." [Footnote: "History of American Socialisms," by J. H. Noyes, p. 625.]

It is an extraordinary evidence of the capacity of mankind for various and extreme religious beliefs, that many men have brought their wives and young daughters into the Oneida Community.

They have no preaching; do not use Baptism nor the Lord's Supper; do not observe Sunday, because they hold that with them every day is a Sabbath; do not pray aloud; and Avoid with considerable care all set forms. They read the Bible and quote it much.

They believe that the exercise of sufficient faith in prayer to God is capable of restoring the sick to health; and assert that there have been in their experience and among their membership a number of such cures. In a "Free-Church Tract," dated "Oneida Reserve, 1850," there is an account of such a cure of Mrs. M. A. Hall, ill of consumption, and given up by her physicians. In this case J. H. Noyes and Mrs. Cragin were those whose "power of faith" was supposed to have acted; and Mrs. Hall herself wrote, two years later: "From a helpless, bed-ridden state, in which I was unable to move, or even to be moved without excruciating pain, I was _instantly_ raised to a consciousness of perfect health. I was constrained to declare again and again that I was perfectly well. My eyes, which before could not bear the light, were opened to the blaze of day and became strong. My appetite was restored, and all pain removed." This is said to have taken place in June, 1847. The following case is reported in the _Circular_ for February 9th of the present year (1874), and the description of the injury, which immediately follows, is given by Dr. Cragin--a member of the Oneida Community--whom I understand to be a regularly educated physician. The sufferer was a woman, Mrs. M. Her hand was passed between the rubber rollers of a wringing-machine. The machine was new, and the rollers were screwed down so that it brought a very heavy pressure on her hand, evidently crowding the bones all out of place and stretching the ligaments, besides seriously injuring the nerves of her hand and arm. When she came here from Wallingford Community, several weeks after the accident, not only the nerves of her hand were essentially paralyzed, but the trunk nerve of her arm was paralyzed and caused her a great deal of suffering. It was as helpless as though completely paralyzed: she had not sufficient control over her hand to bend her fingers.

"That was her condition up to the time of the cure. I could not see from the time she came here to the time of the cure that there was any change for the better. I told her the first time I examined her hand that, according to the ordinary course of such things, she must not expect to get the use of it under twelve months, if she did then. At the same time I told her I would not limit the power of God.

"Her general health improved, but her hand caused her the acutest suffering. It would awaken her in the night, and oblige her to get up and spend hours in rubbing it and trying to allay the pain. If any one has had a jumping toothache, he can imagine something what her suffering was, only the pain extended over the whole hand and arm, instead of being confined to one small place like a tooth. I have known of strong men who had the nervous system of an arm similarly affected, who begged that their arms might be taken off, and have indeed suffered amputation rather than endure the pain.

"For some time before her cure there had been considerable talk in the family about faith-cures, and persons had talked with her on the subject, and encouraged her to expect to have such a cure as Harriet Hall did. Finally Mr. Noyes's interest was aroused, and he invoked a committee for her--not so much to criticize as to comfort her, and bring to bear on her the concentrated attention and faith of the family. She was stimulated by this criticism to cheerfulness and hope, and to put herself into the social current, keeping around as much as she could where there was the most life and faith. A private criticism soon after penetrated her spirit, and separated her from a brooding influence of evil that she had come under in a heart affair.

"Still she suffered with her hand as much as ever, up to the time of her sudden cure. A few evenings after this private criticism we had a very interesting meeting, and she was present in the gallery. The subject was the power of prayer, and there was a good deal of faith experience related, and she appeared the next morning shaking hands with every body she met. Now you see her washing dishes and making beds.

"_Mrs. A._--The morning she was cured I was at work in the hall, when she came running toward me, saying, 'I'm cured! I'm cured!' Then she shook hands with me, using the hand that had been so bad, and giving a hearty pressure with it.

"_Dr. C._--To show that the case is not one of imagination, I will say that the day before the cure she could not have it _touched_ without suffering pain. She had not been dressed for a week, but that morning she bathed and dressed herself and made her bed, and then went to Joppa.

"_Mr. N._--She came down to Joppa with her hands all free, and went out on the ice; I don't know that she caught any fish, but she attended the 'tip-ups.'

"_Mrs. C._--She said to me that she had attended to dieting and all the prescriptions that were given her, and got no help from them; and she had made up her mind that if there was any thing done for her, the community must take hold and do it.

"_W. A. H._--Let us be united about this case; and if it be imagination, let us have more of it; and if it be the power of faith, let us have more faith.

"_C. W. U._--Was Mrs. M. conscious of any precise moment when the pain left her in the night?

"_Mrs. M._ [the person who was cured].--After the meeting in which we talked about faith-cures, I went to my room and prayed to God to take the pain out of my hand, and told him if he did I would glorify him with it. The pain left me, and I could stretch out my arm farther than I had been able to since it was hurt. I went to bed, and slept until four o'clock without waking; then I awoke and found I was not in pain, and that I could stretch out my arm and move my fingers. Then I thought--'I am well.' I got up, took a bath, and dressed myself. After this my arm ached some, but I said, 'I am well; I am made every whit whole.' I kept saying that to myself, and the pain left me entirely. My arm has begun to ache nearly every day since then, but I insist that I am well, and the pain ceases. That arm is not yet as strong as the other, but is improving daily.

"_Mrs. C._--I have had considerable of that kind of experience during the last few years. For two years I raised blood a good deal, and thought a great many times that I was going to die--could not get that idea out of my mind. Mrs. M. talked with me about it, and told me I must not give up to my imaginations. I was put into business two years ago, and some days my head swam so that I could hardly go about, but I did what was given me to do; and finally I came to a point in my experience where I said, 'I don't care if I do raise blood; I am not going to be frightened by it; I had as soon raise blood as do any thing else.' When I got there my trouble left me."

I have copied this account at some length, because it speaks in detail of a quite recent occurrence, and shows, in a characteristic way, their manner of dealing with disease.

They profess also to have wrought cures by what they call "Criticism," of which I shall speak further on.

Concerning their management of the intercourse of the sexes, so much has been written, by themselves and by others, that I think I need here say only that--

1st. They regard their system as part of their religion. Noyes said, in a "Home Talk," reported in the _Circular_, February 2,1874: "Woe to him who abolishes the law of the apostasy before he stands in the holiness of the resurrection. The law of the apostasy is the law of marriage; and it is true that whoever undertakes to enter into the liberty of the resurrection without the holiness of the resurrection, will get woe and not happiness. It is as important for the young now as it was for their fathers then, that they should know that holiness of heart is what they must have before they get liberty in love. They must put the first thing first, as I did and as their parents did; they must be _Perfectionists_ before they are _Communists_." He seems to see, too, that "complex marriage," as he calls it, is not without grave dangers to the community, for he added, in the same "Home Talk:" "We have got into the position of Communism, where without genuine salvation from sin our passions will overwhelm us, and nothing but confusion and misery can be expected. On the other hand, we have got into a position where, if we do have the grace of God triumphant in our hearts and flowing through all our nature, there is an opportunity for harmony and happiness beyond all that imagination has conceived. So it is hell behind us, and heaven before us, and a necessity that we should _march_!"

2d. "Complex marriage" means, in their practice: that, within the limits of the community membership, any man and woman may and do freely cohabit, having first gained each other's consent, not by private conversation or courtship, but through the intervention of some third person or persons; that they strongly discourage, as an evidence of sinful selfishness, what they call "exclusive and idolatrous attachment" of two persons for each other, and aim to break up by "criticism" and other means every thing of this kind in the community; that they teach the advisability of pairing persons of different ages, the young of one sex with the aged of the other, and as the matter is under the control and management of the more aged members it is thus arranged; that "persons are not obliged, under any circumstances, to receive the attentions of those whom they do not like;" and that the propagation of children is controlled by the society, which pretends to conduct this matter on scientific principles: "Previous to about two and a half years ago we refrained from the usual rate of childbearing, for several reasons, financial and otherwise. Since that time we have made an attempt to produce the usual number of offspring to which people in the middle classes are able to afford judicious moral and spiritual care, with the advantage of a liberal education. In this attempt twenty-four men and twenty women have been engaged, selected from among those who have most thoroughly practiced our social theory." [Footnote: "Essay on Scientific Propagation," by John Humphrey Noyes.]

Finally, they find in practice a strong tendency toward what they call "selfish love"--that is to say, the attachment of two persons to each other, and their desire to be true to each other; and there are here and there in their publications signs that there has been suffering among their young people on this account. They rebuke this propensity, however, as selfish and sinful, and break it down rigorously.

III.--DAILY LIFE AND BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION.

The farm, or domain, as they prefer to call it, of the Oneida Community forms a part of the old Reservation of the Oneida Indians. It is a plain, the land naturally good and well watered; and it has been industriously improved by the communists. It lies four miles from Oneida on the New York Central Railroad, and the Midland Railroad passes through it.

The dwelling-house, a large brick building with some architectural pretensions, but no artistic merit, stands on the middle of a pleasant lawn, near the main road. It has some extensions in the rear, the chief of which is a large wing containing the kitchen and dining-room. The interior of the house is well arranged; the whole is warmed by steam; and there are baths and other conveniences. There is on the second floor a large hall, used for the evening gatherings of the community, and furnished with a stage for musical and dramatic performances, and with a number of round tables, about which they gather in their meetings. On the ground floor is a parlor for visitors; and a library-room, containing files of newspapers, and a miscellaneous library of about four thousand volumes.

There are two large family rooms, one on each story, around which a considerable number of sleeping-chambers are built; and the upper of these large rooms has two ranges of such dormitories, one above the other, the upper range being reached by a gallery. All the rooms are plainly furnished, there being neither any attempt at costly or elegant furnishing, nor a striving for Shaker plainness.

Above the dining-room is the printing-office, where the _Circular_ is printed, and some job printing is done.

Opposite the dwelling, and across the road, are offices, a school-building, a lecture-room with a chemical laboratory, and a room for the use of the daguerreotypist of the community; farther on to the right is a large carpenter's shop, and to the left are barns, stables, the silk-dye house, and a small factory where the children of the community at odd hours make boxes for the spool silk produced here. There is also a large and conveniently arranged laundry.

Somewhat over a mile from the home place are the factories of the community--consisting of trap works, silk works, a forge, and machine shops. These are thoroughly fitted with labor-saving machinery, and are extensive enough to produce three hundred thousand traps, and the value of over two hundred thousand dollars' worth of silk-twist in a year. Near these workshops is a dwelling inhabited by thirty or forty of the communists, who are particularly employed in the shops.

The farm has been put in excellent order: there are extensive orchards of large and small fruits; and plantations of ornamental trees shelter the lawn about the dwelling. This lawn is in summer a favorite resort for picnic parties from a distance. As Sunday-school picnics are also brought hither, I judge that the hostility which once existed in the neighborhood to the Oneida Communists has disappeared. Indeed, at Oneida all with whom I had occasion to speak concerning the communists praised them for honesty, fair dealing, a peaceable disposition, and great business capacity.

Their system of administration is perfect and thorough. Their book-keeping--in which women are engaged as well as men, a young woman being the chief--is so systematized that they are able to know the profit or loss upon every branch of industry they pursue, as well as the cost of each part of their living.

They have twenty-one standing committees: on finance; amusements; patent-rights; location of tenant houses; arbitration; rents; baths, walks, roads, and lawns; fire; heating; sanitary; education; clothing; real estate and tenant houses; water-works and their supplies; painting; forest; water and steam power; photographs; hair-cutting; arcade; and Joppa--the last being an isolated spot on Oneida Lake, to which they go to bathe, fish, shoot, and otherwise ruralize.

Besides these, they divide the duties of administration among forty-eight departments: _Circular;_ publication; silk manufacture; hardware; fruit-preserving; paper-box; printing; dyeing; carpentry; business office; shoe shop; library; photographs; educational; science and art; laundry; furniture; legal; subsistence; Wallingford printing; agriculture; horticulture; medical; incidentals; dentistry; real estate; musical; amusements; quarry; housekeeping; repairs; traveling; watches; clocks; tin shop; porterage; lights; livery; clothing; stationery; floral; water-works; children's; landscape; forests; heating; bedding; coal.

At first view these many committees and departments may appear cumbrous; but in practice they work well.

Every Sunday morning a meeting is held of what is called a "Business Board." This consists of the heads of all the departments, and of whoever, of the whole community, chooses to attend. At this meeting the business of the past week is discussed; and a secretary notes down briefly any action deemed advisable. At the Sunday-evening meeting the secretary's report is read to all, and thereupon discussed; and whatever receives general or unanimous approval is carried out.

Once a year, in the spring, there is a special meeting of the Business Board, at which the work of the year is laid out in some detail. At the beginning of the year an inventory is taken of all the possessions of the community.

Once a month the heads of the departments send in their accounts to the book-keepers, and these are then posted in the ledgers.

It is a principle with them to attempt nothing without the general consent of all the people; and if there is objection made, the matter proposed is put off for further discussion.

Shortly after New-Year, the Finance Committee sits and receives estimates. This means that each department sends in an estimate of the money it will require for the coming year. At the same time any one who has a project in his head may propose it, with an estimate of its cost. Thereupon the Finance Committee makes the necessary appropriations, revising the estimates in accordance with the general total which the society can afford to spend for the year. At or before this meeting the returns for the past year have been scrutinized.

All appointments on committees are made for a year; but there is a committee composed of men and women whose duty it is to appoint different persons to their work; and these may change the employments at any time. In practice, the foremen of the manufacturing establishments are not frequently changed. In appointing the labor of the members, their tastes as well as abilities are consulted, and the aim is to make each one contented.

The appointment of so many committees makes some one responsible for each department, and when any thing is needed, or any fault is to be found, the requisition can be directed to a particular person. Women, equally with men, serve on the committees.

They rise in the morning between five and half-past seven; this depending somewhat upon the business each is engaged in. The children sleep as long as they like. Breakfast is from eight to nine, and dinner from three to four; and they retire from half-past eight to half-past ten. The members do not now work very hard, as will appear from these hours; but they are steadily industrious; and as most of them superintend some department, and all of them work cheerfully, the necessary amount of labor is accomplished. Mere drudgery they nowadays put upon their hired people.

A square board, placed in a gallery near the library, tells at a glance where every body is. It contains the names of the men and women at the side, and the places where they can be found at the head; and a peg, which each one sticks in opposite his name, tells his whereabouts for the day.

There is no bell or other signal for proceeding to work; but each one is expected to attend faithfully to that which is given him or her to do; and here, as in other communities, no difficulty is found about idlers. Those who have disagreeable tasks are more frequently changed than others. Thus the women who superintend in the kitchen usually serve but a month, but sometimes two months at a time.

Children are left to the care of their mothers until they are weaned; then they are put into a general nursery, under the care of special nurses or care-takers, who are both men and women. There are two of these nurseries, one for the smaller children, the other for those above three or four years of age, and able somewhat to help themselves. These eat at the same time with the older people, and are seated at tables by themselves in the general dining-room. The children I saw were plump, and looked sound; but they seemed to me a little subdued and desolate, as though they missed the exclusive love and care of a father and mother. This, however, may have been only fancy; though I should grieve to see in the eyes of my own little ones an expression which I thought I saw in the Oneida children, difficult to describe--perhaps I might say a lack of buoyancy, or confidence and gladness. A man or woman may not find it disagreeable to be part of a great machine, but I suspect it is harder for a little child. However, I will not insist on this, for I may have been mistaken. I have seen, with similar misgivings, a lot of little chickens raised in an egg-hatching machine, and having a blanket for shelter instead of the wing of a mother: I thought they missed the cluck and the vigilant if sometimes severe care of the old hen. But after all they grew up to be hearty chickens, as zealous and greedy, and in the end as useful as their more particularly nurtured fellows.

In the dining-hall I noticed an ingenious contrivance to save trouble to those who wait on the table. The tables are round, and accommodate ten or twelve people each. There is a stationary rim, having space for the plates, cups, and saucers; and within this is a revolving disk, on which the food is placed, and by turning this about each can help himself.

They do not eat much meat, having it served not more than twice a week. Fruits and vegetables make up the greater part of their diet. They use tea, and coffee mixed with malt, which makes an excellent beverage. They use no tobacco, nor spirituous liquors.

The older people have separate sleeping-chambers; the younger usually room two together.