The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1871-08-12 00:00:00

THE "SHAKERS" IN LONDON.

On Sunday evening a very large congregation
assembled in St. George's-hall, Langhamplace, London,
under the presidency 4-4 Mr. Hepworth Dixon, for the
purpose of hearing "Eider Frederick W. Evans," of
the " Shaker" community settled at Mount Lebanon,
in North America, "discourse upon the principles of
his order." This order, as he incidentally told the
me-Aing, was founded a little less than a century ago
by Ann Lee, a woman who saw many visions, and who,
having been imprisoned and nearly starved in her cell
at Manchester, crossed over to America to found a new
religion, or rather to revive there the principles of early
revelation.
'lle proceedings were commenced with a hymn,
"The Day is Breaking," and a short prayer, after
which Mr. Hepworth Dixon introduced " Elder
Frederick" to the meeting with a few words expressive
of the pleasure which he had felt some years ago in
visiting Mount Ephraim, and seeing with his own eyes
the well-or,lered community of the. Shakers, and
the peace, contentment, plenty, and morality which
reigned among them, where they had "made the desert
smile."

The Elder, who is a fine tall, ascetic-looking man,
a little over 60 years of age began his discourse by
saying that he had commenced life as a materialist,
but that some 40 years ago he had visited the Shaltecs,
and, touches! with the spiritual nature of their lives, haAl
thrown in his lot with them. He said that they were
what might he termed religious communists ; that they
lalsowed with their own hands abstained largely from
animal food, practiced celibacy, hail no lawyers, and
no doctors, and tried to serve God by lesufing lives
of usefulness to their brethren. They considered
that man and woman were equal, and to the
inequality of the sexes here, and to the exclu-
sion of woman from the Legislature, they ascribed
the existing evils under which English society lain awed.
There was a principle of duality in everything,---yes,
even in the Piety, trust as sure as there was a Kin., of
liteaven, so surely was there a Queen of Heaven ales.
He then proceeded to (Ibsen., in mnsiderable
the leading doctrines of the Bible, including the fall of
Adam and Eve, which he awribed, not to the eating of
a forbidden apple, Nat to the indulging of forbalen
sensual appetites ; and argued that SOUR, restraints
ought to be placed on marriage, so that it shonlsl attain
. its proper end, lie urged that both the fall and the
other doctrines of the so-called Christian scheme
ought to lse taken in a spiritual and not in a carnal
sense ;anilin a like manner he maintained that we should
understand in a spiritual sense much of the history of
Jesus in the Gospels who was the first of ascetics and
in principle a "Shaker." Passing back to the Ohl
, Testament, he nrgA that Moses was the first of social
I reformers and the most foresighted of rulers, and that
in Isis management of the buitelitiah "camp" in the
wilderness he showed himself worldly wise awl also an
I enlightened CI rninunist. lirurged, also, that a oanmst-
, nistie spirit pervaded the legislation of Moses, cope-
! daily in respect of the Sabbatical year, an din
d n the
terminal abolition of debts and of slavery. He
followed this up by stating that out of the religiou4
bodies known in England the " Quakers " were those
, who most nearly approximated, as in name as, also in
character, to the 'Shaker" community, as being lovers of
I race'harp sony, sobriety, chastity, and of non-resistance
sy war;adding that both England as acountryand Lon-
don as a great eityhad need to reform their social code
! and habits of life, and warning his hearers that other
empires and cities as large and as powerful as our own
had perished by the sword. It would be well for Eng-
land if she would trust less in the sword and more in
God, and do more to cultivate the life of God's spirit,
which alone could make a people happy and contented,
and secure strict justice between man and man.
The speaker was loudly cheered at various points in
his discourse, which, though it lasted an hour and a half,
Was listened to with marked attention.
A vote of thanks to "Elder Frederick" terminated
the proceedings • and it was announced that a new
journal named die Shaker had been started to advocate
tht . views of his co-religionists.