The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1875-01-02 00:00:00

TITE STOURBRIDGE OBSERVE

Roinilly, was the distinguished philanthropist and thus reducing it to 2d., and that this remission woitld made from both aides of the House of Commons—no
statesroan, who did so much to relieve the stringency ib2eoreacermapnadrue by a totallieepeal of thaadeueties op sugar, less from the Marquis of Hartington than from the
which
IrishodAttrez-General—that under no circumstances
cif our Penal Code. Previously to his elevation to accounted for nearly e six ncilliollensee'stelinge
Gladstone had left in the Exchequer Wore quitting reaolutitei orleagreirto any tpcltcyeewhaich endorse
11:13avany
a
the peerage, Lord Romilly was the only judge who
could legally sit in the Roust of C.omiosins—an expep- ofaee. Of the work nf the Sestsion, so far as legiela- tendency to the dismemberment of the emmpire.
The co ertial and trading prosperity of Great
tion having ben specially made in the case of the then lien was concerned, little can be said. The Judicature
Itaste..i.
of ay., sour—both
cal 94,ciatina of his awn
ttlrloand thetForflendly Societies' Bill were dropped Britain has suffered little diminution; capital d nos
merits, and because he here so illuatrious a name. He someuogifltLanrestritictiloens; aohrenieiiceweensilg Aecdt of 1g72; terprise still have full scope; and there has been a goo'
held the Mastership of the Rolls for the long period of another abolished Patronage in the Church of Scot- demand for labour. In some parts, as in 18.73, contests
twenty-two yet and came to be regarded almost as land, and one more transferred the powers of the
ultimately
higher_wages, which in some cases they
have taken place between masters and men, the latter
. Commissioners, after an unsuccessful attempt on the
an institution that dingy little court of his in Endowed Schools' Commissioners to the Charity
inarke.itiel: obstahmoLdworltt one resfectthtehezarsheaspeehn
. sp:lr!. of the Government to give it a much wider Chancery-lane. As the custodian of the State
Agricultural Labourers' Labourers' Irnion and the triumph of
the
.. But the measure which excited most atten-
papersr, he rendered valuable service in ha-7.
farmers in the long struggle which took place in the
jag these documents . ealendered and printed tio • as not a Ministerial one, but was the work of leisetefitacoteaties. _ The
_eient ea.i.f7ieve fisprice: olacoal has ceasetkee be
for the use of the historical stuelents. As a the la:: ch cif bishops. Its avowed !abject:was the finiz i
two ago, jawyka,ord Romiu £llb rdied 1A comparativeit earlyenpreee • o ,of Ritualistic practtees 'lf tFTChurch o .
.e hjelatlf etteh eomt to a y_ea-tir
there have not been those extraordinary
age. Lord Brougham was 89 when he died; Lord Enliliiinv?s,ioanned it gave rise too some stirring debates flu*ations. in the Market which characterised 1873, at
Lyndhurst was equally old ; and Lord Campbell was and comespironti per,aiinonthieiaJuiloynnienetsi ones Period (if which best Walliiikl was quoted at 545.
and meantime We are
I. approaching, a bill dealing with the dectrine of the per ton. Theshighest figure in 1874 was 38a, and this
79 when he- 'was ratvise Chancellor. But the most
extraordinary instance of legal longevity in modern csl sed lsesa sUddensrhie of Gs.,censeqneet upon-
ehnech-s-a subject v4ic,b the recent discussions ripen
, stiik. e-Ei,
...A& Durham i collieres., i adp Hy coming dowff
a. ras ao*
ni)te
tinies th ;is that -f Lord St. Leonard's, iintrS .Mlfsiiilkest with peculiar interest
rd's, who was-born agalu to ozo. ' Tha cal aild Iran itradea are indeed,
Februarys .1781, atad has lived amongst the children , •At s beginning of the year people were somewhat not so flourishing es they were twelve months ago, and
men within a fees weeks of 94 years. The American anxhic respecting the success of our expedition to
anotfeaesozahluactih. avida• g beelAiiredi.
difficulty
thedinsatilu- mitted to. Still., up the whole, our trade laved,
in many caiies a reduction of wakes has haerto he'sub-
the
gi,se and the wiirithig es are iii fur empl6ynient. The
Republic was then only five years old: it is now pre-
awreasklzirerapeene return-
.i-• a-a übhsilted
thbrietyop
operations when the rainy seas'otny of
meeenone.ebfy the Treasury,.
paring for its :Centenary celebration. Wellington and
Napoleon wee then little boys 12 years old; they the fith of January the naval brigade crossed thee.
were 46 when they fought the battle of Waterloo ; and Prah. This, with the other detachments,. eneounterA' lalY eXpresga Ms bLefe-ItihAent (It' 3t:l72oeukl- Exchequer
Napoleon, who died at the age of 51, has been in the the Ashanteas at Abrakampa and Arnosful and-havr: balanee,'althouifi it nirght ba a small one, on -thearv'e- 3-
grave 53 years- Lord Nelson was then a young fellow flg lrorsttoedc the say.ages,dSir Garnet Syolseley.pene- side, when he-,mketi kV financial etate-inent ~e
of three said twenty, who had scarcely been heard of ; 9.
the 6th of r'gruemealre' and destroyed it
eldiythore on House of Minions ilea A`pril. The monetary werld
lie was 47., when he annihilated the combined fleets of - a war indemnity or £200,000, agnd on the e 1P991 theas neroteheadf to bear up, mit was called upon to do at
France an:l Spain at Trafalgar, and he found his last of the same month Sir Garnet was back at which, it will
h 341,,
rennmdeell,,aN Nine
wPase r
,aeint,...Beank Ratet:
resting place in St. Paul's nearly seventy years Cape Coast castle, on his return to England. On under the figure which prevailed during leper cent.
ago. What a vast age—six years short of a Portsmouth;
21a! of March the
day-
.general landed at 1866. Aceiarding' to the present outlook, there is no
century! Mr. Disraeli, now in the seventieth year of -orteuth ; tyo, next ss visited, the Queen at question that our conimerce rests upon a substantial
Windier, and on the 30th thanks to the forces en- hag&
hl4 age, did not see the light until nearly a quarter gaged in Ashantee were voted in both Houses of
of a eentury after Lord St. Leman:ls. What a dif- Parliament. Sir Garnet was entertained by the Cor- The year 1874 has 'set at rest a doubt which had so
feeent place the world is now from what it was in- poration of London at the Mansion House, afterwards long
.huen(g Over the fate of one of' oni" inost die-
-1781 when William Pitt was Prime Minister, and receiving the freedom of the City and a sword of the u
angiulish , I
whmeniesitellileacorYuntavellers.. On tihtteidgrotlfi of
George 111. was Bing, who was then to reign nearly gentled oro2B'frof gthen4?)afderhoef Swt.alC3liliriaeser atnerilSwtiteotrhee d "
2 excitement of the generalllewcait or the Foreign Office
Living-
forty years more! How many Ministries have been by Her Majesty; and was voted R 25,000 by the received official intelligence of the death of Dr.
foamed, and how many Parliaments dissolved within Home of Commons for his services. Recent in- stone. He had died in the midst of his labours aslar
the limits of a single lifetime? And what dynastic telligence from the Gold Coast was to the effect that backthat as the 4th of May, 1873, and it was announced
changes! Louis XVI. was then comfortably seated slavery had been extinguished amongst the native .t hiesurtemtnsomwe ewreelenafoten thaaraveayhto England for
on the throne of France, and yet more than eighty true,
ees
no Englishman
tddirasahhouvlv.:Uts ynroeisiehet3
tboeLiermadneenttillye in
at Southampton, and a medical examination by liblyncigil
years have passed since that unfortunate Monarch and £BOO,OOO which was expended on the Asehantege ex- William Fergusson having proved beyond doubt that
Marie Antoinette were guillotined. One is indeed pedit'on seeing that the chastisement of li. they were those of the great explorer, the funeral
i , King 'Coffee . ,
took place in Westminster Abbey, amid every sign of
lost in wonder at the contemplation of a hundredth had such a beneficial result. public respect, on the 18th of April. His i Journals
part of the events which have been corapressed into Turning to France, we are presented with a country have just been given to the world, and a d eepi nly
the history of one man's existence, possessing a salubrious climate, a splendid geographical teresting chronicle Vy ie make The entriee ex L t-ncl.
position, and a fertile soil, made the prey of party fac- from the time Livitigstone 111.4 went out from this
to ',is den
-,lly L
' the..

cight- j .e.
tg- tli.r

iions, who contend for the mastery Ns;itli a viimlence of
political feeling totally unknown on this aide of the
Channel. In England the defeat of a party means only
the loss of influence and power; in France it too often
'carries with it banishment to the vanquished. Hence
the hatred which is there imparted into political strife,
and the violence with which the contending factions
grapple with nach other. It would be too long a story,
nor would our readers care to follow it, of the many
Ministerial crises which take place in France in the
course of a twelvemonth. It will be sufficient to say
that the powers of Marshal AlacMa.hon's Septenniate
still remain in force. Republicans and Imperialists
have intrigued to overthrow it, but so far in vain. The
latter have high hopes of their prospects, for the Prince
Imperial completed his eighteenth year on the 16th of
March last, and that, according to French law, is a
man's majority. Some late elections in France would
appear to indicate that the Napoleonic star will soon
again be in the ascendant; but he would be a bold
prophet who would venture to predict what might
happen even in six months amongst such a versatile and
unsettled people.
Crossing the Rhine, and glancing at the hereditary
foe of France, we find Prussia pretty much where she
was at the beginning of the year. The aged Sovereign
still rules over the restored Germap. empire, , and

country, in 1866, within a few days of his death,
when, worn out by 'dysentery, he was physically in-
capable of even the slightest exertion. Much of tlif
writing was deciphered only after great diffi-
culty. In many cases the juice of a tree had
to take the place of ink, and the entries were
made across old newspapers, which became saturated
with moisture either under the heavy dews of the
climate, or while the doctor was wading through
some of the, numerous marshes which intersected his
path. His name will long stand out as that of a man
of great ability, who might have lived at home in
ease and affluence, but who preferred to undergo
untold hardships in the cause of religion, no less than
in that of science. He went forth amongst savage
tribes, carrying in one hand civilisation, and in the
other the Gospel, and by opening up the vast conti-
nent into whose trackless wilds he had penetrated, he
hoped to give the death-blow to that system of slavery
which is still carried on upon the east coast of Africa,
and which is such an abomination to the hearts of the
'people of these islands. Livingstone died in the atti-
tude of prayer—a fitting posture for one whose life
had been
„passed in such a noble cause. •
Death, as usual, has been busy in the Legislature,
as well as amongst the less favoured classes. Giving
them in the order in which thr -died; we find that
_ _

Prince • Bismarck is even yet engaged in his struggle
with the Jesuits. The attempt upon his life, which
was made by a fanatic named Kullman, deservedly
failed, as all endeavours at a.q.‘a.ssinations should, and
the misguided wretch has been sentenced to fourteen
years' imprisonment. The closing days of the year
have furnished Berlin with a sensation in the shape
of the trial of Count Arnim, a former Ambassador to
the French Court, on the charge of abstracting some
official documents from the Paris Embassy. As Count
Arnim has long been known to be a staunch opponent
of Prince Bismarck's religious policy, this prosecution
_ . . .

the following membeis- of the house of Lords have
been thus removed :—Lord De Ros, Premier Baron of
England; Lord Colonsay ; the Marquis of Clanricarde;
Lord Kingaale, the Earl of Dalhousie, the Earl of
Egmont, the Earl 9f Annesley, Lord Thurlow, the
Marquis of. Deawnstpre, Lord Rossmore, the Duke of
Leinster, Lord Forester, Lord Sondes, Lord Kesteven,'
and Lord Romilly. The oldest was the Duke
of Leinster, who was 83; tie youngest was 'Lord
Rossmore, who was only 22. The House of Commons.
has lost Sir Montagu Cholmeley (North Lincolnshire),.
Baron M9,ver de Rothschild (Hythe), Lord George
- Ci leg'

is not regarded altogetger as behig confined to the
charge upon which it is ostensibly based. The
sentence of three months imprisonment upon the
Count seems generally to be regarded as a lenient one.
Spain is not much nearer a settled form of Govern-
ment at the end oftthe year than she was at the begin-
ning. On the 2nd of January the Cortes re-opened,
and on the following day the Ministry of Senor
Ctustelar was overthrown. A new administration was
then announced at Madrid, with Serrano as President
of the Republic. On the 10th, Carthagena, which had
withstood a siege of several months, succumbed to the
attacks of the Government troops, who formally
entered it the next day. Most of the twelve months
have been taken up 111 fierce conflicts between the
Republicans and the Carlists. On the 23rd of March
Marshal Serrano commenced to attack the followers of
D, Cart -,t Bilh- which was relieved on the 2nd

Manners (Oambridgeshire), Mr. ,bari. .Gilpin (NcTr-
thampton), Mr. John Laird (Birkenhead), and Mr.-
E. S. Davenport (St. Ives). The oldest of these
Members was Sir, M. J. Cholmeley, who was .72;
the younOst was Mr. Davenport, who was precisely
_half that age. Of men ,otherwise celebrated in
various walks of life our obituary list must Include
General Sir James Chatterton, Bart., Mr. James
Hannay, Consul-General for Catalonia; General
Berz Governor of Poland ; Madame Parepa-Rosa,
vocalist and operatic artiste; Mr. Adam Black,
publisher, and formerly Lord Provost of Edin-
burgh ; Captain Hans - Blake,
_commanclitg_ths.
nn Naval Brigade t"the riih to CO(Tmassie; Admiral
Thomas Gill; Baron Gablenz, Marshal in the Austrian
Army; General Sir John Le Marchant, formerly
Governor of Malta. And commander-in-chief at
Madras Dr. Straw the well-known nationalist

Jon , Los a ao,
of May, and Marshal Concha entered the city. On
the 15th a decree was published at Madrid, appoint-
ing Concha commander-in chief of the army of the
north; a position, which, however, he held but a few
weeks, for a sanguinary engagement took place in
which he was killed. The varying fortunes of the con-
tending forces have, however, come to be regarded
with but little intei est, for it is felt that no matter
which side may ultimately prove victorious, Spain
it still - in a state of anarchy and disorder.

,s,
Mr. Herman Merivale, C. 8., Under Secretary of
State for India; Sir F. Smith, inventor of the screw
propeller; General Sir Sydney Cotton, Governor
of Chelsea hospital; Mr. Shirley Brooks, editor of
Punch • Dr. Neill Arnott, Physician Extraordinary
to the Queen; Dr. Forbes Winslow; Mr. Millard
Fillmore, ex-President of the 'United States; Senator
Sumner; Sir W. Bodkin, assistant-judge of the
Middlesex &Batons; Owen Jones, artist and
decorator ; Prof Phillitas Gene.--,1 Sir Arch-

fessor

!nera

, _
de Wils'on, Bart.; Baron Van de Weyer, Bel-
gian Minister at the English Court; Sir Charles
Fox, engineer of the Exhibition of 1851; Miss
Agnes Btriekland, authoress ; Admiral Sir Wil-
liam Wiseman ; Right Hon. •A. Brewster, for-
merly Lord Chancellor of Ireland
_Dr. Sumner, for-
merly Bishop of Winchester; Kenny Meadows,
artist; John Henry Foley, R. A. , sculptor; Sir John
Rennie, engineer of New London Bridge; Sir Henry
Storks; M. Guizot, French statesman and author;
"Barry Cornwall," poet and author; Dr. Edwin
Lankester, coroner for Central Middlesex; and Tom
Hood, autilpr. Of the distinguished persons of all
countries who have died within the year, 47 were of
the age of 80 or more, while 9 were upwards of 90.
With a glance at the political contests of the year
which have taken place in addition to those at the
General Eledtion, we will draw to a dose. These
have been rather more numerous than usual, and
are as follows :—ln the city of -Oxford, through
the elevation of Mr. Cardwell to the peerage;
in the city of Galway, fret through the bcces-
sion of Viscount St. Lawrence to the earldom
of Howth, and secondly, through the unseating of Mr.
O'Donnell; in North Lancashire, through the elevation
of Celonel Wilson Patten to the peerage; in the Fal-
kirk beroughs, through a technical informality at the
Dissolution; in Louth county, in consequence of The
Callan having been returned for two constituenciee ;
in Preston, through the appointment of Mr. biker
to the office of Solicitor-General; in Hackney, through
the unseating of Sir Charles Reed and Mr. Helms; in
Wakefield, through the unseating of Mr. Green; in
Stroud, through the unseating of the successive mem-
bers elected ;in Dudley, where Mr. IL B. Sheridan
was again returned after having lost his seat through
mob violence on the polling day; in Mayo through
the unseating of its twomembers ; in Poole, daverfordr
west, Durham city,
_- Wigtown bin•ghs, North Durham,
Launceston and Kidderminster, through a :sitnilar
' cause; in Midhurst and Wenlock thronghthe accession
of their members to the peerage; and in Cambridge-
shire, Northampton, Birkenhead, and St. Ives, through
.the deaths of the representatives whom these consti-
tuencies se-virally sent up to Westminster when Mr.
Gladstone made his appeal to the country in the depth
of last winter.
We have endeavoured to trace, although necessarily"
with an imperfect hand, the chief incidents of the
twelve months. Some of these, although command-
ing attention at the time, will pass away from the
memory as the foam disappears from the crest of the
stormy wave; others will stand out in history as en
during as tile reeks against which the tempest beats in
vain. The year is one of mingled memories to thousands,
and as it passes away to join the long roll of its predeces-
sors,let us endeavour to efface from the mind any unhappy
- remembrances which have arisen during its progress.
"Life is earnest, passing by," and as disappointments
and discottragements ate forgotten, may the good re-
solutions which are inwardly formed at the beginning
of Use year be strengthened with the gradually
lengthening days; may 1875 be a tare of peace amongst
the nations, and of prosperity through earth's fair
lands; and when the midnight chimes shall ring out
the inevitable time of its departure, let 113 write its
sorrows in dust and its kindly reminiscences in marble!
• I
THE NEW FOREST "SHAKERS." ",

11 The Special Reporter of The Times, writing froth
T,ymington, gives the following interesting account of the
community of "Shakers
"The fate of this little community suggests 'two
questions—' How came they in a comfortable horne-
stead on the borders of the New Forest, living a life of
primitive simplicity, chiefly upon the produce of their
own land? And how is it that to-U-3i they:are dis-
possessed of their homestead, and huddled together in
a barn, idle, and apparently penniless? The story
must begin with a few passages in the career of Mrs.
Girling, once a member of the Wesleyan body, living,
I believe, at Ipsvrieh. Her narrative to me is sub-
stantially this :—For some time she had been devout-
minded, and nominally wider the influence of religion.
One day, however, she awoke to the conviction
that all previous professions and convictions had
been as naught. Grace came upon her with a.
fulness hitherto denied her. It was a sweet revela-
tion, filling her with a holy joy beyond all expression.
Moreover, she had visions. `lt was vouchsafed to
me to see a face as distinctly as your own—to hear a
voice telling me plainly that I should live to see the
Second Advent. It was not a phantasy, not a
dream, no dim shadowy creation of an overwrought,
disordered mind. Am I reasonable now? Do I
seem calm and undisturbed, speaking to you! .Then
. just as calmly, with just as little disturbance oT Mind.
and judgment, did I see the fake of thel/105t.421.
and receive the blessed ahanrance that this weak body
of mine should not see death.' ' Then her mission was
clear. She must proclaim the coming of Christ, and
exhort those who believed with her and in her to live
as behoved those who awaited this solen.n coming be
it near or far. She preached the Word nccordingly—
' to millions '— over great part of England. It was
borne in upon her that proselytes ;Must live as celi-
bates, and hold their goods in common' each. la-
bouring for the good of all • that they must be frugal
and temperate, avoiding all strou'g liquors, and prac-
tieing habitual kindness and goodwill one tower& the
other. After a time she fourded a community in
Loudon. But a London house afforded no fit place
•CILL
-

for the development of her system and the exercise of
faith. Land should be tilled;_ and, in another sense,
there mud be room to grow. Fortunately, one of the
sisters, Miss Julia Wood, was able to advance a part
of the funds necessary for the purchase of a small
farm of 31 acres at Hordle, in the New Forest, about
three miles from Lymington with a house of some
pretensions. The freehold and thepreliminary stock-
ing and furnishing cost over £3,1)00, of which sum
£l,OOO remained on mortgage at 6 per cent. It is this
mortgage, which broueht wreck and ruin on an indue-
trious, orderly society, whose aim was devout lives
and peace with all mankind.
"Such is the story told by Mrs. Girling. I spoke of
'wreck and ruin!' but these words :are used after the
flesh. The Shakers' faith is robkst and unshaken.(,
gle.yAe,_ ikellnat/hite happened nothing but mere
' temporary eclipse. 'The Lord will provide! '..'Why,
.then, should they be troubled? They are not troubled.
- Boards of Guardians, squires, parsons, farmers all
around them, county magistrates, and the county
police, are more puzzled, and seem in, far -
tribulatinn-about the "ejeatiejt ibti the -SlirL s, and
what is now to be done with the, than the 'Shakers
are themselves.". . .
After describing the ejectment, the writer pro-
ceeds :—" To-day I saw about 70 of the community in
barn lent for their shelter by ME-13eaziy. The barn,
'about 25ft. by 141 t., is littered with clean straw, and
is no* the abodely day and by night of these 70 men
an& women; the children and their teschesswith-
porno ,of- the older parr -being —furnished with beds
-elsewhere.- Three-to-x*6o of the .70 seemed to -be
wome'n.- Some -bed :been liftielitic servants; one
had been a Wesleyan class teacher; one was a widow ;
another had been five years with the community. Miss.
Wood,, a lady in manners and conversation, is as stead-
fast in-her allegiance to the sect as the humbleet mem-
-, her. For economy as well as Ooivertileile4 all wear
short dresses. Of the men there are a few hielthanics
—blacksmith, carpenter, shoem_aker, tailor—biit more
.agricukturalllabouteriCi At the Lodge air worked at
their separate callings for the ovum= good, and from
common report theirs must have been a well-regu-
.-lated, Inlay little hive. Upon the land they grew
many vegetables, but little corn, buying bread—not,
I fear, all the bread they wanted, but such at they
could afford. Although none of them can be said to
.be educated, those to whom I spoke answered my
questions intelligently and with a certain softness
and refinement of manner 'and language by no means
common to their class. In their talk with e ach
other you could trace the same influence, showing
itself in mutual deference and respect, and a quiet
cheerfulness which was pleasant to see. It is,
beyond doubt, a ' good . society' tone. The habit
is cultivated, Mrs. Girling said, and is soon commu-
nicated to new members. Wonderfully clean and
fresh all looked, considering that few of them had had
_their clothes off for more than a week. They were
more than contented; they were cheerful; and
in reply to a few questions, expressed unwavering
_trust in 'Mother '— as all call Mrs. Girling
—a fixed resolve to remain with her, what-
ever happens, an implicit confidence that they will be
cared for, and a disposition to make light of a mere
passing trial. Remembering all the hardships they
have undergone, their scanty fare and doubtful future,
one cannot but feel that, however miserably mistaken
these poordeople may be, the source whence their
cheerful trifirproceeds must be a pure one. For days
past they have lived chiefly on vegetables, with very
little bread, washed down with a great deal of tea. I
doubt whether they ate much more daintily even when
in the Lodge. Yet the women look particulary well-
fed and well-favoured. The men are paler, thinner,
and seem wanting in stamina. Harder work with
no better support may cause this difference. For
economy's sake they bought no meat, even when
they flourished in the Lodge; and as to the few
pigs they kept and killed, what were these amene
so many? Notwithstanding the pallor of the
men, one or two declared, as many of the women did,
that their health was never so good as it had been
since they joined the Society—a, fact which enggests
that English people must suffer from over rather
than from under-feeding. They boasted that, ex-
posed as they had been on the night they wandered
to and fro in the rain, no an ache or a cold had
been suffered by aril of them. It was another proof
that 'Mother ' was a chosen leader; another sign
that she and they were under special protection;
further encouragement to hope, or rather to rest
assured, that for them all was ordered for the
best. Then they were buoyed up by a still
more astounding belief—namely, that they will
share the ' Mother's ' immunity from death, and
will see the Second Advent _in the flesh with
her. The history of him= credulity in Eng-
land can supply few_ more striking instances
than this. Weak vessels' occasionally fall away
from_the flock under the trials to which.they are
exposed-, but, then, the full grace of the true believer,
the faithful say, can never at any time have entered
into them. As a rule, men and women, girls and boys,
show wonderful subordination, and a love for their
leader which must bee ineompatible with fear. One
instance of her influence theard from no friendly sources.
An adult male who wished to leave the Societf. sought
the intervention of the police for the purpose of reclaim-
ing his property from the common stock. But when
his little package was made up and he went to say
• gOod-bye to 'Mother,' his heart sank, arid he returned
like a lamb to the fold. The police ofthe magistrates
at Lymington sometimes receive letters from parents
asking them to send back
,sons or daughters who
• have joined the community. .Many of the members
come from Suffolk; and, a day or two since, a respec!--
able farmer from that county came here in search of
his two daughters, one a girl of seventeen or eighteen,
another two or three years younger. On his way
towards the Shakers' barn be met the elder daughter.,
and insisted that she should return. She refused, and
her screams brought three or four male Shakers to her
assistance, the father,...on isis aide;-being helped by
some passers-by. Finally, the father w.as able to take
the girl away. On going- afterward's to the barn to
look for her sister, she oould not be found; the news
must have reached the community, and the father had
to rest satisfied with his one capture.
"Mrs. Girling.is a woman of about 43, quick of eye,
ready of tongue, witn a prepossessing manner, and a
willingness to talk to all comers. She repudiated the
name of Shakers. Did the doctrines and practice of
her people, then, differ from those of the American
Shakers? Yes ;she was the founder at this sect, and
the name she claimed for it was 'Bible Christians.'
Their faith was founded wholly on the Bible. Since
the revelation to her she read no other book and
wanted none. .Miss Wood, who has visited the pros-
perous Lebanon settlement in America. distinguished
between the doctrines of the two sects; The American
Shakers believe in Christ only as a prophet and a great
man; the followers of Girling believe in him as God-
man. On the other hand, dancing, celibacy, and com-
munity of goods are common to both sects, and
it will not be easy for the New Forest Shakers toshake
off the name. The dancing seems to have given rise
to a stupid belief that Mrs. C-irling's influence over
her followers is due to animal magnetism. Some of
them, according to the Mother,' show in their
devotions the gift of tongues, prophecy, and sing most
beautifully. As to the other exercise, they praise
God in the dance.' She speaks with perfect good
humour of the charge of insanity, so unjustifiably made
against her. Two hundred and fifty years ago they would
have burnt her as a witch. The modern equivalent
seems to be imprisonment as a lunatic. Admitting
that the world probably thinks her an impostor, she
received with equal good humour the suggestion that
she might he one of those unconscious impostors of
'whom religious history is full: As she herself allows
she is a woman of no education, and her attempts to
justify and establish her position owe whatever success
they command to her perfect confidence in herself
and her mission. Doubts on this point she
treats with the easy tolera,n,ec*. of people whose
position is sure. She does• not, she explains,
attempt to fix the time of Christ's coming ; ,all
she declares is that, whenever it maY•happen,4she
will be present in the flesh. The Bible tells us
•that such an event will come to pass. It may
come to pass any day. How, then, can you prove her
wrong in saying that she will live to see the day?
Then has she not the evidence of eyes and ears, the
evidence of her whole spiritual being, to prove her
revelation? Men and women leaving the body
have set on foot reports that dancers of both sexes
sometimes take off their clothes. Mrs. Girling pod-
tively denied that this was ever done by direction,
though she did not deny that in rare cases por-
tions of clothing had been taken off in dancing
when the people were under great excitement. Sin
and shame, she said on another occasion, came into the
world together, but she entirely denied any indecency
in worship or otherwise, and said that great care was
taken to keep the sexes apart, and to make their life
pure and blameless. Such was the tenour of her reply
to the only charge I have heard made against the com-
munity. As I left the farmyard the voices of the
Shakers were blending harmoniously in a favourite
hymn, written by one of the women. I asked for the
manuscript, and perhaps by printing it, you will allow
your readers to judge for themselves of the hopes and
simple devotional feeling of these poor people :