The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1875-01-16 00:00:00

and admittance. The children were grouped on the
floor in the centre, looking very clean and bright,
though one or two of them were suffering from severe
colds—one little fellow appeared to be sickening with
whooping cough. They were attended to with great
kindness by the women. The Shakers were arranged
at each end of the barn; some far back were reclining
on straw, but there was plenty of sitting accommoda-
tion. The women were mostly on the side of M.
Girling, who sat with the organist against the door.
The opening hymn was hardly concluded when one of
the sisters, a young person about twenty years of age
commenced dancing, though dancing is not a proper
word to describe the action. She rose up from her
seat, her body swaying (not ungracefully), her hands
alternately rising and sinking, her feet moving
gently, her eyes fixed with an ecstatic expres-
sion, her breath drawn with many sighs and apparent
difficulty, and exclaiming in a hushed voice, Oh,
Jesus ! " Praise, praise ! "He is coming ' While
this was going on the young lady organist was on her
knees praying aloud, the congregation joining with
great fervour in her petitions. She prayed withmuch
fluency and devotional feeling, and it was impossible
to listen to her low, sweet voice without being tonched
with the earnestness and purity of her prayer. The
dancing girl continued her strange exercise during the
greater part of the prayer, when, becoming exhausted,
she was led to Mrs. Girling, who soothed her into
quietness; she then sat down, her face suffused with
the excitement she had undergone. The first prayer
over, another female followed with a prayer of a
remarkable character. She was apparently an un-
educated person, but her language and fervour
carried everything before her. This common-looking
woman seems to possess the spirit and power of a pro-
phetess, and only needed occasion to rise to a high
pitch of eloquence. After this another hymn was
sung, and Mrs. Girling preached. Her text was 1
John, c. iii., v. 1 ; but the sermon was a running com-
mentary on theoentire chapter. Setting aside her
startling doctri,m2 , tat she has had visions of Christ,
and an assurance that she will never die, but will re-
main on earth till the Saviour ,appears, and that she '
has been chosen to announce His second coming to
mankind, there was nothing in her sermon to find
fault with, and very much worthy of all praise.
The peculiarities were earnestness and what one
may call godly sincerity and plainness, shrewd
sense, great command of Scripture, homely and
telling illustrations, and strong insistance on
the utmost purity of life and conduct. Her words
are unpolished enough, her grammar equivocal,
her reasoning occasionally childish and vague—but
her unquestionable sincerity 'had intense earnestness
must be felt by every listener. She does not profess
to be the only exponent of truth in the world, but
believes herself and her people one of the various
bodies of religionists who carry on the work of God
amongst men. Altogether it was a good sermon.
Several strangers were present, all of whom spoke
well of what they heard. The service concluded
with singing and prayer. Two rooms adjoining the
barn are set apart for the children, about thirty
of whom we afterwards :saw at their simple dinner
of, what appeared to be huge slices of bread
and butter. One room is their school and dining-
room, both are used for sleeping. The children
have five or six female teachers, who treat them
kindly, and keep them very clean and neat. The
little people look very happy and bright. The female
Shakers have an appearance peculiar to persons who
live in much religious excitement—pale faces, and an
anxious, distracted kind of look. There are many
Shakers who belong to what are called the respectable
classes of society, and who have been used to the com-
forts and some of the elegancies of life, but they seem
to endure with fortitude the disagreeables of their pre-
sent existence. Their kindness to each other, their
cheerfulness under great troubles, constancy in suffer-
ihg, and unbounded confidence in their leader, prove
them a remarkable people."