The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1864-09-15
Thursday Morning, Sept. l5, 1864.
Pleasant Gossip.

AaSoe1As OoceAP'
AT Oneida, n. Y, is Community of Social
ists, and they publish an organ called the
"Circulsr," which, according 10 the published
terms, is "free to all who chose to pay for it,
A letter recently published In the Circular
gives in very funny style some account Of
the visitors to the Community there:
ENRAPTuREp VISITORS.
: We have described two classes of visitors to
the Community, the imaginative and the per-
picked. There is third which might be call
ed the enraptured. These are charmed by all
they see, and translated by what they feel. In
the house they say "Qh how neat-what or
derl is it so in every part9r Out of doors
they exclaim, "Paradisei the garden OF Eden
fairy land we want to stay forever 1t we're
vain to repeat the ordinations OF delight with
which visitors Of this kind embzrrass those
who may be waiting on them, Their compli-
shents are taken as compliments to Commun-
ism, for@we certainly do not strain ourselves
to be neat within, or to make things beautiful
around the house. Everything Of chat kind
soEies naturally to the strong, buoyant life OF
q large community. Then think. we have a
whole village of families here; but how much
less than village OF houses aud lawns to keep
Ia order, Why should we not hnd it eGsy 10
be nices do not have kitchen and dining
room and parlor and chambers, an attic aud
cellar and washroom and court, besides my
own room, all to take care of or oversee my
selL nealiy, madam, l am afraid l should
not be SO nice as you are In that case, for am
discouraged at the thought Here We have
one kitchen, one dining-room, one parlor, a
n~.t dozen. sitting rooms, and SO on, TO Any
housekeepers The rooals are large, but pro-
badly not eight times larger than yours So
with the garden aud lawn, and every depart
Elent, there Is less srouad, proportionally, to
10 over and more hands to help. We would
Undertake, with our means, TO save from ut
ter shiftlessness and dilapidation a common
scattered village of the same number OF Iamil-
ies that live together here. Eogeves. we DO
l0t 90 over all THIS reasoning with these en-
captured folks. They may think what they
admire is miracle, If they wish, for Commun-
ism is itself a miracle; though that it should
make everything beautiful around It Is not 4
lpracle, but the most natural thing in the
world.
We received call this morning from two
Spiritualist ladies. They were from the east,
and on journey TO attend convention Of
seme kind. Their exstacies suggested the
classification above land, forsooth, this eontin-
ualion OF our notes Of yisitors.) "How bless
ed such beautiful spiritl such peacsw u
felt it.n said one Of them, "the inement set
loot on tie grounds. Oh such heavenly,
baImy atmosphere so quietingln both pro-
fessed 10 be exceedingly impressible to spirit
ual Influences "There is quiet spirit at
the Shakers said they, "but it is liieless and
efieminate, not cheerful and strong, as here
~ feel Just as 90 when 90 into 4 trance"
said one, lifted up from the EARTH II can
imagine agi Ia the spiritland,n said the 9TH
er. We could not hear all this without some
confusion, for the community believe so diff
ferently from the Spiritualists in general that
little free talk we should be afraid would
have changed their feelings abopt the a.mos-
phere mere. Another good lady that came
and went all around on two crutches, even to
the top of the tower, declared that she should
90 home and tell her folks that she had seen
the garden Of Eden, where Adam and Eve
were born. II never expected to see that
said she, "blt have seen it,"
A girl who stood by when this speech was
repeated to ne naively observed, Il wonder II
she would think it was q paradise after she
had staid here awhile and gone through three
or four efitlcisms.n
We can readily conceive that the spirit OF
love which assuredly reigns here should I'm
press susceptible persons, and be 10 some ma
lures and moods like wine; and it is thus that
we account for the exhilaraion so often mani
tested, and for the illusions of beauty which
noat before The eyes OF the enraptured But
as the grape has to be crushed Tor the wine
and the flower sometimes Tor It's perfume, SO
all that is beautiful in our lie and atmosphere
Is the wine and perfume of crushed selfshness
the aroma Of natures that have known
the cross OF Christ, and It's sufierings and
losses.
With BIT of rural gossip quite worthy The
pen OF Ike Marvel, we close our extracts
from this odd and interesting little sheet.
Foor NOTES.
The fields are always good walking places
90 are the roads when the object OF your ex-
pedition Is distant; and so also are the street,
oi town. But man may not want TO walk
much where there are crowds OF men, and he
may prefer 10 60 much by himself among the
OAK trees and gold en-rods: still always like
TO feel the human element about me, and
have pleasure In all the signs of mans com.
ing and going. In this Old town it is no,
possible 10 escape these signs for an instant
Hall the forest trees are now growing from
Inc stumps ielt by some forgotten axe-man
And the most can learn about him is that he
was consderate man, that he always let his
wits precede the act Of his hand for hi.
stumps were all lett low 10 encourage ,hs
growth of new forest. What sort of a NAT
uralist is be who flies from society to nature
trying to ignore man? Men have their plac,
In nature, as well as the woodchucks, an,
their habits deserve to be studied even il W,
only succeed in looking upon them as bat
and moles, or at best as a colony of muskrat:
having wonderful providence and industry
tits because love this human element that
am ALWAYS glad of q chance TO walk in
THE FooTPATHs.
think Connecticut Is some what remarks
Bile for these signs of pedestranism. The
are to be found everywhere. The Quinnipa'
is good deal obs.ructed by dams which holl
the water back in ponds. Near these pond
are large shops, 10 which | see men at wor
IN the din and dirt. Feotpaths radlate fror
these working places, and stretch ava
through the fields or along the roadsides.
walk through these fields early enough o
late enough, meet solitary men whom | SUP
pose TO be the ones employed in these shops.
The amount of human interest that is strun
upon footpath like beads upon n string. !
Immense. ii the soes OF my feet ever itch 1
Is when | scoYer some new footpafh IN
least probability that It will lead me towar
my destination is enough TO allure me fro,
the right way The woodchuck's path lea,
ing out from his hole and heap of gravel int
the red clover, has interest; so has the mus
rats path, where Il goes down the bank ini
the water; but an old footpath in which me
and women and children have walked +
years, following its course up and down, in al
out, through the fields
These paths are seldom wide enough e
cept for one pair OF feet at a time. Tn
have been made by men who walked aor
and who for once were looking at thin
through their own eyes. If these bywa,
have ever been the scenes of much socialii