The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1865-08-22
[From the Neto York Timesl
LIFE AMONG THE SHAKERS AT LEB-
ANON
The Service.

Service commenced at 10 in the morning.
AT 9.45, the Shakers have all arrived at the
meeting-house-a large, plain building, paint
ed white, with green blinds, and kept within
and without with scrupulous neatness. The
architecture OF the building is peculiar, though
very plain. The audience room, or rather
dancing hall, is uncarpeted, the flooring skill
fully laid, perfectly smooth, and admirably
| adapted for the calisthenic exercises of the
Worshippers. On one side are the benches
for the community. They are plain unpaint-
| ed, though vanished benches. of lipht wood.
and resemble the forms in bows school
The men and women are separated, of course,
the men occupying the seats at one end, the
women at the other. In numbers, they are
about equally divided and the two sexes face
| each other as they sit, space of about ten
feet between the FORMS The women come to
meeting in three or fou-seated open wagons,
| drawn by two horses and driven by broad
nat. Ihelr Sunday costume is a white hoop
less dress, piece Of Shaker muslin over the
shoulder and pinned at the waist, and white
| Shaker bonnets trimmed with Shaker muslin.
In the distance they make very neat and
| pretty appearance, but once they are seen
near at hand, one is repelled by bony fo.ms,
hageard faces and big hands. They enter
| quietly, take of their bonnets, hang them on
pegs on the wall, and take their seats noise
leSsly on the forms. Meantime, the men are
entering. On tip-toe they walk over the
smooth, unexpected floor, to rooms at one end
OF the house, take off their hats, and bring
themselves into position on their benches. 1t
Is now time to commence worship; the raised
| seats provided for the worlds people are filled
| with well dressed and curious company
rom the Springs and adjacent towns; the wo-
men separated from the men, much to the
vexation of young lovers and the newIy-
weddede; verything is solemdly quiet, and
the hand of the clock points to 10
All the Shakers rise, get themselves in
TO parallel lines, the lines of men facing
those OF the women. A few moments of 81
lence, and hard-headed, hard featured old
Shaker steps into the space between be-
tween the stelid lines of males and females
and IN drawing, nasal tone expresses his
| Joy at meeting SO many of his brethren and
sisters; cOngratulates them upon being the
receivers Of so pure faith; alludes to their
great sacrifices and glorious triumph over the
nesh; and thus continues in rambling, stere-
otyped exhortation, embellished with frequent
grammatical errors for ten or fifteen minutes
He done, everything is silent again, until
after considerable pause, at some signal, all
step back, the benches are removed, the men
take OIL their coats, hang them ON pegs or in
the ante-rooms and form themselves into lines
lengthwise with the room, the women having
no outer garments to remove, having already
got into position on a continuation of the same
line. break occurring between the males and
females. The stripping off of coats reveals
lot of old-fashioned shad-bellied Waistcoats
which recalls the days OF the Purtans The
boys, OF whom there are twenty or more sur
burnt sober-iaced, repressed looking youngsters,
appear primly enough in the old costume All
are now ready for dance and song, and they
commence forthwith. Advancing and re-
treating, executing the donble-shuffle in amar-
yellously skillful manner for SO stif-iointed a
crowd; now clapping hands, they sing a mo-
notous, repetitious song in their own peculiar
manner.
The effect of a chorus of fifty or sixty
cracked female voices is not unlike the music
wood-sawyer makes in sharpening his saw.
1t is simply horrible. Nor are the mems vol
ces better. They call this dancing before the
Lord" Hgoing forth in the dances of them that
make merry" But it is an awful merriment.
if merriment it be- One is erminded of the
fun Punch made of Surgeons remark that
dancing might be well if ones partner were
not of a different sex, and of the very funny
picture it gave of an ideal Spurgeon ball, fat
greasy ministers dancing together in melan-
choly waltzes and with rolled-up eyes.
Not smile iEnmines the hard, wrinkled
features of either male or female Shaker. The
youngsters, who with difficulty kept awake
until now, must enjoy the gymnastics, but
their enjoyment has little opportunity for dis
play. Solemn old heads frown down the
slightest demonstration of nature, wicked
human nature, and so the boys faces are al
most as expressionless as their own. Now
and then, however, could detect furtive
smile and could see looks of suppressed merri-
ment exchanged.
After singing and dancing for several min
utes in this grave, monotonous. ludicrous fash
ion, all suddenly stop, drop their hands which
they have been shaking during their exercises
and, after another pause of few minutes
sister is moved to exholt, which she does in
cracked voice that CRATES harshly enough on
the ear. She is glad to be there. Her soul
has been elevated by this beautiful worship
She feels that she can sacrifice anything for so
pure faith. She enjoys seraphic peace, and
Is ready to endure persecution, repr0ach, ev-
cry thing for so spiritual a religion. And so
she drives on for ten minutes. A man SAYS
few words, and singing commences again. A
ring is formed around band of male and fe-
male singers, and the dancing and shaking are
more violent. One wonders how these feeble
old bones can stand so long-continued and SO
violent exercise, yet not more than two or
three fall out Of the ring, and they soon re-
turn to their places, having meanwhile cough
ed feebly, and had a moments rest by sitting
Poor old women, they probably think they are
in the path of duty, and perhaps they are
more harmless and useful as Shakers than
they would be as the goSSlpS and backblterS OF
New England village. And moreover they
make frst-rate apple-sauce, bnd the best of
butter, and thousand nick-nacks and orna-
ments for pretty girls at the Springs, and
amuse the young city people who go to see
them, and effectually prevent the spread of
their doctrines by showing in their own per-
sons how unnatural those doctrines are, and
how destructive Of everything that gives grace,
or beauty, or attractiveneSs to woman or to
domestic life.
Icare not how sadly the girl may have been
Tilted, how cruelty her young affections may
have been tri1ed with, how desperate she may
have become, no parent need fear. that she will
seek Shakers life of retirement from the
world, once she has seen the society in which
she would move, the dress she would have
to wear, the absurd worship she would have to
adopt. 1t therefore happens that these people
do not increase; that they, on the contrary, are
steadily declining in numbers.