Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1876-09-21

The old bunker women have the
peacefulest, prettiest faces | ev-
er saw on an old lady. The fa-
ces ofthe women fromthe young
est to the oldest, are all SO fair
and sweet-looking. There sat
a venerable grandmother with
snowy hair and calm, fair face.
Beside her a beautiful young
mother with her baby, the cum
ningest little bright-eyed Dun
ker baby, perfect picture of
the Madonna and child. And,
if you'll believe me, even that
Bunker baby wore on its face,
the bunker look of ineffable
calm, and peace too.
You won't be surprised that
the bunker sisters faces look
fair and unwrinkled and sweet
tempered, when / tell you how
they dress. Their drcss-up
church custom, is a plaln-cut
calico dress and capey and a gray
calico sun-bonnet. The mems
dress is Of the very plainest cut,
too. Only think of it, friends.
Suppose we could, one and all,
suddenly cut away everything
cumbrous and uncomfortable
from our dress and from our
lives, and have no more over
skirts, bustles, ruffles, tight
boots, tight dresses, tight coats,
tight heads or corn doctors; no
pearl powder, false hair, false
smiles or false hearts, no worry
and heartache and scheming to
dress as well as this woman or
that one, and no wicked spite
or envy in our hearts because
we can't do it; suddenly to
throw all this rubbish aside for
ever, and simply be natural and
comfortable! Ihe very thought
OF it makes a woman's heart
ache to fly away and be a Dun.
ker sister too.
1t must be something in the
peaceful, simple lives of these
women which make them so
pleasing to look at. 1t appears
to me | never saw so many silk
dresses together in my life as l
saw in Cincinnati congrega-
tion last Sunday, and yet,among
all those elegant ladies, [ failed
to see one face as serene and fair
and pure as the faces of many
of the bunker sisters that Sun
day in the rude little church. :
1t must be some hidden spell,
too, in a straight, light calico
dress and gray sun bonnet, for
the younger bunker girls, who
mostly wore the worlds dress,
looked coarse and commonplace
beside their mothers in the Dun
ker costume.
Their church music might be
improved, decidedly. They
read chapter or two from the
Bible, and pray, and sing sever
al lhymns in the course of their
worship. They line all of their
hymns in IL sort of nasal sing
song. In their selection of
church tunes, the doleful long
meter minors appear to be the
prime favorites, from some reas-
on whichitis hard to understand,
as one can not exactly see why
long-meterminor sang through
the nose could be more accepta-
Bile to God than Beethoven's
symphonies. The bunker
hymns are, perhaps, more point
ed than poetical. Here are two
lines Of one they sang, l remem-
ber:
He shall be saved who trusts my word,
And damned who don't believe"
There was much Bible reading
in the course of the service. The
Dunkers think they cannot i'm
prove on the Bible much, and the
sermon itsell was quite secondary
to the Bible reading. 1t was not
a sermon calculated to call more
attention to the preacher shan to
the sui;ect, being only a mild,
simple revereai;al exhorter. One
point about them impressed me
mere grandiy than anything else.
That WAS their generous and CON-
plete federation of other peoples
opinions. I never observed any
thing like it in Christian church
before. This gentle, kindly spirit
of federation comes out every
where among them. In their ser
mons and exhortations, when a
speaker made a statement about
which there could be any discus
sion, he always asked this: eff
any brother thinks differently, let
him speak his mind" They do
not make hard, aggressive state
ments of their opinions, and then
set in and abuse those who differ.
They always give full weight and
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