The Hawaiian gazette., 1881-11-23
Aalraiialr C6azttte.

composed by Shakers. The music was sweet
and vivacions and we'll adapted to stimulate
rythmic motions of the body. The words
were so perfectly appropriate to the occasion
that thew might as we'll have been sung at
regular Spiritualist circle as at Shaker meet
ing What followed l need not rarrate in de-
tail. All newspaper readers have read &C
counts Of so-called naturalization seances.
This and the one that took place the same
evening, when the room was packed with 200
men and women from the different Shaker
families here, were chiefly interesting to Inc
from the fact that the Shakers had prepared
the dark closet and regulated the conditions"
and might be supposed to be innocent of any
conspiracy to defraud themselves. Ont of the
closet into which Eddy went came numerous
MISUNDERSTANDING forms with shadowy faces,
one by one, with intervals of hymn-singing
between, remaining some a minute and some
five CT six minutes. They varied in size from
a child Of FIVE or six years to a big, brawny,
black bearded, six-foot man, q head taller
than the medium, who could hardly get out of
the low door. The men were arrayed in re-
spectacle black suits; the women were in
white, with a variety of colored shawis.
Some made short speeches on religious mat
tiers, taking evident care TO commend the
views of the Shakers; others spoke few
words in strained, husky voice; still others
did not speak at all, but only pointed to some
person in the audience. But how did the
Shakers take it? With implicit faith in its
for the most part An exception
was the doctor of the community, who had
been reading about abnormal phases of mental
action and had his reservation of doubt. There
was also an old brother who, talking next day
al l. hnIa
himself; but not on this particular exhibition
Of it. After the night seance was ever a
group of Shakers gathered on the lawn back
Of the main dwelling and told of their own
experience with the mysterious powers. One |
Of them had lifted heavy tables to the ceiling |
oy touching them with the tips of his fingers, |
another had hcen helped 10 do two mems work |
n the bayfield, without fatigue, and had writ |
EN- all night and gone to the fields fresh next |
morning another had been converted to
by conversations with angels. They
we're all serious, earnest men of more than
ordinary intelligence.
Perhaps l ought to apologize for plunging
he reader into this bath of Spiritualism. |
vas dipped in it myself OH short notice, in
ort of wily-nilly fashion, as soon as l
rrived, but | promise TO escape from it
peedily and take observations of the custom
ry ways Of living and thinking of these pc
uliar people. Their friendly hospitality is
harmng: their careful, systematic co-opera-
i've agriculture is worth serious study; their
eligiou, with its belief in dual God and in
,male manifestation of the Christ principle,
iques curiosity; and the strict celibate lives,
We without the aid of walls or bars or fasting
re wonderful defiance and contradiction of
AZURE. They furnish the solitary notable ex-
mple of long-exisung prosperous communism
the civilized world, and they are the only
'mmunal organization where the sexes live
,gether in the same buildings, eat in the same
IONS, and join in social and religious exer-
SEES, and yet sHbdue and sacrifice the instinct
sexual love aud the ties of family. e. V.
in NJ Y TJ.ib,,ug