to improve the subject still farther, or have | appear to be these: that future happiness any remarks relative to the topic to make, is only attained by penance and outward is at perfect freedom to express them. mortification in this life; and that Jesus Prayer and singing, with the reading of a Christ, by his meritorious sufferings bepsalm, instead of a benediction, conclude came the Redeemer of mankind in general, the service. At another time, and in an- so each individual of the human race, by other place, I may enter into a full expo- a life of abstinence and restraint, may sition of the principles and ordinances of work out his own salvation. Nay they this Society, and exhibit at length their go so far as to admit of works of superedoctrines, and the grounds on which they rogation, and declare that a man may do are predicated. much more than he is in justice or equity obliged to do, and that his superabundant works may therefore be applied to the salvation of others;" and a great many other things equally ridiculous and unfounded. The account in that book is a tissue of misrepresentation, unworthy a place in a work of that character. This Society has been much misrepresented by writers who know but little of them, and mostly draw on their imaginations and the libels of the persecutors of the Society, for the principles of this people. In a short notice of Ephrata in Gordon's Gazetteer of Pennsylvania, drawn from an account published by one not very friendly to the Society, in the Transactions of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, several errors were inadvertently and unconsciously promulgated by the respected author. The good and devout Founder is represented as a crafty, designing usurper of ecclesiastical authority, and as assuming titles, honors, and power. This is not the place to enter into a full refutation of these charges, which are without foundation, and could only have originated in gross ignorance, or shameful wickedness. Beissel, who had been educated in the Calvinistic faith, left Europe that he might enjoy freedom of opinion in America; he withdrew from the Society of Dunkers at Mill Creek, because his views on the sabbath produced some dissension; and after he was drawn from his seclusion by love for those who came and settled around him, and entreated his ministry, he devoted his whole life and property to advance the welfare of the Society; giving the management of the secular affairs entirely into the hands of others, while he gave his attention wholly to instructing them in the Word of Life, and establishing the gospel in its truth and simplicity. The titles of "Father," and "Gottrecht," were conferred upon him by his brethren, and were not a presumptuous assumption of Beissel. Their principles are equally misrepresented in that as well as most other English accounts of the Society. In Buck's Theological Dictionary we are told, that "the principal tenets It is not one of their customs to wear long beards, as is frequently said of them; this is more the case with the Dunkers and Menonists. They are often represented as living on vegetables, the rules of the Society forbidding meats, for the purpose of mortifying the natural appetite, and also as lying on wooden benches, with billets of wood for pillows, as an act of penance. The true reason and explanation of this matter is, that both were done from considerations of economy. Their circumstances were very restricted, and their undertaking great. They studied the strictest simplicity and economy in all their arrangements: wooden flagons, wooden goblets, turned wooden trays, were used in administering the communion; and the same goblets are still in use, though they have been presented with more costly ones. Even the plates, off which they ate, were octangular pieces of thin poplar boards, their forks and candlesticks were of wood, and also every other article that could be made of that material, was used by the whole community. After they were relieved from the pressure of their expensive enterprise in providing such extensive accommodations, they enjoyed the cot for repose, and many others of the good things of life; though temperance in eating and drinking was scrupulously regarded. And it may be well to remark, there were not any ardent spirits used in building the whole village, the timber of which was hewn, and all the boards sawed by hand during the winter months. The Society was a social community, and not a cold, repulsive, bigoted compact; though it has been sometimes represented as reserved and distant, its members not giving an answer when addressed on the road. Morgan Edwards, in his "Materials towards a History of the American Baptists," (published in 1770,) bears a different testimony; he says: "From the uncouth dress, the recluse and ascetic life of these people, sour aspects and rough manners might be expected; but on the contrary, a smiling innocence and meekness grace their countenances, and a softness of tone and accent adorn their conversation, and make their deportment gentle and obliging. Their singing is charming; partly owing to the pleasantness of their voices, the variety of parts they carry on together, and the devout manner of performance." And of Beissel, he gives the following character, which he says he had from one who knew him well. "He was very strict in his morals, and practised self-denial to an uncommon degree. Enthusiastic and whimsical he certainly was; but an apparent devoutness and sincerity ran through all his oddities. He was not an adept in any of the liberal arts and sciences except music, in which he excelled. He composed and set to music (in two, four, five, and seven parts) a volume of hymns, another of anthems. He published a dissertation on the fall of man, in the mysterious strain; also a volume of letters. He left behind him several books in manuscript, curiously written and embellished." One writer has made a reinark, as invidious as it is unfounded, on the sisterhood, in stating that, "the sisters, it would seem, took little delight in their state of single blessedness, and two only (aged and ill-favored ones we may suppose) continued steadfast in renunciation of marriages." They never had to renounce matrimony on entering the convent; and but four or five of the whole number that have been in the cloister, in the period of one hundred and ten years, left and were married. One of these married a gentleman in the city of Philadelphia, and afterwards much regretted her change, as did all others who left the "stille einsamkeit." The rest continued steadfast in that state of single blessedness, and now, save those remaining in the convent, lie beside each other in the beautiful cemetery in the fore ground of the village. These little things would not be consid ered worthy of any notice, but from fresh currency which has been given to them by a late popular work, which is extensively circulated throughout the State. We conclude our notice of the gratuitous aspersions, by a few words in reply to the charge of their denying the doctrine of original sin, and the eternity of punishment. They do not hold that Adam's fall condemns indiscriminately all born souls, for many are born and die without sinning; but they admit and teach, that in the fall of Adam alt disposition to good and holiness was lost, and that the whole race inherit a natural innate depravity, which will lead them to sin, and prove their sure condemnation, unless they repent, and are born again of the Holy Spirit. Beissel wrote a book on this subject, which is as curious as it is ingenious. He enters into long disquisitions on the nature of Adam and his capabilities, before the fall; explaining many things of the fall, and with it elucidating several parts of the Scriptures, which have, and would easily escape the attention of men of less profundity of genius. His views are somewhat mysterious, yet deep and ingenious, but in the present day would be deemed little more than refined speculations, sublimated into visions. But none go to deny the depravity of the human heart, and the sad consequences which the fall of Adam has entailed on every succeeding generation, unless each creature be regenerated and born again through the sanctifying influence of the Holy Spirit. They do not believe in universal salvation in the usual acceptation of the term, but they teach the sure reward of submission and obedience to the requisitions of the Lord, through the mercy of God in Christ Jesus; and believe fully in the punishment of transgression; for "the wages of sin is death"-death to the joys of heaven, and an exclusion from the presence of the Lord; "Cast into utter darkness, where there is weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth, where the fire is never quenched, where the worm never dieth." The idea of a universal restora- | of his regard, had a tract of five thousand tion did exist among some in the early acres of land surrounding Ephrata, surdays, and it is to be attributed to attempts veyed and conveyed to them, as the to explain the fifteenth chapter of the first Seventh Day Baptist Manor; but they epistle to the Corinthians, and the twen- refused to accept it, believing that large tieth chapter of the Revelations, and re- possessions were calculated to engender concile some other parts of the Scriptures. strife, and as more becoming to Christian It, however, is never taught as a doctrine, pilgrims and sojourners not to be absorbed but is always approached with the greatest in the gains of this world and the accucaution and delicacy, by their pastor in mulation of property. After the battle private conversations with the members, of Brandywine the whole establishment who desire to be instructed upon this sub- was opened to receive the wounded Amerject; and who invariably admonishes icans, great numbers of whom were them to be diligent in making their calling brought there in wagons, a distance of and election sure; to be prepared for the more than forty miles; and one hundred first resurrection and not to depend on a and fifty of whom died, and are buried second. on Mount Zion. Their doors were ever open to the weary traveller, and all visitors were cordially received and entertained, while they tarried, as is done in the hospices of Europe. They gave all the necessary supplies to the needy, even their own beds, and to stripping their own backs to afford some shelter from the "peltings of the pitiless storm," to those who were exposed to the weather in inclement seasons. Though they considered contention with arms and at law unchristian and unbecoming professors, yet they were decided Whigs in the Revolution, and have, unfortunately, had to defend themselves too frequently in courts of justice. To set an example of forbearance and Christian meekness, they suffered for a long time to be wronged and plundered, until forbearance was no longer a virtue. In the French war (the war of 1756,) the doors of the cloister, including the chapels, meeting room, and every other building, were opened as a refuge for the inhabitants of Tulpehocken and Paxton settlements, then the frontiers, from the incursions of the hostile Indians, all of whom were received and kept by the Society during the period of alarm and danger :-upon hearing of which, a company of infantry was despatched by the royal government from Philadelphia to protect Ephrata; and on representation of the character of the Society, by the commissioners who were sent to visit the place, the Government made them a present of a pair of very large glass communion goblets, which was the only recompense they would receive. At an earlier period they attracted the attention of the Penn family, and one of the young ladies, in England, commenced a correspondence with the Society.* Governor Penn visited them frequently, and desirous of giving them a solid evidence One letter from Lady Juliana Penn to Peter Miller. may be found in the Memoirs of Daniel Rittenhouse, LL. D., F. R. S. Many of the brethren being men of education, they established, at a very early period, a school, which soon gained for itself an honorable reputation, numbers of young men from Philadelphia and Baltimore being sent hither to be educated. A sabbath school was also instituted for religious instruction, which flourished many years, and was attended with some remarkable consequences. It produced an anxious inquiry among the juvenile population who attended the school, which increased and grew into what is now termed a revival of religion. The scholars of the sabbath school met together every day before and after common school hours, to pray and exhort one another, under the superintendence of one of the brethren. The excitement ran into excess, and betrayed a zeal not according to knowledge; which induced Friedsam to discourage an enterprise, which had been commenced, and was partly under way, namely, to erect a house for their especial use, to be called Succoth. Ludwig Hæcker, or Brother Obed, as he was designated, who was the teacher of the common school, projected the plan of holding a school in the afternoon of the sabbath, and who, in connection with some of the other brethren, commenced it, to give instruction to the indigent children who were kept from regular school by employments which their necessities obliged them to be engaged at during the week, as well as to give religious instruction to those of better circumstances. It is not known in what year exactly that the sabbath school was commenced. Hæcker came to Ephrata in the year 1739, and it is presumed that he began, soon after he took up his residence amongst the brethren. The materials for the building were furnished, as is recorded in the minutes of the Society, in the year 1749. After the battle of Brandywine, the sabbath school room, with others, was given up for a hospital, which was occupied as such some time; and the school was never afterwards resumed. Hæcker at that period was sixty years of age. To Robert Raikes is certainly due the honor of having projected and successfully introduced the present general system of Sunday school instruction, but there is much credit justly due to the Seventh Day Baptists of Ephrata, for having established and maintained in operation, for a period of upwards of thirty years, a sabbath school, forty years before the first school was opened by the Gloucester philanthropist. By this time (1777) the Society began to decline, but not from causes alleged by some writers-want of vigor of mind in the successor of Beissel, who died 1768; for his successor, Peter Miller, was a man of much greater powers of mind, and had the management of the establishment during Beissel's time; and to his energy and perseverance is mainly attributable the great prosperity of the institution in its early days. The institution was one of the seventeenth century, and in accordance with European feelings, most of the members being natives of Germany. The state of public opinion at Beissel's death was widely different from what it was during the first fifty years after Ephrata was established, in relation to politics and government; and with this march of intellect, different sentiments were entertained in regard to religious institutions. It was commenced as a social community in the midst of a wildernes-the hand of improvement made the desert bloom as the rose,-and at that time (1768) was not surrounded by a dense, promiscuous population. These circumstances connected with incessant persecution, the turmoil and contention into which they were thrown and constantly kept by some of their envious neighbors, were the principal causes of the decline of the Society. There is still a small band who retain the principles, and meet together regularly to worship, on the evening and the morning of the Sabbath; but they are a flock without a shepherd-they have the forms but not the spirit, nor the zeal of their predecessors. The ancient community has been called "zealots." Zeal įs, certainly, better than indifference, and enthusiasm better than deadness. Zeal is the life of Christianity, and it is an honor to the denomination to be designated by a title, even if it be in ridicule, which imports their activity and faithfulness. The people of Ephrata now lack that desirable quality for which those of old are stigmatized; for that zeal would be an honor to them should they merit it. Ephrata would be a paradise as it was in former days, were the people now here such zealots, as those they have descended from. They now partake more of the cold Christianity of the world. It must not, however, be supposed that they were ranters, or made a noise and display in their zeal. It was a quiet, all-absorbing zeal, in which the world and all its vanities were sacrificed to pure and constant devotion: they were living and moving in this world, performing diligently all the duties that devolved upon them here; but their spirits, and all their conversation, were centered in heaven. Of them, who were derided with the epithet of "zealots," Mr. Winchester, speaking of the people of Ephrata, in his dialogues, says: "I remember the Rev. Morgan Edwards, formerly minister of the Baptist church in Philadelphia, once said to me: God will always have a visible people on earth, and these (the society at Ephrata) are his people at present, above any other in the world."" Mr. Winchester says further, "They walk in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blame. less, both in public and private. They bring up their children, (now speaking of the married members,) in the nurture and admonition of the Lord; no noise, rudeness, shameless mirth, loud laughter, is heard within their doors. The law of kindness is in their mouths; no sourness or moroseness disgraces their religion, and whatsoever they believe their Saviour commands they practise, without inquiring, or regarding what others do. They read much; they sing and pray much; they are constant attendants upon the worship of God; their dwelling houses are all houses of prayer." But alas! alas! it is not so now. Ephrata has fallendegenerated beyond all conception. It is now spiritually dead. Ichabod is written upon the walls of this branch of our Zion. As early as 1758, there was a branch of this Society established at the Bermudian Creek, in York county, about fifteen miles from the town of York; some of the members of which still remain, though they have been without preaching many years. Another was established in 1763, in Bedford county, which still flourishes, and many members of the present Society are scattered through the counties of the interior of the State; so that the truth which was left has not become extinct, but is still extending, which is particularly the case at Snowhill, now their principal settlement; and the hope is still entertained, that the little one may become a thousand, and the small one a great nation. For a further detail of the history of this Society, a description of the Monastic Institution at Ephrata, and an account of their extensive literary labours and numerous publications, as well as their music, which is peculiar to themselves, see the writer's "Historical Sketch," in Hazard's Register of Pennsylvania, vol. xv. page 161. This obscure and unobtrusive little flock of the Great Shepherd and Bishop of Souls, after having passed nearly a century and a quarter under the benign institutions of our blessed country, whose republican Constitution guaranties, alike, equal rights and immunities to all its citizens, and extends the panoply of unfettered religious freedom over all denominations, without any preference or shade of distinction, is now attracting much attention throughout the land, and even abroad in distant countries, from the persecuting prosecutions they have suffered within a few years past, (since the first edition of this work,) at the hands of the Civil Magistracy, in this land of vaunted freedom; and which have at length roused them, after failing to obtain redress at Legislative Halls, to appeal to the highest judicial tribunals, to test the constitutionality of the State statutes, which abridge their religious rights, and interfere with their civil immunities. And as tall oaks from little acorns grow, the sacred principle for which they are contendingreligious freedom-may affect the liberty of every individual of the Republic, and agitate the whole mass of our wide spread population, (as it involves one of the most important principles of human government-no less than the right of Government to prescribe religious observances— a virtual union of Church and State,) it becomes proper, as a part of the history of this People, to note some of the circumstances connected with this movement, which is destined to affect both the legis lation and the judicature of all the States of our Union; as well as to define their position and save these humble followers of the lovely Jesus from misrepresentation and unjust obloquy; as we often hear the question propounded: Who are these Seventh day Baptists? and, What are they contending for? To all of which we simply reply: They are a body of evangelical Christians, well spoken of by all men, who for more than a century, have been content to enjoy, in quietness, the undeniable privilege of worshipping Almighty God according to the dictates of their consciences. They are men and citizens of the State, on a perfect equality with all others entitled to all the privi leges and immunities of all other citizens. They are freemen-independent freemen -integral parts of the body politic; who have the same rights, and the same claims to protection, in all the pursuits of life and happiness, as other citizens. They contend against unequal and invidious laws-they contend for the inalienable right of worshipping their Father in Heaven agreeably to the dictates of His law, who alone is Lawgiver in Zion;-and resist being compelled, |