The Reformation in Germany and Holland was productive of great and glorious effects, although it was not complete. Errors in doctrine, nearly or quite as incongruous with Scripture as those abandoned, were retained; ceremonies, nearly equal in absurdity to those prohibited, were still celebrated; and persecutions, exhibiting more similarity to the practices of Papacy than to the meekness and quietude of pure Christianity, were still prosecuted. The Reformation required to be reformed, and of this many pious and holy men were aware. At length, in 1694, a violent controversy arose in nearly all the Protestant churches of those two countries, in consequence of the attempts which were being made to promote a practical and vital religion. At this time the pious Spener was ecclesiastical superintendent of the court of Saxony. He was likewise at the head of the party distinguished for its advocacy of reformatory measures. However, neither his dignified and important station, nor the fact that the tenets of his followers were predicated upon scripture according to its literal interpretation, could preserve them from falling under the odium of heresy, and incurring the effects of a virulent opposition. Their doctrines were examined by the ecclesiastical dignitaries, who, instead of instituting a comparison between them and Holy Writ, sought to discover whether or not they were conformable to the tenets deemed orthodox by the Consistory of Wittemberg. The decision was in the negative; hence they were suppressed in their public lectures and ministrations. This prohibition, while it shut up churches, and hushed the eloquence of public lecturers, savoured of persecution, and consequently excited a spirit of inquiry in the minds of the multitude. In such cases as this, reverend divines would consult their own interest by bestowing greater attention upon the study of human nature. Persecution agitates the public mind, excites the sympathy of some, the curiosity of all, and promulgates the very sentiments it is endeavouring to restrain. Besides, persecutors are not omniscient, conventicles will be held, and to their other charms that of secrecy is then added. In the year 1708, Alexander Mack, of Schriesheim, and seven others in Schwartzenen, Germany, met together, regularly to examine, in a careful and impartial manner, the doctrines of the New Testament, in order to ascertain what obligations it imposes upon professing Christians. These inquiries terminated in the formation of the society now called the Dunkers, or First-day German Baptists. Persecution, while it scattered them, likewise led to the dissemination of their doctrines; some were driven to Crefelt, in the Duchy of Cleves, and the mother church voluntarily removed to Sevustervin, in Friesland, whence its members emigrated to America in 1719, and dispersed to different parts of Pennsylvania. In 1723, they formed a church at Germantown, under the pastoral care of Peter Becker. The rapid growth of this church has rarely been excelled, and it received continual accessions of new members from the banks of the Wissahickon, and from Lancaster County. In this county, another community was soon after established by Conrad Beissel, a native of Germany. He was a man of eminent piety and ability, much given to metaphysical speculations, and distinguished for his love of solitude. Being determined to seek out the true obligations of the Word of God, independent of all preconceived opinions and traditional observances, he was soon led to perceive that the sentiments of the Dunkers were erroneous so far as they related to the day designed to be hallowed as the Sabbath. It appeared evident to him "that the seventh day was the command of the Lord God, and that day being established and sanctified by the Great Jehovah, for ever, and no change, nor authority for change, ever having been announced to man, by any power sufficient to set aside the solemn decree of the Almighty, he felt it to be his duty to contend for the observance of that day." These opinions he maintained, not only in many eloquent discourses, but, about the year 1725, he published a short treatise which entered into a full and very able discussion of this point. The publication of this tract formed, in more ways than one, an epoch in the community, and created so much stir and excitement among the Society at Mill Creek, that Beissel quietly retired from the settlement, and took up his abode in a small cell on the banks of the Cocalico, which had been occupied previously by one Elimelech, an anchorite. Here, retired from all the world, he sought, by prayer, fasting, and meditation, to converse with superior intelligences, and to perfect himself in holy knowledge. But the community that had opposed his fervent and spiritual teachings when present, found his absence a great deprivation, and although many inquiries were made, it was a long time before the place of his retirement became known. By this time many members of the society at Mill Creek had become convinced of the truth of his proposition relative to the Sabbath, who now removed and settled around him in solitary cottages. They rested from secular labours and celebrated the public services of religion upon the original Sabbath, the seventh day of the week, which has ever since been observed by their descendants.

In 1728, they resolved themselves into an ecclesiastical body, and a monastic society was instituted in 1732, for the accommodation of which suitable buildings were erected. Other buildings were likewise erected by the community, and all together constituted the irregular, yet lovely village of Ephrata. Both men and women were admitted into the convent, and both appear to have been singularly attached to the monastic state. They wore the habit of the Capuchins, or White Friars, which consisted of a shirt, trowsers and vest, with a long white gown and cowl, of woollen web in winter, and linen in the summer. That of the sisters differed only in the substitution of skirts for trowsers, and some slight peculiarities in the form of the cap. All who entered the cloister received monastic names. Their first Prior was Onesimus, (Israel Eckerlin,) who was succeeded by Peter Miller, surnamed Jabez. Beissel, whose monastic name was Friedsam, received the title of Father—spiritual father,—and subsequently that of Gottrecht, implying together, Peaceable God-right, from the brethren of the community. "In the year 1740, there were thirty-six single brethren in the cloister, and thirty-five sisters; and at one time the society, including the members living in the neighbourhood, amounted to near three hundred." The government and arrangement of this little community were perfectly republican, and all the members stood upon the most fraternal equality and freedom. They were bound by no vows, neither had they any written covenant. The New Testament was their confession of faith, their code of laws, and their rule of discipline. Such property as accumulated with the society, by donation and from the labour of the single brethren and sisters, was held as common stock, but none were obliged to devote their personal property to this purpose or to resign any of their temporal possessions. A considerable income was derived from the farm, which, with the proceeds of the grist-mill, paper-mill, oil-mill, fulling-mill, and the industry of the brethren and sisters, sufficed to support the society in a comfortable manner.

The principles of this society appear to have been superficially understood and partially represented by most writers upon the subject, although there is nothing about them mysterious or intricate.

"They receive the Bible as the only rule of faith, covenant, and code of laws for church government. They do not admit the least license with the letter and spirit of the Scripture, especially with the New Testament, do not allow one tittle to be added or rejected in the administration of the ordinances, but practise them precisely as they are instituted and made an example by Jesus Christ in his word.

"They believe in the divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the trinity of the Godhead; having unfurled this distinctive banner on the first page of a hymn book which they had printed for the society as early as 1739, viz.: 'There are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost; and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness on earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood; and these three agree in one.'

"They believe that salvation is of grace, and not of works; and they rely solely on the merits and atonement of Christ. They believe, also, that that atonement is sufficient for every creature; that Christ died for all who will call upon his name, and offer fruits meet for repentance; and that all who come to Christ are drawn of the Father.

"They contend for the observance of the original Sabbath, believing that it requires an authority equal to that of the Great Institutor to change any of his decrees. They maintain, that as he blessed and sanctified that day for ever, which has never been abrogated in his word, nor any scripture to be found to warrant that construction; it is still as binding as it was when it was reiterated amid the thunders of Mount Sinai. To alter so positive and hallowed a commandment of the Almighty, they consider would require an explicit edict from the Great Jehovah. It was not foretold by any of the prophets, that with the new dispensation there would be any change in the Sabbath or any of the commandments. Christ, who declared himself the Lord of the Sabbath, observed the seventh day, and made it the day for his special ministrations; nor did he authorize any change. The Apostles have not assumed to do away the original Sabbath, or give any command to substitute the first for the seventh day.

"They hold to Apostolic baptism—and administer trine immersion, with the laying on of hands and prayer while the recipient yet remains kneeling in the water.

"They celebrate the Lord's Supper at night, washing, at the same time, each other's feet, agreeably to his command and example. This is attended to in the evening after the close of the Sabbath—the Sabbath terminating at sunset of the seventh day; thus making the supper an imitation of that instituted by Christ, and resembling also the meeting of the Apostles on the first day to break bread, which has produced much confusion in some minds in regard to the proper day to be observed."

Although celibacy was neither enforced nor required, it was considered a virtue. There was no prohibition of marriage or of legalized sexual intercourse, as many writers have erroneously stated, but when two concluded to be joined in wedlock, they were assisted by the society. They conceived with Paul, whose opinion and practice does not find many clerical imitators at the present day, that celibacy was more conducive to a holy life. There are many passages of Scripture to that effect, which they, unlike the ministers of other Protestant denominations, kept in perpetual remembrance. "He that is unmarried, careth for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may please the Lord; but he that is married careth for the things of the world, how he may please his wife. There is this difference between a wife and a virgin. The unmarried woman careth for the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit; but she that is married careth for the things of the world, how she may please her husband. I say therefore to the unmarried and widows, it is good for them if they abide even as I." They likewise, and, in my opinion, truly considered that those who sacrificed conjugal endearments for Christ's sake, were better fitted for, and will enjoy the highest places in glory. Hear the sublime language of the Revelator: "I looked up, and lo, a Lamb stood on Mount Zion, and with him an hundred and forty and four thousand, having his Father's name written in their foreheads. And I heard a voice from heaven as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder; and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps; and they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts and the elders; and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth. These are they that are not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the first fruits unto God and the Lamb." This idea was fondly cherished, and continually inculcated. It formed the foundation of the monastic institution at Ephrata, whose support and prosperity was entirely dependent on its being properly appreciated. It formed the subject of many an eloquent harangue, the theme of many a pleasant song, the object around which the holiest memories gathered, and with which the sweetest associations were combined. It was sedulously kept before them by their ministers and teachers in its most favourable light, and all the scripture susceptible of this application, which was not a little, was brought to excite their enthusiasm, and to inspire them with faithfulness and perseverance. It promised capabilities for the divine life which others could not possess, and held out to their enraptured imaginations the brighter rewards of heaven.

Their ministers never received a stated salary. In their opinion the Gospel was destined to be free, "without money and without price," and they thought that every one called to preach the word, should do it from the love of the cause, and in this matter, as in that of celibacy, to follow the advice and example of Paul. Nevertheless, their ministers were always well supplied with such necessaries as the brethren themselves enjoyed. Individual members gave as presents whatever they could conveniently spare, in money, goods, and the like; and whenever the minister travelled for religious purposes, he was supplied from the treasury to bear his expenses.

This is not the place, neither am I disposed to institute any comparison between the doctrines of the Scripture, according to its literal interpretation, and the great and leading tenets of the German Seventh-day Baptists of Pennsylvania. However, it is evident, from the most casual observation, that few religious communities have adhered more closely to the letter and language of Holy Writ, have been more scrupulous about conformity to worldly opinions and practices, or have given, in their conduct, a more faithful and practical exemplification of Christianity. Their peculiarities sprung, likewise, from the same source as many of their virtues; and these will be adverted to in replying to the charges of error which have been urged against them, with more gravity than truth, by many writers, who were, probably, offended by the pure and primitive simplicity of their tenets and habits.

It is not necessary to attempt a full exposition of their peculiar views, or to describe the minutiæ of the manner in which they perform the ceremonies and ordinances of religion. However, in their regular worship, they commence with singing; then prayers, the assembly kneeling; then singing again; after which the minister requests any brother to read a chapter out of the Scriptures, which they are at liberty to choose from either the Old or the New Testament. This the minister expounds, tracing its bearings and historical connexions with the other parts of the Bible. Then the exhorters enforce the duties it inculcates; and should any brother or single sister be able to improve the subject to the edification of the others, or to make any remarks relative to the topic, there is perfect liberty for such an expression. Prayer and singing, with the reading of a psalm, conclude the service,—than which nothing can be more solemn and impressive.

Ignorance, in a writer, is nearly or quite as culpable as misrepresentation; for no one has any right to assume the responsibilities of the historian, without first making himself the master of his subject. By a contrary course, he may inadvertently expose the most innocent and virtuous community to the reprobation and ridicule of contemporaries, and the abhorrence of posterity. Few societies have suffered more in their reputation from ignorant and unprincipled authors, than the society of Ephrata; others, however, have borne honourable testimony to its merits.

The account of their sentiments in Buck's Theological Dictionary, is a tissue of misrepresentation and calumny, unworthy a place in such a work. We are there told that their "principal tenets appear to be these: that future happiness is only obtained by penance and outward mortification in this life; and that Jesus Christ, by his meritorious sufferings, became the Redeemer of mankind in general, so that each individual of the human race, by a life of abstinence and restraint, may work out his own salvation. Nay, they go so far as to admit of works of supererogation, and declare that a man may do much more than he is in justice or equity bound to do, and that his superabundant works may therefore be applied to the salvation of others." This, as well as the accounts given of them in many other English books, is a gross falsehood. Gordon's Gazetteer of Pennsylvania is almost equally reprehensible, as the account which it contains was first published by the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, and contains many erroneous charges, that are entirely without foundation, and could only have originated in gross ignorance or shameful wickedness. Among other misrepresentations, the good and devout founder is declared to have been a crafty and designing usurper of ecclesiastical authority, and as assuming honours and titles. These statements are utterly unfounded. Beissel had been educated in the Calvinistic faith, but perceiving its dissimilarity to the word of God, as respects church government, ministerial salaries, and other things of a like nature, he emigrated to America in order to enjoy liberty of conscience, and he left the society of Dunkers at Mill Creek, because his peculiarities relative to the Sabbath created some dissension. It is true that he was drawn from his seclusion, but it is no less true, that the people whom he had forsaken, sought him out and came and settled around him, entreating his ministry. After this time he devoted his whole time, 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 the people in the word of life. The doctrine of celibacy which he taught was no new-fangled idea, being quite as old as the time of the Apostle Paul. He received the title of "Father," and "Gottrecht," from the brethren, instead of presumptuously assuming them himself.

In their habits of life, they have been equally misrepresented. They are not accustomed to wear long beards, as is frequently said of them, neither did the rules of the society forbid meat for the purpose of mortifying the natural appetite, or require them to repose on wooden benches with billets of wood for pillows, as acts of penance. Nevertheless they did so, but their conduct admits of a different explanation. They practised austerity from considerations of economy. With limited means and restricted circumstances they had undertaken an expensive enterprise. Hence, all their arrangements, though distinguished for neatness, were extremely simple. Wooden flagons, wooden goblets, and wooden trays were used in the administration of the sacrament, and although they have been presented with richer and costlier ones, the same service is still in use. Their domestic and kitchen utensils were likewise made of wood. The plates off which they ate, were thin octangular pieces of poplar boards. Their forks and candlesticks, and indeed every article that could be, were made of that material. Subsequently, when they were relieved from the burdens of their expensive enterprise, they generally enjoyed the cot for nightly repose, and partook, though in the most moderate and temperate manner, of the comforts, and even some of the luxuries of life. Temperance societies had not been instituted, "but there were no ardent spirits used in building the whole village, although the timber was hewn and all the boards sawn by hand during the winter months." The society was a social community, organized for mutual support and assistance. Its members were distinguished for kindness, hospitality, and promptness in affording relief to the suffering, whatever might be their character or denomination. The following account of them is taken from a work, entitled the Journal of an Officer, which was published in 1784. He says, "I came among this people by accident, but I left them with regret. I have found out, however, that appearances may be delusive, and that where we expected to meet with a cold reservedness, we may sometimes be surprised by exhibitions of the most charming affability and disinterested benevolence. They all acted the part of the good Samaritan to me, for which I hope to be ever grateful; and while experiencing the benefits of their kindnesses and attentions, witnessing the sympathies and emotions expressed in their countenances, and listening to the words of hope and pity with which they consoled the poor sufferers, is it strange that, under such circumstances, their uncouth garments appeared more beautiful in my eyes than ever did the richest robes of fashion, and their cowls more becoming than head-dresses adorned with diamonds, and flowers, and feathers? Until I entered the walls of Ephrata, I had no idea of pure and practical Christianity. Not that I was ignorant of the forms, or even of the doctrines of religion. I knew it in theory before; I saw it in practice then.

"Many a poor wounded soldier will carry to his grave the sweet remembrance of those gentle sisters, who watched so patiently by his side, supported his fainting head, administered the healing draught, and cheered him with both earthly and heavenly hopes. What mattered it to him that their words were couched in an unknown dialect; he read their meaning in the deep, earnest, liquid eyes. Eternity likewise will bear a glorious testimony to the labour of the Prior, who could converse in the English language. Many a poor fellow, who entered there profane, immoral, and without hope or God in the world, left it rejoicing in the Saviour."

This officer had been wounded in the battle of Brandywine, and had been, with many of his comrades, despatched to the hospital at Ephrata. I shall allude to this circumstance again. Morgan Edwards bears the following testimony of this people.

"From their recluse and ascetic habits, 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 adorns their conversation, and makes their deportment gentle and obliging. Their singing is charming, partly owing to the pleasantness of their voices, the variety of the parts they carry on together, and the devout manner of the performance." The following character of Beissel is derived from the same source.

"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, and another of anthems. He left behind him several books in manuscript, curiously written and embellished, and likewise published several other works." One writer has observed, "that the sisters apparently took little delight in their state of single blessedness, as two only, (aged and ill-favoured ones, we may suppose,) remained steadfast in the renunciation of marriage." This invidious remark is entirely unfounded; for though they were not required to renounce matrimony on entering the cloister, only four or five of the whole number that were received in it as inmates, during the period of one hundred and ten years, left and were married. One of these became the wife of a gentleman of Philadelphia, and afterwards, amid the cares and burdens of a large family, she regretted her change exceedingly, as did all the others who were induced to leave the "stille einsamkeit." "The others remained steadfast in their state of single blessedness, and now, with the exception of those remaining in the convent, lie beside each other in the beautiful cemetery in the foreground of the village." These gratuitous aspersions would be passed over with the silence they deserve, were it not that a fresh currency has been given to them by a late popular work. They have likewise been charged with denying the doctrine of original sin, and the eternity of punishment. They do not indeed believe that every individual of mankind is included in the condemnation of Adam, for many who are born, die without sinning; but they admit that in the fall of Adam, all disposition to good 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 most curious and ingenious treatise upon this subject, in which he enters into long disquisitions on the nature and intellectual capabilities of Adam in his primeval state of innocence. He then explains in what manner he was affected by the fall, and with it elucidates many passages of scripture, which have escaped the attention of men of more erudition, but less profundity of penetration and genius. His views, however, though deep and ingenious, are somewhat mysterious, and would, in the present day, be considered as little better than the hypothetical speculations of an overwrought imagination. However, there is nothing that can be construed as denying the doctrine of human depravity, and the woeful consequences that the fall of Adam has entailed upon his posterity, unless each one be regenerated by the sanctifying influences of the Spirit of Grace. They never received the doctrine of universal salvation in the usual acceptation of that term. They believe in the sure reward of submission and obedience to the requisitions of God, through faith in Christ, but they teach likewise, that the "wages of sin is death," death to holiness, and exclusion from the joys of heaven and the presence of the Lord. It is not to be denied that the idea of a universal restoration of all things was cherished by some of them in former days, and that it was based upon several passages of Scripture, particularly the fifteenth chapter of the first epistle to the Corinthians, and the twentieth chapter of the Revelations. Nevertheless it was never taught as a doctrine, but was treated with the greatest caution and delicacy by the pastor, and aged members, in private circles, and was always accompanied by expressions of the necessity of making their calling and election sure, that thereby they might be prepared to participate in the first resurrection. Many of the brethren were no less distinguished for high literary attainments than for piety, and they established a school at a very early period which afforded every facility for the acquisition of classical and scientific education, and which gained for itself so honourable a reputation, that many young men from the first families of Baltimore and Philadelphia were sent here to be educated. A Sabbath school was likewise instituted, which afforded the best facilities for moral and religious instruction. It flourished many years, and was attended by important consequences. The minds of the juvenile population were excited to a state of religious inquiry, which increased to what would be termed, in these days, a powerful revival, accompanied by the most intense excitement. The scholars met together, before and after common school hours, for prayer and exhortation, but their zeal, at least in the minds of the older brethren, ran into excess, which induced Beissel to discourage the enterprise, and also to object to the erection of a building, which was already commenced, for the especial use of the school, to be called Succoth. This Sabbath school had been instituted under the following circumstances. Ludwig Hœcker, or Brother Obed, as he was designated, who was the teacher of the common school, perceiving that many of the indigent children were kept from regular attendance by necessary employments during the week, projected the plan of holding a school in the afternoon of the Sabbath, where instruction would be administered to those of all circumstances. It is not known, neither is it material, in what year the Sabbath school was commenced. Hœcker took up his residence at Ephrata in the year 1739, and it is presumed that he commenced the enterprise soon after. By reference to the minutes of the Society, we find that the materials for the building were provided in 1749. After the battle of Brandywine, the Sabbath school-room, with others, was turned into a hospital, which it continued to be for some time. The school thus broken up, was never afterwards resumed. The honour of having projected and successfully introduced the present general system of Sunday School instruction, is certainly due to Robert Raikes; but the Seventh-day Baptists of Ephrata had established and maintained in operation for upwards of thirty years, a Sabbath school, nearly half a century before one was opened by the Gloucester philanthropist.

In 1777, the Society began to decline, but the declension cannot justly be attributed to the causes which some writers have erroneously stated. Beissel died in 1768, and his successor, Peter Miller, was a man of much higher attainments and more eminent mental powers. Indeed, Miller had the principal management of the establishment during Beissel's time, and to his extraordinary abilities the early prosperity of the institution is mainly imputable. Its decline, however, can be rationally accounted for, without supposing either incapability or degeneracy in those who were intrusted with the direction of its affairs, especially when we take into consideration the great changes in politics and government that transpired, and the consequent alterations in public sentiment. The seventeenth century was prolific in monastic institutions, of which this was one; and the feelings and motives that animated its founders were decidedly European. During the first fifty years from the establishment of Ephrata, a remarkable progress was made in liberal opinions, and with the march of intellect and politics, different opinions with regard to religious institutions were also entertained. It was commenced as a social community, and as such it succeeded admirably, and was adapted to every purpose of life, when surrounded by a howling wilderness, filled with wild beasts, and wilder inhabitants; but when the hand of improvement had turned the forests into fields smiling with plenty, and the neighbouring country became filled with a dense and promiscuous population, it appeared evident to all that it was not compatible with the circumstances of the times, or the spirit of the age. Besides this, its members were exposed to incessant persecutions, and were kept in perpetual contentions and turmoils by their envious neighbours, which, of themselves, were enough to have produced a declension in the Society.

The community at Ephrata still comprises a small band who retain the principles and manners of their forefathers, and who meet regularly to worship God on the evenings and mornings of their Sabbaths. But although they have the forms, they are without the spirit or the zeal of their ancestors. In ancient times they had bestowed upon them in ridicule the epithet of "Zealots." Zeal, however, when it is according to knowledge, is commendable; under any circumstances it is preferable to indifference. Christianity without zeal is like the body without life, and it is an honour to any denomination to receive, even in ridicule, a title designative of faithfulness and activity. Ephrata would be a paradise now as it was in former days, did its inhabitants possess, in the same degree, that desirable quality which those of old possessed, and for which they were stigmatized. Yet in this zeal there was neither noise nor display. It was not the occasional gleam of the meteor, but the pure, steady, unchangeable light of the pole-star, so quiet and all-absorbing, in which the world, with its pomps and vanities, was sacrificed upon the altar of pure and constant devotion. They lived and moved in the world, performed the routine of all the duties devolving upon them, and cherished the highest and holiest affections; but their treasures and their hearts were centred in heaven. Could they stoop to quaff from the springs of earth, who had once slaked their thirst at the fountains of immortality? could those ears be delighted with terrestrial songs, that had once been ravished by the unimaginable harmonics of the upper world? How would they thirst and long for another draught! How would they wait and listen to catch another echo! And how would the ignorant world deride their enthusiasm and mock their zeal! Of those who, at Ephrata, were derided as zealots and enthusiasts, Mr. Winchester makes the following declaration: "God will always have a visible people upon earth, and these (speaking of the Society at Ephrata), are his people at present, above any other in the world. They walk in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless, both in public and private. They bring up their children (alluding to 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 teaches, 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."

Although Ephrata has degenerated—is now spiritually dead—the truth has not become extinct, but is still extending. From this parent society several branches have originated. One in Bedford County was founded in 1753, which is still in a flourishing situation. Another in York County, about fifteen miles from the town of York, was founded on the Bermudian Creek, in 1758, of which some of the members remain, although they have been without a leader for many years. A third branch was established at Snowhill, in Franklin County, under the superintendence of Peter Lehman and Andrew Snowberger, where the greatest part of the Society are still resident. Besides these, there are other smaller branches in Western Pennsylvania.