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.