Page:The Homes of the New World- Vol. II.djvu/182

Rh us into a room where two elderly men and two elderly women, as well as a few young girls, were present. The cheeks of the latter bloomed like roses beneath blue-white linen caps, and I now saw that the Shaker community did not send its handsomest members into the dance. These elderly men and women were elders, as they are here called, and superintendents of the family in which we found ourselves. The community of New Lebanon is divided into two families, the “North Family” and the “South Family.” Each family has its separate house, overseers, and household management. I propounded my questions to the elders, but it was soon clear to me that they could hardly answer them. One of the men was a wealthy man who had left his wife and his family to unite himself to the Shakers, to whom he had given a part of his property. Afterwards one of his daughters followed his example, and she was one of the pretty young girls now present. He was an elderly, strong-built man, with a good exterior and a countenance which indicated feeling to be stronger than intellect. The other elder had a noble, ascetic, and patriarchal appearance. Neither of them had much to say. The women seemed gentle but of circumscribed minds. They had sought for, and had found a haven amid the storms of life. More they did not desire.

But now Brother Evans entered, with the narrow, high forehead, the dark, fanatically gleaming eyes, and with him the conversation became animated. I was astonished to find in that fanatical preacher a very intelligent, and, upon the whole, a man of a liberal, although not of a profound mind, who understood the foundation and the vital intention of the sect, and could render a reason for all. The conversation with him became really interesting to me, and we both grew very earnest.